Nikita episode 5 review: The Guardian

This review contains spoilers.

5. The Guardian

Isn't it annoying when you're right in the middle of a normal, everyday bank robbery and an agent from a shady and clandestine government task force just happens be withdrawing a black box full of the nation's most portentous secrets from a safety deposit box at exactly that same moment? It happens to me all the time, as I imagine it does you, and I'm glad someone finally got around to making a programme about it.

This was the unfortunate series of events which led to a hapless bunch of robbers' sudden demise at the paws of a surprisingly buff and haggard-looking Devon Sawa, in the opening of an episode that, while not the most exciting so far, did still manage to get through quite a lot of plot meatiness whilst readjusting our first team players' positions on the chessboard. This, friends, is a mixed metaphor, and it is rude to point.

Anyhoo, Sawa played Owen Elliot, a Division agent given the enviable and grandiose moniker of The Guardian, who is at the personal disposal of Percy and is tasked with safeguarding one of many black boxes full of sensitive information Percy uses as leverage over his superiors to maintain his position of power.

It turns out not even Michael knows of the existence of this particular agent, yet more evidence of the disintegrating relationship between the two (as Percy grandly proclaims, "I am Division!"). It was slightly odd, though, that Michael was so vexed at having Percy walk out on an operation that took three weeks of planning, only to do the same himself to find out what he's up to. He obviously prioritised, of course, and the security of the nation can wait, it seems.

Nikita, however, made rather short work of tracking Owen down after he shot his way out of the bank, using the rather simple method of the cuckolded wife tracking his mobile phone GPS, something that is apparently beyond the swathes of law enforcement personnel, also apparently hunting him down. (Was that Stan Lee being interviewed by the news crew, by the way? What was he doing there?!)

By the end, it seems Owen may stick around for a while as Nikita's newest ally. Shame, as the initial skirmish between Owen and Nikita is the highlight of the episode. It seemed she'd well and truly met her match, after five weeks of cutting her way through goons like a hot knife through butter, and any character that introduces himself to our protagonist with a flying kick upside the head is more than welcome to hang around for a while, although spider-senses are tingling that he will perish due to some form of martyrdom in the not too distant future. Call it a hunch.

He fell foul to the same indiscretions that led to Nikita's exit from Division, in that he got a little bit too close to his neighbour Emily (played with all the acting ability of a depressed goat by Bianca Lawson), and we all know how Division respond to this.

To the show's credit, it always seems to throw in unexpected moments that take the viewer right out of their comfort zone, and although in hindsight, Emily's demise was a foregone conclusion, the moment itself still came as a welcome, jarring shock.

Now, Owen shares Nikita's desire for retribution, as if Percy didn't have enough enemies already. Percy should really consider altering his stance on bumping off his agent's loved ones, as it never seems to end well for him, although his leverage is obviously worth the lengths he is going to to protect it, as it prevents Nikita from killing him on the freighter when she had the most golden of opportunities.

What does Percy have over everyone? Will we ever find out? Despite the fact he handled a firearm like a grizzly bear pawing at a wriggling salmon, Percy was back on full-on evil mode this week, his motivations restored to solipsism and pure evil.

Back at Division HQ, however, Alex's bull in a china shop attempts at infiltration continued apace. Quite how she has managed to evade detection for this long is a true mystery. This week, she theatrically stormed out of a training session to get all MacGyver with Birkhoff's fingerprint, sneaked into Percy's office (which, judging from Birkhoff and Michael's feelings about doing the same, is a big fat no-no) and hid under the table, and slipped a bug into Birkhoff's pocket using some not entirely convincing idle chit-chat as a diversion, in conjunction with her usual M.O. of spending more time than obviously necessary clicking away in the computer room.

She couldn't suggest ‘mole' any more if she wore milk bottle specs and started digging holes. At least her annoying relationship with Thom hit an entertaining blip this week. She shot him down good. Mwahahaha.

An episode that remained rooted in the present tense, we were presented with something of a ‘story of the week' that didn't drag its heels, but also failed to engage in the same way as last week's. The main development was Nikita's finding of a friend in Owen, and hopefully his character will be used more effectively than some of the fringe characters are at the moment (Jaden could do with more to do besides being a right nob, for instance). A diverting enough hour of telly, but, judging by the preview, nothing compared to next week's episode.

A few questions we are left to ponder this week are:

• What is Percy's leverage?
• Does Owen present a potential love interest to Nikita, and will he stick around?
• Will anyone ever notice Alex's really, really (really!) suspicious behaviour?
• Would you ever get tired of punching every single person in the advert for 'Cranium' in the face, head and neck?
• Where does Nikita live, anyway? Her heating bill must be astronomical.

Read our review of episode 4, Rough Trade, here.

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