Understudy
Mutant X Episode Synopses
Understudy: Episode #210.
Tag: Shalimar becomes suspicious of an old friend who suddenly reenters her life. [ Understudy]
Cast & Crew: Written by Darrell Fetty; Directed by John Bell (XI)
Michael Copeman.... Holcomb
Sava Drayton.... Dylan Carter
Kel Gleason.... Jurgen Bardo
Jenya Lano....Nikki Rogers
Amanda Martinez.... Lucinda Alvarez
Official Synopsis: Brennan (Victor Webster) and Shalimar (Victoria Pratt) chase four bikers, one of which is carrying a high-tech silver case, down a dark street in an old warehouse district. They race around the corner just as Nikki (Jeyna Lano) steps out of her car. As Brennan and Shalimar use their powers to dodge the bikers’ bullets, Nikki drops down from a building and kicks two of the men to the ground. Wrestling with one of them, she attempts to knock his gun out of his hand, but a burst of gunfire suddenly explodes in Shalimar’s direction. Nikki rushes over to the wounded Shalimar, who is shocked to see her old friend, just as Emma (Lauren Lee Smith) and Jesse (Forbes March) arrive on the scene. The team and Nikki bring Shalimar back to Sanctuary where Adam (John Shea) tends to her injured leg. Adam explains to Brennan that Nikki was one of the first mutants he found when he was assembling Mutant X, and she and Shalimar became inseparable, but ultimately he could only choose one of the ferals for the team. Later, Jesse informs Brennan and Emma that the bikers stole a Particle Decelerator, a device that can freeze electron movement, from Walderson Industries. Desperate to find out the identity of the bikers and what they want with the device, they decide that Nikki is their best and only lead. Since Nikki claims that she doesn’t remember much of the incident, Emma suggests using the Psionic Memory Scan on her. The team agrees and Emma gives Nikki a telempathic boost to trigger her memory. Re-living the fight in the alley, Nikki remembers grabbing the biker’s gun. When she suddenly rips the headgear off and begins to shake in fear, Emma tells the team that Nikki was reacting to a man with a teardrop tattoo under his eye. Meanwhile at an abandoned garage, Dylan Carter (Sava Drayton), the man Nikki saw during the memory scan, listens as his fellow biker, Lucinda Alvarez (Amanda Martinez), informs the “buyer” that the Decelerator is in their possession. Back at Sanctuary, Emma transports the images Nikki saw to a computer in hopes that Jesse can use the database to identify the man with the teardrop tattoo. Later, Shalimar and Nikki are catching up on lost time when Adam enters and asks Nikki to help the team out while Shalimar recovers. Nikki agrees and she, Brennan, Jesse head to Dylan’s apartment to investigate while Adam talks on the phone with Holcomb (Michael Copeman), who informs him that the “buyer” is most likely the notorious Jurgen Bardo (Kel Gleason). Ignoring Brennan’s orders to wait in the car, Nikki enters the apartment and finding Dylan, grabs him by the throat and pins him against the wall. Terrified for his life, he tells Nikki where she can find Lucinda and the device. Reminding her that she was the one who shot Shalimar, Nikki throws him through the window in order to ensure her secret is not exposed. Moments later, Jesse and Brennan kick down the apartment door and find Nikki, who tells them she killed Dylan in self-defense. Back at Sanctuary, Shalimar becomes increasingly jealous by all the attention Nikki is getting. Following up on the lead Dylan had given Nikki, Brennan, Jesse and Nikki arrive at Lucinda’s abandoned garage. Using her powers, Nikki begins to move through the garage and finds fresh fingerprints and the impression “Crandall Park. 5:15,” on the wall. She excitedly tells the others about her finding, but lies about the location saying that it’s Lakeshore Park. Now that she has completed her task, she decides that it’s time for her to leave and says her good-byes. Adam, Emma, Brennan and Jesse stake out Lakeshore Park, but as 5:15 comes and goes, they realize that they have been fooled by Nikki. Meanwhile, Lucinda arrives at Crandall Park with the Decelerator. Nikki suddenly approaches, knocks Lucinda down and makes off with the device. Back at Sanctuary, a suspicious and jealous Shalimar is working intently to uncover the real story on Nikki who suddenly sneaks up and aims the stolen Decelerator at her. Barely escaping the device’s deadly beam, Shalimar hides near the media column. Prying open the circuit board, she hits the breaker and Sanctuary goes dark. As Shalimar then fumbles around for a high tech flare, Nikki fires the Decelerator again, but Shalimar covers her eyes and releases the flare, which fires a huge spray of light. Blinded by the brightness, Nikki is unable to fight off Shalimar’s attack.
