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2.5 New Regime Madeline: "Be careful, Nikita." Nikita: "Of him, or of you?" Madeline's devotion to Operations, as it was revealed here, was stunning. She was more than ready to execute a roomful of doctors for his sake, and no, I don't think she was bluffing. Not for a moment. Petrosian, played by the wonderful Nigel Bennett, was such a jovial wild card of evil. I thought at first that he wanted Nikita for his second so that he could sleep with her, but no. He wanted someone young and impressionable that he could mold into his very own Madeline, which was fine as far as it went. But he seriously misjudged Nikita. There is no way Nikita could ever do Madeline's job. Nikita is certainly smart, she has courage and nerve, and she did a fine job at tactical. But let's face it, compassion is Nikita's middle name; she's not even in the ballpark when it comes to ruthless. She wasn't comfortable spying on her friends, either. You can't be at Madeline's level and still have friends. So now that Jurgen is dead, we were back to the status quo: Nikita loves Michael and wants a relationship, and he's keeping her at arm's length for reasons of his own. I thought Petrosian bribing Nikita with romantic access to Michael was a hoot. My favorite Michael moment was in the bar scene, when he said to Nikita, "Am I under orders to please you?" I also loved the way she came back at him with, "Of course," and then lost her nerve and added softly, "not." She accused Michael of being uncomfortable with her having power over him, and there might be truth in that, since Michael is something of a control freak. But I also think Michael just knew that Petrosian's reign would very likely be short. I'm not really into fashion at all, but I've noticed that the way Nikita is dressed is almost always symbolic of her position within Section. In this episode, the entire time she was Petrosian's protege, Nikita wore dark colors and heavy makeup, and her hair was upswept and professional. After she sided with Madeline against Petrosian, she was "herself" again in the very next scene, in blue, with her hair down. Bits and pieces: -- The assassination attempt in the briefing room was terrific. Completely unexpected and shocking. -- Nigel Bennett, who played Petrosian, was also in the episode "Rescue," where he praised Nikita and called Michael incompetent. -- In the final scene, Operations and Petrosian (is "Petrosian" an anagram for "Operations?") bid each other a cordial farewell as if it were a chess match instead of life and death. -- Nikita thought that Michael was actually concerned about Operations. I wasn't so sure. -- Michael's team was referred to here as the "Red Team." Was that new, or did I just miss it in earlier episodes? -- The mission with the snow and the high wire was oddly beautiful. -- In the bar, there was a guy with dark hair, mustache/goatee and glasses in the foreground. I think this is the first time we see one of the "twins" that figure in the final episodes of season two. -- In the same scene, I think another one of the bar patrons is director Jon Cassar. -- The Torture Geeks, or Devos, were back. I thought the interrogation was over; were they there just to execute the guy? -- Walter: "Any time anyone in this place starts talking about mom, you know he's got problems." -- Cancelled scene: The deleted scene introduces Kronen, who later shoots Operations. Another good one. Three out of four stars, Billie |
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