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marinessDid I really just let a television season end more than a month ago without saying anything about it? Yes, yes, I did, an indication of just how much Sekkrit Project, some health concerns and other issues are getting to me. I'll try to make it up this week. So, to get started:
Nikita
Most satisfying season finale: Nikita, apparently because the show understandably if incorrectly assumed it was headed for cancellation, and therefore might as well wrap everything up – which it did, only to find that it wasn't cancelled after all. And now you understand the problems with U.S. television.
Nikita is not a show I watch on a regular basis – I more grab it in chunks here and there, watching two or three episodes in a row, skipping for a month or so, two or three episodes in a row, another month or two of skipping, and so on, mostly because, spy shows, really not my thing, but a show like this? Turned out to be ideal for the moments when I really felt incapable of thinking. And as it turns out, watching Nikita in chunks like this turns out to be the ideal way to watch the show, since although the episodes can all be watched individually, they are set up as little mini-arcs, meaning that you are much better off watching this show in gulps of two to three episodes to keep up with the arcs and the various betrayals and revelations and bargains and so on. It doesn't really help that most of the minor characters are pretty indistinguishable, given that about all they are doing is, well, betraying, revealing, shooting, and then, betraying, revealing, and shooting all over again, leaving you with the feeling of, wait, was that the double agent from three episodes ago or five episodes ago?
Nikita started out the season with a rather tense four way fight between rogue agent Nikita; evil sociopath guy Percy, who retained a remarkable air of calmness even under captivity and duress; evil sociopath Amanda, who rocked heels and business suits in the very best way; and Alex (why is she on the show?), all more or less supported or betrayed by any number of allies and enemies, including some shadowy government figures called Oversight, some Russian bad guys, and the occasional British MI6 agent.
Shows juggling this much plot can very easily go wrong, and Nikita had some missteps this year, including the introduction of a Cute Toddler. (Spy shows should really never, ever, ever introduce Cute Toddlers for anything other than brief appearances in single episodes. The kid actor was fine; the plot was annoying.) Show like this also have to walk a fine line between explaining and overexplaining, which the show mostly did – exposition was shoved in neatly enough, with a few gaping holes here and there that could – mostly – be ignored.
But what Nikita, over the course of one season, did do, and magnificently, was somehow manage to take those four competing entities and create a compelling, integrated, ever-switching storyline, and almost – almost – explaining why Alex is in the show. Mostly this was thanks to weaving in the story of Percy's imprisonment, release, return and death in and out of the less interesting stories of Cute Toddler (fortunately abandoned after a few episodes) and Alex (actually, now that I think of it, what is Alex doing on the show?), mostly because Percy was by far the most compelling person on the show.
Also strong: a growing, mature relationship between Michael and Nikita which thankfully did not go the way these television shows typically go, even with the introduction of Cute Toddler (Michael's child, not Nikita.) I was mostly watching for Percy, but even with Percy gone, I may still find myself watching next season.
Or I may just decide that the last episode was the best way to leave things, and leave the show there.
Nikita
Most satisfying season finale: Nikita, apparently because the show understandably if incorrectly assumed it was headed for cancellation, and therefore might as well wrap everything up – which it did, only to find that it wasn't cancelled after all. And now you understand the problems with U.S. television.
Nikita is not a show I watch on a regular basis – I more grab it in chunks here and there, watching two or three episodes in a row, skipping for a month or so, two or three episodes in a row, another month or two of skipping, and so on, mostly because, spy shows, really not my thing, but a show like this? Turned out to be ideal for the moments when I really felt incapable of thinking. And as it turns out, watching Nikita in chunks like this turns out to be the ideal way to watch the show, since although the episodes can all be watched individually, they are set up as little mini-arcs, meaning that you are much better off watching this show in gulps of two to three episodes to keep up with the arcs and the various betrayals and revelations and bargains and so on. It doesn't really help that most of the minor characters are pretty indistinguishable, given that about all they are doing is, well, betraying, revealing, shooting, and then, betraying, revealing, and shooting all over again, leaving you with the feeling of, wait, was that the double agent from three episodes ago or five episodes ago?
Nikita started out the season with a rather tense four way fight between rogue agent Nikita; evil sociopath guy Percy, who retained a remarkable air of calmness even under captivity and duress; evil sociopath Amanda, who rocked heels and business suits in the very best way; and Alex (why is she on the show?), all more or less supported or betrayed by any number of allies and enemies, including some shadowy government figures called Oversight, some Russian bad guys, and the occasional British MI6 agent.
Shows juggling this much plot can very easily go wrong, and Nikita had some missteps this year, including the introduction of a Cute Toddler. (Spy shows should really never, ever, ever introduce Cute Toddlers for anything other than brief appearances in single episodes. The kid actor was fine; the plot was annoying.) Show like this also have to walk a fine line between explaining and overexplaining, which the show mostly did – exposition was shoved in neatly enough, with a few gaping holes here and there that could – mostly – be ignored.
But what Nikita, over the course of one season, did do, and magnificently, was somehow manage to take those four competing entities and create a compelling, integrated, ever-switching storyline, and almost – almost – explaining why Alex is in the show. Mostly this was thanks to weaving in the story of Percy's imprisonment, release, return and death in and out of the less interesting stories of Cute Toddler (fortunately abandoned after a few episodes) and Alex (actually, now that I think of it, what is Alex doing on the show?), mostly because Percy was by far the most compelling person on the show.
Also strong: a growing, mature relationship between Michael and Nikita which thankfully did not go the way these television shows typically go, even with the introduction of Cute Toddler (Michael's child, not Nikita.) I was mostly watching for Percy, but even with Percy gone, I may still find myself watching next season.
Or I may just decide that the last episode was the best way to leave things, and leave the show there.