Nikita: "I lied."
Michael: "I know."
Bride of Section. Can you believe the extreme wedding imagery?
Nikita met Michael in a church. She was wearing a long coat and a kerchief that covered her hair. (Yes, black, but they're Section, after all.) She walked down the aisle and met Michael at the altar. Nikita said, "You want to do this?" and Michael said, "I do." Yes, there was an aggravating lack of emotion between them... at first. But it would have been out of character for them to run into each other's arms, anyway.
So we had to wait for it. It was worth the wait. There was that scene where they were dressing for the mission together. Tons of body language and meaningful looks, Nikita's naked back, Michael's naked armpit. There was that tender love scene ("I lied." "I know") where Michael showed such vulnerability, resting his head on her shoulder while she stroked his naked back. And if that wasn't enough, we even got the dinner date where they were actually discussing permanence, leaving Section forever, having children of their own.
This episode was full of Michael goodness, and it wasn't just the romantic stuff. There was out-bluffing Mr. Jones, refusing to give up Nikita. The casual way he turned and shot the bad guys during the mission. What this episode proved, as if I didn't already know, is that Michael is this series for me. He was the reason I loved it and the reason I watched it. The end.
And Operations was just wonderful. During Michael's extremely short debrief, Operations was coatless, leaning against a wall. He seemed disengaged, tired, almost depressed, perhaps amused as well as taken aback by all of the changes, especially Nikita's ascension. He doesn't care about Section any more. ("I've played the game too many times. It bores me.")
It seemed for a moment that Operations might actually get Section back, with Quinn as his new Madeline. But no. Did Operations care about Michael, after all? Why else would he die in an attempt to protect Adam? Hard to tell. Perhaps Operations knew subconsciously that it was time to check out. I think he would have wanted to die that way, as an action hero. Now, this was the right way to say goodbye to a character. Bravo.
Walter had a little wake for Operations with Quinn, of all people. Quinn actually liked Operations: what a surprise. ("I rather liked him." "Not the majority view.") And we learned that Walter saved Operations' life. (That wasn't in an earlier episode, so we never saw it.) It does finally explain why Operations kept making exceptions for Walter. More loose-string-tying on the part of the writers.
Bits and pieces:
— Nikita is now level six. And she ran the briefing!
— Nikita called Jones "Father." I didn't think he deserved that acknowledgement.
— Why did the Collective kill Operations? Didn't they know who he was? They could have captured him instead. The Collective was still completely bland and unimpressive, as well as ineffective. They really should have done the final episodes of the series with Red Cell.
—- Michael took the news that he was a widower with his usual lack of expression. Poor Elena. An inconvenient plot wrinkle now out of the way.
— Operations told Adam that his name was Paul, right before the end. "Operations" is such a cold name. "Paul" is much softer. I think this symbolized that Operations went out as a human being.
— In this week's hair report, Michael no longer looked like Grizzly Adams, but the hair was still too far on the side of mullet. What's wrong with a little pony tail? Let him have mission hair, I say. Okay, truthfully, I didn't care about the hair. He was back. That was enough.
— One more idiotic hair comment. For the first time, Michael's was longer than Nikita's.
— Cancelled scene number one: Walter and Operations share a final drink. Operations talks about how Nikita ruined his career.
— Cancelled scene number two: This is the famous deleted love scene that was shown at a con once, and talked about ever after. There's a good reason why once seen, fans kept on talking about it. It shows Nikita and Michael post-sex, nude as well as still intimately connected. This particular love scene made me reflect on the fact that nearly every Michael/Nikita love scene in the series was understated. It was like they were so used to suppressing their emotions that even their love had to be controlled.
Quotes:
Nikita: "Section is falling apart. Michael is throwing us a lifeline."
Operations: "You were always smart. What could be smarter than getting into bed with the boss's daughter?"
(Just as an aside, sleeping with the boss's daughter was also what Roy Dupuis' character Michel Gagne did in the series Scoop.)
