| 114 - Recruit |
| Writer/Director |
Larry Raskin / Reza Badiyi |
| Michael's POV Onscreen:
15 minutes |
Nikita is assigned to assess a
new recruit, Karyn, whom Michael seems to be deliberately courting in order to make Nikita
jealous. When her former trainer is killed under suspicious circumstances whilst on a
mission with Nikita and Karyn, Michael still seems to take Karyn’s side. He appears
to get on well with her, smiling broadly and enjoying making Nikita witness his
interaction with her. Michael knows Nikita will ask for his help in the assessment and is
deliberately evasive. During a mission in a bank Michael is shot by an unlikely looking
assassin, but is only slightly hurt. Karyn is cancelled and Nikita and Michael share an
enigmatic look. |
| Michael Moments |
Michael as dresser - adjusting
Karen’s belt or measuring her waist?
Hanging around Section, waiting to bump into Karyn in Nikita’s view, Michael looks
like a husband outside a ladies fitting room.
The pirouette as he turns his gun on the office receptionist
The bank vault scene, wounded Mikey. |
| Words of Wisdom |
"I have your kid. I’m
prepared to torture and kill him if you don’t co-operate."
"I don’t believe in
intuition. Your scores were high, you excelled in all areas. It wasn’t a very
difficult decision."
"Everyone gets that look
when it’s time to pull the trigger."
"I thought you knew me
better than that by now." |
Performance Rating
 |
Michael spends a lot of his
time overtly yanking Nikita’s chain, which is a little unbelievable as he is capable
of doing that with much more subtlety. Although his role-playing for Karyn’s training
in the teaser is convincing, the pivotal scene when he and Nikita discuss the assessment
process is much more troublesome. Granted the subject area is sensitive, straying
dangerously near to personal revelations, but neither actor seems able to carry this off
naturally, and some of Roy’s delivery (‘What is your question?’) seems
unnecessarily stilted. There’s some compensation in the tiny flicker of
disappointment when she tells him she doesn’t know him at all. |
