In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.
Things pick up where they left off last week. Michael has brought Alex back to Division after Vlad the wee Russian shot her full of heroin and coke. Unfortunately, Amanda's idea of rehab involves shooting Alex up with other drugs that supposedly ease her withdrawal symptoms, but also make her hallucinate and freak out a lot while in a waking dream. Amanda interrogates Alex, trying to find out what Alex has been hiding from her. From Alex's perspective, she's not dreaming but trying to escape Division while rescuing her younger self. Also, she totally knows there's some crazy heat between Nikita and Michael, based on how she imagines them making out. Amanda can hear everything she says while in her dream state, including murmurings about Nikita, Nathan, Thom and her dear old Papa. The whole time, some evil, unseen presence is hunting her down. Alex only says "she's coming" or "it's her" in identifying her enemy. She doesn't say anything too incriminating, at least as far as her working with Nikita, but Amanda recommends to Percy that they "cancel" her anyway.
Meanwhile, Nikita and Michael are both concerned about Alex. Nikita's concern leads her to making plans for Alex's escape from Division. Michael's leads him to work some CSI-level audio magic on a phone call Alex once made from Nikita's Loft of Fabulousness. He matches the sound quality to a call he got from Nikita years earlier, which leads him straight to the loft she inherited from an assassination target she once helped escape. It's all very complex and complicated; we'll get into it more in the weecap. The important thing to know is that Michael shows up at Nikita's and he's got a really, really big gun to show her.
Alex's final hallucination reveals her enemy. The "she" she fears is herself, some years in the future after she's taken back Zetrov and become a scary business czarina. Her future self kills Nathan and the baby that Alex imagines having as part of a normal life. This bleak future was Nikita's concern, as well.
Discuss this episode in our forums, then see why we think this show is ridiculous and ridiculously awesome. And see what our vlogger thinks of Nikita when he has No Prior Knowledge, below!
What are people saying about your favorite shows and stars right now? Find out with Talk Without Pity, the social media site for real TV fans. See Tweets and Facebook comments in real time and add your own -- all without leaving TWoP. Join the conversation now!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!The episode starts with Alex and Nikita sparring in a disheveled mansion. Is this what's below the Loft of Fabulousness? For some reason, there are a lot of chairs all over the place. Given the nature of the episode, are the chairs symbolic? All these places to rest and Alex can't stop for a second. Or maybe the props department just had a lot of extra chairs. As they spar, Nikita quizzes her on info she'll need inside Division, like the location of the secret exit and how to access the shell program. Then Nikita holds up a picture of something that looks like a red 45 adapter. Alex freaks out. "Where did you get that?" she demands. Nikita doesn't answer. The sparring continues. Finally, Alex is too exhausted to keep going, saying she feels like she's been drugged. Nikita tells her that Division will kill her if they find out she's a mole or that she's Alexandra Udinov. Alex asks about Nikita's own secrets, like Michael or Owen or some guy named Whitfield who apparently gave her the LoF. Nikita calmly asks her why she's brought up Whitfield. Things start to go wonky. Amanda's voice comes through Nikita's computer. "You have secrets, Alex." Amanda wants to know those secrets. Alex is confused. Nikita says, "You're starting to remember." Alex breathes hard, turns toward a wall of windows. A storm is approaching. She realizes she really was drugged. She's terrified when she remembers that Michael brought her to Amanda. "She's trying to find out who I am." Nikita tells her to wake up. The storm explodes through the window, hurling shards of glass at Alex.
She wakes up in the medical lab at Division. She's awake insofar as her eyes are open, but she has about the same pep level as a zombie. She's strapped into something that looks like the dental exam chair of your nightmares. A doctor tells Amanda that Alex is awake and under the influence of ibogaine. Michael's standing in the doorway. He's worried about Amanda using drugs on Alex, but Amanda gives him the short version of the Wikipedia entry. Basically, ibogaine is used to treat opiate addiction. It's also a hallucinogen that has put Alex into a "waking dream state." She'll be able to access her deepest fears, with Amanda's nudging. "So you're using rehab to run an interrogation," Michael says. "I'm multitasking," Amanda says. Heh. Amanda's miffed that Alex has been keeping secrets and plans to find out what they are. Alex is muttering. "Wake up... remember... Whitfield... not a secret." Michael glares as he is wont to do and leaves the room.
