Nikita

Nikita

Episode 3: True Believer

Episode 4: Consequences

By: Carlos Uribe

Nikita is a show about a female spy who does missions for a secret, undercover government agency.

Spoilers Ahoy!

True Believer:

The weekly case deals with one of the most important elements of the season so far: why exactly are the characters working for Divison? It's supposed to be the new Division but it's become increasingly difficult to convince anyone that's true. The grand mission of the season is to hunt down rogue agents and bring them back in if possible. The entire reason Nikita took this mission is that it was the only way to save the lives of the people in Division. This is consistent with her character from the previous two seasons. One of the reasons she had been fighting was to save the people within Division. The government had tried to wipe them out and she was able to guarantee their protection. It just meant that not only did Division have to keep running it but she had to be a part of it. It meant having to join the organization that she had been trying to destroy this whole time. She used to have a simple goal and that was to stop Division. Now it's her goal to get the agents but there's one difference. She has lost the motivation that allowed her to invincible in the first two seasons. She noted that she didn't win because she was stronger, faster, or smarter than anyone else. She won because she was more driven of all of them. She has lost that drive.

This episode brings that to the forefront with a weekly case that involves an agent who has gone rogue. This is an agent that had seen Nikita as a hero while she was still in Division. It brings up the question of how many people within Division were secretly rooting for her but it also means that Nikita's rebellion had consequences in this episode that she couldn't have foreseen. The agent doesn't believe that Division has changed and she thinks that Nikita betrayed herself when she joined it. The agent decided that she was tired of being an agent for an organization that uses it's power to oppress and joins a terrorist organization that's all about standing up for the third world against the oppression of the first world. It's a similar goal to Nikita's mission in many ways and she's just as determined to pull it off as Nikita was in taking down Divison. This means that the agent is more driven than Nikita is and it's why she's able to win fights. The agent believes that the person her organization will succeed in their plan to kill a senator. What she doesn't realize is that the agent herself has been fooled by the leader of the terrorist organization.

The leader is pretending to lead this organization to stand up against the first world. What he's really doing is staging a terrorist attack. A security company that he's a partner in would stop this attack and they would gain some good publicity. He's willing to allow the suicide bomber and his own little terrorists to take the fall in order to accomplish this. He is just like Percy. It isn't until Nikita is able to prove to the agent that she's following the wrong man that Nikita is able to stop the bomb. It's an episode that deals with Nikita's drive. She's simply not as determined as she's used to be and that's a huge part of her conflict with Ryan. That the episode managed to externalize this conflict through the weekly case without being blunt about it is simply a sign of good writing. True Believer is a show that gave Nikita an image of who she used to be and how the very situation has not only changed but also how it has changed her very core.

Consequences:

Consequences is able to continue that theme. Owen is back this episode. He's been in a Russian prison since we've last seen him and Amanda engineers an entire plan to get him. She gets her agent to break him out of prison but he's able to escape the agent's clutches. Owen reveals to Nikita he's still alive and is shocked to learn that she's now with Division. She tries to convince him that this is a new Division. They're not going after rogue agents to kill them but to bring them in. When Owen asks what their track record is so far, Nikita is forced to admit that they haven't actually brought in a single rogue agent. Once again, it's difficult to tell the difference between the old and the new Divison. Owen reveals that the agent who had broken him out was after a device that could hack any system including Division. It's from the engineer who built the black boxes. They go to the graveyard where it was hidden only to be ambushed by an army of ex-gogol agents. It's at this point that the episode reveals that Amanda is behind the events of the episode. The season premiere had merely hinted at her existence and this episode is her first actual appearance this season. Nikita is taked a bit back when she sees Amanda but she isn't able to capture her. Amanda is able to steal the device from them but at least they still have Owen.

This is because Amanda really wants Owen for some reason. Owen doesn't know why. He doesn't really know much outside of his life of Division. He admits in this episode that he doesn't remember a single event of his life before Division. Amanda did something to him that erased all of his memories. There are some hints to his past. He used to be called Sam and he had killed all of his friends. She doesn't give out any more details than that. Bringing the viewer's attention to Owen's memory is a great way to tell us what's going to be driving him for the rest of the season. He has a goal that no other character has because it's personal. That Amanda wants him badly enough to engineer an entire plan where she lured Division to her house is also a sign that he's going to be an important player of the season. The actor potraying him was promoted to a regular for this season so anyone who paid attention to news about the show would have figured this out already. This is the way for the series to help justify his presence of the show in terms of why he remains at Division. It's a bit odd that outside of Amanda's rage, he has the strongest motivation of all the characters.

There is also some questions of what Alex and Sean are working with Division. Sean had been driven to take down Division when his mother was threatened and then killed. Alex had been driven because of her loyalty to Nikita and because she saw it as an evil that needed to be stopped. Now Percy is dead and Division is cleaning up it's mess. There is no reason for them to stay. The only reason that Alex remains within Division is because she continues to feel undying loyalty for Nikita. She makes it clear at the engagement party that she would do anything for Nikita. Sean isn't so sure. The only reason he's been in the organization was to try and protect Alex but her life is constantly in danger. He decides that he can't watch the organization to destroy another person he loves. He gives her an ultimatum: Alex picks Division or him. This makes perfect sense for the two characters and Alex isn't happy with being given this decision. This ultimatum and entire plot arc reveals where there characters currently stand and their conflicting desires.

Other Notes:

What happened to Birkoff and Sonya? I'm like dying to know although it's nice they're getting closer together even if they are hunting moles.

An amazing ending to True Believer is Nikita going after Ryan for not going paperless.