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4.1 Getting Out of Reverse

Madeline: "Michael means nothing to her any more. She's a perfect robot."

Talk about role reversal. Back in season one, Michael was the emotionless robot, following orders and manipulating Nikita. Now, Nikita is acting a lot like Michael used to, but worse.

This is classic La Femme Nikita, layers upon layers and covert times ten. We think we know what's happening, but we're never quite sure. Were Michael and Nikita playing a game? Was she faking it? I thought so at first, but then I realized that she wasn't; she was playing him. Nikita set Michael up and betrayed him. The dead giveaway for me, pun intended, was the sixteen people who died in the embassy explosion. The real Nikita would never have done this, even to save her own life, or Michael's.

Operations finally had enough and ordered cancellation for Michael. I didn't for a second believe that Davenport et al. would succeed in killing Michael, but I was still shocked by the hologram scene. All of Michael's years of exemplary service to Section, all the critical missions he carried out for them, and they threw him away like a defective toy.

The Gelman process is reversable. If the process requires maintenance, does that mean that if Michael gets Nikita off the stuff, she'll recover? Who was the original subject? That's the big question, because whoever it was, that person must be the key to saving Nikita. And Michael is certainly going to save Nikita. I must admit that I love seeing Michael as the romantic hero. Works for me.

Bits and pieces:

-- A Michael/Nikita fight scene: that was new. Shades of Buffy and Angel. And Nikita was outright nasty to Michael. That was also new.

-- Three months have passed. Nikita spent at least two of them at brainwashing school.

-- The title is misleading. Nikita did not get out of reverse.

-- See, I knew Michael could truly escape Section if he wanted to badly enough.

-- Mick Schtoppel was back, and providing tons of comic relief. The poor guy got beat up by both Michael and Nikita.

-- Nikita's apartment was much starker, and had extensive workout equipment. And she let her plants die, which was of course, symbolic of her emotional state.

-- "Well, I can smile more." This show rarely makes me laugh, but when she smiled at Walter, I laughed out loud. Michael knocking down Mick was pretty funny, too.

-- Michael suddenly had his own car. Black, of course. I wonder what happened to the orange sports car at the start of season three? Yes, it was a tad more conspicuous.

-- Birkoff finally crossed the line and joined Walter as Michael's accomplice. Sides have been taken.

-- In Section, Nikita wore black, black, black. On her own, she wore a metallic silvery grey, instead of her usual blue or white. Maybe they should have put Michael in blue or white this time. Although I did like his new sleeveless look because, hey, biceps.

-- In this season's hair report, Nikita finally got a new look: a foot or two shorter, with layers. Looked good on her. Michael's grew out a bit (yay) as did Madeline's. And Operations went back to his normal color, but shorter.

-- Cancelled scenes: (1) Nikita returns from her "vacation" and goes to see Michael in his office. She closes the door, turns on the surveillance jammer, and says she wants to talk to him. She touches his face while wearing black gloves, which is really creepy. They don't say much. He obviously knows something is wrong, evades her, and leaves. (2) Walter asks Nikita if she's all right because she's been gone for awhile. She pretty much blows him off. Michael and Walter look at each other, and Walter shrugs.

-- Madeline, on the emotional component: "It's unnecessary for us. But they need it." That made it sound like Madeline had also been subjected to the process. I guess with Madeline, it's her natural state.

-- Walter: "There you go. Reach out and touch someone."

-- Operations: "We were pleased with your clarity in yesterday's mission." Yeah. The one where all the innocent people died.

Four out of four stars,

Billie





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