FEMININE FIREPOWER! 'NIKITA' SEASON THREE

Lethal in leathers. NIKITA (Maggie Q) is all revved up for the new third season. Images: THE CW CHANNEL.

Hopefully returning to the SKY LIVING HD channel later in 2013, it's a new third year, and a whole new ball game, of intrigue and danger for our dutiful and beautiful heroine with a conscience, and formidable kick-ass skills, NIKITA (played with confidence and lethal physical prowess by the sterling Maggie Q), as she and her loving and equally experienced spy partner, Michael (the shadow eyed Shane West), must keep control of the restructured Division and its world-influencing, continuing legacy- its agents and powerbase no longer held in the corrupt iron fist of darkness that was terrific super villain Percy, whose death at the hands of an ultimately payback thirsty Nikita, was surely much savoured by audiences at the end of Season Two (kudos to Xander Berkeley for making so much from the part. He will be much missed, but, in all honesty, where else could the character now go?). Fortunately, not all of the gang’s old foes have been vanquished-Melinda Clarke’s devilish sexy and manipulative sadist Amanda is still out there (alongside Peter Outerbridge’s  Russian/American double-agent Ari Tasarov), and you can bet that her new alliances with some of the worlds worst villains (most notably a group called the “Dirty Thirty”) and other evil corporations (especially unfinished business in Russia), plus that black boxes of hers filled with dark secrets and unexpectedly grim surprises, will continue to cause epic mayhem and even more ambitiously staged action sequences for our delightfully leggy heroine, and her action posse, to go charging into…

 

New missions, new dangers begin for Nikita and the reformed Division.

A more relaxed and confident Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) this time around? 

Super-spy black box keeper Owen (Devon Sawa) is manipulated by the returned Amanda (Melinda Clarke) in Consequences.

Seymour (Aaron Stanford) and Michael, with Sonya (Lyndie Greenwood), in the episode Black Badge.

Will Nikita and Michael ever get any time off? A scene from The Sword's Edge.

Tortured Ari (Peter Outerbridge) has problems in With Fire.

Nikita and Michael go into darkness in Sideswipe.

A leggy offensive from Sonya (Lyndie Greenwood) in Broken Home.

Their fates linked: Nikita and Amanda in Invisible Hand.

Danger in Division. Alex fights back in Broken Home.

Getting the boot in. Nikita in action in Invisible Hand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hN18b1zvddY

Season Two of the CW’s always stylish/often exhilarating action drama suffered a little bit from a confused middle, and co-star Lyndsy Fonseca’s character of young and sexy Alex looked a little lost in things, but it regained its mojo for a spirited and spectacular, very James Bond’ish two- part action finale, courtesy of direction from Brit talent Danny Cannon. It’s going to be interesting to see where this new season, and its brighter visual look with its opening episodes, ultimately goes within its reset button phase, for both the main cast and the many, numerous supporting characters that have appeared on and off over the last two years. Like last season, I’m sure we can ultimately expect another intriguing game-changing event, and several more key deaths, along the way.

COME DINE WITH ME? "HANNIBAL' IS WELL PREPARED!

Gourmet delights!  Mads Mikkelsen is the new HANNIBAL. Image: NBC.

To millions of fans worldwide, Anthony Hopkins will forever more be remembered, even admired, for his humorously chilling performance as the intelligent, intuitive, yet ultimately murderous cannibal Doctor Hannibal Lecter in three enjoyable (one classic) adaptations of iconic author's Thomas Harris's literary creation/horror-thriller sensation of the nineties.

But with this new "re-imagining" of the character, now played with sharp-suited, creepily understated menace by the terrific Dutch actor Mads Mikkelsen, best known for his performance as the card playing, bloody tear-drop eyed villain Le Chiffre in Daniel Craig's first James Bond outing: Casino Royale, it looks like fresh blood may be just what the doctor ordered in our land of TV ratings and series format fatigue, as HEROES writer Brian Fuller brings us his new thirteen episode perspective of horror and very dark humour with HANNIBAL, set before Lecter's ultimate capture and eventual escape witnessed in Harris's RED DRAGON and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Already on the path of personal discovery regarding human cuisine, Lecter's pre-incarceration reputation as a top forensics psychiatrist proves considerable, especially when he's called on to help the FBI and its top agents find serial killers of a similar nature to him, if not quite so erudite and clever at keeping their identities and nightmare desires so secret. It's all becomes a twisted game within a game for the Doctor, enjoying the thrill of the chase, and discovering what makes his new work colleagues tick in order to destroy them in the future, should the need arise.

Hannibal TV Series - Full Length Trailer - YouTube

With a strong regular series cast including Brit-star Hugh Dancy as Lecter's crime fighting colleague/ profiler Will Graham - the man who ultimately discovers the truth about Lecter, and ex-CSI'er Laurence Fishburne as his boss, Jack Crawford, plus later guest stars including Gillian Anderson, the series looks glossy and well-paced, with Mikkelsen surely a brilliant piece of casting. I'm not the greatest fan of modern Hollywood's continuing fascination, often desperation, in recycling classic films and TV series with re-imaginings, but I will at least be watching the premiere episode of HANNIBAL on SKY LIVING HD next Tuesday in the hope that this has a chance of becoming something special on a weekly basis, alongside my dining of favva Beans and a nice chianti!

OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE, FOR SHERLOCK HOLMES IT'S 'ELEMENTARY'!

Deductive duo Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu are on the case as the modern Holmes and Watson in ELEMENTARY. Image: CBS.

