['Nikita' - 'London Calling']I knew that the streak of awesome 'Nikita' episodes had to end sooner or later, and last week's 'Clawback' was definitely a hard act to follow, but I was still a little disappointed by how emotionally disconnected I felt from 'London Calling.'
That's not to say that the episode was terrible, by any stretch of the imagination, but the danger of focusing a story around a character who isn't a series lead (and further, a character whom much of the fanbase actively dislikes) is that the audience will struggle to relate to the narrative. I'm sure that the producers hoped that we'd be invested in Cassandra's fate purely because she's the mother of Michael's child, but frankly, I couldn't care less whether she lived or died, which made the stakes of the episode practically non-existent.
It's not even the fault of the writer. Kalinda Vazquez wrote a competent enough episode (even if the missing $ 200 million felt a little like a convenient MacGuffin that was never really explored in depth), but since Cassandra was introduced purely to be an obstacle to Nikita and Michael's relationship, nothing we learned about her in this episode actually made her more sympathetic.
If anything, Cassandra's unexpected MI6 backstory made her more of a threat to Nikita than before, since the one thing Nikita seemed to consider her trump card over Cassandra was the fact that Michael's presence would make all three of them vulnerable, with one agent trying to care for two civilians. But there's no denying that two agents (plus the firepower of MI6) would be more than enough to keep the trio secure and allow them to play happy family in the process.
Once again, Nikita's martyr complex kicked in, and she tried to end things on Michael's behalf for the umpteenth time this season -- the only difference was, this time Michael didn't fight her on it.
Obviously, Nikita is being driven by her own insecurity at this point, as much as her altruism -- we know that she was a foster kid, bounced around and abused and abandoned until Division got their claws into her and applied their own brand of esteem crushing, so it's a given that this is a woman who is used to being discarded by those who are supposed to care for her. And as much as she loves Michael and wants to put his needs first, as she watched Michael interact with Cassandra, you could read in her expression that she's terrified of being replaced, that she thinks Cassandra has such a profound bond with Michael purely because of Max that it's inevitable that Nikita will be the one Michael chooses to walk away from. (And kudos to Maggie Q. for conveying all of that without dialogue.)
Walking away first was undoubtedly a self-defense mechanism, but it may also be the best decision she's ever made. We all know that Michael and Nikita are made for each other, and even if Nikita doubts it at this point, I still believe that Michael knows it too. Nikita's right that Michael needs to give Cassandra and Max a chance for his own peace of mind, so that he never has to wonder 'what if?', but having a child together doesn't instantly mean that two people are compatible, and his feelings for Nikita aren't just going to disappear because they're on a break (Ross and Rachel taught us that much). By trusting Michael enough to let him go, I think Nikita has ensured that he will come back to her in his own time -- whether that was her intention or not.
I've also got to give continued props to Shane West for everything he manages to express without words. His early scene with Max, just watching cartoons and eating cookies, was particularly touching, and even when Michael and Nikita aren't on the same page (as in the final scene and during the firefight when he thought Cassandra's car had gone over the cliff) the intensity between them always proves compelling and electric to watch.
Sadly, while most of the real character development occurred in the last five minutes, the rest of the London-based plot suffered from the same lack of urgency I mentioned earlier -- Nigel was a one-dimensional British cliché whom most of us probably pegged as a villain from the get-go (and as an Englishwoman, I protest the hamminess), although I did appreciate Birkhoff's apt description of him; I'll be adding "doucheboat" to my repertoire, post-haste.
Back on this side of the pond, we got a welcome injection of Percy and a little development between Alex and Sean, though even that felt somewhat throwaway after the major moves we saw last week. It's a given that not every episode can be wall-to-wall action and plot-development, but this episode definitely felt like more of a warm-up than an actual game, and coming hot on the heels of such a pivotal episode, the change of pace definitely felt jarring.
I think my favorite moment of the episode came when Alex's bank transfer triggered the encoded message to one of Percy's remaining Guardians, because at this point, the man is playing a chess game against himself and none of the other characters are sharp enough to even come to the table. Manipulation is as easy as breathing to Percy, and although it's obvious that Alex had no choice but to indulge him, I'm still enjoying watching him move his pawns around the board. Few villains are as consistently devious, loathsome and charismatic all at the same time, and I think his machinations from inside the box are even more fun than when he had free rein with Division's resources last season. It just makes me wonder what Amanda's going to do to catch up.
We're finally starting to see Sean's true colors emerge, now that his mother is in danger; he plans to use Alex as bait for Nikita, given their bond, but is she just a puppet, or is this a convenient excuse to get closer to her because he really is starting to develop feelings for her? After all, cozying up to Alex and destroying Nikita don't necessarily have to be mutually exclusive -- not that Alex would take too kindly to being used, if she discovered Sean's true motives.
I was glad to see Alex choosing the chaste route and kissing Sean on the hand instead of the lips when he tried to get a rise out of her; I'm hoping she continues playing hard to get, since right now it seems like 'taking Nikita out' is at the top of Sean's to-do list. He's definitely becoming far more interesting as the weeks go on, I'll give him that much.
'Nikita' airs Fridays at 8PM ET on The CW.
How long do you think Nikita and Michael will be separated for? What are your feelings on Sean at this point? Have you warmed up to Cassandra at all? Share your thoughts below!
Follow Laura on Twitter: @LauinLA
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