TV.com

Nikita Season 1 Episode 13

Coup de Grace

Favorite

Watched It I've Watched This 4

Next
Episode Previous
Episode

AIRED: Feb 03, 2011

9.1

User Rating

175 votes

Your Rating: 10
Your Rating: 9.5
Your Rating: 9
Your Rating: 8.5
Your Rating: 8
Your Rating: 7.5
Your Rating: 7
Your Rating: 6.5
Your Rating: 6
Your Rating: 5.5
Your Rating: 5
Your Rating: 4.5
Your Rating: 4
Your Rating: 3.5
Your Rating: 3
Your Rating: 2.5
Your Rating: 2
Your Rating: 1.5
Your Rating: 1

Rate Now

EPISODE REVIEWS
By TV.com Users

Write A Review

Episode Summary

EDIT

On her first mission, Alex and a group are assigned to kill the Prince of Georgia at a museum gala. When Alex tells Nikita about the assignment, they build a plan to prevent the assassination. However, Nikita puts her trust in wrong person and the plan falls apart, leading to a stand-off and letting Division know that Nikita is in the building.moreless

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

Worst episode EVAR!.....

3.0

By TribalRoots, Oct 03, 2011

OMG! That samurai move 18 min in, was some kinda kiddy show! I mean, common guys, if she uses a bloody katana, at least show some f'ing blood you amateurs!

Then the prince patches her up....wound...again, you kidding me? 6 year old children wouldnt break tears from a "wound" like that.

Next, the masks of the Division agents are so bad that anyone would be able to identify the agents at any time. lame lame lame!

Flashbangs. Real flashbangs are so powerfull that itll make the target blind for a long period of time, not to mention deaf and even prone to vometing from the experience. yet, most hostages in the scene seems only lightly shaken, and the targets are unmoved, they just raise their hands....SUPER LAME

Instructors and Scriptwriters....Don't you people have any pride? ...hell, any shame? at least do some basic research before writing your crapfest.moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
1 2

Flag
Share Hide
Nikita needs to fire her stylist!

7.0

By MovieMark, Jun 21, 2011

Aside from an intriguing cliff-hanger, which would suggest that Michael isn't as dense as he looks, this is a fairly straight-forward standalone episode, showcasing the new dynamic between Alex and Nikita now that the former recruit is a free agent. ''Coup de Grace'' contains a few cracking moments here and there, but for the most part, it's espionage by-the-numbers.

I can't help but feel that they could have done more with the episode, even if there are quite a few twists. The thing is, they're mostly -- er, scratch that -- they're all extremely predictable, and the episode takes you exactly where you expect it to. It's revealed rather early into the episode that Princess Kristina is the culprit behind the attack on the Prince of Georgia. Due to typical CW typecasting, anyone who has watched the likes of Charmed or Smallville (I'm guilty of both, sue me) will have guessed almost immediately, as I did, that Kristina (played by Beatrice Rosen) was the one behind the assassination attempt.

What was meant to be an 11-minute wolf pack strike by Division against Prince Mukhran (guest-star, James Gilbert, giving a fine performance) turns into a hostage situation once it's established that Nikita is inside aiding the prince. Roswell's Brendan Behr (Roswell, Charmed... I swear I watch good television too!) leads the team, along with Alex, but when things turn sour he demands Nikita's head on a stick. He's not long for this world...

What few highlights this episode has all come from Alex. She has always been the most accessible character, and thanks to such a diverse and layered performance by Lyndsy Fonseca, and some smartly written scenes, it's safe to say she owns this episode. I know, I know, Nikita was wielding a frickin' samurai sword at one point -- I know! But this time around, smarts trumps hot chick with sword. Her resourcefulness has been so consistent throughout the season and there's no evidence of that changing anytime soon. Her harsh, but very effective way of making it seem that she's luring out Nikita by breaking Leila's (Kathleen Munroe) fingers, one by one, when in fact she's actually alerting Nikita as to how many minutes she has before reinforcements arrive, was very intense and the kind of double-agent shenanigans that made me fall for Alias.

Now, lets get back to Nikita wielding a samurai sword. I think they missed a huge opportunity here. They should have kept her with the sword, cos, ya know, who doesn't love a hot chick slicing and dicing bad guys, eh? And, pfft, don't argue over practicalities, did you see the dress Nikita was wearing? Tinfoil. Tinfoil. A shiny sword would have drawn some of the attention away from her eye-sore of a dress. She looked like a mirror with legs. Maggie Q is unbelievably stunning, but not even her extreme hotness could pull off that newly wrapped in tinfoil look.

