Rewatching ‘Nikita’: “Dark Matter”

The first time I watched Nikita, it’d already gone off the air. But I distinctly remember seeing the promos when I watched Smallville. So when I saw it in my Netflix recommendations, I knew I had to watch it. It’s been a while since then so I decided why not rewatch it? So now I’m binging the show from the beginning all over again. Last time, I watched the ninth episode so now I’m onto the tenth episode of Nikita.

Dark Matter

• Why is Owen always sneaking up on Nikita? I know they barely know each other but he should know by now not to sneak up on a trained assassin. Especially since Nikita’s one of the best.
• I forgot that Owen just released some data from one of the black boxes.
• These CIA operatives should really trust Ryan more. He obviously figured it out, or is at least close enough.
• Even though Owen’s plan is reckless, I have to admit it’s not a terrible idea. As of right now, they don’t know where the other black boxes are. But the engineer obviously does. Now, it just comes down to being able to pull off his plan.
• Since the engineer does eventually show up, does Alex have to figure everything out herself? The whole plot with Ryan’s kidnapping doesn’t really let Nikita and Owen figure out where the black boxes are.

The CIA’s Involvement

• It’s Ryan Fletcher! I always loved Ryan. And fun fact, Noah Bean (the actor that plays him) and Lyndsy Fonseca (who plays Alex on the show) are married now! And they have the cutest daughter, Greta, as well as another baby on the way.
• Oversight, for the longest time, is just some ominous higher power when it comes to Division. In fact, I don’t think we really learn more about Oversight until season three.
• All Ryan did was figure out the truth. And they’re just going to create a patsy out of him.
• I admire Owen for trying to make it up to Nikita for killing her fiance. Granted, he was just doing what Percy told him to do. But it doesn’t seem to be helping.
• After how messy Ryan made everything, I guess it makes sense to redirect the blame to John instead. But after he publically pointed the finger at Ryan, I’m not that sympathetic towards him.

Inside Division

• Well, it didn’t take long for Percy to assign the recruits with creating a fake digital profile to frame Ryan.
• Jaden always felt like she was just a mean girl for no reason. Or at least not one that they ever told us. She probably had a similar troubled past just like the rest of the recruits. But I don’t think they ever go into the specifics on the show.
• Looks like Alex will have to figure out the engineer stuff on her own. Nikita’s kinda stuck trying to help Fletcher out in Chile.
• The engineer and Birkhoff might not like each other but they’re pretty similar. Both smart when it comes to computers as well as cocky.
• It’s nice that Birkhoff and the engineer just took a break to play Mortal Kombat. Especially since it ends up working in their favor.
• Jaden just can’t leave Alex alone, can she?
• That poor engineer. He literally created the black-box program and the only flaw in the system was the manual updates from the Guardians. Even though he works for Divison, he seemed nice.
• Well, at least Alex got one black-box location. Or at least the city.

Ryan’s Kidnapping

• Whatever contacts Percy has in Chile work fast.
• Owen has a good heart but is definitely too reckless and spontaneous for Nikita.
• At least Owen’s got good timing. I think Nikita probably could’ve handled Ryan’s boss just fine but I guess Owen knocking him out saved them some time.
• It sucks that Ryan’s own boss/colleague (the CIA operative from the beginning connected to Percy), John, just throws Ryan under the boss. Percy doesn’t really give him much of a choice but still. And I guess he can’t just tell Ryan the truth. Ryan’s not the type of guy that would just leave it alone after finding out.
• It’s probably better if Ryan just went along with Nikita and Owen first and asked questions later. They took down his captors but they know Division’s probably close behind.
• Of course Owen just wants to blow up the truck to create a distraction. Going quietly just isn’t really his style.
• But Michael’s not stupid and just blows it up first.
• I guess with the US army stepping in, Division can’t just kill them all now.

Nikita Tells Ryan the Truth

• Adding Fletcher into the story really legitimized Nikita’s entire plot to take down Divison. Or more accurately, he helped with all the more upper-level official stuff.
• It’s interesting that Nikita tells Ryan about Division, but glosses over the reason why she’s trying to take them down. I mean, she’s being honest about it, but it’s vague.
• I wonder what Ryan’s plan is going to be from jail. He clearly wants to tell the world but he can’t. At least not yet. Not when the black boxes are still out there and under Percy’s thumb.