In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.
Okay, so, six years ago, Nikita got her first mission. She had to pretend to be a nanny in order to ingratiate herself into the family of one Victor Han, working for the newly minted Homeland Security. Naturally, she came to like Victor, his wife and their infant daughter, but she was forced to carry through with the mission. With the wife and baby away, Nikita planted an explosives-filled doll in Victor's home. In the present day, Nikita figures out that it was the Triads that ordered the hit on Victor. When Nikita hunts them down, she first gets the wife and daughter to safety. Nikita targets a Triad-operated sweatshop ring, freeing the slave laborers and working her way up the chain of command. When she starts getting close to the top, she discovers that Victor Han is not only still alive, but rather high up in the Red Circle Triad, and that he and Percy faked his death. Nikita confronts Victor and takes him down with a kiss. Literally. Victor is allergic to peanuts and Nikita used a peanut-oil lipstick. Yeah, I know.
She accomplishes most of this without Alex's usual help, because Alex is busily fighting her own past demons back at Charm School. A training exercise sparks a claustrophobic panic attack that forces her to relive her parents' fiery death. Amanda, in her own helpful way, drugs Alex and wraps her up in a straitjacket that will only come off once Alex chills out. She tells Amanda the circumstances of her parents' death (fudging the details but keeping the emotion) and masters her own fears.
At the end, Michael has a chance to shoot Nikita, but lets her escape to return Han to justice. In flashback, we find that Michael works for Percy because he owes Percy his life. So Michael's not a bad little otter, just loyal to the wrong man.
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Alex heads off to the Charm School computer lab that no one else ever seems to use. She messages Nikita, apologizing for being late because they keep changing the schedule. Nikita, in her fabulous loft, tells Alex she needs her on "sentry duty." "I'm about to raise a little hell and I need you to tell me when Division responds." Given how incompetent they seem to be, you probably have a pretty good head start. Alex asks Nikita what she's doing. "Something I should have done a long time ago," comes the response.
Nikita heads to the park. Central Park? I don't know New York parks. Anyway, there are kids playing. Nikita remarks to a little girl that she looks just like her dad. The girl's mother walks up to introduce herself, but freaks when Nikita turns to face her. "Lisa, don't move," Nikita says. Lisa fumbles in her purse for a gun, but Nikita stills her hand before she can pull it out. Nikita's surprised Lisa owns a gun, but Lisa felt it was necessary since Nikita killed her husband. Nikita convinces Lisa she's not there to kill them. Lisa's husband Victor was a good man, Nikita says. Nikita knows her husband was trying to take down the Red Circle Triad's slave labor operations. "I'm going after the Triad," Nikita says, believing that they were the ones who hired her former employers to kill Victor. Nikita's going to make things right, but she won't make a move until Lisa and her daughter Sophie are safe. She even has a car ready for them. Something in Nikita's tone makes Lisa believe her.
Fashion District. Nikita, posing as a chain store buyer, works her way into a designer's shop. The designer, a Tonya Wiles, is wearing a cardigan that looks like it was made of Superman's tights, so I don't know if I trust her design instincts. Nikita makes a dig about the quality of the clothes, given where they were made. Tonya pretends not to know what she's talking about, so Nikita whips out pictures of the sixty-three bodies of people who were smuggled into the country to make Tonya's clothes. All were found in shipping containers by the Port Authority last week. "The Red Circle Triad provides your slave labor, don't they?" Nikita asks. Tonya tries to sass her, but Nikita manhandles her into a quiet corner of the shop and demands to know the address of the sweatshop.
Charm School. The recruits are standing in what looks like a garage but is probably just the same room they seem to use for all the training scenes, with some cars added. Michael assigns them the task of getting under a car to disarm a bomb within thirty seconds. Jaden volunteers to go first but Michael calls on Alex. I totally love all the gray hoodies the recruits wear. Alex crawls under the car but almost immediately has problems. She's breathing hard, her heart is pounding. She flashes back to being a child, lying on the floor, surrounded by fire. She sees Michael's legs as he walks around the car and flashes on an unknown attacker's boots walking toward her. She starts screaming and begging to be taken out of there. Thom springs into action, grabbing her by the ankles and pulling out from under the car. She screams frantically and he folds her up in his arms and rocks her until she calms down. Aw. He might be slow in the ways of secret agent work, but he's a quick study in sweetness. Amanda, watching the scene from the sidelines with the curious expression of some alien observer, tells Michael to send Alex to her.
