1. ‘Girls’ and boys

    My Review of last night’s episode of ‘Girls’ on tvguide.ca

    2012-05-07

    The guys stir the pot on HBO comedy 

     

    On Sunday night, we got another glimpse into the insanely brilliant mind of Lena Dunham with a new episode of Girls (which, by the way, stars and is created, written, directed, and executive produced by Dunham). It blows my mind that after only four half hour instalments, this almost-26-year-old talent has everyone’s attention. But, truthfully, she deserves it.

    Like previous episodes, sex came to the forefront right away as Hannah received an X-rated photo text from the ever-douche Adam, followed by one telling her he meant to send it to someone else. Even though Marnie, being the good friend that she is, told Hannah not to respond to his disgusting message, Hannah (of course) did the opposite. She sent a naked picture of her own in return. Cue me shaking my head.

    Meanwhile, Shoshanna had a little love adventure of her own this week when a cute boy recognized her on the street and the two decided to catch up that night. Innocently watching a movie turned quickly into not watching a movie. In her bedroom. But their race for the sheets came to an abrupt halt when Shoshanna nonchalantly told the guy (a former camp friend), “I swear it’s not a big deal, but I’m a virgin.” He said he was not into that and Shoshanna was left defeated once more.

    Jessa seemed to be having a great time, surprisingly, babysitting the girls … until she lost them at the park. While she was rallying the other nannies and possibly forming a union, the girls ran away and hid. She found them, but she felt so guilty about it that she spilled the beans to the dad, who is always giving her creepy eyes that freak me right out.

    Hannah went on to prove just how bad her luck with men is. Her new boss groped her, using “new methods” to relax her uptight shoulders. The office girls, hilarious characters of their own, gave Hannah the lay of the land, telling her the boss is just a touchy guy and she should just deal with it cause he gives out free iPods.  They then proceeded to pencil in Hannah’s eyebrows, leaving her looking hilarious for the rest of the episode. Or as Adam said, “Like a Mexican teenager.”

    But the girls did more than give Hannah a new look. They sent her out the door with the drive she needed to finally make the healthy choice and break it off with Adam, which she did. Very well, might I add, with a long impassioned speech about deserving to be loved the way she expects to be. And then, with one puppy dog look, she had her legs wrapped around him once more.

    Charlie spent most of the episode trying to convince his hipster friend not to look through Marnie and Hannah’s things while they were out of the apartment. In the process, they found and read Hannah’s journal. Major breach of girlfriend’s friend-code.

    That night, all the girls went to see Charlie perform with hipster guy and, after a song about falling in love with a girl in Keds (so funny), they performed a new one called “Hannah’s Diary.” This song turned the tone of the episode from fun to angry in an instant as Charlie, in a very Harriet the Spy-esque moment, read from the journal while on stage.

    After reciting Hannah’s words about her whiny best friend that needs to break up with her vagina-possessing boyfriend, Charlie stormed off stage, Marnie threw her drink on Hannah, and Jessa laughed, more entertained than ever before.

    Girls airs Sundays at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT on HBO Canada.

    What did you think of “Hannah’s Diary”? Comment below

  2. Inside the mind of a ‘Nikita’ villian

    Interview on tvguide.ca

    2012-01-06

    Melinda Clarke talks power struggles, torture scenes

    Since Nikita premiered last year on The CW, I’ve been watching avidly. I was a fan of the stars, but their characters drew me in even more. So when TV Guide Canada got the chance to talk to Melinda Clarke, I was eager to talk to the woman who portrays the villainous Amanda. Plus, who wouldn’t want to interview the evil-turned-loving mother of Marissa Cooper on The O.C.?

    But though both characters are less-than-noble, Clarke wouldn’t describe either as simply the bad guy.

    “Julie Cooper was just a woman trying to survive and whose priorities were … just out of whack. So yes, she definitely fit the ‘villain’ role on [The O.C.], and certainly Amanda [does as well on Nikita], but I don’t approach it as a villain,” she says.

    “In fact, I could probably sit down and make a case for every move that Amanda’s ever made, and Xander [Berkeley, her Nikita co-star] could do the same for Percy.”

    Villain or not, before the winter hiatus, we got to watch Amanda torture Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford) with glee. Clarke was “pleasantly tickled” when she read the enticing scene.

    “It was a wonderful move on the part of the writers to hold back and wait this long to actually write a scene like that. It has always been implied that Amanda was the inquisitor and things were happening behind closed doors,” she says.

