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Nikita Season 1 Episode 20

Glass Houses

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AIRED: Apr 28, 2011

9.2

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Episode Summary

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Upset that Nikita continues to pursue the black boxes, Percy sends Michael to Pennsylvania to check on one of the boxes and the guardian protecting it. Nikita arrives at the town first and is surprised to learn that the guardian is a normal woman named Dana who has abandoned her guardian job and is trying to lead a normal life with her husband and child. Tensions mount when Michael must report Dana's actions and Division sends in agents to clean up any evidence of her existence. Meanwhile, Nathan gets caught in the middle of an argument between Alex and Jaden.moreless

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

I thought it couldn't get any better. And then it did! Exceeded expectations!

10

By TimVasilakis, Jun 02, 2011

What an amazing episode! Twist after twist after twist! I am really hooked on this show and really wish they won't cancel it like it's been rumoured! Totally and utterly brilliant! Nikita and Alex both at the state of emergency! And the ending of this episode was out of this world! Evil Amanda finally finds out who Alex really is, and I did not see that coming! TV shows do not like to take things further so quickly, and this show has completely taken a whole new level! I am totally loving it! Well done to everyone who is part of this show!moreless
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Glass Houses...

9.0

By AjMc91, May 04, 2011

When I first heard the premise of this week's Nikita I was less than thrilled at the idea. Only 20 episodes into its first season, the show had seemingly already recycled the same plot twice. The basis of the entire show is that Nikita had her love stolen from her by Division and is on the warpath for revenge. Getting too close to an outsider is about as taboo as it gets when it comes to the secret assassins and the use of that plot device to drive an episode that wasn't actually about Nikita, seemed kind of lazy. At its core, Glass Houses focusses on Nikita's quest for another one of Percy's black boxes. After Micheal is ordered to surveil a female guardian, Nikita goes in ahead of time only to discover that the target isn't where she's supposed to be. After a humorously clever fake bank robbery, (yet again a device that has been used in the show before) Nikita finds the super killer and learns that not only is she not where she is meant to be, but she isn't alone. Having discarded her duties as a guardian, she has become domesticated, with a boyfriend and his son.

Knowing the consequences for her and her family were Percy to find out, Nikita insists on saving the guardian before its too late. This was the point that the episode departed from the usual formula that I've come to expect of the show and really turned me around on the idea that the writers were going for. The acting wasn't exactly top of the line, nor was the writing, but the way that the scenes played out was far more interesting that just watching people shoot at each other for five minutes. Seeing the subtle standoff between these trained killers whilst in the company of a blissfully unaware father and his son was a great beat, with glances being more powerful than words. Outside of the hunt for the box, Alex's life takes more dramatic turns than I can count. When her lover of sorts Nathan comes by and she tells him everything, he blows her off assuming that she is lying to avoid breaking up with him. As if that wasn't bad enough for her, her nemesis Jaden drops by at the worst possible moment and learns of Alex's confession. Minute long fight scene later, Jaden is dead. One of the better fight scenes that the show has delivered, (whether it was because it was girl on girl I couldn't speak to) the ending came as a genuine shock. Whilst the show has delivered some strong cliffhangers and unexpected moments throughout the season, this episode really amped things up for the push towards the finale. The aftermath of the fight probably brought out the best acting that Lyndsey Fonseca has done in the series so far, a testament to not only how far she has come since the slightly wooden beginnings of the show, but also to the writers as well. They've really begun to hit their stride in terms of adding true emotional depth to a show that really lives on the height of emotion. If we as the audience can't believe that the characters really feel the consequences of what is occurring, it becomes exponentially more difficult to invest in the show as time moves on. Fortunately, this show really is getting better and becoming more deserving of a renewal as time moves on.

Ultimately an episode of Nikita wouldn't really feel right if there wasn't some shooting, so the mandatory deaths swing in towards the end when the guardian takes matters into her own hands and fights back against Division. After the dramatic climax of the episode; namely the guardian leaving, Nikita and Michael get a continuation of the many emotional heart-to-hearts that they've been having since Michael joined the fight against Division. Contemplating life beyond all of the chaos of their current existence, their back and forth balances well against the tone of the episode. When it seems like all is done, Glass Houses has one more surprise up its sleeve however, when Alex reports back to Division after Jaden's death. Amanda informs her that Jaden had been fitted with a listening device and that she knows what really happened in the head-to-head between them. Whilst for some reason the weight of the situation didn't really strike me, it was just about the biggest switch-up in plot since the mid season finale when Alex framed Thom as Nikita's insider. Whilst the drama is just about as top notch as a show like this could ever deliver, I find myself nervous about the remainder of the season with this most recent development. Now that Alex has truly been outed, where is the show going? Assuming that the writing staff is optimistic and planning for a second season, how on earth they're going to deliver a satisfying finale escapes me. You have to assume that Alex, Nikita and Michael will all live, but how they can possibly get out of this situation intact I do not know. I don't write television, but I can see no satisfying way out of this for anyone. I won't be thinking too much about it over the week as the show doesn't grip me that much, but for what they have to work with, the Nikita team has delivered a pretty great set up for an ending. I only hope they know what they're doing.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Christina Moses	Dana Winters	Guest Star
Seann Gallagher	Deputy Charlie	Guest Star
Dylan Authors	Eddie	Guest Star
Thad Luckinbill	Nathan	Recurring Role
Rob Stewart	Roan	Recurring Role

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Episode Photos

Shane West as Michael and Maggie Q as Ni...

© 2011 The CW Television Network
Shane West as Michael and Maggie Q as Ni...

© 2011 The CW Television Network
Shane West as Michael and Maggie Q as Ni...

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

© 2011 The CW Television Network

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (0)
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QUOTES (1)
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- Michael: I'm sorry.
  Nikita: For what?
  Michael: I can make plans for the worst-case scenario, no problem. But when it comes to planning ahead for positive outcomes, I'm just not used to that. It does not mean I don't want one. It's just...it has been a long time...since anything as good as you has happened to my life.
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NOTES (2)
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- Featured Music:
  "Crazy" by Patsy Cline
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- Original International Air Dates:
  Canada: Sunday, May 1, 2011 on SPACE
  United Kingdom: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 on Sky LIVING/Sky LIVING HD
  Czech Republic: Tuesday, February 5, 2013 on TV Nova
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