|
| 322 - On Borrowed Time |
| Writer/Director |
Peter M Lenkov / Ted Hanlan |
| Michael's POV Onscreen:
22 minutes |
Michael and Nikita are still
meeting in secret, unaware that Madeline and Operations have a particularly drastic plan
to part them. Michael manages to buy some time for them on a mission but then he realises
he is being followed by another Section operative. He breaks the man’s arm to make
him reveal that something is up and races to find Nikita. He knows something is wrong but
hasn’t yet realised that Section has adjusted her mind. This adjustment is later
tested as Nikita almost kills Michael under instruction. Back at her apartment, she tells
him that she no longer loves him. Michael walks away, broken-hearted, but determined that
‘they’ won’t get away with it. |
| Michael Moments |
Striding purposefully as usual
through Section to his secret rendezvous (but unfortunately jumping like a rabbit at the
sound of a slammed door)
Being hit on by the Genefex Plant Manager!
Racing up the stairs at Genefex, desperate to reach Nikita
The final confrontation with Nikita, the measured way he walks towards her, circles her,
his eyes desperately scanning her face for some trace of ‘his’ Nikita.
His indrawn breath, as though he’s been punched, when she says she doesn’t love
him anymore. |
| Words of Wisdom |
"They don’t know enough or
they would have stopped us."
"We’ll be
together soon, I’ll make it happen."
"We’ll work
separately, avoid establishing a predictable pattern."
"I’m…I’m….
straight."
"I’ve trained a
thousand operatives, you smell of Section."
"I won’t let them
do this." |
Performance Rating
 |
Like at the beginning of Season
2, Michael is back on full alert regarding Operations and Madeline, but this time
he’s prepared to take any risk. Totally obsessed, he’s unable to rely on his
self-control to keep them out of danger; all he can do is make promises to Nikita while
desperately trying to second guess his superiors. He pushes too far and fails. Having had
the stuffing knocked out of him all season Michael exudes an air of tension in Section, is
a jelly in Nikita’s presence, and buckles under adversity. Roy has gradually stripped
away the layers of Michael’s shell, exposing his vulnerable core, and ultimately his
defeat. With no more lines than before, it’s all in the eyes and the gestures that
have replaced the blank stare of old. His intrinsic understanding of the power of his body
language is nowhere better illustrated than in the final scene with Nikita, when Roy
mirrors Peta’s head movements, and his use of his eyes make screaming idiots of
Hopeful Romantics everywhere. He says very little, but we forget the absurdities of the
plot and even the quality of Nikita’s decorating as we are caught up in the power of
his performance. |
|
