The CW
"Nikita"
Welcome back, Amanda and Owen.
It's been awhile since the two have been in the middle of the Nikita madness, but Friday, all of that will change as the pair returns to the fold. The episode, entitled "Consequences," finds a newly coiffed Amanda (Melinda Clarke) attempting to lure the imprisoned Owen (Devon Sawa) from the Russian cell he's been cooped up in. Basically, "Owen's a wild card," Sawa tells The Hollywood Reporter.
"How he comes back is awesome," he says. "Amanda has stowed him away in a Russian prison, and you'll find out about some things as the season goes on. But it's an explosive comeback, I'll put it that way, for my character as well as Amanda. It's going to be a rockin' episode."
Being imprisoned for as long as Owen has ("He's looking a little rough," Sawa says) means he'll be reintroduced to a world that has evolved significantly. "When he gets out, his whole world has changed," Sawa says. "Everything that he thought when he went in -- as far as Percy, Nikita, Division and Michael [are concerned] -- is now completely changed. It's going to be wild for him to react to that."
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Adds Sawa: "On top of all that, Amanda has this deep, dark secret he's trying to figure out as well." And, not to pour more salt on the wound, there's Michael and Nikita's engagement. "Is he jealous about that?" he asks.
How Owen reacts to the "new" Division is understandable for anyone in his shoes. "It's all a shock to him," he says. "Lately, Division has been this negative thing. ... He was very against Division and wanting Percy out. To find out he's gone, and Division is not the Division he remembers, he's got to come to terms with that."
His relationship with Nikita (Maggie Q) might have been tense in season one, but Sawa reassures that Owen and Nikita will continue to explore their friendship, and Friday's hour introduces Owen to Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) for the first time. "Who knows what's going to go on there," he teases, adding later that he wasn't playing for romance just yet. As the episodes unfold, expect more Nikita-Owen team-ups, fights and one particular moment with Birkhoff (Aaron Stanford) -- "kind of like the scene last year where Owen stole his chip; there's another one of those."
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Last time viewers saw Amanda, she was in a much darker place. "She's been laying low and rebuilding with the help of the black box," Clarke tells THR. "She certainly hasn't been sitting on the couch, eating ice cream, watching soap operas. She's building her Amanda army and preparing to make life very difficult for Nikita."
Amanda's re-entry is "shocking" for Nikita," she says. "You'll say, 'Oooh!' We want viewers to be fearful of Amanda, and they should be because she's operating on a higher, more intense level." In fact, some of her character's actions shocked even Clarke.
"She is willing to sacrifice [a lot], but it's because she's a warrior," Clarke previews. "Her singular obsession this season is making Nikita suffer -- not necessarily killing her but making her suffer. Amanda feels like she isn't done teaching Nikita, and she feels it's her job and she still has quite a journey to go."
How will Amanda take the news of Nikita and Michael's engagement? "You'll have to wait and see on that one," Clarke says, coyly. "You'll have to assume Amanda knows everything and has the hyperintelligence, but I'm sure that is a part of what's motivating Amanda."
Amanda's history with Owen will be a major season three mystery. "If you remember the torture machine she used to torture Birkhoff with, that's not the first time she's used it," Clarke teases. "You should assume Amanda got her hands on Owen and is responsible for the Owen he is today."
"If you think Nikita's been crazy so far, they've stepped it up this year," Sawa says.
Nikita airs 9 p.m. Fridays on The CW.
E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube