Nikita season 4, episode 4 “Pay-Off” aired tonight, featuring the return of an old adversary.
So what happened in Nikita season 4, episode 4 “Pay-Off”?
Moving into Pakistan
Relations between the U.S. and Pakistan are at a boiling point as one of the The Shop’s doubles infiltrates Pakistan’s armed forces. Meanwhile, Team Nikita’s plane lands in Pakistan but a local drug cartel demands $10 million for the use of the runway.
Nikita calls her trusty banker, and Alex plans to cover the money with a stash of diamonds. Like a dog with a bone (read: diamonds), Sam wants to come along, and Alex agrees. However, their transaction is shadowed by a Shop operative.
Offers and counteroffers
Mr. Jones believes that everyone has a price — the running theme of the episode — and offers Team Nikita freedom by faking their deaths.
Team Nikita is having none of that, though, and Nikita’s counteroffer is for The Shop to fold their operation. When Amanda expresses her distaste for Jones’s approach, he simply replies that Nikita named her price, meaning the deal will be closed.
An old adversary returns
Shadownet gets a hit on a familiar face: Ramon, the terrorist Percy paralyzed and forced to take credit for Division assassinations. He’s walking again, thanks to The Shop. It seems regaining his legs was Ramon’s price, though Nikita believes Ramon an idealist who wouldn’t really want to work with The Shop.
Ramon is escorting a mobile missile, driven by the double. Ryan deduces that The Shop wants to launch it at a U.S. naval target to get World War III going.
Dealing with regret
In a surprisingly vulnerable moment, Alex reveals that being on a mission helps distract her from the regret she feels at Sean’s death, as he likely died not knowing how important he was to her. Sam empathizes, saying that Emily died believing in Owen, who was a lie.
Alex, though, tells Sam that Owen wasn’t a lie. It seems like she’s gotten through to him until she leaves the room and he takes diamonds and peaces out.
But maybe all isn’t so lost after all, since Sam notices their shadow enter the hotel. The operative pulls a gun to take out Alex, but Sam knocks him out. And since he’s still alive, Sam and Alex plan to use him for intel.
A better follower than leader
Back in Pakistan, Nikita and Michael track the missile truck. Nikita ends up chasing the truck and taking out the men on board while Michael confronts Ramon.
Michael offers to help Ramon get out of his deal with The Shop, but Ramon isn’t interested after all. The Devil may demand a lot, but he’s upfront about his prices, he says. In Michael’s case, Nikita paid the price for his hand.
He taunts Michael as being better at following orders than giving them and uses the distraction to take the upper hand in the fight, but Michael ends up killing him. However, Ramon’s words clearly affect Michael, as he starts to realize how much Nikita has sacrificed for him. Yes, the embers of Mikita are still burning, folks.
Who benefits most from war?
Birkhoff realizes The Shop used the missile’s GPS to hack Pakistan’s missile control system and they now control all of Pakistan’s arsenal except the one Team Nikita recovered.
The operative Alex and Sam took captive reveals that he’s working for a private security group, MDK, whose CFO happens to be, you guessed it, Mr. Jones. Ryan does that thing where you can hear him thinking as the pieces come together: The Shop wants to start WWIII because who benefits from war? Those who manufacture the products, like MDK.
Playing decoy
The captured Shop operative gets in one last laugh, revealing that Sam had left the hotel with the diamonds before coming back. Realizing she can’t trust Sam after all, Alex replaces the diamonds with broken glass and a tracker.
She wants him to take the case to Paris while she acts as a decoy for any other operatives following her. Sam is hesitant, but Alex says she trusts him and he goes. But Alex has an eye on his tracker as she tries to figure out what he’s up to.
Taking the fight to The Shop
Amanda wants Peller to destroy Shadownet, but Peller instead hacks it and sends Birkhoff a message: an IP address in Dubai, where MDK has offices. Team Nikita heads for Dubai.
Along the way, Michael thanks Nikita for what she’s done for him, and it looks like they might work things out. But first, they storm MDK and take Jones captive. He orders everything shut down, but Amanda refuses to accept that their plan is over and kills the present operatives.
While Michael and Birkhoff free Peller and the other prisoners — including the president — Nikita confronts Amanda. There’s something a bit off about Amanda as she arms Pakistan’s missiles. Nikita tries to appeal to Helen, the child who was tortured by her father, but Amanda says it’s too late.
Nikita has Birkhoff fire their missile at MDK to knock out its missile control system. Amanda refuses to leave, telling Nikita that she doesn’t get to save her but will kill her. While Nikita escapes, Amanda remains in MDK as the missile strikes. But there are still two episodes left in the series so there’s no way this was that easy.
Nikita’s price
In the aftermath, the media reports that the president is still alive and was rescued by Nikita. Mr. Jones, meanwhile, is taken to a CIA black site — where he is offered a drink by… Amanda. That’s right, the Amanda at MDK was a double.
Nikita wakes up in a safe house as Mr. Jones tells Amanda that Nikita needs to believe that the fight is over now, which will allow The Shop to continue operating. This is Nikita’s price, bringing the episode full circle.
