Nikita (Nikita character)

For the TV series of the same name, see Nikita (TV series).

Nikita
Nikita character
Maggie Q as Nikita
First appearance	"Pilot"
Created by	Craig Silverstein
Portrayed by	Maggie Q
Information
Nickname(s)	Nikki, Nik
Aliases	Josephine Besson Roxanne Barnes Emma Jordyn
Occupation	Spy/Assassin
Family	Gary and Caroline Meers (Foster parents; deceased)
Significant other(s)	Daniel Monroe (fiance; deceased) Emile Voss (ex-boyfriend; deceased) Michael (boyfriend, previous Division handler and instructor)
Nationality	Vietnamese American

Nikita Meers, better known as Nikita, is the primary protagonist and eponymous character of Nikita, an American action and drama television series, which debuted in September 2010 on The CW Television Network. She is played by American actress Maggie Q. The series follows Nikita's efforts in bringing down Division, a secret agency that trained her into becoming an agent and assassin, and then betrayed her by killing a man she fell in love with, civilian Daniel Monroe. She recruits Alexandra Udinov (Lyndsy Fonseca) into helping her destroy Division from within.

Q was in talks to appear on the series as the title character in February 2010, and it was her first time working on a television series. She was chosen for the role because series creator Craig Silverstein believed Q had qualities that would fit the character; "beautiful, who could fight," and be believable with a gun. The actress meanwhile was intrigued by the original Nikita film and Luc Besson's creation of a flawed female character. Q performs her own stunts of the series. The series also deals with Nikita and Michael's romantic tension, then relationship, described by the fans as "Mikita." The character and Q's portrayal garnered generally positive reactions from critics.

Character arc

Nikita was once a felonious drug addicted teenager. After she was sentenced to death, Nikita was brought in by Division, a secret American agency who faked her execution and agent Michael (Shane West) started training her to be an assassin.^[1] Nikita's first kill assignment was Victor Han (Russel Wong). However, unknown to her at the time Han contacted Division to fake his death to cover up his involvement with a triad gang.^[2] Later Nikita began a relationship with civilian Daniel Monroe (Sebastien Roberts). Because this was against Division's policy—Division could not allow Nikita to be distracted with emotional entanglements—they killed him.^[1][3] Seeking revenge, Nikita went rogue and would spend the next three years working on a plan to bring down Division.^[1] Nikita recruits Alexandra Udinov (Lyndsy Fonseca) after saving her from drug dealers, and started training her in bringing down Division from the inside.^[4]

In the pilot episode Nikita and Alex gets Division's attention by setting up a robbery where Alex would be arrested for the murder of a man Division was after. From there Alex would assist Nikita by warning her of several Division operations so that Nikita can sabotage them.^[1] In "The Guardian" Nikita reluctantly takes Owen Elliot (Devon Sawa), Monroe's killer, as an ally; Elliot is a guardian to one of seven black boxes, hard drives with information on Division's past assignments.^[5][6] She would later plan on finding all of Division's black boxes to destroy them.^[7] In "Phoenix" Nikita is offered a position in Gogol, a terrorist organization who also wish to destroy Division, but she declines.^[8] In "One Way" she aids a reluctant Michael in killing Kasim Tariq (Haaz Sleiman) in Uzbekistan, a terrorist responsible for killing Michael's family. Nikita is helping him because it is an unofficial assignment, and she would disappear after it is done. However Division soon learns of her involvement and sabotages it.^[9] In "Dark Matter" Nikita finds another ally; Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst Ryan Fletcher (Noah Bean), whom she saved after Division framed him for murdering a Chilean presidential candidate when Owen leaked the candidate's death from the black box to the press;^[7] Fletcher and Nikita would occasionally cross paths in helping each other in stopping Division.^[10][11] In the midseason finale "All the Way" the shell program which Nikita uses to communicate with Alex is discovered by computer programmer Seymour Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford). She is also captured by Division, thought Alex would detonate several bombs as a distraction to allow Nikita to escape.^[3]

Later Michael discovers the location of Nikita's hideout and discovers that Alex is her mole in stopping Division. In "Covenants" he forces her into finding and killing Tariq, who later turns out to be a former Division agent. After this is completed, Michael and Nikita begin a romantic relationship.^[12] In "Betrayals", it is revealed that when she was an agent, Nikita was ordered to kill the entire Udinov family, which she followed save for the young Alex; it became the first time Nikita ever defied Division.^[13] In the season finale "Pandora", Nikita's access to Division has been damaged. Firstly, Alex is discovered to be the mole. After she is released, she no longer wishes to help Nikita because of her role in her family's murder. Secondly, Amanda takes control of part of Oversight, and Michael is no longer able to retain his cover at Division when he tries to kill Percy for organising the death of his family. However, Birkhoff has helped Nikita hack into one of the black boxes, saying he will "cross [his fingers] behind [his] back" to help her. By the end of the first season, Michael and Nikita then end up on the run together to find the remaining black boxes.^[14]

Characterization

Creation and casting

Maggie Q plays the series' eponymous character. It was the actress' first role in television.

