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| 302 - Someone Else's Shadow |
| Writer/Director |
Michael Loceff / René Bonniere |
| Michael's POV Onscreen:
22 minutes |
Michael is continuing his
‘blood cover’ as husband to Elena, the world’s least perceptive woman, and
father to Adam. Nikita is predictably disgusted at his deceit but follows Section orders
to help Michael draw out Elena’s father, a notorious terrorist. Michael prepares to
lose them both from his life as Section’s plans seem to be working, but when the
arranged meeting doesn’t occur, Nikita points out that he will have more time with
Adam. Section, however, has other ideas. |
| Michael Moments |
Gentle Michael – his times
with Adam, planting the tree, picking him up when arriving home from work, cuddling him
when he has a bad dream
The gallant one-handed assist to Nikita from the landing bag after she jumps from the
tower block
Nikita, alone downstairs, looks up at Michael and Elena’s bedroom – Michael
isn’t even in shot (the flashbacks aren’t necessary) but his presence dominates
that scene. Blaine Johnson’s Mandalay track helps too.
The sadness in his eyes as he drives to meet Elena’s father, realising that he may
never see Adam again |
| Words of Wisdom |
"Clean it up, everyone to their
fall-back point."
"Voila"
"Then the mission
ends. (……). I won’t see them again."
"I want this to be good
for you." |
Performance Rating
 |
As the plot details are
sketched in, we wonder why a mission that has been ongoing for 14 years and which occupies
20% of Section’s resources would be prejudiced by being dependent on someone who is
constantly in the line of fire. Did Operations take this into consideration when he tried
to write off Michael in Mandatory Refusal? Elena’s reference to Michael’s
being away a lot is hardly sufficient to account for her apparent oblivion to his growing
collection of bullet scars. Just what line of business does she imagine her ‘good
man’ is in? Nevertheless, Roy is up for it, showing us a Michael who is conflicted,
the good husband and father who truly cares for his family, but is constantly aware that
he will hurt them, and be hurt himself, when his mission ends. As a contrast to the
tightly-controlled use of body language that we are used to with Michael, here we see a
relaxed sweater-wearing New Age touchy-feely man. Although obviously deeply fond of the
child, he manages to appear slightly distant with Elena however. Watch Roy touch his other
screen lovers – the passion that flows from his fingers is practically visible. For
Elena, the affection is just on the surface – she never receives the full Roy magic. |
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