NIKITA Recap: “Arising” (Episode 17, Season 2)

Picking right up from where “Doublecross” left viewers last week, Ari shows up in London to meet with Cassandra, his Gogol mole inside MI6, providing her with details on what we can only assume is the hit on Sergei Sumac. Meanwhile in Moscow, Sean and Alex are discussing what “Belarus Barbie” will do next, getting Nikita on the line to advise her of what they found on Ari’s computer hard drive. To say the least, Michael doesn’t take the news well, making the irrational decision to go to London to get Max. In a fit of panic for his son, he seems to think that he and Nikita can run away with Max to keep him safe because of the reveal of yet another secret to Cassandra, the mother of his son. Thankfully, Nikita is able to talk him down, telling him simply that Max shouldn’t “pay for the mistakes of both of his parents”.

Then Cassandra is shown speaking to her superiors at MI6 about a Gogol courier in Russia who they have been tracking. She and a team of agents are dispatched to Moscow to retrieve this courier – and it appears that the presumed assassination of Semak is underway without MI6 being any the wiser.

Taking Down the MI6 Team

Meanwhile, Sean and Alex are surprised by a late-night visit from Semak and a team of his guards, who are looking for Katya (Alex’s mother); but since Alex believed – according to Ari (why does anyone EVER believe this guy?) – that Semak removed her mother from the rebuilt Udinov mansion, she is angry at him for showing up. Alex quickly changes her tune when she realizes that Semak really has no idea where Katya has been taken and he leaves them unharmed.

Elsewhere in Moscow, Cassandra and her three-man MI6 team are following the Gogol courier; and once it is determined by their video surveillance that he is on his own, one of the MI6 agents – Stuart – heads out to follow him. But soon enough, Cassandra sees Nikita following the courier and she knows that trouble cannot be far behind. While not revealing to the other MI6 agents about Nikita, Cassandra leaves their post only to be cornered by Michael, who, of course, berates her about her involvement with Gogol. As it turns out, she was recruited by them when she was only 19 years old. She claims to Michael “they approached me before I knew any better” and this will be her last mission for Gogol, that Ari will allow her and Max to leave. But Michael knows that cannot be true and soon enough they both figure out that her assignment for Gogol isn’t to kill Semak herself but rather that MI6 agent Stuart will be used as the patsy for the assassination. Nikita, as you can imagine, quickly jumps in to save Stuart’s life, taking out the Gogol courier with Michael quickly joining in the fight.

Nikita and Max

Then Alex sits down for an exclusive TV interview, for which she uses to advantage to get a message out to her mother. At that same time Semak shows up at Ari’s office and through more deceit Ari leads Semak out to the alley where his Gogol courier was just killed by Nikita (in order to save Stuart’s life). Ari, of course, lies to Semak saying that MI6 must have killed the courier and then reveals that Semak was to be the real mark. Before Semak can react, Ari shoots him several times, leaving him to die in the alley.

Then Nikita and Michael go to Alex’s hotel room for a quick meeting, which is when Ari calls Alex to advise her that Semak is finally dead. This news leaves her feeling empty after wanting the man dead for so long; but her attention is diverted by an unsigned letter that was discovered under her hotel door. The letter is actually a message from Katya, letting Alex know where she is hiding.

Nikita The Pilot

Michael and Nikita both know that there is more trouble coming so they head off to help the MI6 team get out of Moscow before Gogol can track them down while Sean and Alex head to a little-known winter cottage where Katya is hiding out. Michael and Nikita quickly help take down the Gogol team dispatched to eliminate Cassandra and her team while Sean and Alex discover that Division agents are guarding Katya. A short time later, Ari finds out that the MI6 team has escaped with help from Michael and Nikita and he decides to leak intel about Cassandra’s double agent status to her MI6 superiors. This, of course, creates chaos for Michael, Nikita and Cassandra who have no choose back to take down (but not kill) the MI6 agents they just saved in order to attempt to get out of the country safely.

Katya reveals to Alex that she ran away from Semak, only to be found by Ari who was the one to place the Division guards around her; and this actually ends up being the endgame for Amanda and Ari. They use Katya as a chess piece against Alex, saying they will let all three of them leave the winter retreat only if Alex signs over all her shares in Zetrov (the company Alex’s father created that ended up in the hands of Semak) to them. But, of course, Alex won’t comply and she and Sean take out the Division agents who are holding guns on them. Sean agrees to take Katya to the Greek Isles for safety with Alex telling her that there are people out there who must be stopped and she wants to be part of that fight.

Cassandra, Max and Michael

Meanwhile, Michael, Nikita and Cassandra are working to not only outrun Cassandra’s MI6 team but also a team of Gogol agents who are after them. Nikita splits off from them in order to retrieve Max, which she is able to do once she dispatches two other agents who also came to get Max. Soon enough, Cassandra and Max are reunited and a plan is set in motion to get them out. As Nikita, in the pilot seat of a small plane, takes off presumably with Cassandra and Max in tow, the plane explodes shortly after take-off, making it appear to Gogol and MI6 that they were all killed.

Thankfully, their ruse works: Nikita safely parachuted out of the plane before it exploded while Cassandra and Max were hiding with Michael. Michael tells Cassandra that he cannot leave with her and Max, that he has to stay with Nikita and that he will never see them again. Cassandra realizes that this is for the best, but it is easy to see that she is upset with the circumstances; especially given the fact that she wanted them to tell Max the truth that Michael is his real father.

In the end, Cassandra and Max leave to start their new lives, free from Gogol and MI6 and Michael and Nikita are together to continue the fight against Division.

“Arising” is the 17th episode of the second season of Nikita. Nikita will be back with a new new episode on Friday, March 30 at 8 PM on The CW.

How did you feel about this episode? Did you like how well Sean and Alex work together? Were you surprised at all by the twists from Ari and Amanda, using Katya as leverage with Alex for her Zetrov shares? Were you happy to see Alex turn Ari and Amanda down flat and that Sean stepped up to keep Katya safe? Were you sorry for Michael that he couldn’t really be Max’s dad or just happy that Cassandra is now out of the picture and he is firmly with Nikita? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.