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3.7 Cat and Mouse Nikita: "How long do you expect me to do this?" Torture Guy: "Until Michael's life has no further value to you." Ah, the evil double. A cult show dramatic staple, and for good reason. Nikita was terrific. She stayed calm and thought the situation through. She figured out exactly who to tell, and how to do it clandestinely. What I found delightful was that the plot revolved entirely around her almost nonexistent sexual relationship with Michael. She even handled watching Michael make love to her double with considerable aplomb. Of course, watching Michael seduce someone else wasn't a new situation for her. I've often wondered how Michael manages to make love to women he cares nothing about, and theorized that he probably deals with it by fantasizing about Nikita. It would certainly be easy to do in this case. What was he thinking? Was he wildly worried about Nikita, or did he just turn off his emotions? Did he think she was dead while he was making very convincing love to Abby? Although Michael didn't tumble to the fake until that scene on level four, he picked up three clues that something wasn't right about Nikita: (1) she didn't know what he was talking about at first when he asked about her cold; (2) he asked her why she was wearing glasses; (3) the fact that she wasn't targeted on the mission, even though the bad guys had a clear shot at her. When Abby finally said the total wrong thing in that level four scene, we can actually see Michael realizing the truth; he did that eye shift that, for Michael, signifies strong emotion. Nearly every villain on this show has a name. We've seen Torture Guy twice now, and he still doesn't have one. He treated Nikita almost like an old friend, like they were just a couple of companionable voyeurs, which was interesting since Nikita was the one that put him in that wheelchair in "War." By the way, I particularly liked that circular set, with Nikita chained to the monitor in the middle, essentially "tethered," like a tame animal, to her double. Poor Birkoff. Did he really, truly believe that Nikita was hot for him? Really, Birkoff? (I'm sort of surprised that Abby didn't go for Operations. Maybe she had that planned for next week.) I loved what Nikita did for Birkoff in the end. "From what I could tell, you were pretty delicious." That was so sweet of her. Finally, they left us with an unanswered question. (Gee, that's never happened before.) (That was my sarcastic voice.) Did Nikita pull the trigger, or did she let Madeline do it? I think she let Madeline do it. Then again, Abby did just have sex with Michael, so maybe Nikita decided it was time to take the plunge. And by the way, it was totally unfair that some strange Nikita double got to have sex with Michael, and Nikita can't. Bits and pieces: -- Michael got a "Jacques" call. This was the first time, wasn't it? Was it Operations on the other end, or someone else? If so, whom? -- I liked the new "ready room" sex-with-Birkoff set with the futuristic beds. -- Walter was dating again. Someone named Cheryl. -- That thing about the "flash mission" was sort of indefinite. Was it real, or something they made up to fool Abby? It's hard to tell from Walter's face. -- Operations and Madeline were in a forgiving mood? Come on. When are they ever in a forgiving mood? -- We got pseudo-North American license plates again. -- In Section, Abby wore black like everybody else. Just saying. Quotes: Birkoff: "I think I love Nikita." Walter: "Yeah. Everyone loves Nikita." Torture Guy: "He seems edgy." Nikita: "That's just the way he is." Torture Guy: "I'm surprised you put up with it. Perhaps he has hidden charms." Birkoff: "I caused a security breach." Walter: (smirking) "Yeah, but under the circumstances, who could blame you?" Nikita: "She was convincing?" Michael: "Very." Gee. What did he mean by that? Was Abby like Nikita in bed, too? Gotta love an evil double episode with lots of gratuitous sex. Four out of four stars, Billie |
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