    “It was a concern of mine because I had never done anything like that and there were so many things involved with the props and sticking something up Aaron’s nose. We ended up having a great time with it because it was so different then what we normally see from Amanda.”

    Clarke says that despite how much fun the scene was to film, the show is careful not to desensitize the audience with constant torture scenes: “I know that [writer] Craig [Silverstein] is very protective of showing the audience too much. We need to keep the audience engaged.”

    This season, Nikita pulled the ol’ switcheroo, placing Percy in a silo-type prison and giving Amanda the control and power within the Division. Clarke found the change exciting and a catalyst for character development.

    “This season has been interesting for me because it feels like she hasn’t succeeded as much as I would have thought. One of the great things about the flip in power was, ultimately, between Xander and I, we were able to create a completely different relationship between the two characters,” she says.

    “As the episodes go on, there’s quite a bit of peeling back the layers on [Amanda and Percy], and maybe getting a glimpse into their relationship and what it’s actually been, emotionally. I’m excited for that. It will be interesting to see.”

    In addition to Berkeley, Clarke shares the majority of her scenes with Lyndsy Fonseca, who plays Alex, Nikita’s ex-protégé. “Lyndsy and I always have a great time. Amanda is invested in Alex and is constantly grooming her,” she says.

    “Amanda is motivated by the obvious reasons, but she’s also motivated by, even if it’s twisted, a true affection for Alex - something that she lost with Nikita. But [Lyndsy and I] always play that kind of mother-daughter dynamic.”

    Clarke enjoys playing multi-layered characters like Amanda, whose motivations and true emotional connections aren’t always revealed right away.

    “Even though she’s supposed to be this imposing character, she’s definitely very patient with characters like Alex. I think it’s because everything you see in Nikita is a chess game, so you see one move, and there’s another move off-screen. It’s all about what you don’t see. Amanda is a woman of secrets, an enigma, and a puzzle, and a mystery! So, everything you see, the opposite might be true.”

    Clarke also hinted at some interesting things that will be occurring between Amanda and Percy, so we can only wonder if there is romance in their future or if she’s hinting at yet another switch of power and control.

    ”There’s going to be a big surprise – a big reveal – of something about Amanda that I don’t think anybody would have thought has been going on. Everything that goes on is planned to be advantageous for her, even though it may look like she just had a loss. It’s going to get really interesting and exciting, and the future of Division is definitely up in the air.”

    Nikita returns Friday, Jan. 6, at 8 p.m. ET on The CW.

     

  3. ‘Extreme’ hoarders

    My review of Extreme Couponing on tvguide.ca

    2011-06-02

    Who knew that ‘Couponing’ could be so fruitful?

    Last night, I watched my first episode of TLC’s new money-saver show, Extreme Couponing, and I was pleasantly surprised. Not that I want to start couponing now, but you’ve got to hand it to these people. They’ve taken clipping coupons to a whole new level. For them, it’s not just a hobby or a way to save a few bucks, it’s an art and a skill.

    The two half-hour back-to-back episodes featured four couponers from different parts of the U.S. For those of you who’ve never seen the show, the episodes usually feature an expert coupon clipper and a trusty sidekick, who may or may not believe in their partner’s art.

    My personal favourites last night were the final two clippers. Kellie from Georgia was very strategic in what she was going to buy and cut her $1,313 grocery bill down to -$0.31! She actually got change back! For her, there was no embarrassment at filling up three or four cartloads of stuff and then whipping out a pile of coupons. The entire transaction took an hour and a half at the register — who wouldn’t love to be that cashier? The best part was the “success” background music that accompanied her saying what a great “feeling of accomplishment” this shopping trip gave her. Seriously!?

    Last up was Rebecca from Idaho who was converting her skeptic husband. Unlike the previous shopper, Rebecca at least had some heart to her and didn’t seem completely crazy since she buys everything in bulk and then donates large portions to shelters. What’s funny is that these couponers do this all the time — Rebecca even brought her folio of organized coupons with her — and yet they all get super nervous as the tally racks up. She cut her $895 purchase down to just $51.75, adding myriad supplies to her already growing stockpile that will keep her family going for years.

    Honestly, if it was me, I probably wouldn’t have the guts to bring hundreds of dollars worth of groceries to the cash and then pull out my wad of coupons that I had been hoarding for months. It takes a lot of nerve!