Quotes:
Brennan: Stay down!
Shalimar: That’s not my style, you know that.
Adam: Nikki was one of the first people I found when I was putting together Mutant X. She and Shalimar bunked together for what, a year?
Nikki Rogers: Yeah. We were both 15. We became more than friends, though, we were like sisters.
Adam: Well, let’s give her some rest.
Nikki: Yeah.
Adam: You know when I realized that I needed a mix of talents for Mutant X, and unfortunately, that meant choosing between Nikki and Shalimar.
Nikki: I was the runner up.
Adam: Well, no. It wasn’t that easy a choice. But I tried to give her a normal life. I set her up with a foster home, I tried to keep her away from the battles of Genomex.
Nikki: I guess fate just works in funny ways, doesn’t it? One day I’m just driving down the street, minding my own business, and here I am. Right back where I started.
Brennan: Wow, so that must make us the lucky ones.
Nikki: Well, actually I’ve worked really hard over the years to develop my powers. I studied boxing, martial arts, gymnastics, you name it.
Brennan: Just not quite good enough to keep that last guy from getting his last shot off, though.
Nikki: Do you think that I’ve thought of anything else since that happened?
Adam: Brennan, she saved her life. Give her a break. Don’t worry about him. No, we’re glad you’re here.
Nikki: Thanks. Being back here with you and Shalimar, it’s like coming home.
Shalimar: Even with one leg I can still kick ass.
Adam: Listen, any stress on this leg, you could cause permanent damage. Now, you’re gonna be on your feet in a couple of days, till then, I want you to rest. I want you to take care of yourself.
Shalimar: Oh, great.
Adam: Ferals.
Shalimar: I heard that!
Emma: Adam, if you don’t mind my asking, why did you choose Shal over Nikki?
Adam: Well, it was difficult. It could have gone either way.
Emma: Spoken like a man trying to avoid the question.
Adam: Well, the truth is there’s always something wild and unpredictable about ferals, right? So in the beginning, I thought that Shalimar could learn to control it. I wasn’t so sure about Nikki.
Nikki: So did you ever think about what would have happened if I had stayed here with you?
Shalimar: Are you kidding? When you left, I cried for a week solid.
Nikki: Are you serious?
Shalimar: Yeah. I mean, I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to come find you. But Adam told me it would be safer for you if I didn’t.
Nikki: Yeah, I guess I was safer.
Adam: Well, I was never sure that I was doing the right thing, sending you to live with foster parents. So I’m relieved to see that you’ve turned out the way you did. And I was hoping to convince you to stay a while longer, maybe help out Mutant X till Shalimar’s back on her feet.
Shalimar: Well, don’t make me twist your arm.
Nikki: You know, for a minute, I thought you were Adam, coming in to tell me it was my bedtime. You don’t still have a curfew, do you?
Shalimar: No, we’re past that by now.
Nikki: Good.
Shalimar: He was pretty strict with us, huh?
Nikki: Oh yeah, he sure was.
Shalimar: What was it like, what were your parents like?
Nikki: Oh, well the people that Adam placed me with were great. But that only lasted for a few months until the agency found me a permanent family.
Shalimar: Yeah, what were they like?
Nikki: They were perfect.
Shalimar: You know, I was always kind of jealous. ‘Cause you got to do that whole normal teenage thing that I never got to do.
Nikki: Summer vacations, birthday parties, first dates, the whole nine yards. But you know, the thing that I remember most is that they always had this way of just making me feel special.
Shalimar: That’s nice.
Nikki: Every day with them was another gift.
Nikki: Wow. You’re amazing. How did you learn all this stuff?
Jesse: It’s not hard. I could teach you.
Nikki: I’m sure there’s a lot that you could teach me.
Brennan: You stay here. We’ll call you if we need backup.
Nikki: It’d be better if I went with you.
Brennan: You don’t follow directions real well, do you?
Nikki: Actually, I’m kinda like you, Brennan. I like to follow my own instincts.
Brennan: No, actually, that’s more like Shalimar. Look, when you’re under my watch, we work as a team. You stay here.
Nikki: You know, I get this feeling that you don’t like me very much, do you?
Brennan: You know, I don’t even know you.
Nikki: But I know Adam. And if he chose you, you must be good. Except you’re not like the others, you know.
Brennan: How you figure?
