Nikita Recap: “Shadow Walker”

by Merrill Barr:

Nikita Recap: “Shadow Walker”
Original Air Date (The CW): Friday April 27, 2012
Season 2 Episode 20

You know what’s so great about Nikita? It honestly feels like the writers are always one step ahead of the audience.

I spend a lot of time after every episode talking about it with some fellow critics. A topic that’s been coming up lately is what appears to be a never ending war on Division for Nikita. Like the mythical Hydra, whenever one head is cut off of Division, two more prop up. So imagine my glee when Birkhoff makes mention to that very thing in the first half of Shadow Walker. And the same goes for the moment between Alex and Michael where Alex explains her reasoning for continuing to work with Nikita despite having an out now that she’s known as Alexandra Udinov to the rest of the world.

Every time we as an audience begin to question whether we are figuring out where the show is going, we are proven oh so wonderfully wrong by Craig Silverstein and his team.

But writers smart’s aside, this episode gave a lot of insight into Birkhoff’s character. In fact, it’s very similar to the work done for Nikita’s character insight last week on Wrath. It’s an arc that started in Doublecross when Birhoff killed Carla in self-defense. We all knew it was a clean shoot but that the story line would rear its head again. Where and when was up for debate, but the season wasn’t going to close before it was addressed.

The potential for what Birkhoff is capable off seems to have evolved from the days of the pilot (which I re-watched recently). In the pilot Birkhoff is a very weak computer nerd that’s dedicated to his job. While he’s certainly not the cliche D&D nerd, he stood no chance against Nikita when she had him strapped to a chair. But now? While I don’t think Birkhoff could take Nikita, it’s clear by his spider-man leap down a flight of stairs that he’s grown a set of balls to hold his own in a fight. He’s still the techie, but now he’s a techie with muscle.

And there are some minor things about this episode that made me so happy and I would like to take a moment to list them:

• The inclusion of yet another La Femme Nikita alum, this time in the form of Carlo Rota.
• The two references to F. Gary Gray’s 2003 remake of The Italian Job with checking the suspension of the trucks to see which was carrying Percy’s money.
• Aaron Stanford’s (Birkhoff) wonderful comedic chops by wearing puppy slipper while explaining to Nikita why he doesn’t want his money used in the mission (and that goes for his his little miming for the fishing rod bit as well).

Like Wrath, Shadow Walker is an episode that, while not getting into the show’s mythology, served a purpose that allowed the audience to learn more about a beloved character. The writers are so far on a roll as they close out the second season, and I can only dream of where things are set to go from here.

DarkMedia contributor Merrill Barr can also be found on his podcast, The Idiot Boxers and on Twitter @sonic43.