    However, this show is awesome, mostly because, like similar TLC shows, they know how to fabricate “drama,” and I use that term extremely loosely. These shows never fail to make it seem like the people who are featured are having breakdowns, such as when the cash register computer malfunctions, for example. Gotta love it. Especially when it’s followed by the person’s monologue about how their life is more complete now that they have managed to successfully pull off these “difficult” shopping trips. That’s pure reality gold right there.

    Extreme Couponing airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on TLC.

    Thoughts? Comment below.

  4. Bada boom, bada bing!


    2011-05-02

    Simpsons’ visit to ‘Jersey Shore’ was hilarious (tvguide.ca)

     

    Last night’s newest episode of The Simpsons was a pure half hour of Italian traditions — Italian-American traditions, that is. And every stereotypical joke was hilarious because it was true, for the most part.

    When Selma highlighted the tendency for ignorance with her vow, “Oh Tony, if there were an Italian word for ‘yes’ I’d be saying it right now,” in “The Real Housewives of Fat Tony,” all the Italian jokes that followed were fair game.

    Aunt Selma began another whirlwind love affair, but this time with mob boss Fat Tony. Her candid, flippant personality was more than a match for his attempts at intimidation and winded up getting her a hot new bod, a wedding, and a mob-wife ‘do to boot.

    Marge and Selma ended up butting heads over the former’s reservations about this sketchy marriage, so Fat Tony invited Marge and Homer to his beach house to make amends. And of course, where else would an Italian go for some good beachin’ other than the Jersey Shore. The Simpsons were introduced to the GTL-loving nephews and nieces of Fat Tony, which included The Occurrence and Tushie. Who needs normal light bulbs when you can fill your house with tanning lights instead?

    Meanwhile, in an uncommon role reversal, Lisa became greedy when Bart discovered his special talent to sniff out truffles. Lisa worked her brother to the bone in order to eat as many of these rare culinary treats as possible but surprisingly, Bart made her admit her gluttonous ways and decided to donate the last truffle to a lonely pig out of kindness. But only Bart’s kindness would lead to mass chaos as the pig proceeded to rampage through a restaurant.

    In the end, Selma was brought back to her senses when Fat Tony’s real wife appeared to set them both straight. Not to fear, though; the wife-vs.-mistress catfight didn’t damage the couches: they were covered in plastic, of course.

    The Simpsons airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Global/Fox.

  5. Getting hitched: TV’s Top 10 most memorable weddings

    Check out my Top 10 on tvguide.ca!

    2011-05-02

     

    We know some of you may be experiencing the post-Royal Wedding blues. After months of preparation, excitement, and anticipation for the marriage of two total strangers that you probably watched in your pyjamas as their nups were televised, you have nothing left to look forward to.

    So, to save you from this impending funk, we’ve come up with our favourite TV weddings in order for you to keep the fever going a little longer. These couples not only procured high ratings, but they made many lasting memories and even managed to wring out a few tears.

    LUKE and LAURA (General Hospital)
    Luke Spencer and Laura Webber’s wedding, which aired on Nov. 17, 1981, remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history with over 30 million viewers. The unmatched super-couple landed on the cover of Newsweek and their nuptials even featured a guest spot by Elizabeth Taylor. Luke and Laura were married for two decades and had two kids together. They have since divorced and while Anthony Geary is still embroiled in drama in Port Charles, Laura’s portrayer, Genie Francis, hasn’t been on GH in years, and heads to The Young and the Restless at the end of May.

    MONICA and CHANDLER (Friends)
    Monica Geller became Mrs. Chandler Bing during the hour-long Season 7 finale, which aired on May 17, 2001. About 30 million viewers tuned in to see two of their favourite pals prepare to tie the knot. Though the episode started in a panic — Chandler got cold feet and went missing but best man and brother of the bride, Ross brought him to his senses — the wedding went off without a hitch, for the most part. Probably one of the most shocking cliffhangers in Friends history occurred that night in a final scene (filmed without the usual studio audience in attendance in order to keep the big secret) where it was revealed that Rachel was pregnant. Monica and Chandler lived happily ever after and even adopted newborn twins in the series finale just before moving out of the infamous purple apartment.