Nikki: You’re more street. You’re the one who knows what’s going through these guys’ heads right now.
Brennan: What’s going through these guys’ heads is simple. They want to get rid of this thing and get their money ASAP. And they’re scared, which makes them dangerous.
Nikki: Dangerous doesn’t bother me. I can be pretty dangerous myself.
Brennan: You know, I’ve heard quite a bit from you. So far, all I’ve seen is Shalimar being shot.
Nikki: If I hadn’t made a move, she’d be dead right now. You know that.
Brennan: You know what, maybe you’re right. Regardless, we work as a team. Everybody plays by the same rules, everybody goes home safe. You good with that?
Nikki: I’m all over it. Hey, I want to be a part of the team, here. I just want to do a good job.
Brennan: Well then, good. Stay here.
Dylan: Let me go.
Nikki: That’s where it gets a little complicated. You shouldn’t have done what you did to my friend.
Dylan: I didn’t do anything! You did it. You aimed the gun, you pulled the trigger.
Nikki: And that’s where it goes from complicated to tragic.
Dylan: What?
Nikki: See, if you hadn’t seen that, then I might have been able to let you live.
Brennan: She didn’t do half bad.
Jesse: Yeah, coming from you, that’s a ringing endorsement.
Brennan: Look, just the fact that she’s still breathing says something for her.
Jesse: Yeah, like she’s good, she’s strong, and we’re damn lucky to have her bringing up the rear.
Brennan: Yeah, something like that.
Nikki: I’ve never seen anyone die before. It was horrible.
Emma: Yeah, it always is the first time. For some of us, it doesn’t really get much better from there.
Brennan: Nikki was just giving us the name of the woman who stole the decelerator.
Nikki: Well, hey, don’t give me all the credit. I learned from the best.
Brennan: Oh, come on. Don’t sell yourself short. This is the second time that your instincts have saved our butts.
Shalimar: That’s great. And my jacket looks pretty good on you too.
Adam: What’s it like having Nikki around again?
Shalimar: Great. Why? Everyone seems to love her.
Adam: See, this is what I was afraid of when you two first got together. That there’d be this natural territorial response between two ferals.
Shalimar: We’re not animals, Adam.
Adam: I know, I’m just saying that it’s hard for anybody to get past the responses that are hard-wired into our genetics.
Shalimar: No, it’s more than that, though. It’s more like instinct. You know, the way she’s moving in, and figuring out ways to get close to everybody.
Adam: Okay, but it’s natural for you to feel a little threatened.
Shalimar: I don’t feel threatened.
Adam: No?
Shalimar: Okay, maybe a little.
Shalimar: Whatcha working on?
Jesse: Making Nikki a comlink.
Shalimar: Look, Jess. I know you have a thing for her, but don’t you think you’re maybe going a bit overboard here?
Jesse: Wasn’t my idea.
Shalimar: No, I’m sure it wasn’t. Nikki’s always been very persuasive.
Jesse: It wasn’t Nikki. It was Adam. I think after today he just wanted to bring her up to speed so she wouldn’t get hurt.
Shalimar: Now that’s rich. What next, are we all gonna get together and redecorate her bedroom? Maybe she’d like my room. That might be easier.
Brennan: Hey, Shal. Have you seen--Nikki?
Nikki: Disappointed?
Brennan: No, just from the back you looked like Shalimar.
Nikki: Really? I’ll take that as a compliment.
Shalimar: Excuse me?
Nikki: Shalimar!
Shalimar: What is going on here?
Brennan: Nothing.
Shalimar: Stay out of this, Brennan. I think you’ve overstayed your welcome.
Nikki: I’m sorry?
Shalimar: No, I’m sorry. Time for you to get your things and get the hell out of here. You are wearing my clothes, in my room, trying to take over my life, now get out!
Adam: Shalimar! Get a hold of yourself.
Shalimar: You gonna say something, Brennan, or are you just gonna stand there looking at me?
Brennan: How did you know it was me?
Shalimar: Well, I might not be the top feral around here anymore, but I can still sense you from a hundred feet away.
Brennan: Ah. So all those times that I snuck into Sanctuary late?
Shalimar: Busted.
Brennan: Great. So, you okay?
Shalimar: I don’t know. I don’t know. I mean, maybe it’s like Adam said, and I’m on some feral territorial rant. Or maybe it’s my leg that’s got me down. But God, I look at her, and she’s faster, and she’s stronger, and she’s sexier.
