Earlier this week, we were able to attend a screening of the Nikita season premiere (spoiler alert: it’s fantastic), and following the screening was a Q&A with the show’s executive producer, Craig Silverstein, and the always-personable “Michael” Shane West.
Since there are a lot of Nikita fans following our Twitter feed, specifically of the “Mikita” variety, we figured we’d reveal some of those teases already. There are (of course!) some spoilers within, so be aware of that before reading further.
We’ll have more Season 2 Nikita goodies before the premiere airs.
The Season 2 premiere of Nikita is here in less than 10 days – on Friday, September 23 – and you’ll all be tuning in, right?
Anyway, here’s a handful of scoops about what to expect from the coming season:
– Expect all of the characters to be in different places from where they were when the show began. “I saw the second season as a paradigm shift,” executive producer Craig Silverstein explains. “Everyone is in a different place. Almost every character has shifted, kind of musical-chairs style, to a different position of power or lack thereof, and it was a way to keep the same people, explore a new dynamic.” Silverstein says that it had always planned for these changes to happen.
– Will Nikita (Maggie Q) and Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) be at odds all season? “I think that it’s a little more complicated than ‘they’re going to be fighting each other all season.’ It’s going to sort of expand and contract. There’s going to be hot and cold periods between them. There’s going to be a thaw. Things are going to get better. They’re gonna get worse. It’s a sign wave. The whole Alex-Nikita story,” Silverstein teases.
– Will “Mikita” (the Michael/Nikita romantic pairing) remain smooth sailing? “Give it about four episodes. I wouldn’t say it’s super smooth sailing ’til then,” Silverstein says. “The big trouble doesn’t start until, like, 5.” Despite this ominous warning Silverstein says “there is a great ‘Mikita’ moment that I think is going to be pretty awesome” in the season’s fifth episode of the new season.
“There will always be issues, because it’s just them trying to figure themselves out as well. Actually living together now, and being together, is something that they never really had – even when they dated or had whatever they had in Division. It’s taking an ordinary situation of a relationship and putting it in extraordinary circumstances, and that would be incredibly difficult for anyone,” Shane West adds.
“The Nikita he fell in love with, it was somebody in transition,” Silverstein explains. “Nikita wants to stop running. When she – if she was able to get to that place, whether she would be happy there, I’m not sure. She has to find that out. She’s never had that before, so she needs to give it a try. That’s what she wants. She has gone through a whole season of David and Goliath, going against these people, and Michael, having come out from under the long shadow of Division for many years, needs to start on that redemption train that she’s been on for a while. She’s kind of like ‘I’m ready to start talking about how do we get out,’ and he’s like ‘I’m just getting started.’ So that’s a point of conflict.”
– Birkhoff will have a new role, and in some ways, that brings back some memories for West. “There are certain scenes of me telling him to do something and walking out of the room, and it’s just like, you could just put that right back in Division. He’s at his desk doing something. And it’s not something you think about until you’re literally doing the scene,” Shane says. “Yeah. And then he’s like “Wait a minute. I don’t have to do this!” Silverstein adds.
“Right. Exactly. Like ‘why am I even listening to these guys?'” Shane quotes, assuming Birkhoff’s reaction.
– Devon Sawa’s character of Owen returns in the second episode of Season 2. “Owen comes back in, and you see him interact with everybody. The last scene of the next episode is a bit of a twist, so I don’t want to give it away. But you will understand how Owen will fit in with the group past the end of the next show,” Silverstein reveals.