Ops Room. Birkhoff shows Michael footage of Nikita infiltrating Tonya's shop. There are also records of Tonya being question by US Customs regarding a Red Circle Triad slave labor scam. "She's going back to her first mission," Michael realizes. As Michael walks out of Ops, he flashes back to six years earlier. He proudly watches Nikita on the training floor, sparring (and winning) against a much bigger man. To recall the styles of the day, Michael has slightly longer hair gelled straight up and Nikita has bangs that look like horsehair. Michael's 'do makes him look more like a baby hedgehog than a baby otter. He approaches her for a talk and she notices he's hiding something behind his back. She teases him but he won't show her what it is, so she offers to fight him for it. He fights her with one arm behind her back and quickly pins her to the mat. They pant at each other face to face. He looks like he might want to kiss her, but then gets up and offers her the prize he's been hiding from her. It's a key card that gets her out of Charm School long enough to complete her first mission.
Alex is on that same training floor now with Thom, the two of them fighting with bo staffs. Alex notices Michael and some other agents heading to Ops. The momentary distraction gives Thom the upper hand and he handily takes her staff. She makes some lame excuse about having to go to the computer lab and offers Thom a rematch after lunch. Before Alex can get to the lab, though, a nameless trainer orders her to Amanda.
Nikita drives up to the sweatshop and messages Alex to see if the coast is clear. Well, no, there are a bunch of Chinese gangsters inside. When she gets no response, she decides to have a flashback to pass the time. Her past self is in Amanda's lair. "What do I always say about preparation?" Amanda asks. "It's the key to success," Nikita replies dutifully. Amanda says her first assignment is to build trust, to make someone welcome her into their family. "Family," Nikita whispers. Maggie Q is slightly overselling the "young and naïve" thing, but she's still pretty cute as this slightly coarse version of Nikita. Amanda brings out a case and opens it to show a lifelike infant doll inside.
Still in the past, Nikita finds herself in a very nice house in the suburbs, pretending to be a potential nanny. She holds the baby version of Sophie while Lisa sings her praises to husband Victor. Victor is being played by Russell Wong, of whom we don't see nearly enough on TV these days. Armed guards mill around the house. "What is it you do, Mr. Han?" Nikita asks. He tells her he works for Homeland Security and he's already got enemies. From a surveillance van outside, Michael tells her to quit asking questions. Nikita's thrown, but recovers quickly enough. "You'll be safe and so will my little girl," Victor says. "As long as we keep her away from peanut products." Lisa scoffs that Sophie might not even inherit Daddy's peanut allergies.
Returning to the present day, Nikita's through with her flashback and, having still not heard back from Alex, decides to barge into the sweatshop anyway. She grabs a guard from outside and forcefully marches him inside. Shouting in Cantonese, she tells the slave laborers that they're free to go. Dozens of Asian women scream and scatter. Nikita beats down the man she's holding then takes on three more in fast order. Another man comes at her with a rifle. She pulls out her own gun and shoots it out of his hands. She grabs him by the collar. "Tell your boss I'm coming for him," she says. He scampers away. Nikita burns the factory down.
Amanda's Lair. Alex sulks on the couch while Amanda lights candles. Alex doesn't see the point of this but Amanda encourages her to talk about her panic attack. What triggered it? "It's this place," Alex says. "It reminds me of the way I used to live... the way I was forced to live." "When you were held by the Russians," Amanda says. Alex dispenses with the euphemisms and says she was a sex slave. "At least they had the decency to keep me high the whole time." At this point, Amanda pours her a cup of tea. Alex, having never seen any movies about bad guys ever, drinks it and soon begins to feel woozy. She goes down. Amanda stands over her and tells her she has no choice.