Brennan: Shal, I don’t know about faster or stronger, but being a damn good job of sexy myself, she definitely has a long way to go before she ever catches up with you. Look, you have no reason to feel threatened by Nikki.
Shalimar: So that’s what everybody thinks, huh?
Brennan: Would you just stop? Okay, nobody’s thinking anything. We can’t just sit around and wait for you to feel well again.
Shalimar: Well, thank you, Brennan. That makes me feel a whole lot better.
Nikki: You do this every day, Emma. I’ve spent my whole life just trying to pretend I don’t have these powers. Trying to fit in with the rest of the world, like I’m not some kind of a freak.
Emma: We all feel like that from time to time.
Nikki: Yeah, but you guys have each other. I never had anyone. And you know what, today was actually the first time in my entire life that I felt like I was a part of something. That I was someplace that I belonged. And for those few minutes, I actually felt good about myself.
Jesse: Any idea why Nikki’s got Shalimar so tweaked?
Brennan: Well, c’mon. Think about it, pal. What if you were laid up and we found another molecular that could mass and phase as good as you?
Jesse: Are you kidding me? I’d take a week off. Go to Mexico, find myself a little senorita.
Brennan: Well, they were definitely here.
Jesse: And recently. Pizza’s still fresh...I didn’t grab lunch.
Shalimar: I think she’s actually starting to believe that there’s a permanent home for her here with Mutant X.
Adam: Then she’s gonna be sorely disappointed. Okay, this is your home, okay? And there’s nothing that Nikki or anyone else is ever gonna do to change that. You’re so crazy.
Shalimar: Nikki, why are you doing this?
Nikki: Because you stole my life, Shalimar. You had a family that accepted you and loved you. The family that I should’ve had.
Shalimar: I never meant to hurt you!
Nikki: Do you really think that you can hide in the dark from me, Shalimar? We’re both ferals, remember?
Shalimar: You don’t want to do this.
Nikki: Oh, I sooo do. You have absolutely no idea what it was like to live with those monsters. What did they know about ferals? No, they thought I was some kind of a freak. The only way they could figure out how to deal with me was to beat me to death one day at a time.
Shalimar: Nikki, I had no idea.
Nikki: Oh, that’s okay, I took care of them. But don’t worry, sweetie. With you, I’ll makes sure it’s a lot more painful.
Adam: I keep thinking about the young girl we used to know, and that I failed her somehow. I should have checked up on her.
Shalimar: Well, you can’t blame yourself. I mean you had no way of knowing, right?
Adam: Right. But still.
Shalimar: You know, I can’t help wondering how I would have turned out if it had been me instead of Nikki.
Adam: Nobody can withstand abuse like that and come out of it unscathed.
Shalimar: Guess I was lucky.
Trivia & Nitpicks: Nikki can’t have been with her evil foster family for very long. Adam found Shalimar and Nikki when both were 15. They bunked together for about a year before Adam, fearing feral territorial instincts, sent Nikki to a foster home. After 6 months, they sent her to a second foster family who beat her every day until she killed them. She was 17.
Brennan’s first line is, “Where the hell is Jesse with our backup?” That’s a mighty good question. In fact, we see neither hide nor hair of Jesse in the rest of the teaser....or the first scene....or the second....or the third....or the fourth. By the time he finally appears in the fifth scene, I was beginning to wonder whether he’d gone vacationing in Mexico with a little senorita.
Jesse’s description of the particle decelerator eerily resembles Patricia’s abilities from “The Future Revealed.” And does anyone else find it disturbing that Emma’s first question about the particle decelerator is, “What would happen if you used it against a person?” It’s probably more disturbing that I’m immediately thinking, “What would happen if you used it on Brennan?” *evil snicker*
Shalimar tells Nikki that they no longer have a curfew, yet she later tells Brennan that all the times he snuck into Sanctuary late, he was busted. Wonder why he would have to sneak in...
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego and where is Lucinda Alvarez? Dylan tells Nikki she’s in an abandoned warehouse on the east side. Nikki tells the team that she’s in an abandoned factory on the east side. Then Adam discovers that she’s actually in an abandoned warehouse on the west side.
From the photo Shalimar finds, it seems Nikki hasn’t aged a day since she was 17.
Despite Shalimar’s reassurances to the contrary, Adam could easily have found out what had happened to Nikki if he had wanted to, just the way he watched over Lexa in the years after she left him.
Adam’s says no one could have undergone that kind of abuse and survived--but we'll find out in "Lest He Become" that Shalimar did. Neither of them makes a reference to what happened to Shalimar at the psych ward when she was 10.
