What I’m Watching: Nikita

Nikita: Season 2, Episode 18 “Power” (B+)

This episode was actually the best hour this show has produced in a while, featuring some major and enormous plot developments on all fronts, completely transforming the layout of the players in a big way. The flashbacks to Amanda training Nikita were useful in terms of giving context to an already complicated relationship that has certainly gotten more complex and developed since the start of the show, when Percy was the true villain and Amanda played only a small role in appearing occasionally for intimidation purposes. Most crucially, Nikita was able to use what she knows to her advantage, seeing a moment of strength rather than a moment of weakness. It’s intriguing to see both women reflecting back on having let the other live when they had a perfect shot, with Amanda regretting letting Nikita live and Nikita being much more satisfied with her ability to remain human. The hostile takeover conducted by Percy in Amanda’s absence was extraordinarily clever and cunning. Strolling in and convincing everyone to side with him rather than holding them by force was brilliant, and having Sonia call Birkhoff couldn’t have worked out better for him. His immediate handing over of video evidence of Amanda explaining that her agents are entirely expendable was quite convenient, and in one fell swoop, he has regained the perch he had before, and now he’s going to make hunting Amanda a full-time priority. What this means for Nikita and her crew is less clear, and I’m interested to see how he’s going to treat them.