The huge twist at the end of the pilot last week injected a mountain of potential into Nikita, with the revelation that Alex was trained by Nikita and planted in Division. But if "2.0" is any indication, it'll be a while before things heat up.
Under a generic story of a deposed dictator and Division's search for his enriched uranium, we get a series of flashbacks that aren't interesting and hold little emotional weight. With Nikita and Alex separated in the present, we can't get much out of them other than their individual scenes. However, flashbacks can give insight into their relationship, so we see Nikita saving Alex, but I literally felt nothing when watching them. I hope we see flashbacks of Nikita training Alex in the near future, because I'm not sure how to take Alex's actions. She was holding back on the hacking, but how much control does she have?
Because Nikita is trying to bring down Division, she doesn't push the action, merely sitting back and reacting to what Division does. She's also alone most of the time and the writers make her talk to herself in very annoying one-liners.
The episode contained more humor than the pilot, using Birkoff and by extension, Michael, for a few lines that are supposed to be funny. And even if the actors were better, the lines were incredibly cheesy.
Despite all the problems with the second episode, Nikita remains a visual stunner and is really great to look act, whether it be the fast-paced action scenes or the slower ones with only Nikita.
Score: 8.5/10