Return to The Mutant X Warehouse
Understudy: Episode #210.
Tag: Shalimar becomes suspicious of an old friend who suddenly reenters her life. [ Understudy]
Cast & Crew: Written by Darrell Fetty; Directed by John Bell (XI)
Michael Copeman.... Holcomb
Sava Drayton.... Dylan Carter
Kel Gleason.... Jurgen Bardo
Jenya Lano....Nikki Rogers
Amanda Martinez.... Lucinda Alvarez
Official Synopsis: Brennan (Victor Webster) and Shalimar (Victoria Pratt) chase four bikers, one of which is carrying a high-tech silver case, down a dark street in an old warehouse district. They race around the corner just as Nikki (Jeyna Lano) steps out of her car. As Brennan and Shalimar use their powers to dodge the bikers’ bullets, Nikki drops down from a building and kicks two of the men to the ground. Wrestling with one of them, she attempts to knock his gun out of his hand, but a burst of gunfire suddenly explodes in Shalimar’s direction. Nikki rushes over to the wounded Shalimar, who is shocked to see her old friend, just as Emma (Lauren Lee Smith) and Jesse (Forbes March) arrive on the scene. The team and Nikki bring Shalimar back to Sanctuary where Adam (John Shea) tends to her injured leg. Adam explains to Brennan that Nikki was one of the first mutants he found when he was assembling Mutant X, and she and Shalimar became inseparable, but ultimately he could only choose one of the ferals for the team. Later, Jesse informs Brennan and Emma that the bikers stole a Particle Decelerator, a device that can freeze electron movement, from Walderson Industries. Desperate to find out the identity of the bikers and what they want with the device, they decide that Nikki is their best and only lead. Since Nikki claims that she doesn’t remember much of the incident, Emma suggests using the Psionic Memory Scan on her. The team agrees and Emma gives Nikki a telempathic boost to trigger her memory. Re-living the fight in the alley, Nikki remembers grabbing the biker’s gun. When she suddenly rips the headgear off and begins to shake in fear, Emma tells the team that Nikki was reacting to a man with a teardrop tattoo under his eye. Meanwhile at an abandoned garage, Dylan Carter (Sava Drayton), the man Nikki saw during the memory scan, listens as his fellow biker, Lucinda Alvarez (Amanda Martinez), informs the “buyer” that the Decelerator is in their possession. Back at Sanctuary, Emma transports the images Nikki saw to a computer in hopes that Jesse can use the database to identify the man with the teardrop tattoo. Later, Shalimar and Nikki are catching up on lost time when Adam enters and asks Nikki to help the team out while Shalimar recovers. Nikki agrees and she, Brennan, Jesse head to Dylan’s apartment to investigate while Adam talks on the phone with Holcomb (Michael Copeman), who informs him that the “buyer” is most likely the notorious Jurgen Bardo (Kel Gleason). Ignoring Brennan’s orders to wait in the car, Nikki enters the apartment and finding Dylan, grabs him by the throat and pins him against the wall. Terrified for his life, he tells Nikki where she can find Lucinda and the device. Reminding her that she was the one who shot Shalimar, Nikki throws him through the window in order to ensure her secret is not exposed. Moments later, Jesse and Brennan kick down the apartment door and find Nikki, who tells them she killed Dylan in self-defense. Back at Sanctuary, Shalimar becomes increasingly jealous by all the attention Nikki is getting. Following up on the lead Dylan had given Nikki, Brennan, Jesse and Nikki arrive at Lucinda’s abandoned garage. Using her powers, Nikki begins to move through the garage and finds fresh fingerprints and the impression “Crandall Park. 5:15,” on the wall. She excitedly tells the others about her finding, but lies about the location saying that it’s Lakeshore Park. Now that she has completed her task, she decides that it’s time for her to leave and says her good-byes. Adam, Emma, Brennan and Jesse stake out Lakeshore Park, but as 5:15 comes and goes, they realize that they have been fooled by Nikki. Meanwhile, Lucinda arrives at Crandall Park with the Decelerator. Nikki suddenly approaches, knocks Lucinda down and makes off with the device. Back at Sanctuary, a suspicious and jealous Shalimar is working intently to uncover the real story on Nikki who suddenly sneaks up and aims the stolen Decelerator at her. Barely escaping the device’s deadly beam, Shalimar hides near the media column. Prying open the circuit board, she hits the breaker and Sanctuary goes dark. As Shalimar then fumbles around for a high tech flare, Nikki fires the Decelerator again, but Shalimar covers her eyes and releases the flare, which fires a huge spray of light. Blinded by the brightness, Nikki is unable to fight off Shalimar’s attack.