The CW was looking to create a female-driven action series. Creator Craig Silverstein discussed with Warner Bros. about the previous incarnations of Nikita (the original 1990 film, and La Femme Nikita) and wished to make the current television series look fresh. Silverstein wanted to follow Nikita after she left the agency, as that chapter was yet to be told in the previous incarnations. He also believed it would have done the original story justice. Also, he wanted to include a highlight of Nikita's original story in the pilot to earn the title, and then move on from there. Silverstein described Nikita's transition in a Collider interview; "It's a dark fairytale. This girl is taken from one life, her identity is erased, she's put in another life and she's transformed. It's like Alice in Wonderland. She's told, "Eat this, drink that, steal this, kill that," and she's not told why. And, she begins to find her own identity through that. It's just a great story."^[15]

On February 2010 it was announced that Maggie Q was in talks to play the title character of Nikita. Q's casting would mark the highest-profile series role for an Asian actress on a broadcast drama series.^[16] Q was drawn to the series because she was intrigued by the original film and Luc Besson's creation of an incredibly flawed female. According to the actress the process of her casting took about four to five days.^[17] In describing Q's casting, Silverstein stated;

“	Before we knew who Nikita was going to be, we all talked about how impossible it was going to be to cast this role. It had to be someone who was beautiful, who could fight, who you could believe holding a gun and who you believed was smart, in order to plan everything that she was doing. You'd think those things would be easy to find in an actor, and they're not. We had actors come in and these girls would be gorgeous and smart, but you'd put a gun in their hands and it didn't work. The second we heard Maggie's name, Danny Cannon, our director, and I looked at each other and were like, "Yes!" It was really early on in the process.	”
—Craig Silverstein[15]

Appearing on Nikita would be Q's first television role. During an interview with IGN, Q explained that she previously was not on television "not because I didn't want to. I just never thought about it," adding "When this came up, everything just felt right. I knew McG and when Wonderland came on he was like, 'This is you, we're not doing this without you.' and I went 'That's very sweet!' So it felt right."^[18]

Development

Because the CW is a fashion-orientated network, there were times Nikita had to be dressed in a certain way to get her noticed by her targets. Q liked the idea, but at the same time wanted Nikita's dress sense to be "toned down a bit" because she is an assassin. In one scene in particular Q had to wear a red bikini in the pilot, which "mortified" her. She added "that red bikini was the bane of my existence. You're not going to see me in a bikini again, that's for sure. [...] I was like, 'Danny, can you put me in a one-piece?,' and he gave me that red bikini. I was like, 'That's not a one-piece. That's a two-piece with a string.'"^[19] However, Q did not have to cover her tattoos like she had to in the films, as it was in keeping with who the character is; a hardcore, street kid.^[19]

Q performs her own stunts in the series.^[20] The actress liked to have her character "be able to do her own thing," as it is an action series where females play lead roles; during her film career, she noted "but in movies, alongside big action men, we've always got to take a step back and let the men shine. And in this, it's about the women who know what they're doing."^[18] At some point Q set up a three-week long training period for the rest of the cast to make their fight scenes on the series believable; she had her partner, an action director, bring his stunt team to train them. In filming the stunts she was already used to working in an environment where filming in television would be faster than in American films, because of her time starring in films in Asia, which usually took two to six weeks.^[19]

One of the more prominent aspects of Nikita's character development since the beginning of the series is her relationship with Michael,^[21] and has been dubbed by fans as "Mikita".^[22] Unlike other works on film and television, Silverstein did not play the traditional "Will They/Won't They?" game between the two characters.^[22] Co-star Shane West stated "It's not hard to bring Michael and Nikita together," but it is "really hard to keep them apart...We're barely into the season yet, so why not keep teasing?"^[21] When the first season started airing, West also expected that their romance would come, citing Michael and Nikita's past relationship while she was working with Division.^[23] Now that the two are together by the end of the first season, in the second season Craig Silverstein wanted something to happen to get in their way, saying that no new tension would make the relationship boring, adding "I don't think you can just have them happy and in love, kicking ass together forever."^[22]

Reception

"Q gives the impression of trying to get things over in a businesslike fashion. In the action scenes, this is quite effective. In all other scenes, this is merely effective. It's as if she has made a choice to play the character with a pronounced detachment. Or perhaps, deciding to keep her bad acting low key, she has arrived at a decent approximation of bare competence, which is one way to do it, but what am I prattling about? As ubiquitous bus-shelter ads attest, Q looks confident holding a gun and is not averse to wearing either leather or lace, thus meeting the maximum requirements for the job."