With no sign of a deer stalker or pipe to muse with, ELEMENTARY, Jonny Lee Miller's US take on the modern Sherlock Holmes, as previously given a fresh new spin of creative success in the UK courtesy of Benedict Cumberbatch's five parts brilliant, five parts nauseating portrayal of the Baker Street sleuth re-imagining, finally makes its anticipated debut on the UK's SKY LIVING HD from tonight.

As regular readers of the KOOL TV site will know, I'm strictly a classic Holmes kinda guy, but SHERLOCK was enjoyable enough, and ELEMENTARY, developed by Hollywood producing talent Rob Doherty (whose work includes STAR TREK; VOYAGER, as well as the quirky MEDIUM and TRU CALLING), looks similarly pleasing fare, albeit possessing the same kind of flashy, rapid and wonky storytelling visuals capable of sending viewers to the brink of insanity, a la many over the top CSI episodes! Away from Martin Freeman's meek but interesting performance as Watson, I think that the lovely Lucy Liu, playing Dr. Joan Watson, will prove to be the shows key asset, propping up Miller's relatively youthful performance, and providing a more spunky and seasoned incarnation of the Doctor (bearing tatoos no less!) than we've seen before. Intriguingly, Watson mark femme has an interesting character development to her bow, being a brilliant surgeon in exile after a previous patient death, and now acting as Holme's carer/companion as he's let loose within the streets of Manhattan to help the NYPD solve their most baffling cases. It's an intriguing change to the world of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's companion figure that will surely give this US version a noteworthy creative boost. I also look forward to seeing who will be the show's eventual Moriarty figure...

Trailer: Elementary Trailer Season 1 - YouTube

Early world on the opening episodes (involving a series of home invasion murders, a child abduction and the death of a Wall Street executive) confirm the aforementioned hectic pace, and a lively chemistry to the new TV pairing- big stared Miller giving a performance more lively and comparable to Downey Jr. than Cumberbatch- almost akin to the halcyon days of the bizarre investigated by Mulder and Scully from THE X-FILES, if not quite as compelling. Back here in Blighty, SHERLOCK's svengali Steven Moffatt, at work on what will be a long gestating third series of his own for the private investigator, need not have any worries that this long distance show will damage his own brand of "unique" storytelling, the overall Holmes franchise (oh, how I hate that word!) or the reputation of the Conan Doyle estate. Though whether ELEMENTARY will continue its adventures beyond it's premiere year on CBS is not yet known.

LETHAL WEAPON! 'NIKITA' RETURNS...

Fashion killer! Maggie Q is beautiful and deadly in NIKITA.  Images: CW channel/WARNER BROTHERS 

Getting the chance to flex her trigger finger muscles once again in her war against the evil agency known as Division, who originally turned into a lethal assassin, led by the ruthless Percy (the always seedily nasty Xander Berkeley), that top heroine, the sleekly beautiful but deadly Nikita (as played by the delicious Maggie Q) returns to UK TV tonight on the SKY LIVING and HD channels for the second season premiere. Last time, Nikita was finally reunited with her lover, Michael (the cool action hero caught in middle of all this crisis, played by Shane West), once assigned to track down and kill her, and now, realising he had been equally betrayed- his family cold-bloodedly executed on the orders of his own people- joining forces alongside her in their mission of revenge and restoring order to the intelligence services protecting the world and American soil. Searching for the mysterious black boxes and their custodians that contain vital information that will expose the company, of which one is already in their possession, they now have a new enemy dispatched against them, Nikita's once protege in revenge, Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca), who, feeling betrayed by her once friend due to the secrets of her past having been kept from her, is now seemingly determined to regain her once Russian business empire heritage and join forces with both Division, and the dangerous Black Ops fraction of American Intelligence behind it: Oversight, to seek and destroy Nikita whatever the cost! Friends now enemies, with each knowing how the other will think and fight, they're the perfect opponents in this game of power, subterfuge and intrigue, where not everything or everyone is what it seems. To nick a catchphrase from another popular series, "When they met, it was murder!"

New enemy: Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) is hot on the trail of Nikita.

The Season One cast (including Shane West as Michael and Melinda Clarke as Amanda) return for Year Two.

Trailers: New Nikita Official Season 2 Trailer - YouTube
Nikita Season 2 - Official Preview Trailer - YouTube

The dramatic fireworks look set to be taken up a satisfying notch in this year's 23 episode run of viewer accessible exploits (including a flashback to Nikita's deeply troubled pre-agency past and a more at large Percy out for payback against Nikita and his new Division/Oversight rivals), whilst the series regular stand-out action sequences and pyrotechnics will surely top or raise the bar higher to whats been done before..

Welcome back, Niki!

Here's some great images from such adrenaline packed upcoming episodes...

Spy-dom's Bonnie and Clyde in action in the episode London Calling.

Nikita's past life as a junkie comes back to haunt her in Rogue.

Seymour (Aaron Stanford) and Alex search for clues in Rogue.

Infiltrating a facility in Crossbow.

Michael and Owen (Devon Sawa) join forces in Pale Fire.

24's Carlo Rota guest stars in the episode Shadow Walker.

Nikita captured by Amanda in Power...

...and the same for Alex in Partners.

No time for any Sports Illustrated swimwear shoot for Nikita during Season Two!

Erica Gimpel and Eric Deros guest star in Rogue. 

Nikita confronts Percy (Xander Berkeley) in Clean Sweep.

An important moment for Alex in Origins.

Look out for more of KIKTA on KOOL TV in the not too distant future...