Quotes:
Brennan: Stay down!
Shalimar: That’s not my style, you know that.
Adam: Nikki was one of the first people I found when I was putting together Mutant X. She and Shalimar bunked together for what, a year?
Nikki Rogers: Yeah. We were both 15. We became more than friends, though, we were like sisters.
Adam: Well, let’s give her some rest.
Nikki: Yeah.
Adam: You know when I realized that I needed a mix of talents for Mutant X, and unfortunately, that meant choosing between Nikki and Shalimar.
Nikki: I was the runner up.
Adam: Well, no. It wasn’t that easy a choice. But I tried to give her a normal life. I set her up with a foster home, I tried to keep her away from the battles of Genomex.
Nikki: I guess fate just works in funny ways, doesn’t it? One day I’m just driving down the street, minding my own business, and here I am. Right back where I started.
Brennan: Wow, so that must make us the lucky ones.
Nikki: Well, actually I’ve worked really hard over the years to develop my powers. I studied boxing, martial arts, gymnastics, you name it.
Brennan: Just not quite good enough to keep that last guy from getting his last shot off, though.
Nikki: Do you think that I’ve thought of anything else since that happened?
Adam: Brennan, she saved her life. Give her a break. Don’t worry about him. No, we’re glad you’re here.
Nikki: Thanks. Being back here with you and Shalimar, it’s like coming home.
Shalimar: Even with one leg I can still kick ass.
Adam: Listen, any stress on this leg, you could cause permanent damage. Now, you’re gonna be on your feet in a couple of days, till then, I want you to rest. I want you to take care of yourself.
Shalimar: Oh, great.
Adam: Ferals.
Shalimar: I heard that!
Emma: Adam, if you don’t mind my asking, why did you choose Shal over Nikki?
Adam: Well, it was difficult. It could have gone either way.
Emma: Spoken like a man trying to avoid the question.
Adam: Well, the truth is there’s always something wild and unpredictable about ferals, right? So in the beginning, I thought that Shalimar could learn to control it. I wasn’t so sure about Nikki.
Nikki: So did you ever think about what would have happened if I had stayed here with you?
Shalimar: Are you kidding? When you left, I cried for a week solid.
Nikki: Are you serious?
Shalimar: Yeah. I mean, I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to come find you. But Adam told me it would be safer for you if I didn’t.
Nikki: Yeah, I guess I was safer.
Adam: Well, I was never sure that I was doing the right thing, sending you to live with foster parents. So I’m relieved to see that you’ve turned out the way you did. And I was hoping to convince you to stay a while longer, maybe help out Mutant X till Shalimar’s back on her feet.
Shalimar: Well, don’t make me twist your arm.
Nikki: You know, for a minute, I thought you were Adam, coming in to tell me it was my bedtime. You don’t still have a curfew, do you?
Shalimar: No, we’re past that by now.
Nikki: Good.
Shalimar: He was pretty strict with us, huh?
Nikki: Oh yeah, he sure was.
Shalimar: What was it like, what were your parents like?
Nikki: Oh, well the people that Adam placed me with were great. But that only lasted for a few months until the agency found me a permanent family.
Shalimar: Yeah, what were they like?
Nikki: They were perfect.
Shalimar: You know, I was always kind of jealous. ‘Cause you got to do that whole normal teenage thing that I never got to do.
Nikki: Summer vacations, birthday parties, first dates, the whole nine yards. But you know, the thing that I remember most is that they always had this way of just making me feel special.
Shalimar: That’s nice.
Nikki: Every day with them was another gift.
Nikki: Wow. You’re amazing. How did you learn all this stuff?
Jesse: It’s not hard. I could teach you.
Nikki: I’m sure there’s a lot that you could teach me.
Brennan: You stay here. We’ll call you if we need backup.
Nikki: It’d be better if I went with you.
Brennan: You don’t follow directions real well, do you?
Nikki: Actually, I’m kinda like you, Brennan. I like to follow my own instincts.
Brennan: No, actually, that’s more like Shalimar. Look, when you’re under my watch, we work as a team. You stay here.
Nikki: You know, I get this feeling that you don’t like me very much, do you?
Brennan: You know, I don’t even know you.
Nikki: But I know Adam. And if he chose you, you must be good. Except you’re not like the others, you know.
Brennan: How you figure?
