NIKITA Recap: “Partners” (Episode 4)

A slovenly dressed woman is running through a crowd in Turkey, being pursued by an unknown person or group. As she breaks out into the open, a speeding van comes to a halt in front of her with armed guards stepping out to stop her. The woman drops to her knees, presumably to give herself up. But just as one of the guards moves directly in front of her, she fights back, as if she has been trained to do so, using him as a shield as the other guards begin to shoot. She grabs the guard’s gun and fires back, taking out both of the guards near the van and then she turns around to shoot the guard who had been her shield for good measure. She then runs to the van and drives off while panic reigns.

Meanwhile inside the walls of Division, Amanda is watching a recorded news report on the woman’s assault on the guards. It turns out the woman is a Division agent named Kelly (guest star Katheryn Winnick) who was tossed in a Turkish prison four years earlier. It seems that Amanda does not want Kelly to be hunted down and returned to Division; she wants a cleaner team sent because Amanda claims “she wasn’t a threat as long as I knew where she was”.

Back at Birkhoff’s place, the trio is also on the alert because of the news reports. Nikita had always thought Kelly – her former partner – was killed in action; at least that was what Michael had told her at the time. As we see in flashbacks, Nikita and Kelly were on a mission in Turkey called Operation Broken Eagle that obviously went bad. This was also the mission that Nikita used to fake her own death in order to get out of Division, but it turns out that Kelly paid dearly for the subterfuge. Of course, Nikita now feels responsible for what happened to Kelly and is determined to help her despite Michael saying that Kelly “won’t be happy to see you” because Nikita left her behind.

Then, Alex walks into Amanda’s office where she is only mildly reprimanded for disobeying Amanda’s orders to not assassinate Kochenko. Alex simply states, “If you didn’t want me to take the hit, you shouldn’t have put the gun in my hand”. As a way to “redeem” herself with Amanda, Alex is asked to go to Turkey to track down Kelly before Nikita can get to her. But, of course, Alex wants to know what she’ll get in return. Amanda explains that Division has eyes and ears inside Semak’s broker’s office and they can get Alex inside his winter retreat, using that as leverage to get Alex to do Division’s bidding.

Nikita

Next we see a meeting in a high-rise building between Ari, the leader of Gogol, Gregor, the chief security officer for Semak and Semak himself, discussing the murder of Kochenko. Semak, obviously, is very angry about losing one of his top executives, taking Gregor’s life in exchange and putting Ari in charge of hunting down the killer.

Back at Division, the new computer tech girl is reviewing with Alex Kelly’s steps after she got away from the guards in Turkey. They also review Kelly’s last mission to determine just what she might be trying to do. Then Alex learns that Roan (Rob Stewart) will be coming with her because, as he says to Alex, “it’s your job to track Nikita; my job starts when you find her”.

Next, Amanda pays a visit to Percy, explaining that she is only there because Alex is in Turkey hunting down Kelly; for which Percy is already well aware because of the news feeds on the TV he acquired from them during a previous exchange of information. He quickly surmises that Amanda needs help not only with Kelly but with the Kochenko killing not to mention reigning in Alex who wants to move on her path of revenge much more quickly than anticipated.

In Turkey, Michael and Nikita are stationed outside the safe house that was to be used four years ago by the “partners” while on their mission. Nikita knows that is where Kelly will go so she can safely get out of Turkey, but Nikita has already taken the documents Kelly needs, leaving behind only a cell phone. Kelly, of course, is surprised to hear Nikita’s voice when answers a call on the cell phone. Nikita asks Kelly to meet her for an exchange at a nearby park where she will explain everything, but rather than wait for an answer she hangs up. Michael asks, “How can you be sure she’ll show” with Nikita saying, “if it were me, I’d want that explanation”.

The meeting at the park doesn’t go quite as planned with Kelly using a decoy to lure Nikita out. Kelly then threatens Nikita, telling her “I want my stuff back,” demanding Nikita hand over a bag hanging around her neck. As she hands the bag over, they, of course, begin to fight with Michael quickly stepping in to halt them. Then Birkhoff, who is watching via satellite, alerts them that half a dozen police are in route to their location and they need to move. Nikita wants to split up – to Michael’s objection – but he agrees since they are quickly being surrounded. The girls steal a police vehicle while Michael acts as a distraction. Alex and Roan are then relayed information about the police movements by the new tech girl at Division with Alex quickly deducing that the police car that is moving separately from the others must be Kelly and Nikita.

