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| 311 - Walk On By |
| Writer/Director |
Michael Loceff / René Bonniere |
| Michael's POV Onscreen:
15 minutes |
New recruit Jamie, a face out
of Nikita’s past, tells her that her mother is not convinced she is dead. Out of the
blue Michael invites Nikita to spend the day together, but she takes a rain check. When he
finds out that it’s because Nikita wants to make contact with her mother, Michael
agrees to help her. Posing as a private detective, he constructs a cover story about a
failed medical experiment, duping Mom into turning off Nikita’s ‘life
support’, thus freeing her to go on and lead a more fulfilled life. Nikita tells
Michael that this is the kindest thing he’s ever done for her. |
| Michael Moments |
Spraying the ‘shaving
foam’ stuff to blast through the wall on the Polish mission
The look of surprise on his face when Nikita kisses him to say ‘thank you’
The way his eyes turn to Nikita as she walks past his office window |
| Words of Wisdom |
"We’re going into position,
use a high frequency if there’s a delta."
"I'm down tomorrow.
(….) Do you want to spend the day together?"
"If we’re gonna
solve your problem, we have to do it now."
"You can set her free." |
Performance Rating
 |
This is an episode about
personal relationships, with everyone, Michael included, breaking all the dehumanising
rules of Section. Michael makes his first ever no-strings-attached date with Nikita, and,
despite being turned down, relates sympathetically to her situation, now that he is
acutely aware of the strength of parental emotions after the recent loss of his own family
life. Roy reprises his stock character of the kindly detective that older women can trust
(see Love and Country), and also brings out the normally
overridden sensitivity in Michael’s own personality. His reaction to Nikita’s
kiss of gratitude, as well as showing his surprise at the unexpected reward for his
‘humanity’, gives us the impression that it’s his first realisation that
this relationship could now work on a physical level. Roy has placed a marker in the
development of his character – let’s hope that the writing gives him the
opportunity to progress from here. |
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