The CW’s Nikita starring Maggie Q was a bright spot for The CW last season, building a fan base as it seemed the “Mikita” (Michael/Nikita) pairing grew closer.
Now, Michael and Nikita are together, but they seem to be on the run, and that’s where we’ll see things as Nikita enters its second year on September 23.
KSiteTV was one of the media outlets to speak with Maggie Q at a roundtable at this year’s Comic-Con, and she offered details about what’s to come from the show on Season 2. Beware of spoilers!
Please do not reproduce this onto other websites; instead, just place a link to KSiteTV! Reporter questions are in bold; answers are not.
What are things like for Nikita as the show enters Season 2?
We’re going to open with the lone Nikita, and I don’t think you’re going to know where she’s going and what’s happening, and she’s going to enter a world that you wouldn’t expect, and then I think you may be misdirected a little, in the beginning of the first show.
Her journey’s going to be huge this season, because we don’t know anything about her. This is going to be the season to unveil who she really is, and how she got where she is, and why she is the way she is.
Will we be seeing more flashbacks?
Yes. Definitely. That was something that was decided when we knew Nikita was being berthed in the Warner Bros. office. We wanted to tell this story, and flash back, because there are so many characters. We want to inter-weave them, and we also want to save story for later. We want to divulge things slowly.
How would you say Nikita’s motivations have changed since the series began?
That’s an awesome question, because they have, actually. We see Nikita sort of hellbent in Season One. There are things that she is adamant about, and a cause that she was willing to die for, basically. And now we’ve introduced this other dynamic of this person that she loves, that has now happened for her. So you’ll see a little bit of a role reversal with them. Michael’s now hellbent on their mission, and she’s a little bit like “But what about being a couple and being normal and living on an island?” and wanting to be loved, and wanting to be safe, and just experiencing a life she’s never experienced yet. So we’re going to see her a little bit more wanting things that normal people want, and I don’t know if that’s ever going to be possible for her. But we’re going to see that need.
In one of the Season 1 episodes we saw Nikita in her younger days. What was it like to play a different form of Nikita in that flashback episode?
So fun. It’s fun to unlearn sometimes. It’s fun to just kind of let go. It’s hard to do, actually, because you have to play an innocence that you may or may not have, personally. I really enjoyed that, and so did Shane. He was good. He had a different hairdo. [laughs] Like, puffy 90’s hair. It was awesome. I laughed at him. He got mad at me. It was fun.
What are you looking forward to exploring with Nikita this season?
My thing with her has always been you can take any girl off the street that fits the profile that Division wants, and you can train her, and you can do all of the things that you want to do to make her who she is, but I’ve always wondered from the beginning about why Nikita’s the best. Why? Why did she make it through the way she did? Why is she such a threat? Why is she so good? It’s bizarre, because it’s the one thing that she hates the most – the thing that they turned her into, but it’s the thing that defines her, and it’s the thing she’s best at. So, that’s the cross that she has to bear. But there’s a big question mark for that with me.
What sides of Nikita do you have more enjoyment playing?
I like the softer side. It’s funny. There are so many obvious, strong things about Nikita, but for me it’s the moments that matter to me, with her… not that they all don’t matter, but the moments that I find most enjoyable to play when it comes to her, are those softer moments for her, or the more vulnerable moments, where you see her actually processing emotions and dealing with them, because I don’t think that’s something that she’s ever been capable of in her life, because it’s not something that she was ever able or allowed to do. Weirdly, she knows so much in one area, then in another area she’s completely innocent to how it feels to be loved, and how to receive, and how to give, and how to do all of the things that we can do that she can’t. And then there’s so much that she can do that we’ll never know. So, she’s almost in a different learning phase in Season Two.
How will Nikita react to Alex’s new path?
I think that Nikita has great love for this girl. She really, really does. There’s something so deep about how she cares about her, and I think one of the things that I see for my character anyway is that when you see a young girl in a situation that is miserable and may not work and she’s someone who needs to be saved… there’s a big part of herself that she’s saving in that moment as well. And I think that Nikita wants to make things right with her, and I think it’s up to each individual to understand what it is and get it. She can’t make Alex get it. She either does or she doesn’t, and so at some point, you’ve just got to let people go, because their own path is the only path that they’re going to stand in the end.
But because of her love for her, it’s painful to watch her make these mistakes, and she doesn’t want it to happen, but you can’t do it. It’s like your kids. You’ve got to let ’em go one day. You’ve got to let them grow up.
How might Nikita react when Owen returns in Episode 2?
Owen is returning.
Are you able to tell us anything about the episode?
Such a great episode. What I like about the end of that episode is that Owen is going to now weave himself into the fabric which is Nikita and Michael and their world. Which is really going to be kind of like “Whaaat?” Shocking. I’m not going to tell you how, obviously, but it’s a nice thing to solidify Owen’s presence in the Nikita world.
Will we be seeing Birkhoff again?
Hell yeah. I’m very excited about Birkhoff in the second season.
Is there any possibility that he might start helping Nikita?
Maybe. It could happen. [laughs]
How do you feel about Nikita moving to Fridays with Supernatural?
I’m really thrilled, actually, because I think that Supernatural has a bit of an older demo, which is us as well. I wasn’t very familiar with the Vampire Diaries in terms of who watched it and who didn’t, but I think their demo may have proved a little young, and I think the pairing now is actually perfect. I think our pairing on Fridays is a little bit older, which I think is good. I’m happy.
Nikita returns September 23 on The CW. Read some of our other Nikita coverage!
