Plot Lessons are Everywhere

...like in the TV show Nikita. 

Have you ever heard the idea that you should first throw small rocks at your characters, then strand them up a tree, and throw bigger and bigger rocks at them? Not to advocate physical violence, but because a character who has it easy is a boring character? Well, this episode did that perfectly.

Nikita had to do something hard, then the writers made it worse. Then they made it way, way worse:

Nikita (the protagonist) and Michael (the other protag/sometime love interest) are on a mission to kill some terrorist dude who killed Michael’s family years ago. This is already going to be very, very difficult, and the whole episode probably could have been about this. 

But then, Division (who Nikita has escaped from and who wants her dead) figures out that Nikita is there, and sends someone to kill her. Complication!

While they are lying in wait for the terrorist dude they have to kill, Nikita goes off to shoot him, but Michael sees Division coming after Nikita. But! Nikita’s earpiece has fallen out so he can’t tell her! Complication! 

So he has to go stop them himself, even though he works for them! And while he’s down there, terrorist dude’s cronies shoot him like a hundred times, but he’s wearing a bulletproof vest, so they kidnap him! And now Nikita is going to have to go save him! Complications everywhere!

See what they do? Make it hard, then make it way worse. Sorry, characters. :(