Amanda tells Alex to imagine she's walking down a long corridor. She finds herself in one of the open-sided hallways that line the interior of Division. Amanda tells her she needs to look for a secret about her past. "You've hidden it very well, but it's not safe anymore," Amanda's voice says. She tells Alex that she needs to move the secret before someone can find it. Suddenly, Alex sees the younger version of herself running toward her across the training floor. Both of them are dressed like recruits in those hoodies I covet. Little Alex introduces herself. Alex, echoing her father's old advice to her, reminds her to speak English. Alex takes the girl's hand and runs toward the elevator, but when they get there they find only a black void. They hear footsteps approaching. "It's her," says Little Alex. "She's coming and you can't stop her." Amanda barges into the room with armed guards. Alex runs with her younger self, saying she knows a secret way out. "Come on, keep up!" In the dental chair from hell, she's saying the same thing. Amanda helpfully tells us that whatever she says "in there," she will also say in the real world. The doctor is skeptical so Amanda says that everyone Alex sees in the dream is a projection of herself. These will help her understand Alex. When Alex stirs, Amanda comforts her, much like a spider wrapping its victim in a nice silk blanket before eating it alive.
Mansion of Fabulousness. Nikita is on the phone with "Gustav," telling him she needs a new identity package for Alex. He says he'll need to see her in person because, even though he's an "excellent" forger, he can't forge a passport photo or fingerprints. He doesn't sound all that excellent. Nikita says she'll take care of it. "What exactly is she running from?" Gustav asks. Nikita looks at a screen capture of Alex shooting Vlad. "Let's just say I'm more worried about where she's heading." You know, most people would probably shoot their evil, kidnapping, drug-pushing pimps. Maybe doesn't mean they're doomed. Maybe it just means that evil, kidnapping, drug-pushing pimps kinda had it coming.
Division. Michael asks Birkhoff to look up Whitfield. Actually, he doesn't so much ask as tell. "It's only a favor when you have the option of saying no." Heh. Birkhoff pulls up a file on a North Korean counterfeiting ring that the State Department hired Division to take down. Whitfield was the one who laundered the money and Nikita assassinated him. Michael's interest is piqued.
Interrogation. Alex is muttering about needing to hide. When the doctor needlessly explains that the little girl in Alex's dreams is her younger self, Amanda gives him the best look ever. It's like rolling her eyes and shooting daggers all at once, which is just a deadly combination. Amanda tells Alex to find a safe place. Suddenly, the Kia that Michael gave her is there, like a little product-placed oasis. Both Alexes crawl under it. Amanda prompts her to remember the night her parents died. Little Alex remembers hiding under the bed as the house burned around her. Her father is shot and he falls, landing on the ground to the Kia. Suddenly, Nikita pulls Alex out by her feet. "Nikita?" Alex gasps. Amanda latches onto this. "Alex, why is Nikita there?" "She wants to escape," Alex says. All the "the lies become the truth" training she's done with Nikita is paying off, because she manages not to say anything too incriminating even while under Amanda's control.
Meanwhile, Michael is toiling away at a computer, playing back a phone conversation he had with Alex after the evil princess bride operation. Something about her voice puzzles him. He goes to find Birkhoff, interrupting his Internet porn session. He wants Birkhoff to create an "audio profile" of the call because he thinks Alex wasn't really at home like her tracker indicated. He hears an echo or something that sounds out of place. Are otters known for their excellent hearing?
Alex's apartment. Strangely enough, there's no surveillance equipment at all. Nikita's in there, getting a dirty glass with Alex's fingerprints and grabbing a passport from her nightstand. The door opens. A man sneaks up behind Nikita with a baseball bat. Nikita easily disarms him and pins him to the floor under her boot. It's Nathan, Alex's nosy nascent boyfriend. They each accuse the other of breaking in until finally Nathan explains who he is. He heard Nikita going into the apartment and used his key (already?!) to get in. Alex missed their date so he was worried about her. Nikita makes up something about Alex having to go out of town suddenly and asking Nikita to check up on her place.
