Compared with the original movie and series, Michael is probably the most changed. In the previous iterations, he was stone, emotionless, and coldly efficient. Nikita's Michael, however, is much more emotional and isn't really an enigma.
"One Way" shows us how Michael got into Division, and what drives him. Does it make him a more interesting character? Somewhat, but he's still one-dimensional in that he's angry most of the time. We learn through flashbacks that his family was killed in Yemen and Percy offered to help him find the killer if he joins Division.
In present time, Percy has tracked the killer to Uzbekistan and allows Michael to leave. Nikita, in turn, also departs to help Michael. Everything's going fine until Percy spots Nikita on a camera and decides to send in a team, bungling the operation and getting Michael kidnapped. Although Nikita later saves him, she also stops him from making a suicide run. We see the full extent of Michael's vengeance to the point where he's willing to sacrifice anything to get the killer. For Nikita, she wants him alive because she has feelings for him, but by saving him, she also pushes him away.
Without Nikita, Alex finds herself in a bind after pedoctor (see what I did there?) sees that she was checking up on Michael. However, Alex proves to be resourceful, blackmailing Jaden into supporting her claims about the doctor. And we know what Division does with him...
I think I've noted this before, but the writers have to stop the characters talking to themselves. Seriously, the one line quips are neither clever or pertinent to the story, and just plain painful, not to mention unrealistic. The show is about spies and isolation, and not talking is part of that.
In light of GWB's continued insistence that waterboarding saved lives, it's rather coincidental that Michael was waterboarded--and revealed nothing.
Score: 8.7/10