    CÉLINE DION and RENÉ ANGÉLIL
    On Dec. 17, 1994, a 26-year-old Céline Dion married her long-time manager René Angélil who was 51 at the time, almost double his bride’s age. Wearing a pearl-studded silk dress with a 23-kg train and a headpiece containing 2,000 crystals that would make Lady Gaga jealous, the singing superstar declared her love for her unlikely partner at the Notre Dame Basilica in Old Montreal. Five hundred guests, as well as many Canadians watching on their televisions at home, experienced the union. Today, the couple stands strong with their three children.

    NATHAN and HALEY (One Tree Hill)
    When Haley James started tutoring bad boy Nathan Scott in the first season, no one thought they’d be married by the end of the year. After time apart during Season 2, the show’s favourite couple reunited to walk down the aisle one more time to restate their love in front of their family and friends. The third season finale on May 3, 2006 marked the big day for Naley — but nothing’s ever perfect in Tree Hill. After an unsolved four-way pregnancy scare and a few intense arguments, Nathan’s uncle Cooper and a broken-hearted and drunk Rachel drove the limo off a bridge, causing Nathan and Lucas to jump in after them. Talk about a cliffhanger. Years later, Nathan and Haley are still happily married and have two children, Jamie and Lydia.

    ROB MARIANO and AMBER BRKICH
    No one knows how to milk reality TV stardom like Mr. and Mrs. Mariano. Boston Rob alone has been on four different seasons of Survivor and two seasons of The Amazing Race (while Amber participated in two seasons of each show) and together, they shared Rob & Amber: Against the Odds with the world. On top of all that, Rob and Amber Get Married was televised as a two-hour CBS special about their “private” wedding ceremony at the Atlantis in the Bahamas on April 16, 2005. The limelight lovers are still together today and have two daughters, Lucia and Carina.

    PAM and JIM (The Office)
    Nearly 10 million people watched as Office lovebirds Pam Beesley and Jim Halpert exchanged their vows — twice — on Oct. 8, 2009 in an hour-long special. The Dunder-Mifflin employees followed the couple to Niagara Falls where they snuck away from the office madness that would veritably ruin their wedding. Of course, they could not hide from Michael and the gang, who made a grand entrance: a spoof of the popular YouTube video “The JK Wedding Entrance.” Pam and Jim went on to have a baby girl named Cecelia Marie Halpert, who was actually named by actress Jenna Fischer herself (after her niece).

    DAVID and DONNA (Beverly Hills, 90210)
    The eternally on-again off-again Donna Martin and David Silver finally tied the knot during the show’s emotional two-hour series finale, which aired on May 17, 2000. It was a marriage a decade in the making for fans of this classic series. Donna and David emerged early on as the couple to root for amidst the messy love triangles such as the Brenda-Dylan-Kelly situation. In the current reboot of the show, 90210, it was revealed by Donna (played by the returning Tori Spelling) that she and David split up, sadly, after the birth of their daughter.

    TRISTA REHN and RYAN SUTTER (The Bachelorette)
    Trista was the runner-up in the first season of The Bachelor, which led to her being the first Bachelorette in 2003. She chose Ryan Sutter as the winner and the two were married on married on Dec. 6, 2003. They were paid $1 million by ABC for the right to televise their wedding ceremony, which drew over 26 million viewers, making it one of the most widely viewed specials in reality TV history. The wedding itself reportedly cost $3.77 million, which isn’t surprising considering the bride’s diamond-encrusted shoes cost $50,000 alone. Most surprising of all, this reality couple is still going strong today after seven years and they have two children.

    DAPHNE and NILES (Frasier)
    Beginning in just the third episode when Niles fell in love with Daphne, the relationship between Frasier’s live-in housekeeper and his brother progressed throughout the entire series. In a four-part episode closing Season 7 and opening Season 8, Niles finally confessed his feelings to her and she left her fiancé at the altar. But it wasn’t until the Season 10 premiere that the two actually got hitched. Daphne and Niles had their first child in the series finale, “Goodnight, Seattle,” and named him David (after the show’s co-creator, David Angell).

    DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES and PRINCE CHARLES
    As the first British commoner to marry the heir to the throne in some 400 years, Diana was every bit the fairy-tale bride. On July 29, 1981, Diana wed His Royal Highness Prince Charles, heir to the British throne. The “wedding of the century” was a national holiday only in the U.K., and watched by 750 million people worldwide, the most ever for a televised ceremony. Di’s dress also broke records with its 25-foot train of ivory taffeta and antique lace. This fairy tale didn’t end happily ever after, unfortunately, as the couple was involved in scandal, alleged affairs, divorce in 1996, and a tragedy that took the beloved Princess’ life in 1997. Diana’s ring, consisting of 14 diamonds surrounding a massive blue sapphire, now sits on Kate Middleton’s left hand as she weds her prince, Di’s eldest son, William.