Interrogation. Alex's heart rate is elevated. Amanda is frustrated because Alex keeps resisting her. Amanda tells her to slow down. In the dream, Nikita tells Alex she has to hurry. "She's coming, remember?" Push. Pull. Alex is the rope in this tug-of-war. "I'm not afraid of her," Alex says. Amanda assumes she means Nikita and tells Alex to stop her. Her mind conjures up Michael. Nikita goes to fight him, but all the punching and shoving and grunting turn into a steamy makeout session. "I knew there was something between them," Alex says. "Michael was all, 'Nikita's like a cancer!'" She goes Michael's gruff Batman voice and everything. Hee! She and Little Alex sneak away while the grownups get their mack on. As they run, booming footsteps follow them. They duck into Alex's recruit quarters. "You can't stop her," Little Alex says. "I won't let Amanda hurt you," Alex tells her. In the real world, Amanda is shocked to hear her name come up, because Alex is not supposed to be aware of what's going on. But it's not Amanda that scares Little Alex. She holds up her palm; it bears the symbol we saw earlier. The whole room shakes so hard it nearly comes apart at the seams. Maybe it's Godzilla?
Birkhoff shows Michael the results of his audio analysis. His techno magic has analyzed the sound of Alex's voice and created a 3D image of what her surroundings looked like at the time during the phone call. We know it's the Loft of Fabulousness, but in computer form it looks kind of like the Parthenon. "The plot thickens," Birkhoff says. Then: "What exactly is the plot again?" Heh. Michael just glares.
Interrogation. Amanda grows more frustrated as Alex continues to fight her. In the dream, the mysterious female enemy is beating at the door. The metal cracks. Little Alex leads Alex under the bed, which magically elongates into a tunnel that leads to the bed in Alex's apartment. Immediately she calls Nikita and leaves her a message, smartly not using any names as she does so. She grabs a gun and goes looking for Little Alex, but finds Nathan in the kitchen. "Nathan," she whispers, dooming him. She asks him if he's seen a little girl. He acts like she's playing around with him and points her to a bassinet where a baby girl -- their baby girl -- is safely snuggled. Nothing scares me more than babies, but Alex is beyond pleased. In the dream, she and Nathan have been married three years. She's blissed out in the med lab, so Amanda reminds her to be afraid. In the dream, an envelope appears, addressed to Alexandra Udinov. Inside, there's only the symbol. The apartment shakes. "She's coming!" She busts through the door, gun in her hand...and lands back in Division. She verbalizes her displeasure.
Gustav's Forgeria. Everyone on this show has a fabulous loft. Dang. Gustav has also made IDs for Daniel and Whitfield, among others. He acts like Nikita is a sucker for having friends. Nikita wants to talk about something else, so he tells he's found a Swedish neurosurgeon who can remove Alex's chip. He wants cash, and a lot of it. Gustav wonders if Alex is worth it.
Interrogation. Amanda wonders why Alex would ever want to leave Division. Maybe because y'all keep pimping her out and drugging her? In the dream, Jaden is playing the violin. She calls Alex a traitor. She represents Alex's guilt, calling her out over Thom's death. Jaden whacks her over the head with the violin, putting the "AAH!" in "Amati." A vicious fight ensues. Jaden laughs, bleeding. "Killer instincts -- it's in your blood." Jaden's blood stains her dress in the shape of that symbol. Alex skewers her with a music stand. In the lab, she's crying, saying she doesn't want to kill anyone. She says she wants to go back to Nathan, but Amanda compels her to find the little girl again.
CSI. Michael is trying to match up the audio profile of Alex's call with another call in the database, but Birkhoff is pissed because it's using up all of Division's computer resources. Michael tries to appeal to Birkhoff's sympathies. He says he's worried that Alex was promoted too soon and can't cope. He wants to try to fix whatever problem she has before Percy finds out. "You know him," he says. Birkhoff does, indeed: "Cancel first, ask questions later." Birkhoff calls Michael's involvement with recruits "kinda creepy," but offers Michael a private subnet outside Division's main computers.