Since they eluded the police, Nikita and Kelly are shown inside the train station, walking into a baggage area where they end up rehashing what happened since Kelly’s incarceration and how Division screwed Kelly over. Nikita states, “You were captured Division washed their hands of you. I find out you’re alive I drop everything to come here. Four years in prison they did nothing.” As Kelly contemplates those truths, Nikita pulls out a piece of luggage that she claims she hid there four years ago. They will use disguises to get out and Kelly agrees because she is out of options. Nikita wants to make sure that Kelly gets the second chance that she feels Kelly deserves.

Of course, Michael has lost the police and he alerts Birkhoff to Nikita’s plan, but he clearly states to Birkhoff that he doesn’t trust Kelly. They briefly reminisce about how Kelly and Nikita formed an unusually bond during their days together at Division with Michael telling Birkhoff to keep an eye on them until he can join them.

Meanwhile, back at the train station, the girls are all cleaned up in their disguises, pretending to be two French girls on the last leg of their holiday, which is what they explain to a train station guard and then a conductor who asks for their identification. They obviously pass inspection with the conductor assisting them to the train. They need to get to Istanbul, meet up with Michael and then Kelly can be free. While waiting for the train to depart, Kelly explains how she was able to get out of the prison and Kelly asks Nikita why she and Michael aren’t hiding out on a beach somewhere. Nikita says she wants that, but she doesn’t want to hide; she wants to be free of Division and everything they’ve done before they end up there together. But Alex and Roan have tracked them down at the train station and climb on board as the train prepares to leave.

Back at Ari’s office, he is interviewing the young man who was handling the press the day of Kochenko’s murder (the man who Alex wooed), trying to get any little detail on what he may have seen that day that, in light of what happened, may now be looked at as not as legitimate as it seemed at the time. The young man tells Ari about a girl, a photographer, who wanted a better view than the press area allotted. But Ari clearly states there were no press passes given out to female photographers and even though it seems like he might do harm to the young man, he simply asks for a description of the girl, which the young man gladly provides in an effort to save his own neck.

Alex and Roan

Meanwhile, the train is now heading to its destination with Alex and Roan doing a quick search – car by car – for the women. Alex approaches the same conductor who had questioned the women inside the train station about their documents, asking him if he has seen them, using photos of the woman as they appear on their Division ID’s. He doesn’t recognize them, though, but shares that there were two women who are “up ahead, fourth car I believe”. Alex and Roan are, of course, in hot pursuit but Birkhoff contacts Nikita, warning her that he spotted them at the train station, which puts her and Kelly on the defensive.

They race through the train trying to find a way off or to stop it, but they can’t so the decision is made to stand and fight but with one warning from Nikita to Kelly: they can’t hurt Alex. They force the people out of the dining car so they can use that as for tactical advantage with Alex and Roan entering and a showdown commencing. The two girls fight them off, leaving Alex and Roan locked inside the dining car while the ladies jump off the train and race through the countryside. This ruse only detains Alex and Roan temporarily as the Division tech girl trips a switch that will detain the train, allowing them to get off and go after them.

Nikita and Kelly reach a nearby town, inform Michael they are off the train and have to form a new plan to get out. He tells them to meet him at the docks in Istanbul so that Birkhoff can try to get them out on a freighter. But those aren’t their only problems: It seems Kelly is actually working for Ari, the leader of Gogol, as we quickly discover when she uses a bathroom break ruse to swipe a cell phone from an unsuspecting restaurant customer. She is supposed to get the black box from Nikita in exchange for her freedom. But the plan is changed by Ari once he learns the description of the Division woman who is after them matches the ID of the young photographer from the Kochenko assassination. Kelly is to forget about retrieving the black box and bring him Alex instead.

Nikita then easily steals a get-away car, allowing her and Kelly to get on the move, but Kelly punches a hole in one of the tires. Then we see that Alex and Roan are in pursuit once again, tracking them to the same restaurant because it was the closest place to where they jumped off the train. At the same time, Kelly is questioning why Nikita would want to protect Alex with Nikita explaining how Alex came to be in Division and vaguely about what pulled them apart. Kelly then reprimands Nikita for being “the only one who can handle the truth, the only one who knows the right thing to do”. But then Kelly asks why Alex would defend the place that ‘destroyed you’ with Nikita saying that Amanda has confused Alex, making her think that she needs Division.

