Nikita: Canceled [Series Finale]

Nikita: Canceled (4×06)

Synopsis: The final conclusion to Nikita, in which we finally see what happens to the team from Division.

Rating: ★★★★★

Now that we’re finally free, I get why we fought so hard. The real gift isn’t freedom, it’s what we get to do with it. I don’t know about you, but I could never just sit on a beach anyway.

First let’s talk about the fact that this show, while awesome and deep and casted perfectly, is fucking absurd. Pardon my French, but not since an M. Night Shyamalan movie have I seen as many plot twists as this show. No one is every dead and no one is ever who they say that they are.

It’s certainly not a perfect ending, but the reason I gave it five stars is that it was the best ending the show could have. Much like many of the shows that ended this year, it ended the way it should have, but not before giving us the ride of our lives.

After the death of Ryan Fletcher, Nikita is ready for all out revenge. We always knew it would come down to Nikita versus Amanda, and in a way this battle ended the only way it could have. We start off the episode with a flashback of Nikita in 2004 when she was first brought into Division. Immediately Amanda was drawn to her and saw something in her that kept her from canceling Nikita

The whole episode revolves around Nikita’s transformation. She started her life in Division like an animal, and true to Amanda’s word, she transformed Nikita into the person she is today. She used the same weapon that Amanda favored, which is deception.

We are taken all around the world in a great Nikita/Alex team up as they go around “assassinating” the eight puppetmasters of “The Shop”. It’s a great sequence since we spent the past five episodes without this badass duo. The best part about this show is that there are so many moments where I just want to throw my fist up in the air for women taking charge of their lives and making decisions on their own.

Whether it’s Amanda, refusing to be pushed down by the Group, or Nikita, refusing to be manipulated by Amanda, or Alex, taking her own life by the reins for once in her life. Watching Nikita and her team take down Big Bad Amanda was as thrilling as the show as a whole. Last season I was so sick of Amanda, but this season I fell right back in love with her. 

I was all too glad when she didn’t have any moments of redemption or weakness. She never broke, because that’s not who she is. Not now, at least. She’s a survivor, like Nikita, like Alex. Not killing her and letting her rot in that prison cell was harsh, but then again, it was satisfying revenge. Killing her would have meant that Nikita would be ripping out another part of herself.

We know from the entire series that Nikita doesn’t enjoy killing. She was made into a killing machine and forced to perfect this unwanted skill. Taking Amanda’s life would have fit Amanda’s agenda. For the hell that she put everyone through during the show, her going back to “the basement” was a fitting end for her.

The rest of the team gets their happy endings, because they earned them. Ryan is memorialized as the hero that he was, serving his country up until the moment he died and living forever in the memories of his friends, especially Nikita’s. Alex is saving the world using her position as Alexandra Udinov, with Owen at her side protecting her (and earning his keep). I can’t say I am 100% behind Alex and Owen being together, but I think it’s because I’m still mourning Sean.

Birkhoff has given Shadownet to the world, so that they can safeguard themselves from the government’s prying eyes, while he goes off to London with Sonya. This was kind of a quirky and cheesy moment, but since it’s Birkhoff, it’s nothing out of character for him. Also, yes, I’m really disappointed we never saw Sonya in the finale. Like, REALLY DISAPPOINTED.

And of course, Michael and Nikita. They eloped! It’s a sweet, sweet ending for the heroes of the world, and one they totally deserve. Nikita’s final swan song is hopeful. We get to see the memory of Ryan sitting next to her, guiding her on the path of truth and freedom. Michael and Nikita stretch out on a beach in Ecuador on their honeymoon, but it doesn’t take them long to find small missions and continue to save the world together.

This has always been one of my favorite shows on television. Maggie Q’s outstanding performance as one of the most badass Asian American women on television, standing up for the underdog and truth and freedom, has had me cheering for the show since its conception. While its viewership fell, I was so happy that the CW (my favorite TV station) gifted it a final season to close out their story. It wasn’t perfect, the story was messy and there are bound to be loose ends hanging around, but this was a good show and now that it’s over, I can rewatch the entire series.

An A+ to the writers and creators of this show, also to the wonderfully talented cast who played characters that I loved and ones that I loved to hate, and of course to Nikita Mears for saving the fictional world.

Also, kudos to whoever came up with the name “Canceled” for this episode, because they deserve all the cookies and hugs for their cleverness (it can only be topped by whoever decided to put “fin” at the end of Sharknado, they had a chance and they took it).