NIKITA Recap: “Guardians” (Episode 10)

As a tactical team moves in on a desolate farmhouse in France, the questions are: Who are they after? Who is on the team? and Which side are they on? The reveals are made pretty quickly: Owen is in charge, the team is after a Division Guardian and the team belongs to Gogol because Ari, Nikita’s nemesis – and the man who desperately wants her dead – is there to ascertain from Owen what they found, which, unfortunately, is nothing. Owen, as a former Guardian, is very suspicious of what caused the hunted Guardian to leave so quickly as that is not the norm: Guardians stick to a very strict protocol. This means something or someone ordered him to move. While Ari and Owen talk, though, it is obvious they are not alone, but is it the hunted Guardian, Nikita or some other foe watching them.

Nikita

Soon enough Owen is back at his apartment and seconds after walking in the door, he knows someone is there. Nikita quickly shows herself and they scuffle but only momentarily. Once Owen realizes it is Nikita, he relents, but Nikita isn’t letting up, she yells at him for working with Gogol – obviously she was the one watching him and Ari at the farmhouse. But Owen is quick to defend himself saying that Ari wants Percy dead as much as they do. He continues that he is using them, that he warned them to leave Nikita alone or he would rip their heads off – starting with Ari. He then wants to know why she is there and she tells him of her need to get a black box, saying that she “lost” it. Owen is shocked by that news, asking how that could happen. Nikita explains, briefly, that it was because of Amanda

Speaking of the woman herself, back at Division Amanda is being told that Alex cannot be located and she, of course, doesn’t like that news. She can seem to be located through any of their vast sources. Amanda, in her usual manner, makes it out that she is concerned for Alex’s safety – given that Gogol has a hit out on her and she was safe as long as she remained inside Division’s walls. The tech girl – who took over for Birkhoff – then tells Amanda that Alex accessed satellite images of an area just outside of Moscow; and now Amanda knows exactly what Alex is doing: going to Semak’s mansion (which is built on the grounds of her former home).

Jumping to Russia, Alex shows up at a billiards room, demanding weapons from an obvious black marketer; but, at first, he bulks telling his men to get rid of her. In short order, she takes out both of them out and aims her wrath at the ‘boss man’ ordering him to give her the weapons that she needs.

Nikita and Owen

Then back at Owen’s apartment, Nikita and Owen are still arguing over his involvement with Gogol; but Owen tries to reason with her saying that things have changed, they don’t have a lot of friends left and they ‘need’ Gogol. Nikita counters with the fact that Percy tried to use Gogol and look where that got him. Nikita then explains to Own about the first mission where she ever defied her orders: the hit on the Udinov family – and reveals the truth about Alex and where she is headed. Nikita feels as much to blame for what Alex is attempting to do as the mission that caused the annihilation of Alex’s family. Then in a lighter moment, Owen says if they are going to go against Gogol they are going to need his rest. Now that he is off the Guardian regimen he sleeps all the time. Nikita comments that he is human again and Owen jokes that “it kinda sucks”.

They then discuss what the hunted Guardian could be up to as we see the man in questions in an undisclosed warehouse, preparing what happens to be a tactical mission bag then sending an encrypted message to someone. That someone turns out to be an unidentified person right inside Division’s tactical base, who is telling the Guardian to await Percy’s next order.

Next we see Alex infiltrating the Pinsky Forest, 60 miles outside of Moscow, on her mission to get at Semak. Meanwhile, the next morning Owen is making breakfast for Nikita and they talk briefly about where Michael is currently. But instead of giving away too much, Nikita changes the subject, asking for more intel on the hunted Guardian. They are looking for Patrick Miller. Owen used search parameters to track Miller’s movements, to determine where he lived, where the black box was located – and even joked that the Gogol tech team could give Birkhoff a run for his money. Then they talked about the farmhouse, if any was left behind, but Owen confirmed that there wasn’t anything. “The place was clean,” he said, but Nikita says they need to check it anyway. He also shares that Guardians never leave their post unless they get a direct order from Percy. Nikita counters that Miller couldn’t have gotten anything from Percy, “he’s locked up in Division, he can’t be doing that; not from the position he is in now.”

At that moment, Percy is seen handcuffed inside his plastic cell while Amanda is taking all of his luxurious away from him. She knows Percy is the reason that Alex is in Moscow, going after Semak. He is being punished for giving Alex the intel to set her off on an ill-advised mission of revenge even though they all want to see Semak eliminated. Amanda walks away rather empty-handed as Percy seems unwilling, as usual, to give her a straight answer.

