NIKITA Recap: “Wrath” (Episode 19, Season 2)

Wrath is defined as divine vengeance or retribution. That short, concise description easily encapsulates all of the key players in Nikita; especially the title character herself, Percy and the imprisoned arms dealer by the name of Brandt (guest star Rick Ravanello), for whom Percy and Roan pay a visit to in a Norwegian CIA black site named Lighthouse. This “visit” is clearly yet another step in whatever nefarious plan concocted by Percy, but to what end?

As the story plays out, it is clear that Brandt was taken down by Nikita five years earlier on order by Percy. Division was tasked to retrieve plutonium in Brandt’s possession, but while Nikita was able to take the man himself down the plutonium eluded them all. Now, it seems Percy wants to compromise with Brandt in order to acquire the volatile chemical for which the arms dealer has had hidden all these years despite his incarceration. And in return Brandt wants one thing – the woman who brought him down: Nikita.

Nikita and Brandt

Cut to Sean ushering his mother – Senator Madeline Pierce, the only surviving member of Oversight – into an awaiting limousine while he calls the team to advise them that Brandt reportedly escaped from the black site and they figure out that Percy somehow infiltrated Division while Amanda was busy trying to take over Zetrov with Ari. Suddenly, a man on a motorcycle approaches the motorcade, beating down one of the guards in place to protect the Senator, tossing an explosive device onto her limo. In seconds, before Sean or any of the guards are able to reach the Senator’s car, it explodes, killing her and knocking Sean to the ground. Since he is on the phone with Nikita and the team, they can only hear what is happening until Birkhoff works his technical magic and they see the explosion. Once they establish that Sean is unharmed, they, too, learn the sad truth about the Senator. Meanwhile at Division, Sonya is reporting the bombing to Percy, who all too clearly knows who the culprit is behind the explosion; and soon enough, Nikita does as well because Birkhoff tracks down the assailant who flauntingly stops directly in front of a traffic cam for which they have a visual on and snidely waves his finger at her. Game on!

The team determines that Brandt went after Senator Pierce as a means to get at Sean, which would lead to Nikita showing herself and giving Brandt the opportunity he wanted: to seek retribution on her for his capture and the torture she enacted on him (it is later revealed that the scar on his face was inflicted by Nikita when she literally ripped out one of his eyes). While the team thinks they are one step ahead of Brandt; that is not the case. Brandt takes out the Division agent who was sent in by Percy to stop or kill Nikita based on whatever conditions presented themselves and then captures Nikita after she and Michael split up to check on two different unidentifiable vehicles within the general radius of Senator Pierce’s funeral.

Michael and Brandt

From there, Brandt exacts his revenge on Nikita by strapping her to what appears to be a metal bed frame for which he uses to electrocute her. He spent five years in that Norwegian prison being tortured and worse so he plans on taking his time with her torture. But she won’t break and give Brandt the satisfaction he desires. He knows that he needs to take it to the next level so he contacts Percy, who tells him that Nikita is at her weakest when it is someone she loves who is in the line of fire. In turn, Percy has Sonya contact Birkhoff in order to reach out to Michael, who will be used as the sacrificial lamb. In fact, Michael willingly volunteers to save Nikita’s life; going to a deserted warehouse where a video camera is stationed to watch over him while he drinks some kind of substance that quickly knocks him out, leaving him at the mercy of Brandt. As it turns out, Brandt finally provides the plutonium to Roan once Michael is knocked out and his coordinates at the warehouse are provided.

Now Brandt has his leverage against Nikita, who is not happy when she sees Michael thrown down the stairs in Brandt’s hidden torture chamber, which is actually the basement of a foreclosed home that at one time belonged to one of Brandt’s prison mates in the Norwegian CIA black site. Nikita is enraged when she learns that Michael sacrificed himself for her, yelling hateful words at him, berating him for giving himself up to Brandt for her. When Brandt is briefly distracted by punching Michael, Nikita finally breaks free from one of the restraints she had been working to loosen throughout the course of her torture, and she fights back. Just when it appears that Brandt has the upper hand on Nikita (with Michael securely tied to a chair which was knocked over during her fight with Brandt), Sean and Alex show up just in time – thanks to a tracker that Michael consumed – with Sean taking Brandt out with several bullets to the chest. While it was a brutal way to go – with the final kill shot being a bullet to the head – Sean got his own retribution on the man who killed his mother.

Sean and Alex

In the end, Percy ends up with his plutonium, Sean gets to say a real goodbye to his mom at her graveside with Alex right by his side (and actually taking his hand in a show of solidarity or something else?) and Nikita apologizes for her harsh words to Michael; and, once again, the lines are drawn between Nikita and her team against Percy. Nikita warns Percy via a phone call that she will stop him at all costs and he warns her that change is in the air. If she gives up her crusade, he will leave her and Michael alone; but she declines the offer, reminding him of something he said to her five years ago during the original hunt to bring down Brandt: there are monsters out there and she is coming for him.

“Wrath” is the 19th episode of the second season of Nikita. The next new episode of Nikita will air on Friday, April 27 at 8 PM on The CW.

How did you feel about this episode? What do you think Percy wants with the plutonium? Did you feel bad for Sean, witnessing his mother’s fiery death and being unable to stop it? Do you think Nikita and the team can really stop Percy? What do you think will happen next for all sides: Amanda and Ari, Sean and Alex, Nikita and Michael and Percy? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.