Interrogation. The Alexes run through Division, but their route is blocked by a wall that bears the ominous symbol. Whoever is coming after them sounds kind of like the Smoke Monster on Lost. They break into Percy's office and hide under a table. Percy and Amanda walk in a moment later, discussing Alex's "killer instinct" and how she might be even better than Nikita. Right on cue, Nikita joins them. They discuss Alex's state of mind, whether or not she should be canceled. Before they can get around to talking about her curfew and boyfriends, Papa Udinov is suddenly there. Alexandra's destiny is to become head of Zetrov, he tells them. He drops a notebook onto Percy's desk. It bears the symbol. In context, it's clearly a stylized Z. "Papa," Alex whispers. Amanda latches onto this, trying to get Alex to talk more about her father. Alex fights.
Meanwhile, Michael has found an audio match. He plays back the second recording. It's a call made from Whitfield's place. She claims the millions of dollars they've been looking for have vanished. The pieces start falling into place for Michael.
Interrogation. Alex gets fed up with everyone talking about her destiny. She crawls out from under the table. "No one ever listens!" she says. They ignore her, but she knows what she wants now. In the lab, she freaks out and starts pulling off all the straps and wires. When the doctor tries to stop her, she hurls him to the ground. Even the normally unflappable Amanda looks a bit shocked. She allows the still-hallucinating Alex to stumble out of the lab and follows after her.
Gustav's Forgeria. Nikita pays up with a duffel full of Whitfield's counterfeit money. Even Gustav is impressed with how good the bills look. Nonetheless, he's decided to sell Nikita to the highest bidder. He motions for three goons to grab her, but Nikita grabs a gun from the duffel and shoots them all in short order. Only Gustav is left standing, because she still needs him to forge the passport. I hope she takes her money back.
Interrogation. Michael walks into the lab only to find Alex gone. The battered doctor says Alex was looking for a way out. "But don't worry, Amanda's with her," he says. That's all the more reason to worry. Elsewhere in Division, Alex is making her way toward the silo entrance. Michael intercepts her, gently lowers her to the ground. When Amanda catches up, Michael says Alex was returning to the place where she killed Thom. Alex continues to hallucinate. She and her younger self escape through the silo as Amanda narrates that the "mysterious female nemesis" that Alex fears is obviously herself. As Alex reaches the top of the silo, a group of armed men grab her and bring her face to face with a slightly older version of herself. It's Lyndsy in a terrible bobbed wig and fur coat. Her older self is wearing the stylized Z as a necklace.
The men drag her into the Udinov mansion, now restored to its former glory. The slightly older version of Alex looks like Amanda Peet. She tells Alex to take back her legacy. "Reclaim what they stole. Become the person that Papa raised you to be." Alex says she doesn't want to be a killer. She wants to be normal and happy. Nathan and the baby are cooing at each other in the room. Older Alex calls them distractions and pulls out a gun. Alex screams and tries to stop her, but guards grab her. "I don't want to be you!" she shrieks. "But you will be," her future self says. As the camera pans up to an imposing portrait of Papa Udinov, two gunshots ring out.
Division. Alex and Amanda have a chat in Amanda's lair. They talk about Nathan. Alex says she killed him in her dream. Amanda reminds her of the dangers of becoming attached to someone. In a deceptively friendly voice, Amanda says Nathan has nothing to fear... as long as Alex keeps doing her job. Alex manages to remain stony-faced. Later, Amanda goes to Percy and recommends Alex be canceled. She thinks Alex is going to be another Nikita, wanting to escape Division. Amanda, no! Keep her alive and use her against Percy!
Cliffhanger. Alex returns to her apartment, pausing for a moment outside Nathan's door. Loud thumping music comes from inside. So glad he's not my neighbor. Once in her own place, Alex calls Nikita and tells her she might be ready to "get out before it's too late." She's also worried about Nathan. Nikita's just walking into the Loft of Fabulousness when she suddenly stops in her tracks. A shadowy figure is waiting for her. "Why don't I call you back later and we'll figure something out?" Nikita asks, her voice uncharacteristically flat. Finally, we get a look at her unannounced visitor. It is, of course, Michael. He's just sitting there, calm as can be, with a gigantic gun nestled on his knee. "Ask me how I got here," he deadpans. Was it in a Kia? I bet it was in a Kia. As for the rest, we have to wait six weeks to find out.