At the Russian mansion, Semak is speaking by phone to Ari about Alex’s whereabouts and the fact that most of Gogol’s resources are being used to track down the black boxes rather than her. Ari is convinced that Alex has gone underground, is probably cowering in some Division cave – but we clearly see her tromping through the forest, getting ever closer to the Semak mansion. She has a flashback to seven years earlier where her father is training her for a moment very much like the one for which she finds herself in now. Seconds later, moving further into the forest, Alex inadvertently trips a sensor wire and has to act quickly before she is detected. She rips off a small section of fur from her glove, cuts her hand and drips blood on the fur, sticking it to the wire.

Meanwhile, back in France, Owen and Nikita are going back through Miller’s farmhouse in an attempt to find any kind of lead on where he may have gone. They find an empty regimen container; and she confirms with Owen that he received his regimen directly from Percy. “Then where is the Guardian getting his drugs from?” she asks and they determine that Miller would have had to track down a doctor or chemist to fulfill his dwindling supply. Nikita jokes that it’s a good thing Owen knows someone – the Gogol techs – who can help them locate the chemist who Miller was using. Once again, they argue about using Gogol – this time it is Owen questioning Nikita on why they should use them and suggests they just use Birkhoff. Nikita, much to her chagrin, has to explain to Owen what Amanda did to him when he was taken and tortured.

Owen

Owen can see the veneer of Nikita’s strength slipping and he questions if she is really okay. She admits that every time she feels she has a handle on one part of her life another part of it slips away. She gets Michael and loses Alex; they get the black box and she loses Michael. She admits that she is tired and afraid of losing someone else. First it was Birkhoff, then Ryan and maybe now Owen. He gives her a much-needed pep talk and she admits she doesn’t know if Michael is coming back, and she shares how much that concerns her.

Back to the phone conversation between Ari and Semak as they discuss whether to keep Owen in their “employ” and alternate options with the black boxes once they are found. Ari suggests they get the information from inside the boxes and use it against the Americans. Semak doesn’t like that idea, as he cannot afford for the truth that he was behind the murder of the Udinov family to come to light. But, Ari pushes the issue of keeping a black box because they have many enemies and a black box could be very useful against them. It is at this moment where Owen shows up at Ari’s office, claiming he knows how to get Ari a black box.

Back in Russia, Alex is running for her life as the sector guards close in on the tripped wire. She decides to take to a nearby tree for cover and just as she gets to safety the rope she used to climb the tree slips from her hands, landing on the ground. Seconds later two sector guards appear at the base of the tree. Before possibly being caught, the guard at the tripped wire states it was simply an animal – because of the fur and blood that Alex left behind – and she is safe. Once the grounds move out, she attempts to get down out of the tree, but she loses her footing, falling hard to the ground, rolling over and hitting her head on a nearby rock. It is at this time that she has a vision of her father before she passes out. But soon enough, she wakes up leaning against a nearby tree and says, “thank you, Papa”.

Back at Ari’s office, his head tech guy has done a search on chemists in the western European region – based on what Owen told them about the regimen search that Miller had to have conducted. They track it down to three chemists – the most promising being Professor Vernon Christinger in Switzerland who has actually handled some black market requests. Owen says he “is on his way” but Ari states he has a team in Germany who he will send in instead. Owen bulks at that idea because that wasn’t the deal they made. He is the one who finds the Guardians and destroys the boxes, but Ari tells him that isn’t the case this time. He is sending a retrieval team. Owen reports what he knows to Nikita and then he makes another call – one that seems to be made to Miller, the hunted Guardian; but before his call can be completed, a Gogol team tasers him, dragging him off with Ari telling them to bring Owen with them because his knowledge of the Guardians and the boxes could still be useful.

In Division, Roan is shown working through a crossword puzzle – one of Percy’s – that contains a hidden clue. Roan then contacts the hunted Guardian Miller letting him know they have a destination: Amsterdam. Miller confirms he has the black box and Roan tells him he will get further instructions in Amsterdam once he meets up with the rest of the Guardians. Miller tells Roan he has one thing to take care of – the pick-up of his new regimen supply – from Professor Christinger. But, of course, this pick-up is not easily completed as Nikita shows up, causing quite a hitch in Miller’s plan. Unfortunately, the Professor is caught in the crossfire between Nikita and Miller – or more so, Miller takes the Professor out of the equation by throwing a knife into his back. Nikita and Miller get into a firefight over the black box, but then the German Gogol team shows up and they have no choice but to fire on them. But, soon enough, the Gogol teams backs off because they receive a report that the police are in route to their location. In the ensuing melee, Nikita gets the box and makes a run for it with Miller in hot pursuit. Regrettably, a large group of police officers show up. They catch Miller and Nikita and confiscate the black box.

The local Gogol team report to Ari that both Miller along with the black box have been taken in and Ari learns that Nikita was there as well. As it turns out the chemist was under observation for his illegal activities by the local authorities. The team is ordered to follow them by Ari and now he knows who Owen was calling. Ari reveals to Owen that Nikita “is the most complex individual he has ever known,” but he can’t quite understand what Nikita sees in Owen. Owen grins and says, “We both share a common interest; we both can’t wait to kill you”.

