Nikita Executive Producer Craig Silverstein at SDCC 2012 (Video)

I had a chance to take part in the Nikita press room roundtables at San Diego Comic-Con. First up, I got some teases for Season 3 from Craig Silverstein, executive producer and showrunner on the action-packed drama. Video footage of the interview is embedded below, but you can also read an overview of what Silverstein shared here:

• What do people ask him about the most? Probably their favorite characters getting together. But he remembers the more unusual questions, like a fan who asked about the possible release of Nikita’s score.

• I had a chance to ask him about what’s in store for the character of Owen, now that Devon Sawa has been made a series regular. Silverstein revealed that Owen will return in the fourth episode of the upcoming season. “We have some exciting things planned for him. I think the thing that I can kind of reveal is that part of Owen’s story is that he doesn’t remember anything in his life before Division.” Apparently he was very susceptible to whatever treatment he received from Amanda, and finding out who he was before Division is a big part of why he will return.

• Owen’s return will thus be closely tied to the return of Amanda, who will also make her first season three appearance in episode four. The storylines are tied together. “We want a new look for Amanda, because she’s been on the run like Nikita was in the first season.” As for what the new look will involve, they’re still debating that. “I want her to be scarier somehow.” Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing her walk all over people in combat boots.

• As for saying goodbye to Percy, Silverstein said that they planned his death since the beginning of Season Two. There were limited options left for the character, and “I kind of wanted him to go out at the top.”

• Saying goodbye to Carla Bennett (Erica Gimpel) was a different matter. Silverstein explained that things were getting too overstuffed. “We had to pay service to all these difference characters who we kept globbing on, so they just started dying, one after another.” He further added, “She had served her purpose.”

• Peter Outerbridge will be back this season as Ari Tasarov. “He will be back. He’s with Amanda.”

• In regard to Sonya and Birkhoff’s relationship, the showrunner explained that when we return, there is a bit of a time jump. Since the two kissed, something went wrong. They have some fun keeping the details a secret from the audience for a while.

• As for Ryan, he’s running division now and is in a position of power and responsibility. “There’s a significant burden on him that he’s holding back from Nikita. […] It creates a tension between them.”

• “Something really big happens with Michael and Nikita in the first episode.” Intriguing.

• In response to another question about Owen, Silverstein reflected, “Everybody wants to see him—they want to see him more and more and more. But we feel like every time we use him, we completely maximize the guy, and we don’t ever want to have him just standing around doing nothing. And so that’s sort of our approach with him. That’s why he’s s great. He’s always doing something.” Furthermore, it can be a struggle, balancing the service for every character. Devon Sawa is contracted for twelve out of twenty-two episodes. Even Noah Bean (Ryan) is not in all the episodes.

• How many more seasons do they have planned? “Well, I had always planned for three seasons. Her taking over Division was a paradigm shift to me. It was never an ending. It could have been an ending—if the show ended people would have been okay. […] Past this season, I don’t have a plan.” He’s hoping to come up with a plan this season for the future.

• This season has more stand-alone episodes. The thirty rogue agents, “the dirty thirty,” who have all cut their trackers and gone into business for themselves, will direct a lot of the story.

• Another driving story will be the fate of the new Division. “You know how in Aliens, Sigourney Weaver’s like, ‘You’re not gonna study them, right? You’re just gonna destroy them?’—that’s kind of Nikita at the beginning of the season.” Other people may have other plans as things go on. Nikita was always fighting against the man, and now she kind of is the man. That will drive stories.

• He does fantasize about ending on his own terms, but he can’t dictate that. He respects it when shows do that though, like Avatar: The Last Airbender.

• The theme this year is “family,” inspired by The Avengers. “The fact that they were brought together and they all sort of were squabbling and fighting each other. They were serving this common cause and they all kind of united at the end. I really like that. I think I see the same kind of dynamics in our Nikita family that’s sort of formed. So, it’s about that. And it’s about Amanda, who’s been cast out and wants to show these kids that they can’t throw their mom out, basically. So she’s coming back and she’s going to make them suffer.” Love it!

• What about the development for Alex this season? She’s had her revenge so now it’s all about what will she do with her life now. “Her life has been like so Dickensian up to this point. She’s been through so much stuff. I think the next step for her now is to find love. She has a very difficult past sort of sexually, so that makes it so hard for her to kind of be normal that way. So she’s kind of got to really learn how to deal with sex and love, and see that they can co-exist.”

Photo and Video by Lucia Giusti, Copyright © 2012 TheTelevixen.com