Michael buys a germ-ridden hotdog on the streets of Manhattan and waits outside a place called Club 107. Birkhoff tells him over his earpiece that it's a Red Circle Triad hangout. The boss's name is Chen Lo, Birkhoff says. He pulls up a video feed from inside Chen Lo's office. Chen Lo is bitching at the sweatshop operator who let Nikita get away. Michael views the feed simultaneously on his phone and realizes Nikita must be tracking the man. We cut to her fabulous loft where she's just gotten a hit on the transmitter she planted on the sweatshop operator. She heads out and has a flashback along the way, remembering her last day in the Han household. Lisa heads out for some errands while Nikita cuddles Sophie. Michael's voice in her ear tells her to take the baby for a walk. Nikita, with one of Han's guards in tow, pushes baby Sophie in a stroller down the idyllic suburban street. As she passes the surveillance van, the side panel slides open and men shoot the guard dead. Michael and his douchey 2004 hair demand Nikita give over baby Sophie. "We're not going to hurt her," Michael says. She refuses. The assassin from the first episode (I think) identifies himself as "Roan" and calls for an "abort and clean." "Do not get ahead of yourself," Michael tells him. "Control your asset," Roan shoots back. Michael talks to Nikita: If things don't go right, Division will "clean" the scene by killing everyone, including Nikita, Lisa and the baby. Michael promises to give Sophia back to her mother and Nikita tearfully hands her over.
Nikita is given a doll filled with explosives to take Sophie's place. She returns home and places the baby bomb in the crib. She arms the device and starts out the door. Victor stops her and thanks her. "I don't know what we'd do without you," he says. She nods weakly and leav
es. Moments after she's outside, the house explodes in a fireball. In the present day, Nikita is parked outside Club 107. She sees Michael pacing the street and messages Alex once more. She gets no reply.
Alex is lying in her quarters, just coming out of her drugged stupor. She realizes she's wearing a straitjacket with a beeping digital display on the front. She screams and struggles, falling out of her bed and onto the floor. Amanda is standing there. "Get this off of me," Alex pleads. "It's not up to me," Amanda says. "It's up to you." The display on the front is a heart rate monitor. If Alex can calm herself to 51 beats per minute, the electronic locks on the jacket will release. Alex screams and struggles some more, pacing like a caged animal.
It's night outside Club 107. The city's elite have showed up to party while a throng of paparazzi snap their every move. Michael is still out on the street, pacing. Birkhoff tells him to watch the models, thinking Nikita will dress up like one of them. Instead, we see Nikita dressed like one of the slobby paps, holding a camera in front of her face. She slips behind the guards and, once inside the club, sheds her disguise. Chen Lo is in his office, on a video call with his boss in Hong Kong. We only see the other man from the back as Chen Lo promises to clean up the mess himself, no need to send help. Nikita takes out Chen Lo's guard, steals his key card, and swipes her way into the office. "What are you doing to find the mystery woman?" the mystery man asks. Then he sees her coming into the shot and knocking Chen Lo out of his chair. Nikita leans toward the monitor and gets her first look at the mystery man, none other than Victor Han himself. Nikita looks like she's going to puke when she realizes the man she thought she killed is Triad. She does some thinking and realizes Division faked his death. "How could you?" she asks. "You had a wife and a daughter." Nikita works some computer mojo and finds out where in Hong Kong Victor is calling from. She shoots the computer screen.
She heads for the exit, but Michael is there, gun trained on her. She aims her own gun at him. She says she was just going to take down the Triad's "man in New York" but then she found out Victor Han is their boss. Michael is shocked to hear this. Nikita is shocked at Michael's shock. Then: "Of course you don't know. You never asked," she says. "You probably don't even know why he was a target." Michael lowers his gun. He seems to be having a hard time processing this. Nikita explains he was a double agent for the Triads and now he's gotten a promotion, thanks to Percy. As Triad men pound on the door, Nikita makes her escape, leaving Michael to stew in his disillusionment.
