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I’m happy to report, and more than a little surprised to learn, that Nikita is still alive and kicking … kicking ass that is.  The finale aired this passed Friday and Nikita (Maggie Q) survived her date with Division.  While that was no small feat, it was only marginally more impressive than the fact that Nikita also beat the odds and will return next year to the CW line-up.

On a network over-run with teenage angst (but surprisingly little acne), Nikita skews a bit older than the standard CW fair (as in Gossip Girl, 90120, and even Supernatural).  Based upon the remarkably conclusive finale, I suspect the show runners for Nikita also feared their time was about up.  Watching last night’s episode, I could almost pinpoint the exact point where the script made a nice little jump to allow for the possibility that the show might continue.  It’s the moment when a now major character steps off the elevator … in case you want to take a look for yourself.  There is an equally pivotal moment when another member of the cast could easily have easily been killed instead of popping up alive and well before the end credits roll.

All’s well that ends well, right?  Especially if you also survive the up-fronts.

This was a very satisfying season for this show.  In fact, I liked this finale much more than the latest season-ender for Supernatural (which follows Nikita on Friday nights).  I enjoy Supernatural and, honestly, will put more effort into watching it than I will Nikita.  But the last few seasons, the writers appear to be in a disappointing rut.  It goes like this: Paint the Winchester boys into an impossible corner, have them barely survive–but at what cost?–then leave everyone with the clear impression that all that hard work and sacrifice probably only made everything worse.  Stay tuned for next season when the shit really hits the fan!

And they fucked up the Impala … again.

Both shows had a very solid run this season, better than I expected.  But of the two, Nikita left me filling more satisfied.  Both shows have been renewed for next season, with the Winchesters moving to Wednesday night to hang out with Oliver Queen (aka Green Arrow) and Nikita shifting to a later time on Friday’s.  Initially, Nikita will get the dubious honor of following America’s Next Top Model but eventually our super-spy gets teamed up with something a little meatier as Cult is slotted as a mid-season replacement.

I’m not real sure about this whole “split season” thing that the cable networks like to pull.  Sci-Fi did it with Galactica and we’re still waiting … and waiting … for the final season to play out.  Monday night, The Closer came to a close but it was only a “mid-season” finale.  Mid-season or not, that was one hell of a finale.

Brenda (Kira Sedgewick) was her usual half-crazed yet brilliant self, managing to get shot at after getting almost blown up at least once.  The case was a particularly nasty one (specially if you happen to live in Utah anywhere near Trolly Square).  As per usual, the crime gets solved by a combination of solid investigative work and stumbling upon that final piece of the puzzle.  Monk does this too, as does House and many others.  They solve the mystery with what I like to call the “incidental moment of insight” or IMI if you will.  Someone says something completely unrelated to the issue at hand which gives the main character that IMI moment.  This time it was not something said, but rather a map Brenda just happens to notice at just the right moment.

But that’s the real brilliance of The Closer.  You don’t care how the mystery is solved because you know it always will be.  It’s all the rest of it that makes us want to watch.  Like the entire team throwing Brenda over their collective shoulders to hustle her out of the vicinity of possible bombing.  Sarah Palin would call that moment sexist … I call it hilarious.

What really makes this series a joy to watch isn’t the mostly no-brainer cases; it’s the rest of the cast.  Their funny moments and their painful ones.  Their individual quirks and their often inapropriate responses to the most awful of situations.  Their unflinching loyalty to their slightly off-center but always beloved Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson.

The Closer went out with a bang … several of them in fact.  At least one of the cast might not make it out the other side.  And while it was one of those mostly annoying mid-season finales, at least we only have to wait until January to see how it all shakes out.