Episode Report Card Tippi Blevins: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT First Kill
By Tippi Blevins | Season 1 | Episode 11 | Aired on 12.09.2010
Alex is trying to put her twenty minutes to good use. She heads for the weapons locker, but a guard tells her Michael needs to see her in medical. She's like "I don't have time for this shit! but she goes. He's all bandaged up from his gunshot wound, but his first concern is for Alex. He wants her to tell Percy that her gun jammed when trying to kill Zoman. She turns to go, but he wants to know how Alex got away from Nikita. Alex makes up something that doesn't seem to quite satisfy the suspicious-sounding Michael.
Amanda's idea of torture in Nikita's case turns out not to be physical but emotional. She shows Nikita recordings of her first debriefings after she met Daniel as well as footage of them cuddling in bed, making plans for their future. Nikita is disgusted that they would have invaded his home like that. Lady, they kill people. I don't think they're gonna draw the line at privacy. While Nikita's personalized torture is taking place, Alex runs around Division, stealing explosives from the weapons locker and placing them in strategic spots around the building. She places one of the charges under a table in the mess hall. Other recruits congratulate her, but Jaden shows up to crap on her. They agree to meet for a fight later. Man, I hope one of the explosions puts Jaden out of commission for a while. The last charge goes deep into an air vent. The camera pans down, through the vent to Nikita's torture sessions directly below. Maggie Q is acting the hell out of this scene. Nikita is in tears, as devastated as she is enraged. As Alex crawls back out of the air vent, Thom is waiting for her. He aims a gun at her. She starts to lie about why she was down there, but he cuts her off. She drops the pretense. "I wanted to tell you," she says. He tells her to shut up. He looks like he's about to cry.
The timer on the charges counts down. Amanda is still twisting the knife. "I know you think you're fighting fire with fire, but if you keep down that path, everyone will burn," she says. "Including innocents like Daniel." Nikita seems to be silently counting the last few seconds of those twenty minutes. Amanda wants her to give up the black box, to save the lives of others. Nikita tells Amanda to worry about saving herself. This coincides perfectly with the explosives going off. The one in the air vent cracks the ceiling around Nikita's shackles. She pulls hard on the chains, hard enough to lift herself off the ground, and the shackles break free of their bolts. She looks like some kind of sinewy hell-beast. It's awesome.
The distraction of the explosions lets Alex get the drop on Thom. She kicks his gun away. They proceed to beat the snot out of each other. Nikita runs by medical, momentarily locking eyes with a stunned Michael. He calls up to Ops, warning them she's on her way, but she's already fighting her way through all the recruits on the training floor. She takes a bunch of them down, including Jaden -- yay! - then grabs a guard by the arm. She fires his gun at the bulletproof Ops room window while Percy just stands there, unflinching. Another explosion momentarily knocks out the lights; by the time they come back on, she's vanished. Meanwhile, Alex and Thom are still fighting. He manages to grab her for a second. "Was everything a lie?" he asks. She breaks free. They both go for his gun. There's a struggle and, as always happens in these scenes, someone is accidentally shot. Thom slumps to the floor. Alex drops the gun. She remembers kissing Thom, being his friend. Nikita comes to her side, tries to get her to leave with her as Thom gasps and bleeds. Alex refuses to leave his side. How about carting him to medical? You look strong enough to carry the little guy. He's spending a lot of time just gurgling and dying, so you probably have time. But no, she tells Nikita to go without her. Reluctantly, Nikita leaves. Alex cries over Thom. "I'm so sorry," she says. She plants the security guard's key card on him, then presses one last kiss to his lips. If I were him, I'd use my last bit of strength to bite her. Instead, he whispers, "You're gonna see me," as the light goes out of his adorable eyes.
Nikita escapes through the silo, which Percy voice-overs has now been sealed. He's talking to Alex in his office. He asks her about Thom. Did she ever suspect he was the mole? She says he seemed loyal to Division. Percy tells her about all the awful things Thom did, which Alex is actually guilty of. "If you're feeling sorry for him, don't," Percy says. He needs to know that Alex believes she was justified in killing him before he can promote her. "I know why he had to die," Alex says. "I know why I had to kill him. It hasn't weakened my belief as to why I'm here, or my commitment to my mission." She finishes: "It's made it stronger." There's an extra note of defiance and double meaning that Percy doesn't pick up on. He congratulates her on becoming an agent. Fade to black.
Enjoy the hiatus, everyone!