Nikita actor Devon Sawa, who plays Owen, recently discussed his character’s role in season 3, including his struggles with returning to Division and his relationship with Alex.

Sawa recently sat down with TVLine to discuss his character now that he has returned to action after being MIA for much of season 2. In “Consequences,” Amanda broke Owen out of a Russian prison and taunted him with information about his life before Division – a life he does not remember due to an operation Amanda performed on him while he was at Division.

“He knows that Amanda has done something to him, and he’s just trying to figure it out,” Sawa says. “I can’t wait to get to the deep stuff that’s coming later this season.”

Sawa says the show will “dig deeper” into the mystery surrounding Owen’s true identity, and that “in future [episodes] we’ll get little bits and pieces” about that story, but as of episode 12, they “haven’t hit the core of that storyline. Down the line, there’s more stuff with him and Alex talking about it, too. But he’s kind of a lost soul right now,” he adds.

“Along with the “deep stuff that’s coming later this season,” Sawa notes that “Owen’s never really had a love interest. He’s always the fifth wheel and has so much else going on, so hopefully we’ll see some of that, too, as it goes on.”

However, “[a]t this point, Owen doesn’t have love on his mind. He doesn’t know Alex yet. So as of now, I would say the Alex and Sean fans are safe,” Sawa laughs, referencing the Owen/Alex fan pairing.

At this point in the season, Alex is falling back into her drug addiction, something Sawa was initially “sure that they’d tie” into Owen’s experience. “But it really isn’t. It’s been a long time since Owen was on the Regimen. Plus, it was a different kind of drug,” Sawa adds.

In terms of joining the new Division, Sawa says Owen has “still got 100 questions. He’s coping with it. He’s taking it day by day. It is huge for him. This is the place that changed his whole life, so he’s coming to grips with it all. It’s mind-boggling to him.”

In dealing with the other men of Division, “Owen and Michael definitely have a lot of respect for each other, for sure,” Sawa explains. “There’s always a little bit of tension when it comes to Nikita — Michael’s always watching them. But at the end of the day, they respect each other, and that’s how it is right now.”

As for the new head of Division, “I don’t think he’s had any interaction with Ryan yet,” Sawa ponders. “They haven’t explored that. The only time he ever met him was in Cuba in Season 1, I believe. Other than that, Ryan’s a new guy for him.”

And as for how often we’ll see Owen now that Sawa is a series regular, “[a]fter this week, there [are] two episodes without me, and then I come back for a few and then disappear and then come back,” Sawa says.

“When I do have episodes, Owen’s very involved in them,” he explains. “Owen comes in, does some big stuff, backs away for a few — never too long — and then comes back and does some big stuff for two or three or four back-to-back.”

Sawa has been “very, very happy with what the writers have given us this year. They’re stepping out in a huge way.” After this week’s episode, “The Sword’s Edge,” “it starts getting really crazy. I think the audience is going to be really happy with it.”