Tag: Nikita pilot recap and review Anthony Medina Thinking Man
Nikita Season 2 Episode 1 – Recap and Review
BY ANTHONY MEDINA
**This episode originally aired in September 2011. If you are unfamiliar with the series, be aware this review contains spoilers.**
"Remember this, I did this because I care." – Nikita
Season two of Nikita dives back into the game one month after last season's explosive finale and all the players are back for more. But the lines have been blurred and the aptly titled "Game Change" sets off to pin our heroes against each other in a flurry of pretty people and kung-fu awesomeness.
We open on our new crime fighting duo Michael (Shane West) and Nikita (Maggie Q.) securing some funds for their continuing campaign of destruction against Division. And the key to taking them down, is the Blackbox, which contains all the naughty secrets of the rogue government agency.
However, hot on their trail is Nikita's former partner Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca), who has switched sides and is now helping Division track her down. Alex has made a deal with Division's new leader, the ice queen herself, Amanda (Melinda Clarke). They will offer all their resources to Alex as she pursues the men who ordered her father's death and in exchange she will use her unique insight into Nikita to help them recover the Blackbox.
Adding an extra layer of prettyboy to the equation is Sean Pierce (Dillon Casey), an Oversight representative assigned to Division to keep them in line. After all they don't want a repeat of Percy's (Xander Berkeley) attempted coup d'etat.
When Alex finally tracks down Nikita, Pierce sends in the troops and our heroes are pinned down with no hope of escape…
After they escape, with the help off Birkhoff's (Aaron Stanford) remote control next level fighter drones, they enlist the help of their old friend and continue their crusade of justice.
Magneto Percy makes an appearance and we learn that he is now being held in a plastic prison in the basement of Division. From the ever present smirk on his face as he speaks to both Amanda and Alex, it's clear he has his own plans in motion and won't be a prisoner for long.
As the episode concludes we get a final showdown between Alex and Nikita. The two sexy spies go at it in a bare-knuckle brawl and Nikita takes the young blood to school, leaving her with a broken arm and a bullet hole in her leg. Nikita ain't nothing to f**k with.
A great start to season two. It's going to be interesting watching these characters in their new roles. And from the looks of it so far, season two should be filled with much of the same creative storytelling and intense action that season one brought to the table.
Thinking Man Rating: 16 Thumbs Up
**Be aware the Thinking Man rating system is based on awesomeness and should be disregarded if you are not now, or have never been, awesome.**
Author Thinking ManPosted on July 28, 2012 Categories By Guests, OpinionTags CW, Nikita, Nikita pilot recap and review Anthony Medina Thinking Man, review, television writing, TVWriter.Com, TVWriter™
Nikita Season 1 Finale – Recap and Review
**This episode originally aired in May 2011. If you are unfamiliar with the series, be aware this review contains spoilers.**
"You ask me what I want? I want what every other American wants right about now, job security." – Percy Rose
It was a fitting end to the first season of this shockingly well done CW show. "Pandora" manages to successfully conclude each characters story arc, while raising new questions for the future and even throwing a few more twists our way just to keep us on our toes.
As the episode opens our heroes find themselves in some unfortunate situations.
Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) has a kill chip in her brain and must obey Division's orders (or must she?)
Nikita (Maggie Q.) was shot and killed by Alex (or was she?)
And Michael (Shane West) is locked in a Division prison and can't escape (or can he?)
No, no, and yes.
Meanwhile, Fletcher (Noah Bean) is in the heart of the CIA helping to decrypt a blackbox he believes will expose Division's plan to attack the government. Unfortunately, Percy (Xander Berkeley) is smarter than the average bear and rigged the device to release a toxic gas designed to kill the director of the CIA. In doing so, he can blackmail Oversight to put a puppet in the vacated seat and thus gain control of the 37 billion dollar CIA budget. A nifty plan to be sure. And I must say, there's nothing quite like watching Percy gloat when he has the most powerful people in the country at his mercy. He may be a psychopath, but he's a badass psychopath.
Not to worry though, the Nikita crew is on their way to save the day, hurray I say!
We learn that Alex faked Nikita's death and Nikita recovers just in time to storm the CIA and pull everyone out of the room as the gas is released. When Percy learns of Alex's betrayal he orders Amanda (Melinda Clarke) to activate her kill chip. Amanda complies but immediately revives her with a shot of adrenaline. It turns out Amanda is planning a coup against Percy and she lets Alex go as her first act of open defiance. Michael manages to escape Division with the help of his old friend Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford) allowing him to neutralize Percy and reunite with Nikita. Good guys win!
This was a great ending to a great season. The few criticism I would have would be that some of the twists were fairly predictable and the survival of our heroes depended largely on other characters acting uncharacteristically. But all that is overshadowed by the copious amounts of awesome that burst out of every scene. This is by far the best show the CW has produced in a long time, Bravo I say.
Author Thinking ManPosted on July 18, 2012 July 18, 2012 Categories By Guests, OpinionTags CW, Nikita, Nikita pilot recap and review Anthony Medina Thinking Man, review, television writing, TVWriter.Com, TVWriter™
Nikita Pilot – Recap and Review
(Playing Catch-Up With The CW Dept:)
"Three years ago I escaped, and have been hunted ever since. I was the first recruit to get out. I'm going to make certain I'm not the last." – Nikita
Sexy women, rogue assassins AND an interesting story?
We open on Nikita (Maggie Q.), a highly trained assassin, typing away at her computer. The voiceover informs us that she has spent the last three years in hiding but is now resurfacing to wage all-out war against Division, a covert government organization that recruits its agents through kidnapping and extortion. This means fighting and killing many of her former colleagues and friends, including the Head of Division, Percy (Xander Berkeley), his second in command and Nikita's former trainer, Michael (Shane West), and Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford) Division's resident computer genius.
We then drop in on two masked bandits robbing a drugstore. When the owner resists, he is killed. One of the thieves escapes. The other, a teen junkie named Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca), is arrested. Soon afterward, Division comes calling, taking her to a training center where Michael explains that as far as the rest of the world knows she is now dead. She must give herself over to the agency, and in return they will give her a new life as an elite secret agent. Sounds great, but there's one little catch. Alex later discovers that if she fails the training or in her missions she'll be killed.
As the episode continues, we intercut between Nikita and Alex, seeing the process of shaping a new recruit and the challenge of eliminating a veteran agent. Through Nikita, we learn more about the reasons for her crusade. Through Alex, we see the various levels of training that shape a young assassin. More than combat skills are involved. There's also a charm and beauty school run by Amanda (Melinda Clarke), a master manipulator, interrogator, and psychologist who has the potential to be the most interesting yet terrifying character in the series.
The episode ends with a twist: The discovery that Alex, the young new recruit, is Nikita's inside operative. And that Nikita was the second masked bandit that shot the drug store owner.
Okay, so this show is awesome. Yes, the sexy secret agent thing has been done. But the pilot provides a nice balance of cool action, engaging characters and enough story depth to provide a solid foundation for the future. This is the CW, so there's the occasional cheesy line and overacted scene, but if you're in the mood for sexy women with guns AND an interesting story, do yourself a favor and check this show out.
Author Thinking ManPosted on July 9, 2012 July 9, 2012 Categories By Guests, OpinionTags CW, Nikita, Nikita pilot recap and review Anthony Medina Thinking Man, review, television writing, TVWriter.Com, TVWriter™3 Comments on Nikita Pilot – Recap and Review