Nikki: You’re more street. You’re the one who knows what’s going through these guys’ heads right now.
Brennan: What’s going through these guys’ heads is simple. They want to get rid of this thing and get their money ASAP. And they’re scared, which makes them dangerous.
Nikki: Dangerous doesn’t bother me. I can be pretty dangerous myself.
Brennan: You know, I’ve heard quite a bit from you. So far, all I’ve seen is Shalimar being shot.
Nikki: If I hadn’t made a move, she’d be dead right now. You know that.
Brennan: You know what, maybe you’re right. Regardless, we work as a team. Everybody plays by the same rules, everybody goes home safe. You good with that?
Nikki: I’m all over it. Hey, I want to be a part of the team, here. I just want to do a good job.
Brennan: Well then, good. Stay here.
Dylan: Let me go.
Nikki: That’s where it gets a little complicated. You shouldn’t have done what you did to my friend.
Dylan: I didn’t do anything! You did it. You aimed the gun, you pulled the trigger.
Nikki: And that’s where it goes from complicated to tragic.
Dylan: What?
Nikki: See, if you hadn’t seen that, then I might have been able to let you live.
Brennan: She didn’t do half bad.
Jesse: Yeah, coming from you, that’s a ringing endorsement.
Brennan: Look, just the fact that she’s still breathing says something for her.
Jesse: Yeah, like she’s good, she’s strong, and we’re damn lucky to have her bringing up the rear.
Brennan: Yeah, something like that.
Nikki: I’ve never seen anyone die before. It was horrible.
Emma: Yeah, it always is the first time. For some of us, it doesn’t really get much better from there.
Brennan: Nikki was just giving us the name of the woman who stole the decelerator.
Nikki: Well, hey, don’t give me all the credit. I learned from the best.
Brennan: Oh, come on. Don’t sell yourself short. This is the second time that your instincts have saved our butts.
Shalimar: That’s great. And my jacket looks pretty good on you too.
Adam: What’s it like having Nikki around again?
Shalimar: Great. Why? Everyone seems to love her.
Adam: See, this is what I was afraid of when you two first got together. That there’d be this natural territorial response between two ferals.
Shalimar: We’re not animals, Adam.
Adam: I know, I’m just saying that it’s hard for anybody to get past the responses that are hard-wired into our genetics.
Shalimar: No, it’s more than that, though. It’s more like instinct. You know, the way she’s moving in, and figuring out ways to get close to everybody.
Adam: Okay, but it’s natural for you to feel a little threatened.
Shalimar: I don’t feel threatened.
Adam: No?
Shalimar: Okay, maybe a little.
Shalimar: Whatcha working on?
Jesse: Making Nikki a comlink.
Shalimar: Look, Jess. I know you have a thing for her, but don’t you think you’re maybe going a bit overboard here?
Jesse: Wasn’t my idea.
Shalimar: No, I’m sure it wasn’t. Nikki’s always been very persuasive.
Jesse: It wasn’t Nikki. It was Adam. I think after today he just wanted to bring her up to speed so she wouldn’t get hurt.
Shalimar: Now that’s rich. What next, are we all gonna get together and redecorate her bedroom? Maybe she’d like my room. That might be easier.
Brennan: Hey, Shal. Have you seen--Nikki?
Nikki: Disappointed?
Brennan: No, just from the back you looked like Shalimar.
Nikki: Really? I’ll take that as a compliment.
Shalimar: Excuse me?
Nikki: Shalimar!
Shalimar: What is going on here?
Brennan: Nothing.
Shalimar: Stay out of this, Brennan. I think you’ve overstayed your welcome.
Nikki: I’m sorry?
Shalimar: No, I’m sorry. Time for you to get your things and get the hell out of here. You are wearing my clothes, in my room, trying to take over my life, now get out!
Adam: Shalimar! Get a hold of yourself.
Shalimar: You gonna say something, Brennan, or are you just gonna stand there looking at me?
Brennan: How did you know it was me?
Shalimar: Well, I might not be the top feral around here anymore, but I can still sense you from a hundred feet away.
Brennan: Ah. So all those times that I snuck into Sanctuary late?
Shalimar: Busted.
Brennan: Great. So, you okay?
Shalimar: I don’t know. I don’t know. I mean, maybe it’s like Adam said, and I’m on some feral territorial rant. Or maybe it’s my leg that’s got me down. But God, I look at her, and she’s faster, and she’s stronger, and she’s sexier.
Brennan: Shal, I don’t know about faster or stronger, but being a damn good job of sexy myself, she definitely has a long way to go before she ever catches up with you. Look, you have no reason to feel threatened by Nikki.