Troy Patterson of Slate magazine^[24]

Nikita and Maggie Q's portrayal of the character was met with generally positive reactions from television critics. Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times felt that Q was suited for the role, stating "she has a solemn, exotic beauty and hauteur that echo the heroine's self-possession and cool relentlessness," adding "Nikita is noticeably more hard-boiled and less girlish than the undercover agent played by Jennifer Garner on Alias, or the C.I.A. rookie that Piper Perabo plays on Covert Affairs."^[25] Troy Patterson of Slate felt that "Ms. Q's Nikita is only half so crush-worthy as Bionic Woman's Jaime Sommers or Dollhouse's what's-her-name, but her predicament is no less tasty."^[24] Robert Bianco of USA Today believed Q's performance was "a fairly sizable incentive" to watch the show, adding she "combines stunt-fighting chops and lithe beauty with an unusual-for-the-genre air of somber intelligence. Her Nikita is not above cracking a joke, but it's clear from Q's eyes and bearing that she has suffered at the hands of evil men, and she's not going to take it anymore."^[26] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix believed that Q "carries herself in a way that makes it believable she could be a hard-core killer, and she has the requisite dramatic chops and charisma for the part."^[27] Maureen Ryan of AOL TV said "Maggie Q, has real charisma and presence; she invests Nikita's drive to bring down the secretive Division with potent energy. You have to believe that Nikita would devote her life to wreaking vengeance on the people she views as her former captors, and you also have to buy her as a butt-kicking, gun-toting action heroine who also looks great in a cocktail gown. Maggie Q makes all those things look easy."^[28]

Some other critics however, did not react so warmly towards Nikita. Chris Conaton of PopMatters felt that Q "seems to be a good choice for the title role," but noted that the pilot did not call attention to the character's background. That said Conaton stated "it's still something of a novelty to build a TV series around an Asian American lead—though plenty of recent ensemble and reality TV shows have featured prominent cast members of Asian descent."^[29] Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe flet that Q was "too much of a sad sack," adding "Q doesn't seem able to layer any other emotions over her cold resolve," and compares the character to "a little bit like [Saturday Night Live character] Debbie Downer."^[30] Mary McNamara of The Los Angeles Times believed that while Nikita "provides some sizzle," her emotions "run that famous distance from A to B, as do virtually [every other characters]."^[31]

