NIKITA: Catching Up with Season 3

The first two episodes of Nikita season 3 have set the stage for the clean up operation of the Dirty Thirty as well as some continuing threads and possibly some loose threads for the season.

Two rogue agents have been dealt with. One may still be alive. As they say, if you didn’t see them die, they can come back. In episode 2, this agent had a “recruit” of his own, a 12-year-old girl that he had kidnapped two years ago. He had kept her in a basement and forced her to train for a mission that he thought would blot out the failure of one of his recruits 10 years ago. Strange man. But also strange was the scene where his recruit had escaped from Division and was meeting up with her trainer. He asked her if she had been tortured at Division. She said “No” and then he checked her teeth. So does anyone know, is that a method for determining if someone has been tortured? Or is that a loose thread? Like a microchip implanted in her tooth? And when Nikita and Alex returned the girl to her grateful parents with a cover story that did not include Division, I wondered if her story was left a little open ended.

The first mission was very high profile, much to Ryan’s dismay. He hasn’t shared with anyone yet that his agreement with the President for the staff at Division to be exonerated requires that everything be done very quietly. Trying to keep to those standards and deal with Nikita and company who expected to operate as usual, created and continues to create tension every time Ryan shuts down one of their plans or chastises them when their actions are too public (i.e. Michael arrested for murder in Hong Kong; Alex using her diva heiress image to plant a bug in police headquarters; Michael’s extraction from the Hong Kong Police Headquarters; a shoot out in front of the police station; and last but not least Michael breaking away to attack the detective that had taken the engagement ring that he had been carrying).

Yes, there was a somewhat humorous as well as touching marriage proposal. I loved the shot of Maggie Q’s face when she saw the ring. Then more humor with the lady behind the counter when Nikita took her ring in to be sized. Along with Birkhoff’s reaction to the engagement, it looks like this will continue to be a source of humor.

Meanwhile we have gotten a clearer picture of Ryan’s predicament when Madam President calls him and expresses her displeasure. Ryan assures her that they will be more discreet in the future. Her reply, “If there is any more exposure on this program. I will have no choice but to send in the troops and burn it down. My first duty is to protect this nation.”

The second mission was more below the radar, but that was mostly due to the nature of the mission. It just naturally needed to be kept quiet since they were trying to rescue a young girl who they hoped to be able to return to a normal life despite her involvement in an attempt to assassinate a Pakistani ambassador to the US. She may also have broken into the Army Research Lab in Fort Granville and stolen some explosives. We never did see her face though, did we? Is there another recruit out there?

Besides brooding over his broken relationship with Sonya, Birkhoff has been creating some pretty awesome spy toys. We have seen a code grabber, which allows agents to listen into any cell phone call. Then there was the device that gave Division control of the police station. He also had a program that allowed him to remotely control a servo-rifle that was keeping Michael pinned down in a warehouse. We didn’t get any particulars yet, but he has been installing some Birkhoff-style features in a “spy car”.

If you need to get caught up on this season’s episodes, or just want to watch them again, full episodes are available at the CW’s website. Episode 3, “True Believer”, airs this Friday at 9/8c.