Save One Show Appeal: Nikita

Each TV season there is always that ONE show for which viewers choose to support beyond any other. Which TV show that is, of course, changes depending on who you talk to because we all have very different taste in what entertains us when we sit down to watch that square box in our homes.

This TV season, like all others, there are a lot of new and returning shows from which to choose; but in my humble opinion, I would like to bring peoples’ attention to one particular show that, while already in its third season on the air, has seemingly gone overlooked during its run in primetime.

That show is The CW espionage thriller Nikita.

When the show debuted on September 9, 2010 it pulled in 3.6 million viewers and was based on the 1990 French film of the same name as well as the 1993 remake Point of No Return and the 1997 USA Network series La Femme Nikita.

For those who need a refresher, Nikita centers on a secret organization known as Division that targets troubled young people from troubled backgrounds. The organization erases all evidence of their past lives, molding them into spies and assassins. Nikita (as played in this version by Asian beauty Maggie Q) is the first recruit to escape, promising to bring Division down.

During the breakneck-paced storyline of the first season, Nikita – through an elaborate scheme to bring Division down – works to get her protégé, Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca), inside Division, working as her mole. The duo is able to work unseen by the power players within the organization – ruthless leader Percy (Xander Berkeley) and diabolical right-hand woman Amanda (Melinda Clarke) – sabotaging missions that would have been major successes for Division.

As the story progresses, Michael (Shane West) – the man who trained Nikita and many other Division recruits, including Alex – eventually joins Nikita in her mission to bring down Division, [after learning the truth about Percy – that he was not the man who Michael thought he was]. But in the end Alex becomes disillusioned by Nikita, especially after Alex learns that Nikita was involved in the death of her parents, pushing Alex right into the hands of Amanda.

Season two of Nikita returned to the CW on September 23, 2011, moving to a new night and time. Unfortunately, this move hurt the show in terms of ratings, but still provided a compelling storyline that found Michael and Nikita on the run together with Alex hot on their trail. Eventually, Alex sees the error of her ways, coming back to join Nikita in her mission against Division. The trio is joined by discarded tech genius Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford), former Navy Seal Sean Pierce (Dillon Casey), who was brought into Division by Oversight (namely his mother who was one of the main members of Oversight, the governing board, shall we say, of Oversight) and Ryan Fletcher (Noah Bean), the CIA agent and analyst who became an ally to Nikita and ended up as Head of Division in the second season finale.

Nikita returned for season three on The CW just a few weeks ago with the focus now on an all-new Division that is under control of Ryan, Nikita and Michael, working to change the organization while bringing down rogue agents who are still devoted to the late Percy (who died at the end of season two).

As each season has aired, sadly, the ratings for Nikita have dwindled; but the show has, in my opinion, remained one of the best written shows on network TV featuring female characters that are not only physical strong but also a fantastic representation of a strong woman. And out of all the shows that are currently airing on the major networks that are currently in jeopardy of not sticking around for another season – and let’s face it there are many – Nikita is the one show that deserves to be top on the list of the “save our show” effort.

Nikita will actually be on a short break, airing its next new episode on November 30 at 8 PM on The CW so if I suggest that folks take that time to catch up on the series and see for yourself what a little treasure Nikita is.

NOTE: The second annual Castle Convention will be held in Los Angeles this coming weekend. You can learn more about the fan event here: http://castleconvention.com/