Carstairs Considers....: TV Show Review: Nikita

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

TV Show Review: Nikita - Season 1

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Suspense, action, and great characters

Cons: One twist to a character's background that was unnecessary

The Bottom Line:

Plenty of action

And some spine tingling suspense

Make this a great show

"You Tried to Kill Me." "Ancient History." "It Was Last Night."

Back in the day, I was a fan of Alias (actually, I wouldn't mind rewatching that show), so naturally I heard the comparisons to La Femme Nikita. While I was interested, I never watched the original movie or the TV show version of the story. But when the CW debuted a remake called simply Nikita in 2010, I decided to give it a chance. By the end of the pilot, I was intrigued and by the end of the second episode, I was hooked. I stayed that way the entire way through season one.

By the time she was a teenager, Nikita (Maggie Q) was already on death row. But instead of being executed, she was recruited by Division, a secret organization inside the US government. She was trained to be a spy and assassin. But when she made the mistake of falling in love and revealing her secret to her fiancée, Division had him killed. And so Nikita escaped and vowed to take them down.

The series actually picks up three years after those events. Nikita has started to move against Division. She heads out to counteract their missions as much as she can. That often means she is going directly against Michael (Shane West) a former friend who might have been more. Percy (Xander Berkeley), the director of Division, is not at all pleased. Computer expert Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford) can't figure out how she is always one step ahead of them.

The answer to that is Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca), a young lady who Division has just recruited. What no one knows is that Alex is a plant, trained by Nikita to infiltrate Division and help her take them down. Alex has her own reasons for doing this, reasons she is hiding from all her new co-workers. Only Amanda (Melinda Clarke), Division's psychologist, suspects that Alex is not the top new recruit she appears to be. Can Alex keep her secret? Will Nikita find a way to take Division down?

I started watching this show despite the fact that I swore off serialized stories this year. Of course, this show isn't serialized in the way that some shows I've watched in the past years have been. Yes, there are on-going stories that move forward each week. However, each episode features a main mission that is resolved by the time the episode is over. There's enough to keep you coming back, but you don't have to keep track of every minute detail along the way.

And let me tell you, this show has plenty of suspense. I often found myself on the edge of my seat trying to figure out how the characters would get out of the particular mess they had made that episode. And as the series progresses, the stakes just get higher. Between the two, I didn't want to miss a moment during the last half of the season.

One thing I liked is that they didn't try to milk their set up for too long. They actually switched things around part way through before it stretched credibility too far. And some twists in the last half showed that the writers are actually thinking and creating believable characters and not focusing on plot first.

Each episode also features flashbacks, usually focusing on Nikita or Alex. Those flashbacks help us further understand the characters and a bit of the action of that week's show. My only real complaint of the season involves these flashbacks, however. Part way through, they give Alex a back story that just seemed out of left field. Maybe there were hints I just missed early on in the season, but even so, I wish they hadn't gone where they did with her character.

The acting is great with not a weak performance in the bunch. Maggie Q has been criticized for being too wooden, but I think she's perfect for a woman who has been very scarred by the work she's done over the years. I believe every note of her performance, including the times she does have to get emotional. And boy can she deliver on the action scenes. But the standout is Melinda Clarke as Amanda. That woman is pure evil, and Melinda captures that perfectly. She is definitely a character you love to hate.

I have heard some people complain about the changes to the show from the originals or even that they are remaking this story. Since I haven't seen any of the originals, I can't comment on that; maybe coming to this series fresh is a good thing. All I can tell you is if you are willing to give this show a fair chance, you will quickly get hooked.

Season one consisted of 22 episodes, and you'll find them all here in their widescreen and full surround glory. And there are extras. We've got commentaries on two episodes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and some behind the scenes featurettes that talk about how the creators tweaked things for this version of the story and how they put together an episode.

Believe me, once you get started, you'll find yourself hooked on season one of Nikita.

Season 1 Episodes:

1. Pilot

2. 2.0

3. Kill Jill

4. Rough Trade

5. The Guardian

6. Resistance

7. The Recruit

8. Phoenix

9. One Way

10. Dark Matter