Nikita – The curious case of Shane West

Shane West has taken some flak for Nikita. It seems you either love him or hate him as Michael, Nikita’s trainer turned potential love interest turned enemy turned actual love interest. For my part, I didn’t know him from Adam when the show premiered in September, and initially suggested that he may have been doing a bad impression of Timothy Olyphant.

It was apt in a snarky way without me ever knowing it. The guy who sounds like Batman shares a serious resemblance with the Justified star, for sure. But what got me to change my tune about West is the same thing I take for granted with Olyphant — there’s so much more going on with his character that you can practically see the wheels turning in his head. That extra effort didn’t go unnoticed. It made me a fan.

Though he got off to an admittedly rocky start, West was also burdened with the expectations of his role. La Femme Nikita fans, myself included, were likely recalling memories of Roy Dupuis, who played Michael much more somber and sometimes downright cold. His Michael was equal parts hero and villain, and thus needed much more of an antagonistic presence. West doesn’t have that, but he wasn’t expected to; we know now that this Michael needed to be likeable, as he’s much more a pure hero and love interest than his predecessor was. Not that I don’t have love for the original recipe, but this Nikita needed West’s charisma and dry humor to make this Michael work.

(Let’s factor in demographic expectations, too: the CW’s website says its target audience is women between the ages of 18-34. I’m not sure a Roy Dupuis type would have fit that bill.)

Once he found his character, and I moved past those presumptions of who Michael was supposed to be, I came to eat my words and appreciate West on his own merits. I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with him in February, and I was honestly impressed with his intelligence and how much thought he’d put into what makes Michael tick. The man is very smart. That’s a crucial quality in the role, as Michael has his own journey of self-discovery to go on, but not always the screen time to do it, making every moment all the more important for his character.

As the season went on, and there were more moments for West to take advantage of, he really began to shine. “The Last Seduction” saw Michael purposefully throw a wrench into Alex and Nathan’s new romance, but the best part was the normally throwaway beat immediately thereafter, where just his expression showed us Michael’s underlying remorse. It helped us understand why he’d done what he’d done, and what effect it had on him, in just a moment. This was followed by “Alexandra,” where Michael and Nikita finally had it out over his actions in “One Way,” and we could see Michael starting to crack even if there was no time in the script for it. This all led up to Michael’s getting smart to Nikita in “Echoes” and eventual defection in “Covenants.”

With every step forward that Michael took in his evolution, West never let us forget the turmoil that came with it. He gave Michael a heart and soul that he wasn’t afraid to show. And while Michael has gotten to the place we always knew he was headed, there’s a sense that he hasn’t completed his personal journey yet. I honestly find that journey more interesting than any other part of the series, because as West digs deep into his character, so do I go with him. We’ve both become invested.

I admit that I’ve got concerns about this next chapter. I’m curious to see where Michael goes; I hope it’s a direction that does justice to him individually, and not just as one-half of the show’s power couple. After everything he’s gone through, it would be a shame if the show focused too much on his relationship with Nikita, and didn’t continue to let him develop separately from her as well. We’ve seen that he can be plenty compelling on his own.

That’s why I have to come to Shane West’s defense. I’ve seen him take a character who could easily be one-dimensional — solely defined by his relationship with Nikita and turned into her arm candy — and make him charismatic, conflicted and heroic in turn. He never had a straight line to follow. When every other character had their place, Michael was always the wild card, the one whose motivations could turn on a dime. That kind of ambiguity and constant development is a challenge for any actor, and he carried it well. He’s definitely made the role his own.

Smart, tenacious and subtly talented — Shane West might not have been what I expected or even wanted in the role of Michael, but I can admit now that he’s exactly what we needed.

Clacked by Brittany Frederick
on Apr 25, 2011 @ 13:00 EST5EDT