  6. Spontaneous ‘Love’: Ditch Day goes wrong on ‘Mad Love’

    2011-04-26 - My latest Tvguide.ca review!

     

    Last night’s newest episode of Mad Love, though still not hilarious, definitely took a step in the right direction. Compared to the last few, “The Young and the Reckless” had a decent storyline and actually produced a few good laughs.

    Ben decided to try to impress Kate by being something he is not: spontaneous. Ben and Kate ditched work — twice — to go to Coney and Staten Islands, respectively, and both times their “fun” outings ended in vomit — Kate’s, all over Ben’s pants. This evoked some chuckles as Ben arrived pants-less at the venue of his very important speech for work with only 15 minutes to spare. It seemed that someone stole his barf-stained slacks that were drying on the hand dryer behind him. Larry, of course, brought him a change of clothes, but since the suit came from his own closet, Ben was left swimming in it.

    While Kate filled Connie in on her catastrophic outing, Connie related her equally hectic day. Connie had a meeting with a book publisher to present a children’s story she had been working on and was further stressed out by her boss who decided to tag along to the interview with her toddlers. Returning guest star Sarah Wright is very entertaining as the ditzy Tiffany who still doesn’t seem to remember that she has children.

    Connie was annoyed when they ran into Larry who decided to join them in attempts to flirt with the married Tiffany. He suggested that Connie’s story needed a villain to counteract the heroine, like Captain Hook, Darth Vader, or … Iago? Yup, the parrot from Aladdin was Tiffany’s hilarious addition to the conversation.

    Kate, who felt guilty for messing up Ben’s big day, attempted to make amends by rushing to his office to pick up the notes Larry had forgotten. On the way, she pointed out to Connie that Larry was fully aware of Tiffany’s unavailability so it’s possible that he had ulterior motives. This prompted a perfectly delivered line with a smile from Connie: “I am so close to punching you in the face right now!”

    All of the day’s anger was forgotten in the end since Ben wound up delivering his on-the-fly speech about the necessity of adaptability in law and Connie earned a second publisher meeting because of the Larry-inspired ogre villain she created on the spot.

    Mad Love airs Mondays at 8:30 p.m. ET on A/CBS.

    Do you agree that Mad Love is, ever-so-slowly, improving? Comment below.

  7. Lovely lonely solos: ‘Glee’ neglects its main cast — again

    Here’s my review of last night’s Glee on tvguide.ca

    2011-04-20


    When did Glee become a show about solo singers? Last night, Glee returned with the episode appropriately named “A Night of Neglect” since only two of the New Directions voices were showcased, along with two guests.

    Don’t get me wrong, I will watch Mercedes belt out an Aretha ballad any day; her talent, along with everyone else’s on this show, is undeniable. But this leaves me wondering why Glee insists on neglecting its show choir roots — emphasis on the word “choir,” meaning all of the cast’s outstanding voices would come together and harmonize  for one outstanding number after another. But, to me, it seems that Glee has fallen into a terrible pattern of letting solo vocals outweigh the amazing collaborations that Gleeks everywhere have obsessed about since the first time they heard “Don’t Stop Believing.”

    The premise of the episode was that the glee club would host a benefit concert in order to raise money for the brainiac team to travel to their final round of competition. The team consisted of Artie, Mike, Tina and, surprisingly, Brittany, who used her advanced knowledge of cat diseases to put the team in the finals.

    An exciting part of the episode, as is always the case on Glee, was the return of some favourite guest stars who each slayed their solos. Charice reprised the role of Sunshine Corazon, lending her unbelievable vocals to the classic hit “All By Myself,” while Gwyneth Paltrow returned as Holly Holiday to prove her musical talents in a beautiful rendition of Adele’s “Turning Tables.” Once again, Glee scraped by with remarkable musical numbers that picked up the slack for a hem-haw plot. And it’s always nice to hear someone use the term “amazeballs” in a sentence. Gotta love Gwyneth.

    At least we can always count on Sue Sylvester’s endless schemes to destroy the glee club. Sue recruited a team of Will-haters to join forces in the Legion of Doom, including his ex-wife Terri and crazy ex-teacher Sandy.

