Nikita - Episode 1.02 - 2.0 - Recap

Nikita returned with its second episode "2.0" last night. After a collection of mixed reviews last week the show needed to go deeper into the action to keep the viewers hooked.

The majority of the episode is focused around Dadich (I think that is the correct spelling), a former war criminal. He is placed under Division's watch after they discover he holds the key to a stash of uranium capable of creating a bomb. Alex is given her first assignment as an escort for Dadich. She is able to contact Nikita and tell her their whereabouts. Before Nikita has the chance to kill Dadich, he is taken hostage by a group of mercenaries who also want the uranium. Both Nikita and Division race each other to find Dadich. Nikita manages to get their first and destroys the GPS which holds the whereabouts to the uranium.

There are also flashbacks throughout the episode that take us back to where Nikita met Alex. Alex used to be a junkie who was being abused by her boyfriend. Nikita frees her from this and takes her to her home to help her come clean. Nikita reveals to Alex that she knows who killed her parents, and she can help Alex get revenge. During the flashbacks, we saw a different side to both characters which I enjoyed. It was almost a mother and daughter relationship between the two. Nikita clearly cares for Alex and wants to help her, she understands her drug addiction as she went through the same thing. These scenes were very well portrayed by Maggie Q and Lyndsy Fonseca.

We were able to see two sides of Alex in this episode. During the flashbacks, we saw a struggling, suicidal young teenager who needed a lot of guidance. Back at Division, we saw a strong, rebellious young woman. At the end of the episode, Michael warns Alex that the head of Division is not happy with her progress and that she has two weeks to improve or else it is "the end". This comes after Alex failed to identify one of the people who took Dadich hostage as well as getting into a fight with Jayden.

The actors really match their roles on this show. I am really impressed with Maggie Q. She can play that strong, superwoman character while still being full of emotion and connect well with the audience. She fits in very well with Nikita. Lyndsy Fonseca and Shane West are also doing an excellent job with their characters.

For me, this episode was a big improvement on last week's episode. The writers managed to take us on an emotional journey during the flashbacks while still giving us some kick-ass scenes. I also enjoy how the writers are making the characters, especially Nikita and Alex, connect with the audience. It would be easy to make Nikita a woman with little emotion but instead they are giving us storylines which make the audience feel sorry for her such as her boyfriend being murdered and Nikita having a past addiction with drugs.

I'm still not entirely sure how Nikita will do on The CW. It's much darker (minus Supernatural) than their usual light, fun, teen dramas. Only time will tell I guess. I for one am looking forward to episode 3.

What did you think of "2.0"?

Thanks for reading!