NIKITA: Friends and Allies

One of the most rewarding elements from Nikita season 1 (now available on DVD) is how Nikita and Alex’s relationship developed over the course of the season.

First came the shocking reveal in the pilot that Alex was Nikita’s inside operative. Then we saw, in flashback, how Nikita rescued Alex from life as a sex slave, helped her detox, trained her, and manipulated Division to embed Alex within the new recruits. A sense of loyalty and gratitude to Nikita combined with the desire for revenge on those who harmed her drove Alex in the beginning, but as they continued to work together, I think Alex realized that Nikita is a real friend to her. I don’t believe for a minute that Alex has turned against Nikita. In the midst of conspiracy, duplicity, and manipulation, Nikita is someone Alex can depend on no matter what, and her willingness to aid Nikita, even if getting caught means death, tells me that Alex feels a deeper bond as well.

None of my friends are rogue undercover operatives, nor do they traffic in life or death situations as a general rule, so I can’t say that our bonds have been as seriously tested as Nikita and Alex’s, but in the real world, we are continuously choosing whether to be there for our friends, whether to help them with myriad things, big and small. Sometimes they come right out and ask for help, sometimes they don’t have to. Right now I’m trying to be available for a friend who is going through a divorce. About a year ago, a friend who is an OB/GYN lost her infant patient during what was supposed to be a routine C-section and needed me to be available day or night when the emotions hit hard. These are highly emotional situations, but sometimes our friends need help with, for lack of a better word, strange requests.

I’ll never forget the time a college friend decided she wanted to prank our university by turning the water in the fountain in front of the administration building “pee yellow” for graduation day. I’ve pulled minor pranks on friends before, but never an institution and never on a large scale, but her enthusiasm for the idea was infectious, so I agreed. Tracking down enough yellow food dye for that amount of water, and calculating the right shade of yellow, is one of the strangest things I’ve done in my life, but nothing compares to lugging 20lbs of liquid food coloring in your book bag, then casually sitting on the bench by the fountain and surreptitiously dumping it in the water. We got such a fit of the giggles as the clear water turned yellow, it’s a darn good thing we were there early in the  morning, before most college students had rolled out of bed. Undercover is not my specialty, but if you ever want a fountain made to look like it’s peeing, give me a holler.

Nikita season 1 is now available on DVD.

I have been hired by Warner Bros. WBWord division to promote Nikita Season 1 on DVD. All opinions expressed are my own.