There was a nice use of "new" flashbacks to Nikita's arrival at Division as a wild animal prone to snarling and biting off ears. We see Amanda defending her potential when Michael wants her "canceled" because he sees her as too big a risk (he's right of course, but by the time she brought down Division, he was on her side). This works for the twist because we all know what Nikita is capable at her lowest, and she's spoken often about the darkness inside her and how its something she's not afraid to use (see: "Wrath"). Personally, though it made me sad, I totally believed that Nikita wouldn't get a happy ending. That she'd end up in prison, content with trading her own freedom and redemption for a safer world for everyone else. It even seemed plausible that Nikita could die, though far less likely.
This is one of those episodes that you really need to see twice. If I had live blogged the thing, I would have written paragraphs about Nikita succumbing to darkness and sacrificing her soul to safe the world. That's what my notes say. Watching it a second time, I can see Michael's frantic concern over the evil that Nikita is capable of as an act for Senator Chappel's benefit that will get back to Slocum that will get back to Amanda. Similarly, the scene where Alex warns Nikita about "crossing a line" with the assault on Adrian's compound seems to be about Nikita murdering too many people but on second viewing it's clear she's concerned about Nikita's name being smeared in the process of their death-faking, and that Nikita's line about not being a hero is more about her not seeing herself as a public figure, as "Nikita the hero", as opposed to Alex who has embraced such a role. I was really glad that we got to see so much of Nikita and Alex as a team. There's is the core relationship of the series, and Alex's line "You want to invade the moon, then I'll find the next rocket ship" made me squee as much as any of the happy Mikita stuff did.In retrospect, Carl's line "This is just cheap theatrics" about Nikita using the neurotoxin is pretty funny. He's right. Another clue to the fact that we're watching a show put on for Amanda's benefit is that we keep cutting to Amanda's jaw-dropped reaction as she sees Nikita blow off Michael and Alex and fight to release the list to the press and murder these creeps. Another thing that makes that all bearable when you believe its real is that... these guys had it coming, right? These are guys that traffic kids from third world countries to do medical experiments on them and try to start world wars so they can make some dough.
I was a little disappointed that some of the big emotional moments in the episode weren't real. Particularly Alex's fighting Nikita to save her and Michael's heartbreaking "I have nothing left. If you die... I die," line that supposedly stops her from killing her hostages. Except she never has any intention of killing them or broadcasting the doubles list. What saves it from being a betrayal of the audience is that when Nikita tells Amanda at the end that she wanted to take the scorched earth approach, to "rip your guts out and wipe the walls with them", she reveals that her family talked her off that ledge. So what we see as theater for Amanda and Slocum is probably close to what happened off camera before they came up with this plan.
I love how the scar that Ryan gave Amanda has disfigured her like the great comic-book villain that she is. Her final scene with Nikita was as monumental as it should have been. Amanda's outside now matching her hopelessly damaged inside, she thanks Nikita for aiding her rise to power. She sees them as the same: abuse victims who turned turned their wounds into weapons. Her resentment of Nikita for trying to be a hero stems from her own inability to move on from her horrific childhood (see: Broken Home). And she's so twisted that she can thank Nikita and look on her with what passes for love in her psychotic heart and then rather cheerfully tell her that she's going to be locked in Supermax forever and ever.
Nikita: Post-Finale Discussion With Craig Silverstein
It was a wonderful moment when Nikita turned the tables on Amanda. When she said "I'm not done" right before her being freed from her bonds, it was reminiscent of that scene in Season 1's "All the Way", when Nikita gives Amanda a warning while still chained to the ceiling. Nikita may not see herself as a hero, but she does know that she's better than the animal she was when she came to Division and better than the monster Amanda and Percy tried to create in her. Her last line to Amanda, "Welcome back to the basement, Helen," has more than a little dark side in it, but Amanda has it coming. Best to keep her as far away from people as possible.