    The largest, and slightly predictable, development arose when Emma told Will that her marriage was ending in an annulment since her OCD left her unable to consummate the union. At the same time, Will’s girlfriend, Holly, was conveniently offered a job out-of-state, causing their breakup but leaving free-bird Will available for Emma. Worked out nicely, didn’t it?

    Of course, this hour of Glee would not be complete without the quintessential Full House life lesson moment: Remember kids, technology allows us to be comfortable with bullying and insensitivity towards others, but that doesn’t make it right. Though completely true and well-intended, this cheesily inserted moment induced major eye-rolling on my part.

    I may seem cynical, but I have high hopes for improvement next week. Stay tuned as the Glee kids present a Lady Gaga-inspired 90-minute special.

    Glee airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Global/Fox.

    What did you think of the return episode? Comment below.

  8. Daddy dearest - Barney’s future isn’t “Hopeless” on ‘HIMYM’

    Check out my latest article on tvguide.ca!

    2011-04-19

    Never thought you’d see the day Barney Stinson actually considers growing up? Yeah, me neither. But last night on How I Met Your Mother, Barney may have taken his first step towards accepting that he can’t party hard for the rest of his life.

    “Hopeless” saw the return of guest star John Lithgow as Barney’s estranged father, Jerry. Throughout the episode, Barney strived to pull the fun-loving “crazy Jerry” out of his dad in hopes of reconnecting. Jerry invited Barney along on a fishing trip with his other son, but Barney suggested he join the gang for drinks and a wild night instead. In typical Barney style, he gave the others cue cards to indicate the “minor improvements” he had made to their identities for the night in order to ensure a more “awesome” time.

    Following this, we witnessed one of the best opening sequence ever seen on television, which featured Barney, Ted, Robin, Lily and Marshall’s “band” performing the show’s theme song. How could that stupendous moment be topped, you might wonder? Only with the most amazing “Who’s on First?” homage, which featured the group trying to choose a hip drinking scene. All of the club names were mistaken figures of speech like Was, Where, Lame, Hopeless, Okay, Shut Up, Focus and Closed. Quick-witted and pure genius.

    Lily and Marshall proved, once again, why they are one of my fave TV couples when they challenged each other to pick up five random people before the night’s end. Lily won and shared her prize with Marshall: sex in the club bathroom. Ted, on the other hand, proved once again why he is one of my least favourite TV leads when he announced his fake engagement with Robin to the club crowd in order to spitefully ruin her chances with her “crush” (guest star Michael Trucco). Shout-out to the red cowboy boots’ rebirth, though — another ridiculous aspect of Ted’s character.

    Meanwhile, Jerry and Barney set off on their own for father-son drunk bonding, which included trying to fight a motorcycle hoodlum, ripping a lamppost out of the sidewalk, and getting arrested. But Jerry revealed that he had been faking his intoxication all night because he is just too old to party. In a hilarious moment, where Jerry called up one of his driving students (an old lady) to chauffeur Barney and himself home, he gave Barney some seriously grown-up advice that our seemingly eternal bachelor took to heart. He told him that settling down would be hard at first, but he could start with meeting the right girl.

    But an episode of HIMYM could not end on a solemn note, of course, so we were left with the final hilarious image of a suited-up Barney in a fishing boat with his dad, sitting in silence until: “This … suuucks!”

    How I Met Your Mother airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Citytv/CBS.

    Do you think Barney is serious about getting serious? Comment below.

  9. Second chances on ‘Nikita’

    Check out my latest review on tvguide.ca!

    2011-04-15

    Michael lets Alex and Owen off the hook

    Gotta love bad-ass Shane West

     

    Although there was less plot progression on last night’s episode of Nikita compared to last week’s thrilling comeback, it didn’t matter since even a slightly filler-ish episode of Nikita is a great one.

    “Into the Dark” presented the return of Owen, a previous black box guardian and current on-the-run ex-agent. Owen took Nikita to his lair in London where he has been tracking down guardians and black boxes. We got a bit of background intel as he explained that guardians are Division’s deadliest agents because of the pill regiment they take, which heightens reflexes and reduces anxiety. But Michael later warned Nikita that the regiment was discontinued because of the detrimental side effects of withdrawal, so she must be wary of Owen.

    Owen and Nikita visited the guardian’s hideout, but were caught on-camera, causing the guardian to alert Percy of their whereabouts. The guardian then proceeded to detonate a security bomb (sounds oxymoronic, I know) but our heroine, of course, escaped just in the nick of time.

