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

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

TV Show Review: Nikita - Season 3

Stars: 3 out of 5

Pros: Good action and characters – some of the episodes

Cons: Some storylines too weird, dark, and soap operay

The Bottom Line:

Definite step down

Fans will want the next chapter

But not show’s strongest

"Division's Different Now."

Season three of Nikita takes our heroes off in a new direction, sort of. They are still trying to take down Division, but this time they are doing it from the inside because they are running it. It created some interesting stories, but I’m still not quite sure it worked as well as the previous two seasons.

The only reason that Division is still up and running is so they can take down the last few rogue agents. They would prefer to bring them in and help them adjust to a normal life, but they will take any means necessary to do it if they don’t cooperate. After all, the goal is to take down this super secret organization as quickly as possible so our heroes can go on with their lives.

Leading the fight in the field and back at the super secret office is Nikita (Maggie Q) along with fiancé Michael (Shane West). (And just wait until you see how the proposal happens.) Ryan Fletcher (Noah Bean) is officially running the office and reporting directly to the President. Still on the computers is Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford), and Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) is often helping in the field as she also tries to come to grips with her family legacy. Meanwhile, Amanda (Melinda Clarke) is still out there and working to bring down Nikita any way she can.

The main problem I had with this season is how dark it got. I know the show has not always been sunny and light – this has been more of a hard action drama. However, the writers took the characters to some seriously dark places as the season progresses. I liked how they handled it and the character growth it provided, but I didn’t always think it was necessary. In fact, at times, I felt they went too far just in an attempt to give us another plot twist. And it's that element that bothered me more than the story they were telling which at times veered toward soap opera.

This does mean that the actors were called on to do more, and they stepped up their game. No matter how much I was rolling my eyes at the plots the characters were given, I always believed the acting that went with it.

Likewise, the special effects were great when needed, and the action was always top notch. This is an action show more than anything else, and it works perfectly as that. Those scenes are fun and adrenaline pumping – what else do you want?

All 22 episodes are available in their native wide screen and full surround in a five disc DVD set and a four disc Blu-Ray set. Extras include deleted scenes and a gag reel.

I was ambivalent about the show continuing until I saw the season finale. That’s when I realized how much I still cared for the characters and I wanted to see how things would resolve. Fortunately, we’ll get six episodes starting late in November of 2013 to wrap things up. Fans will want to catch up on season three of Nikita before that happens. Here’s hoping the show goes out with a bang like the first two seasons instead of middle of the road like this season.

Season 3 Episodes:

1. 3.0

2. Innocence

3. True Believe

4. Consequences

5. The Sword's Edge

6. Sideswipe

7. Intersection

8. Aftermath

9. Survival Instincts

10. Brave New World

11. Black Badge