TV-Reviewed

I’m often cautious when it comes to remakes. It doesn’t matter what the source material is. If it’s been done already, there’s rarely a need to re-do it. In the case of Nikita, I had never seen the movies and previous TV series that the show draws its inspiration from. So I was able to come into the show with a fairly open mind and was able to give it a fair chance. Nikita proved to be what most other shows on The CW aren’t: good.

With the exception of Supernatural, and even perhaps Smallville, The CW’s stable of shows tend to be light on substance and more interested in getting teenagers through the use of young, sexy, easy characters. For me, it just makes the network easy to tune away from for the most part. While Nikita does have attractive young actors, there’s actually a good story present. Nikita isn’t just about skin and sex.

Played by Maggie Q, the titular character, Nikita, is a young woman who has escaped from an agency which has a great deal of reach and money thanks to its close ties to the US government. Known as Division, the agency has brought in a lot of recruits to carry out various missions. They range from assassination to espionage.

Maggie Q as Nikita

Now out of Division, Nikita is working against the agency, trying to take it down. Division has been shown to be a ruthless organization. Their recruiters pray on the weak. Virtually every recruit introduced thus far was moments away from death for some reason or another. Division offered them another chance at life, but I’m sure they never imagined it would be as an assassin.

While Nikita is perhaps the best agent to ever be trained by Division, it’s impossible to take it down all by herself. She’s trained someone else to help her. Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) is helping Nikita from the inside. It’s been interesting to see these two work together. Alex also relies on Nikita for help in surviving the training and various missions. One of Alex’s problems is making sure she befriends some of the other recruits.

Lyndsy Fonseca as Alex

Alex is definitely my favorite character on the show, but Michael (Shane West) is becoming a close second now. Michael is a character who is changing slightly with every episode. Once a great operative for Division’s leader Percy (Xander Berkeley), Michael isn’t as sharp or committed as he used to be. He has come to know what Division is and it’s not Disneyland.

I’m just paraphrasing what Nikita is about, mind you. I didn’t go into all of the backstories for each character because this article would go on forever. Nikita reminds me of a show I would find on USA Network. It’s one of the few good character-driven shows on network television. One of the few issues I have with it is the fact that Maggie Q looks like she’s been on a starvation diet plan. It looks she’s only allowed to eat a single peanut each day.

I recommend checking the show out when it returns on January 27th. In the meantime, check it out on iTunes. It’s available in HD there and it’s where I’ve been watching it.