    Back at Division HQ, Amanda asked Alex for a favour after almost catching her in the process of hacking into the computers to delete the info they have on her boytoy, Nathan. It was requested that Alex debrief her nemesis, Jaden, who had just returned from a failed mission. Alex’s position of power was turned around on her, however, when Jaden brought up Alex’s previous devious behaviour. Amanda overheard the conversation, so naturally she decided to hook Alex up to the FMRI machine. Once again, our fearless star lied her way out of a lie detector test but ended up calling Michael’s loyalties into question. Michael covered both their butts by corroborating Alex’s stretch of an alibi, keeping them both safe — for now.

    By this time, Owen and Nikita had chased down the guardian holding the box. They engaged him in a chaotic bridge fight that ended with Owen throwing the guardian over the bridge into the frozen river below and then pushing Nikita in front of a moving vehicle in order to save the black box that she wanted to destroy.

    Owen’s plan to upload the box’s contents online in a destructive attempt to take Percy down was foiled by Michael, who arrived just after Owen had taken out the entire Division strike team. Michael aimed to shoot Owen but, at Nikita’s request, refrained and instead shot the black box and knocked Owen unconscious with the butt of his gun. Smooth moves, Michael.

    The night’s drama ended with a bittersweet moment when Nikita nursed Owen back to health and he apologized for killing her fiancé, Daniel. Kudos to the kick-ass Maggie Q, who showed off her acting chops once again with all the emotional material last night. I just can’t wait to see what Nikita has in store for us next!

    Nikita airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on A/The CW.

    How do you think this awesome first season will end? Comment below.

  10. Rogue lovers - Things finally heat up on ‘Nikita’

    Check out my latest review on tvguide.ca!

     

    Last night marked the much-anticipated return of my favourite new drama, Nikita, with the comeback episode “Covenants.” For those of you whose memories may be foggy after a torturous six-week hiatus, we left off with the heart-stopping moment when Michael finally discovered Nikita’s lair and her connection with the Division mole, Alex.

    The episode picked up at this exact moment, where an enraged Michael wrongly accused Nikita of hiding the whereabouts of Kassim, the man who killed Michael’s wife and daughter in a bomb attack meant for him. Michael gave Nikita 24 hours to find Kassim for him, using Alex’s life as leverage.

    Throughout “Covenants,” viewers were finally allowed into the history of Michael and Nikita’s relationship. The flashback took us back to their first mission together that almost resulted in a serious hookup — until Michael’s guilty conscience about the death of his family stopped him. He told Nikita that he couldn’t move on until he avenged them by killing Kassim. This was the reason he joined Division in the first place: to find the man who destroyed his world.

    Nikita, who wanted nothing more than to help Michael get his revenge, devised a plan to learn Kassim’s whereabouts. She blew up his heroin delivery trucks in Russia, which smoked him out of his foxhole. However, Nikita was not willing to hand him over to Michael so easily: she offered to trade him for the locations of the remaining black boxes, her only hope of destroying Division.

    Back home, Alex realized that she needs to get out of Division before it’s too late. She planned to break up with Nathan, her hunky neighbour, for his own safety. However, things got heated — as they must when a beautiful couple fights — and Nathan was pushed into Alex’s bed rather than out the door. Alex made a bad decision worse when she planned to go away with Nathan for the weekend. Honey, that’s the opposite of breaking up.

    Meanwhile, things got dicey for Nikita when the hideout she was keeping Kassim prisoner in was attacked by his would-be rescuers. Would be if not for Michael’s timely appearance, that is. Of course, Michael’s redemptive moment that we’ve been expecting and waiting for was interrupted by the mind-blowing twist: Kassim is actually a member of Divison! This meant Percy hired him to kill Micahel in the accident that took his family instead. Michael walked away broken and unable to kill Kassim after this huge blow to all he had ever believed in, but Nikita wasn’t so forgiving. She killed Kassim and convinced Michael that, together, they can and will bring Divison down.

    Most importantly, the high-stress situation raised the sexual tension that had been mounting between Michael and Nikita the entire season and the adversaries finally became lovers. And the Mikita ‘shippers go wild.

    Nikita airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on A/The CW.

    What do you think will happen next? Comment below.

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schmorgusboard of opinions on musical muses, television trends, and film fads.