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2.16 Old Habits Michael: "The relationship between Formitz and Nikita is not without difficulties." And we're back to the numbers game, the needs of the many, and so on. "It's simple arithmetic. We sacrifice a few lives to save hundreds." When does it become wrong? When does the death ratio tip the scales? Ten lives for a hundred? Fifty? Seventy-five? The photos on the wall of the disembodied eyes and noses, etc., were a big clue that Formitz was the serial killer, but discovering what he was was still an omigod moment. I sort of expected him to try for Nikita for the rest of the episode, and was a bit surprised that he didn't. Since Formitz's victims were all good-looking young women, why did Section give Nikita this particular assignment? Or at the very least, why didn't they re-assign her when the situation became clear? Under the circumstances, wouldn't it make more sense to send a man? Were they even possibly thinking of giving Nikita to Formitz as a gift? Michael acted as a sort of intermediary between Nikita and Section, continuing to enforce Section policies while giving Nikita support at the same time. Did Section give Danielle to Formitz in the end? Probably. Did Michael know about it, and lie to Nikita? For me, this was the most interesting part of the episode; I had to think about it for awhile. I finally decided that since Michael hasn't hidden the more brutal side of his nature from Nikita, he was telling her the truth: he didn't know about Danielle. At least, I hope that he didn't. I think Nikita lied to Michael about giving Formitz up, though. I can totally see her justifying that lie to herself, because morally, it was the right thing to do. This week's B plot was also about unnecessary sacrifices, because like Danielle, Belinda should not have died. And having her die on her wedding day added unbearable insult to grievous injury. Would it have been easier if she had died before they got married? And how like Operations to make the situation worse by dumping a boatload of totally bogus sympathy on Walter. No wonder Walter was ready to take Operations out, no matter what the consequences would have been to himself. Poor guy. Bits and pieces: -- The bit about Madeline and the prisoner who could lead them to Halir had Nikita all rah-rah, let's torture her, and giving Madeline torture tips. I thought that was pretty funny, in a grim kind of way. -- All this time, and Belinda was still in abeyance? I guess there aren't that many suicide missions in Section. -- One of the "twins" was sitting at the bar during the initial Nikita/Formitz meet. -- Even Formitz thought that Nikita and Michael were a couple. "Your boyfriend?" -- Belinda went out with class. "It's not such a bad thing to die on the happiest day of your life." Uncomfortable and distasteful, not an episode I enjoyed. Two out of four stars, Billie |
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