Charm School. Michael storms into Percy's office demanding Victor's location in Hong Kong. Percy realizes Michael's been talking to Nikita. "'How could Percy do such a thing, Michael?'" he asks, guessing Nikita's words. Michael gives Percy the benefit of the doubt. Percy explains that the US government came to him when a Triad double-agent was found to have worked his way through Homeland Security. Percy reminds him this was soon after 9/11. "Do you have any idea what would have happened if that information had gone public?" "It would destroy their agency," Michael says with understanding. Percy kept him alive to avoid problems with the Triads. Michael wants assurance that Percy didn't take money from the Triads, but Percy just tells him to get to Hong Kong.
Nikita's already there, in an airport holding room with Customs agents. They scold her for not declaring some jewelry. She plays the part of a ditzy traveler, more concerned with touching up her lipstick than any legal ramifications. Two men in suits rush into the room and zap her with a stun gun. In uncharacteristic fashion, she goes down without a fight. Victor Han watches the video feed and smiles his approval.
Charm School. Alex is still having her straitjacket panic attack while Amanda tries to get her to talk about her past. Amanda compares her to Nikita (without mentioning her by name) saying that she had to confront her own fears to set herself free. Alex talks about a car accident that killed her parents while remembering the true events of the fire and the armed intruder. "My parents died in that car accident," she says. "And you people put me under that car." She spits the words out. Maybe she's referring to the past as well as the training exercise. Her heart rate calms and the locks on the jacket release. "I'm proud of you," Amanda says. "You really do remind me of Nikita."
Hong Kong, shipping yard. Nikita is marched out of a car and brought face to face with Victor Han, just as she planned. They chitchat a bit, as people are wont to do when catching up, and then Victor wants to know if Nikita told Lisa and Sophie about this. "Oh, you remember their names?" Nikita snarks. Victor insists they were just part of his cover to infiltrate Homeland Security. His real wife and family are here. "I can't believe I ever thought you were cute," Nikita says. Well, he is! He's evil, but he's cute. "I can't believe I never had my way with you," Victor replies. He forces a kiss on her and almost immediately starts gasping for breath. He clutches at his throat. Nikita reveals her special peanut oil lipstick. He shouts for meds while Nikita starts beating up his guards. Once they're all down, she grabs the syringe and saves Victor's life. She shoves him into one of the cars. One of the guards staggers towards them but is shot in the back. Nikita looks up and sees Michael crouching on top of a shipping container, sniper rifle aimed at them. The red laser point pauses over her heart. She and Michael look at each other across the distance and come to some silent agreement. Michael stands up and nods at her once.
Later, Percy watches a news broadcast about Victor's arrest. He's on the phone, trying to calm his Triad client, but it doesn't seem to be working very well.
Park. Nikita and Lisa talk. Lisa decides never to tell Sophie about what really happened to her father, although since it's all over the news, that seems futile. Also, what kind of lame black ops program wouldn't have just killed them both? Division needs to be much, much scarier. Lisa wants to know if Nikita will be able to stop them. "It's gonna take some time," Nikita says.
Charm School. Alex successfully disarms the car bomb without freaking out and sits down to Thom. "Thanks for pulling me out the first time," she says. He plays it off like it was no biggie. Then he reminds her of their promised rematch. Across the room, Michael asks how Amanda worked things out with Alex. "I'm not done," she says. "She's still hiding something."
Nikita's fabulous loft. She finally gets a message from Alex, who apologizes for not helping out earlier. She asks how things went. Nikita says things were a success, thanks to "help from a friend." She flashes back to her Charm School quarters, six years ago. She asks Michael why she was forced to kill an innocent man. "We don't ask questions," Michael says. She tries to leave, but Michael pins her to the bed. "Why are you so loyal to Percy?" she asks. "Because I owe him my life," he says, red-faced. He lets her go and stomps out of the room. In the present day, he bats around a heavy bag, working out his frustrations while Percy watches him from Ops.
1 2 3
Tippi Blevins never accepts beverages from the enemy. You can reach her at b_tippi@yahoo.com or http://twitter.com/tippib.
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see what our No Prior Knowledge vlogger thinks of Nikita, below!
Want to immediately access TWoP content no matter where you are online? Download the free TWoP toolbar for your web browser. Already have a customized toolbar? Then just add our free toolbar app to get updated on our content as soon it's published.
1 2 3