Nikita: "A white picket fence... minivan... cocker spaniel..."
Michael: "Why not? We could even have children of our own."
Quinn: "Where's Michael and Nikita?"
Operations: "Out shopping for a bedroom set, I suppose."
This may be my favorite Operations line, ever.
So it ended badly, but it was still a great episode. Operations went out with a bang. We got Michael back. And we got Michael and Nikita back.
Four out of four stars,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
"What this episode proved, as if I didn't already know, is that Michael is this series for me. He was the reason I loved it and the reason I watched it. The end."
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree. Roy Dupuis' characterization of Michael is mesmerizing. With his physical grace and incredibly expressive eyes, he dominates every scene he's in, whether the scene is pure action or pure emotion.
I also wanted to thank you for your wonderful reviews. It is so much fun to read another perspective on the episodes! It is also great to see that LFN is still earning new fans.
You're very welcome, Serena. When I first started writing these reviews, long after the series had ended, I got such a wonderful welcome from LFN fans. LFN will always be special to me.
ReplyDeleteAn engaging episode in spite of the script’s logic flaws, mostly because Dupuis elevates every scene he is in as the returning Michael. The dialogue shows much improvement over this writer’s usual output, most notably in the scenes between Michael and Operations, and Michael and Mr. Jones. As well, the episode doesn’t lag as the previous ones did: the direction is better-paced, and the mission sequence with Michael and Nikita is both original and exciting, in spite of the obvious budget constraints. I would surmise that these improvements are due to Dupuis, since he was known to simply refuse to perform dialogue or action that contradicted his view of his character. Too bad we lose the only other dynamic character remaining on the show by the end of the episode.
ReplyDeleteSpoilers follow...
Favourite Scenes:
Michael debriefing with Operations: great dialogue, and a fantastic performance from Glazer.
Mission sequence: Michael having to subdue the enemy while keeping his hand on the trigger device – a very original way to block this fight.
Michael outmanoeuvring Jones and refusing to barter Nikita for his son: again great dialogue, ending with Jones’ rueful smile at having underestimated Michael.
Michael and Nikita parting once more, both believing that Michael was going to his death: break out the Kleenex on this one.
Cringe-worthy:
The song chosen for Michael and Nikita’s love scene is just hideous – it almost ruined this long-awaited reunion for me until I muted the sound. This series has made so many excellent choices of sensual and/or beautiful music (“Escape”, “Obsessed”, “Off Profile”, “Cat and Mouse”, “On Borrowed Time”, “No One Lives Forever”) that I was surprised and disappointed by this blunder.
Gaping plot holes:
It is completely unbelievable that the Collective would be able to hack into Section computers this easily, and then conveniently gain immediate access to the archives to find Adam’s location. If it were this easy to hack Section, why haven’t the bad guys wiped out Section years ago? And if the Collective is now in Section’s computer system, why wouldn’t they do something more destructive, such as in “Gray”, “I Remember Paris”, “Sleeping with the Enemy”, etc.?
Other Problems:
The writer once again portrays Mr. Jones as a hypocrite, as Jones condemns Michael for helping the Collective while he himself leaked Operations’ position to the enemy in the previous episode.
The writer puts Nikita at Level 6, but then has Michael (who was only ever Level 5) correct her tactical deployment ( “Standby team should be half a mile further north, outside of sensor range.”). Did Nikita skip her strategy classes at Section School? Because the way the writers have depicted Nikita’s character this season, it looks as if Daddy bumped her status without her actually being qualified for the promotion.
The writer has the Collective kill Operations, but in the previous episode they were trying to capture him alive. Since they had no trouble recognizing Michael on sight, it is difficult to believe that they wouldn’t have a visual reference for Operations.
Michael was actually a level 9 operative. If you recall in Season 3 Episode 3 Operations asked Madeline to advance him to Level nine after his outstanding capture of Elena's father. Also it is of note that he was actually next in line to take over Section. We need a Canadian to follow up this character and make a series.
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