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.