Elsewhere, Amanda and Percy are having their “cup of tea” (his request for her return visit) while they discuss Alex’s recent actions. But, Percy makes it clear that he won’t underestimate Amanda. He believes that she simply wants Semak out of the way so Amanda can put her own ‘puppet’ in his place, using Alex for her means to get that; but she argues that she’s only helping Alex regain what is rightfully hers. But then Percy reveals that several of Alex’s father’s men vanished after the killing of Alex’s family and if Amanda were able to find them, “perhaps they could help you re-establish Alex’s rightful place on the throne”. Amanda, of course, appreciates the intel, but questions what he wants in return with him alluding that she knows what he wants, but instead asks for his clothes back in place of the prison “onesie” that he has been forced to wear.

Alex and Roan then show up at the same restaurant where Nikita and Kelly were finding the wig that Kelly left behind in the bathroom and overhearing the customer whose cell phone was swiped by Kelly yell at the manager about the theft; at the same time, the punctured tire on the stolen car blows out, leaving Nikita and Kelly stranded in the middle of nowhere. Nikita reports to Michael about this latest setback while Kelly searches for a safe spot for them to hide until he can get to them. Before Kelly comes back to the car, though, Nikita finds the puncture mark in the tire, quickly realizing that Kelly did it. That hunch is confirmed once Nikita finds the stolen cell phone and dials the last called number, hearing Ari’s voice on the other end, stating that a team has been dispatched to ‘capture’ them.

Alex and Kelly

When Kelly comes back to the car, Nikita pulls a gun on her while Birkhoff is able to get their coordinates to Michael right before Nikita shoots the cell phone to pieces. Kelly claims that Ari offered her a way out of prison with Nikita thinking that Kelly was sent to kill her, but Kelly shares that ‘as much as Ari wants you dead, he wants Percy’s black box more’. She then reveals that once Ari learned about Alex that her mission changed, taking her from the “Trojan horse to bait”. But, Birkhoff tells Michael that while Division is on its way to them, another force – that is clearly not Division – are closing in on them. Michael reports back to Nikita that it is Gogol on their trail, causing her to flee into the forest mere minutes before Alex and Roan find the abandoned car. Soon enough a firefight ensues between Roan and Gogol with Alex running for her life; but as Nikita takes one of the Gogol soldiers down Kelly gets the drop on Alex, using her as bait to draw Nikita out. Fortunately, Michael shows up (again in the nick of time) and it’s a brief standoff with Kelly holding a gun at Alex; but Nikita shoots Kelly in order to save Alex’s life, telling her that Gogol wanted Kelly to capture her. And even though Alex is concerned that Gogol may now know who she is, she won’t leave with Nikita and Michael because she believes Division is the safest place for her. They have the resources she needs to kill Semak, which isn’t just for revenge now but because Semak will make sure to correct the mistake of her not being killed along with the rest of her family. Before Roan can show up to Alex’s location, though, she lets Michael and Nikita get away, reports that Kelly is dead and that there was no sign of Nikita.

In the final scene, Nikita and Michael are safely back at Birkhoff’s place, discussing the events that transpired with Nikita saying that despite everything, she still wanted to help Kelly because, according to Michael that is what she does: “When you find someone in trouble, you wanna help”. She tells him that they wouldn’t have gotten out without him, and he says “that’s what partners are for” – but Nikita asks if they can use a different term because she has a bad track record with partners – the one lighter moment was Michael turning down the term of ‘boy toy’. Michael also tells Nikita that he believes Alex will come around – even though she is back at Division – because she let them escape.

Back at Division, Alex tells Amanda she is upset because she didn’t complete the mission: she didn’t capture Nikita or the black box, but Amanda disagrees because she handled the situation with Kelly. Alex also tells Amanda that her element of surprise is now gone because Gogol knows what she looks like and it’s only a matter of time before they realize who she is. And even though Amanda claims Division will keep Alex safe, the truth is already known as Ari is shown meeting with Semak about the botched mission and the Kochenko shooter. Ari tells Semak that a Division agent was behind the murder and that he believes the shooter is actually Alex Udinov; to which Semak tells Ari that he is to make sure Gogol has orders to shoot her on sight. Semak doesn’t want anyone within the corporation – which he basically stole from Alex’s father after the killings that he arranged with Division – to know about Alex or else she will develop supporters who will want her returned to her birthright, taking away everything Semak has claimed for his own.

Partners is the fourth episode of the second season of Nikita. The next new episode will air on The CW on Friday, October 21 at 8/7c.

What did you think of this new episode? Did you believe that Kelly really did escape the Turkish prison on her own or did you question how that escape really happened? Were you surprised to see Roan return, working with Alex? Were you pleased that Alex let Michael and Nikita escape? What about Semak’s plan to have Alex killed? Do you think that will happen or will Amanda, for one time only, actually be a woman of her word? Please share your thoughts below.