Before the show started airing, Q posed for several billboard posters. However, they were met with some controversy for being revealing, and several locations across the United States, including in areas of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, refused to allow them to be put up, as they were located near churches and schools. Rick Haskins, the marketing executive for the CW stated "we've been down this road a few times with some of our campaigns."^[32]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Pilot". Danny Cannon (director); Craig Silverstein (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. September 9, 2010. No. 1, season 1.
2. ^ "Rough Trade". Nick Copus (director); Carlos Coto (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. September 30, 2010. No. 4, season 1.
3. ^ ^{a b} "All the Way". Terrence O'Hara (director); Craig Silverstein (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. December 9, 2010. No. 11, season 1.
4. ^ "2.0". Danny Cannon (director); David Levinson & Craig Silverstein (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. September 16, 2010. No. 2, season 1.
5. ^ "The Guardian". David Solomon (director); Albert Kim (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. October 7, 2010. No. 5, season 1.
6. ^ "Resistance". Guy Ferland (director); Kalinda Vasquez (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. October 21, 2010. No. 6, season 1.
7. ^ ^{a b} "Dark Matter". Danny Cannon (director); Carlos Coto (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. December 2, 2010. No. 10, season 1.
8. ^ "Phoenix". David M. Barrett (director); Jim Barnes (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. November 4, 2010. No. 8, season 1.
9. ^ "One Way". Ken Fink (director); Albert Kim (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. November 11, 2010. No. 9, season 1.
10. ^ "Free". Jonathan Glassner (director); Kalinda Vasquez (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. January 27, 2011. No. 12, season 1.
11. ^ "The Next Seduction". David Solomon (director); Carlos Coto (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. February 10, 2011. No. 14, season 1.
12. ^ "Covenants". Eagle Egilsson (director); Jim Barnes (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. April 7, 2011. No. 17, season 1.
13. ^ "Betrayals". Eagle Egilsson (director); Andrew Colville (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. May 5, 2011. No. 21, season 1.
14. ^ "Pandora". Ken Fink (director); Craig Silverstein (writer). Nikita. The CW Television Network. May 12, 2011. No. 22, season 1.
15. ^ ^{a b} Radish, Christina (August 30, 2010). "Executive Producer Craig Silverstein Interview NIKITA". Collider. http://collider.com/executive-producer-craig-silverstein-interview-nikita/46240/. Retrieved June 26, 2011. 
16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 19, 2010). "Maggie Q to star as CW's "Nikita" remake". Reuters. The Thomson Corporation. http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/19/us-maggie-idUSTRE61I14O20100219. Retrieved June 26, 2011. 
17. ^ Stack, Tim (September 18, 2010). "'Nikita' star Maggie Q talks her new hit series, kicking butt, and being a Jackie Chan protege". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc.. http://popwatch.ew.com/2010/09/18/nikita-maggie-q-interview/. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
18. ^ ^{a b} Goldman, Eric (June 24, 2010). "Nikita is Ready to Kill". IGN. News Corporation. http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/110/1101592p1.html. Retrieved June 26, 2011. 
19. ^ ^{a b c} Radish, Christina (August 26, 2010). "Maggie Q Interview NIKITA". Collider. http://collider.com/maggie-q-interview-nikita/45906/. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
20. ^ Jeffrey, Morgan (August 23, 2010). "Maggie Q 'performs own Nikita stunts'". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s126/nikita/news/a266170/maggie-q-performs-own-nikita-stunts.html. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
21. ^ ^{a b} Heldman, Breanne L. (October 21, 2010). "Can Romance Ever Really Blossom on Nikita?". E! Online. NBCUniversal. http://eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b206817_can_romance_ever_really_blossom_on.html. Retrieved June 28, 2011. 
22. ^ ^{a b c} Masters, Megan (May 12, 2011). "Exclusive: Nikita Boss Solves Finale Mysteries, Shares (Probable) Season 2 Scoop". TVLine. PMC. http://www.tvline.com/2011/05/nikita-finale-review-season-2-preview/. Retrieved June 28, 2011. 
23. ^ Wightman, Catriona (September 17, 2010). "Shane West expects 'Nikita' romance". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s126/nikita/news/a277476/shane-west-expects-nikita-romance.html. Retrieved June 28, 2011. 
24. ^ ^{a b} Patterson, Troy (September 10, 2010). "The post-racial America of Hellcats; the posters of Nikita". Slate. The Washington Post Company. http://www.slate.com/id/2266739/. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
25. ^ Stanley, Alessandra (September 7, 2010). "Lethal Woman With Weapons Is Out for Covert Vengeance". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. http://tv.nytimes.com/2010/09/08/arts/television/08nikita.html?_r=1. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
26. ^ Bianco, Robert (September 9, 2010). "'Nikita' star Maggie Q brings killer looks to killer role". USA Today. Gannett Company. http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2010-09-09-nikita09_ST_N.htm. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
27. ^ Sepinwall, Alan (September 8, 2010). "Review: 'Nikita' on the CW". HitFix. http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/whats-alan-watching/posts/review-nikita-on-the-cw. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
28. ^ Ryan, Maureen (September 9, 2010). "'Nikita' Premiere Review". AOL TV. AOL. http://www.aoltv.com/2010/09/09/nikita-maggie-q/. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
29. ^ Conaton, Chris (September 9, 2010). "'Nikita': Spies Like Them". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/130750-nikita/. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
30. ^ Gilbert, Matthew (September 9, 2010). "A mysterious assassin — minus the mystery". The Boston Globe. The New York Times Company. http://articles.boston.com/2010-09-09/ae/29326475_1_nikita-jaden-lyndsy-fonseca. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
31. ^ McNamara, Mary (September 8, 2010). "Television Review: 'Hellcats' and 'Nikita' on the CW". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/08/entertainment/la-et-hellcatsnikita-20100908. Retrieved June 27, 2011. 
32. ^ Jeffery, Morgan (August 20, 2010). "'Nikita' campaign causes controversy". Digital Spy. Hachette Filipacchi Médias. http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s126/nikita/news/a264835/nikita-campaign-causes-controversy.html. Retrieved June 27, 2011.