I'm spending way too much time on her dress.

I'm glad that Michael is finally putting two and two together where Alex is concerned. The writers need a way to recreate the same level of excitement and intensity that the show had when Alex was a recruit working for Nikita on the inside, and by having Michael connect the dots, it will surely throw a few spanners into Nikita's plans. It's obvious Michael has feelings for Alex, as well as Nikita, so I have an inkling this plot will sway towards a shift in his alliance with Division, rather than something for Alex to really fret about. Only time will tell, I suppose.

More tightly plotted than last week, yet still lacking the kind of tenacious storytelling the series excelled at before it took a wee break. C'mon, Nikita, you're better than this!moreless
DO YOU AGREE?
0 1

Flag
Share Hide

See All Fan Reviews

Cast & Crew: STARS

EDIT

Tiffany Hines	Jaden
Aaron Stanford	Birkhoff
Lyndsy Fonseca	Alex
Maggie Q	Nikita
Melinda Clarke	Amanda
Shane West	Michael

See All Cast & Crew

Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

EDIT

Brendan Fehr	Stephen	Guest Star
James Gilbert	Prince Erik Mukhran	Guest Star
Beatrice Rosen	Princess Kristina Gruzinsky	Guest Star

See All Cast & Crew

Watch Online

Episode Photos

Maggie Q as Nikita on Nikita from the ep...

© 2011 The CW Television Network
Maggie Q as Nikita on Nikita from the ep...

© 2011 The CW Television Network
Maggie Q as Nikita on Nikita from the ep...

© 2011 The CW Television Network
Maggie Q as Nikita on Nikita from the ep...

© 2011 The CW Television Network

See All Photos

Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

FILTER BY TYPE

TRIVIA (0)
ADD TRIVIA
- ADD TRIVIA from this episode.
QUOTES (5)
ADD QUOTES
- Nikita: (over the radio) I thought you didn't take part in Percy's mission-for-hire jobs.
  Michael: I do what I have to do.
  Nikita: So do I. You have to know that, right?
  Michael: I came here to get my people out.
  Nikita: Let the prince leave safely then.
  Michael: I'm not negotiating. (Michael cuts off the connection)
  Nikita: Some prince, huh?
  EDIT SHARE
- Prince Erik: I'm willing to give up the throne for this woman. Do you think I'm going to run and hide when she needs me most?
  Nikita: Love over duty, huh?
  Prince Erik: Who wouldn't make that choice?
  Nikita: I know someone.
  EDIT SHARE
- Prince Erik: People in love don't try to kill each other.
  Nikita: Are you serious?
  EDIT SHARE
- Alex: Are you done making this place Nikita-proof?
  Michael: Almost. Still need to set some redundancies. She has a way of corrupting systems from the inside...like a cancer.
  EDIT SHARE
- Nikita: It's a pretty high-profile lot for your first mission. Michael must really believe in you.
  Alex: No, Michael's not in on it.
  Nikita: He's not?
  Alex: You know how he feels about Percy's mission-for-hire jobs. Besides, he's busy reconfiguring Division's defenses. You exposed some pretty big holes when you busted out of there.
  Nikita: Has he asked about me? In an operational context, that is.
  Alex: Not lately. So what was the deal with you and Michael?
  Nikita: Let's just focus on the mission.
  EDIT SHARE
NOTES (4)
ADD NOTES
- Ashton Holmes (Thom) is no longer credited as a series regular.
  EDIT SHARE
- Although credited, Aaron Stanford (Birkhoff), Melinda Clarke (Amanda), and Tiffany Hines (Jaden) do not appear in this episode.
  EDIT SHARE
- Featured Music:
  "In This Time" by Terry Lynn
  EDIT SHARE
- Original International Air Dates:
  Canada: Thursday, February 3, 2011 on A
  Australia: Thursday, June 16, 2011 on GO!
  United Kingdom: Wednesday, June 22, 2011 on Sky LIVING/Sky LIVING HD
  Czech Republic: Wednesday, December 5, 2012 on TV Nova
  Slovakia: Saturday, March 30, 2013 on Dajto
  EDIT SHARE
ALLUSIONS (0)
ADD ALLUSIONS
- ADD ALLUSIONS from this episode.