['Nikita' - 'Falling Ash']
After such an action-packed season premiere, 'Nikita' had big shoes to fill to maintain the momentum of the previous episode, which may be why 'Falling Ash' felt a little unspectacular (if competently executed) in comparison.
Still, the episode laid important groundwork for the weeks to come, especially with the surprising revelation of the last five minutes. Alex was also given a new goal to work towards in the hunt for her father's business partner, and poor, long-suffering Birkhoff finally admitted that he actually kind of liked having his freeloading rogue ex-colleagues crashing at his bachelor pad.
As Devon Sawa teased in our interview, the episode ended with a twist that no-one could've predicted: the former Guardian working alongside Ari Tasarov and Gogol, allegedly to take down Division. While Gogol certainly has the resources to track down the remaining black boxes and destroy Percy, we can't imagine that Nikita will be too thrilled with Owen's current choice of bedmates when she finds out who's funding her ally's missions.
Sawa's return was a welcome one (and not just for the added eye-candy), and his interactions with the main cast were suitably compelling -- especially his scenes with Shane West, who played good cop to Sawa's bad cop to amusing effect in their comedic scene with Aaron Stanford. Owen and Michael's poignant conversation in the car was another high point in the episode, with both men commiserating over the dangers of the job. Will Michael heed Owen's warnings about getting Nikita out of the spy game while they're still alive? His contemplation of Birkhoff's tropical island snowglobe suggests that the issue is weighing heavy on his mind.
It's also a pleasure to see Nikita and Michael acting as such a complimentary unit, even if they sometimes disagree; it's a testament to the actors that they can convey such emotion and trust with just a subtle glance or gesture, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of those unspoken displays of affection before outside forces start intruding on their relationship as Craig Silverstein teased.
Although the concept of the sleeper agents was an interesting one (are there more out there, I wonder?) something about the episode didn't quite click for me, and I didn't feel quite as enthralled as I was last week, even though the dialogue felt a lot less heavy-handed in this installment.
'Supernatural' fans were probably pleased to see Julie McNiven's familiar face, and her good girl gone bad character was somewhat reminiscent of the fallen angel she played on that show. Her scenes with Birkhoff had a nerdy sweetness to them, but we all kind of figured that their relationship was doomed from the get-go, right?
It was also interesting to see Nikita channeling her inner-junkie, further highlighting the similarities between her and Alex (who did the same last week in an attempt to manipulate her) -- apparently the two main hallmarks of drug addiction are smeared eye makeup and the lack of a hairbrush. Silverstein has promised that we'll delve further into Nikita's past this season, so I'm hoping this episode is an echo of flashbacks to come (there's a mind-bending sentence!) and that we'll get to see Nikita's actual battle with addiction as we revisit her history.
Alex wasn't given much to do this week -- which was probably just as well, given her injury -- but she still enabled Percy to do his Hannibal Lecter routine, and we learned a little more about Sean's softer side (if you can call his advising Alex to kill Nikita before Oversight do "soft") and managed to save a senator in the process. It's interesting that Ari Tasarov's name came up on the list of associates Amanda provided her with, which probably means that Gogol will reenter the fight sooner rather than later. I'm loving how the show is positioning all of our favorites on a collision course with each other; fans will probably get that long-awaited Alex/Owen meeting (and likely showdown) in the not-too-distant future.
Overall, the episode was a solid effort that felt somewhat less urgent than the premiere but still managed to offer some standout scenes (mostly thanks to Sawa). I'm very intrigued to see where the season goes from here, especially since next week's preview looks set to pit Nikita against Amanda in a very dramatic way.
'Nikita' airs Fridays, 8PM ET on The CW.
What was your favorite moment from the episode? Did you enjoy Owen's return? What do you think of him working with Gogol? Share your reactions below!
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