Despite her head injury, Alex continues to edge her way toward the Semak mansion now finding herself just outside its doors. Whether it’s because of the head injury or just because she is back in Russia, Alex has yet another flashback to her life seven years earlier. The vision is of her father and then “right-hand” man Semak talking about the upcoming Easter holiday. Semak states that Easter is for holidays and Alex’s father agrees and asks when he will arrive so he can tell his wife Katya. It is apparent that Alex’s father felt that Semak was part of the family (if only he knew what was to come, right?). Alex is then brought out of her reverie by the sound of a nearby guard and she moves toward the house, slipping inside the entrance to the basement.

In the police van, where Nikita and Miller are securely tied (with their arms above their heads) to a rod near the roof of the van, Miller asks how she found him. He is trying to get intel from her, but Nikita scoffs, “we’re not friends or partners” – he argues they are professionals, they are both Division, but she corrects him that she WAS Division. He smirks and says, “You’re the rogue” and then he wants to know why she left. They argue about what Division really is, if he really knows what is on the box, what he is really guarding. In his Irish brogue, he tells her “he worked it out” that he’s “not stupid” and that the box “important to Percy” so it’s leverage. He figures the box is his “golden ticket” as long as he knows which player to get behind, but Nikita argues that “he chose the wrong side to back,” but he counters that she has no idea what is really going on.

It is at that moment that he pulls a knife out of the heel of his boot and works to set himself free. Nikita – still securely tied to the rod with her arms above her head and no weapon at her disposal – is in for trouble. As Miller moves to do Nikita harm, the police van is under attack by the Gogol team. Ari, of course, is right there as is Owen who is tied securely in one of the other cars. As the police van flips over from the onslaught by the tactical team, Patrick is knocked out, but Nikita is still conscious but still firmly secured to the rod. Ari retrieves the black box from one of the police officers that was taken down in the ambush and he orders the team to clean up the van and then they can make Owen “non-operational”. Ari reports to Semak that he has the box and that he is on his way to Russia with it.

At this moment, a fast-moving car is approaching their location and it turns out to be Michael, who takes down the Gogol shooters before they can harm Nikita. He runs to the car for which Owen is trapped in, cutting him loose and they work together to take down the remaining Gogol shooters. The reveal is that Owen called Michael and that is why he was there to help. Nikita works to get herself free and helps in putting an end to the remaining Gogol shooters. But, before Michael and Nikita can any kind of “happy” reunion, they realize that Miller is gone.

Michael and Nikita

Back at Owen’s apartment, Michael and Nikita exchange some awkward small talk about Max and Birkhoff and then share an embrace. But they are interrupted by Owen who tells them they have to go because Miller is on the move. Nikita, however, can’t see the sense in going after him because Ari has probably already destroyed the box; but Owen tells him of Ari’s plan to keep it. As it turns out, Owen has Miller’s laptop that the police confiscated from him and it shows the encrypted message that Miller sent to Roan (although the trio doesn’t know that Miller’s contact) and he learns that the Guardians are on secondary protocol. Simply put: Primary protocol is to stay put and guard the box; but secondary protocol is to pull up stakes, go to a new location and wait for further instructions – this is something that Percy put into action a few years back and he is the only one who can activate it. Owen pushes the issue that the Guardians are gathering and they need to find out why and that the box is not an issue – but Nikita stats the box is always the issue. Owen is determined to go after the Guardians and Nikita wants the box. Despite his better judgment, though, Michael consents to go with Owen to track down the Guardians while Nikita goes after Ari.

In the final scene, Percy is back to basics in his plastic prison with Amanda telling him she will restore some of his privileges if Percy tells her what he shared with Alex about Semak. She says, “Let’s start again” and Percy says he told Alex that she needs to be clear about her future and in order to do that she has to be clear-eyed about her past. While Percy continues to extrapolate to Amanda, we see Alex sneaking into the dumb waiter inside the Semak mansion while Nikita is tracking Ari. We see Ari pull up outside the Semak mansion, slipping the black box inside his overcoat and Alex sneaking into one of the main rooms in the mansion only to find a much bigger surprise there: her mother (guest star Sarah Clarke).

“Guardians” is the tenth episode and the fall finale of the second season of Nikita. Nikita will be back after the holiday break starting on Friday, January 6 at 8/7c on The CW.

How did you feel about this episode? Were you glad to see Nikita and Owen working together? Were you surprised by yet another last-minute safe from Michael? How about the tenacity it took for Alex to keep moving? Or, how about that reveal at the end about her mother? How about the undeniable chemistry between Nikita and Owen? Do you think that will go anywhere? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.