Operations: "I'm sending you out."
Birkoff: "In the field?"
I love Birkoff. Really, I do. And I realize that by this time in a season, our principal actors are exhausted and need a break. But that was still no excuse for such a weak episode.
What worked for me was Birkoff thinking his way out of the undercover trap that Operations put him in. Birkoff is compelling and likable, smart and resourceful, nerdy without being a stereotype, and he can be formidable. He outwitted Operations, Hillinger, and the bad guys, and gave Section a direct link to Red Cell. (Of course, one could also consider Operations and Hillinger to be bad guys.)
What didn't work for me was "Honor! Integrity! Strength! Power!" Yes, we can make the obvious parallels between what Rousseau did to his kids and what Section did to Birkoff, but it still all felt like a bad cliche. We had scene after scene of Birkoff alone, looking depressed. Staggering firewalls and flirting with the Red Cell girl just wasn't enough to make it interesting. And there was a total lack of suspense, because I never believed for one moment that Birkoff would change sides. I was much more interested in what was going on at Section with Hillinger. And I don't even like Hillinger.
Nikita was her usual compassionate self, just for less screen time. What was different was Birkoff using her the way he did, and Nikita actually having trouble forgiving him. Michael, who was in the episode for maybe ten minutes, was used pretty much as a threat to Birkoff (you'd better behave, or Michael's gonna get you). An episode with so little Michael/Nikita goodness needed more than they gave us here.
Bits and pieces:
-- There was that geographical strangeness again. Where did the undercover action take place? Rousseau spoke French at the end; were they all supposedly speaking French throughout?
-- Birkoff got his turn (briefly) in The Chair.
-- Wouldn't it have been fun if Operations had given the assignment to Hillinger instead, and Hillinger had died a horrible death while undercover?
-- Eugene Robert Glazer is a good actor, but his pronunciation of "Soldats de la Liberte" made me cringe.
-- One scene of Michael showed him just from the back. It didn't look like Roy Dupuis to me. That's happened before, mostly in mission sequences.
-- In Section, everyone wore black or dark colors. Nikita wore an ugly pale grey suit. And we saw her at home in an Asian kind of robe, eating with chopsticks.
-- In this week's hair report, Madeline's was different again.
Quotes:
Nikita: "He doesn't like Hillinger."
Birkoff: "Operations likes anyone who spins the world in his direction."
Perceptive, and true.
Michael: "People survive these things."
Nikita: "He's not you."
This was filler. And not very good filler. One out of four stars,
Billie
2 comments:
This cringe-worthy episode is so painfully slow and boring that it makes watching paint dry seem like a pleasant alternative. It is no surprise that Hertzog is the writer, as there is nothing at all clever about this script: the plot is lame, the dialogue is flat, the action is lacklustre, and Operations is depicted completely out of character. In addition, the whole cult premise is predictable, standard stuff that audiences have seen many times before on other shows, and done a lot better, I might add (has Hertzog ever had an original idea in his life?). I feel sorry for the cast and crew, forced to enact this dull and derivative story. Throw in Hillinger, and this episode contains absolutely everything I detest. I recommend skipping it entirely.
Spoilers follow...
Continuity Issues:
Exactly how does it make sense to put an operative with Birkoff’s extensive knowledge of Section systems into the field where he has an 80% chance of failure? If Operations wants to replace Birkoff, why wouldn’t he just demote him? In several previous episodes, Operations has recognized Birkoff’s value (“Inside Out”, “Open Heart”, “Looking for Michael”), and clearly Section employs more than one computer expert, so why throw away a valuable resource? Oh, wait – it’s Hertzog writing this episode, so don’t expect anything resembling logic.
Also, don’t expect anything resembling character continuity: Operations, as a chess player, would never sacrifice a valuable piece for so little return and so great a risk. Except apparently, Operations doesn’t act rationally anymore, and so decides to risk Section security as a way to kill Birkoff over the trivial reason of a lost comm signal. Thank-you, Hertzog, for yet another ridiculous premise.
Wow, I took the completely opposite view on this episode. Yeah, the silly "cult" was a little unbelievable, but I really did get the feeling at the end that Birkoff indeed went over to the other side, and had those backdoor hacks in place to bail himself out should he be re-taken by Section.
I actually (like Operations, and of course Hillinger) wasnt buying that Birkoff had been loyal the whole time. And Michael being basically unstoppable as the "bad guy sent to kill Birkoff" was an awesome change of pace for our resident hero---you didnt want him to succeed, and you felt Birkoff's fear as the unstoppable, familiar killing force approached.
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