If Section is a dysfunctional family, then Operations and Madeline are Daddy and Mommy. Daddy and Mommy began the episode with a serious argument (serious, because people die when Daddy and Mommy argue). But when Madeline was endangered, Operations was ready to batter down doors – literally – to be by her side.
Yet again, our theme was the needs of the many, and the sacrifice of innocents. This time, Scientist-guy's family was sacrificed to Red Cell in order to save most of Section. And this time, it was definitely Michael's doing. Maybe Michael did know about Danielle, after all.
Michael and Nikita got to spent a lot of time alone together in a van, not making love. Nikita still wasn't ready to give up on getting Michael back in bed, though, and her realization that Operations and Madeline were once lovers gave her ammunition. What was Michael's reaction? "A lot of things can be done. Doesn't mean they should be." Why was Michael continuing to say no to Nikita? It is pretty clear at this point that he cares deeply about her, and possibly even loves her. It's also clear that he's far from impotent. He must have a reason. Yeah, I know, I've said it before.
In our B plot, 21-year-old Birkoff was more of a man than most. He showed maturity, courage, and self-esteem, and was even praised for his cool head by Operations (who, thankfully, wasn't pissed about the whole locked door thing.) Gail ended up looking childish by dumping Birkoff for an older man. Will he take her back? We shall see.
Bits and pieces:
— The segmentation-compartmentalization thingy was all well and good, but they had a whole bunch of sick people locked up, and it didn't appear as if any of them had access to a bathroom. This should have led to an extremely messy Section.
— Poor Mowen felt like a red shirt from the moment he was introduced. Not a fun way to die.
— Operations had another acrimonious phone call with George.
—- Most of the people in Section assumed that the worst wouldn't happen to them... except Walter. Walter always assumes the worst. He's a realist.
— I didn't see one of the "twins" in this episode. This was the first episode in a long time without one.
— Nineteen people died, or were there more? How many people are there in Section? Several hundred? Where are they keeping them all?
— European license plates on the mission this time.
— We had silly hair again; Nikita's bun had a big lock of hair sticking straight out of it. And Michael had "mission hair" during most of the episode.
Quotes:
Operations: "I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for you."
Madeline: "You always exaggerate that incident. You would have made it."
Okay, I'm curious. And what does Operations regret that he didn't do?
Madeline: "It looks like we had a fair amount of panic and emotion."
Eh. Two stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Season Two’s “bottle show” actually proves to be an excellent character-driven episode. The escalating jeopardy of a deadly bacteria loose in Section drives each member of the ensemble cast to reveal the core of their personalities. The most compelling aspect of this story is the collision of the personal with the professional for three key relationships in Section.
ReplyDeleteSpoilers follow...
After Operations rather shockingly ends an argument with Madeline in the teaser, Nikita surmises that the two are former lovers. But when she mentions this to Michael (“It can be done.”), he replies “A lot of things can be done – it doesn’t mean they should be.” Nikita’s rueful half-smile indicates that she expected such an evasive answer, but as a viewer, I honestly thought that Michael was going to end that sentence differently. I expected something like: “A lot of things can be done – if you’re in command” because Operations can break the rules, but no one else can without dire consequences. Though I was wrong about Michael’s reply, it turns out I was right in anticipating that Operations would be breaking protocol again.
I absolutely love Operations shooting out the shield to escape the perch and break into Madeline’s office. For once, I actually feel sympathy and admiration for Operations because he deliberately exposes himself to the bacteria just to be with Madline, in spite of the fact that he has broken protocol yet again and threatened Birkoff in the process.
Birkoff actually turns out to be the hero of the entire episode. Young as he is, he shows enormous courage standing up to Operations, and incredible calmness and control in the face of imminent death. While other older operatives fold around him , he manages to keep a level head and stay on top of every aspect of Comm. He also demonstrates extraordinary maturity in handling the emotional betrayal he just experienced. Birkoff wins audience sympathy and support over and over again in this episode.
When Michael and Nikita return with the antibiotic, they also deliberately expose themselves to the bacteria in order to deliver the cure to their friends. They are so professionally in synch here, that it is even more of a shock to both Nikita and the viewer when the final cruel twist is revealed. I was completely taken by surprise to learn that the rescue of Bisseroff’s family had been faked, but it also made perfect sense.
This is the type of “twist” ending that I heartily approve of: it enhances, rather than undermines, the main story arc, and it reveals both cleverness and ruthlessness on the part of Section (in this case, specifically Michael and Birkoff). This is a well-written, tension-filled episode that makes me forget the producers were trying to save money.
This episode did reveal the core personalities of the cast. I always thought that Michael and Madeline were ice - always in control, while Nikita and Operations were fire - opposites to their partners. I also thought that while they did have opposing core principles, they eventually complemented their partners' own. In other words, they had the right partners.
ReplyDeleteI also want to echo Serena's observations about Birkoff - he was the hero of the episode. I agree with you.
And yeah Billie, that was some missed opportunity with alone time in the mission van. ;)
To 1eclecticviewer:
ReplyDelete"Michael and Madeline were ice - always in control, while Nikita and Operations were fire" - maybe for now, but we can already see that Michael reveals more and more his fiery nature... As for Nikita... I don't want to anticipate anything...
To Billie:
"Why was Michael continuing to say no to Nikita? It is pretty clear at this point that he cares deeply about her, and possibly even loves her. It's also clear that he's far from impotent. He must have a reason."
and Serena:
"he replies “A lot of things can be done – it doesn’t mean they should be.” Nikita’s rueful half-smile indicates that she expected such an evasive answer, but as a viewer, I honestly thought that Michael was going to end that sentence differently."
I prefer not to search for a specific reason. We know that the "specific reason" seams to be revealed in the near future (all the Elena-Adam story), but I don't like to believe that this is all that makes impossible their love. The better think the writers could imagine about it would have been a perpetual-non explicable-inherent state of discord-love. Something like the sword between Tristan and Isolde, if I am allowed to imagine such a comparison. This would have been interesting!...
I personally loved this episode. It reminded me of an X-Files one, where they were locked up in a research lab in the Arctic and everyone was becoming infected with a terrifying virus... I kinda wondered why Operations was so pissy in the beginning. The cause was never revealed. Michael and Nikita definitely missed a good opportunity here. I know it was on Nikita's mind. As for Michael, he's too concerned with his job to be distracted by her, it seems. Annoying, for sure.
ReplyDelete