Shalimar: So that’s what everybody thinks, huh?
Brennan: Would you just stop? Okay, nobody’s thinking anything. We can’t just sit around and wait for you to feel well again.
Shalimar: Well, thank you, Brennan. That makes me feel a whole lot better.
Nikki: You do this every day, Emma. I’ve spent my whole life just trying to pretend I don’t have these powers. Trying to fit in with the rest of the world, like I’m not some kind of a freak.
Emma: We all feel like that from time to time.
Nikki: Yeah, but you guys have each other. I never had anyone. And you know what, today was actually the first time in my entire life that I felt like I was a part of something. That I was someplace that I belonged. And for those few minutes, I actually felt good about myself.
Jesse: Any idea why Nikki’s got Shalimar so tweaked?
Brennan: Well, c’mon. Think about it, pal. What if you were laid up and we found another molecular that could mass and phase as good as you?
Jesse: Are you kidding me? I’d take a week off. Go to Mexico, find myself a little senorita.
Brennan: Well, they were definitely here.
Jesse: And recently. Pizza’s still fresh...I didn’t grab lunch.
Shalimar: I think she’s actually starting to believe that there’s a permanent home for her here with Mutant X.
Adam: Then she’s gonna be sorely disappointed. Okay, this is your home, okay? And there’s nothing that Nikki or anyone else is ever gonna do to change that. You’re so crazy.
Shalimar: Nikki, why are you doing this?
Nikki: Because you stole my life, Shalimar. You had a family that accepted you and loved you. The family that I should’ve had.
Shalimar: I never meant to hurt you!
Nikki: Do you really think that you can hide in the dark from me, Shalimar? We’re both ferals, remember?
Shalimar: You don’t want to do this.
Nikki: Oh, I sooo do. You have absolutely no idea what it was like to live with those monsters. What did they know about ferals? No, they thought I was some kind of a freak. The only way they could figure out how to deal with me was to beat me to death one day at a time.
Shalimar: Nikki, I had no idea.
Nikki: Oh, that’s okay, I took care of them. But don’t worry, sweetie. With you, I’ll makes sure it’s a lot more painful.
Adam: I keep thinking about the young girl we used to know, and that I failed her somehow. I should have checked up on her.
Shalimar: Well, you can’t blame yourself. I mean you had no way of knowing, right?
Adam: Right. But still.
Shalimar: You know, I can’t help wondering how I would have turned out if it had been me instead of Nikki.
Adam: Nobody can withstand abuse like that and come out of it unscathed.
Shalimar: Guess I was lucky.
Trivia & Nitpicks: Nikki can’t have been with her evil foster family for very long. Adam found Shalimar and Nikki when both were 15. They bunked together for about a year before Adam, fearing feral territorial instincts, sent Nikki to a foster home. After 6 months, they sent her to a second foster family who beat her every day until she killed them. She was 17.
Brennan’s first line is, “Where the hell is Jesse with our backup?” That’s a mighty good question. In fact, we see neither hide nor hair of Jesse in the rest of the teaser....or the first scene....or the second....or the third....or the fourth. By the time he finally appears in the fifth scene, I was beginning to wonder whether he’d gone vacationing in Mexico with a little senorita.
Jesse’s description of the particle decelerator eerily resembles Patricia’s abilities from “The Future Revealed.” And does anyone else find it disturbing that Emma’s first question about the particle decelerator is, “What would happen if you used it against a person?” It’s probably more disturbing that I’m immediately thinking, “What would happen if you used it on Brennan?” *evil snicker*
Shalimar tells Nikki that they no longer have a curfew, yet she later tells Brennan that all the times he snuck into Sanctuary late, he was busted. Wonder why he would have to sneak in...
Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego and where is Lucinda Alvarez? Dylan tells Nikki she’s in an abandoned warehouse on the east side. Nikki tells the team that she’s in an abandoned factory on the east side. Then Adam discovers that she’s actually in an abandoned warehouse on the west side.
From the photo Shalimar finds, it seems Nikki hasn’t aged a day since she was 17.
Despite Shalimar’s reassurances to the contrary, Adam could easily have found out what had happened to Nikki if he had wanted to, just the way he watched over Lexa in the years after she left him.
Adam’s says no one could have undergone that kind of abuse and survived--but we'll find out in "Lest He Become" that Shalimar did. Neither of them makes a reference to what happened to Shalimar at the psych ward when she was 10.
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