Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.That was pretty damn awesome, wasn't it? Well, except for the part where we have to wait three weeks to find out what happens next, but such is our lot. If there's one thing Nikita excels at, it's dangling its characters over cliffs, and us along with them. What the superior Sanctuary occasionally lacked in action it more than made up for in emotional fireworks, particularly between icy Amanda and simmering Percy

The scenes between Maggie Q and Lyndsy Fonseca were terrific. Some of it seemed to cover ground that was covered the week before (Alex's despair over her mother) but the added wrinkle of Alex being tempted to blot out her feelings with pills felt right, and a needed reminder of how far the character has come but also, how close to the edge she still is. Watching them practically giggle over how they almost killed each other in " Looking Glass " was so delightful I think I'm now dreading the inevitable re-parting of ways between Nikita and Alex more than I did the inevitable separation of Nikita and Michael earlier this season. It's one of the most emotionally complex and satisfying female friendships on television.The transformation of Birkhoff from snarky misanthrope to squishy avenger has been one of the real joys of Season 2 and watching him unabashedly give Michael a "welcome home" hug just tickled me. Of course, he still gets all the funniest lines ("This place has more jamming than a Santana concert") and I'm not even sure what my favorite Sean nickname was: "Seal Team Six-Pack" or " Shipwreck ," after the nautical G.I. Joe.Speaking of Sean, we know he's now a full-fledged Nikita character because his emotions are getting in the way of his missions. Not only does he shield Alex's whereabouts from Senator Mommy, he essentially gets captured because he doesn't have the heart to really put a hurt on Alex, even as she's trying to beat him up. But whether he's now a full-fledged Team Nikita member, well, that remains to be seen. Xander Berkeley and Melinda Clarke both delivered powerhouse performances during Percy and Amanda's provocative and perplexing showdown. Was the romantic subtext of their dialogue merely a metaphor for their once close, now shattered professional relationship, or do they share more history that we ever could have guessed? He dished out a lot of delicious vitriol, but the only thing that actually hurt (yes, hurt) Amanda was his accusation that she was incapable of love. That sent her straight to the cell phone she keeps covered in rose petals (?!) to call...someone she's capable of loving, perhaps? Semak? Ari? Cassandra? I'm not sure I'll ever figure out Amanda, but it's damn fun to try.The central plot of "Sanctuary", that Oversight was planning to take care of their pesky Division problem by wiping it out with Percy's Clean Sweep fail safe, was made all the more effective because it was borne out of Oversight's frustration over their Nikita problem. That panic and desperation is exactly what Nikita has been hoping she was cultivating all these years, but she didn't see this coming. Just what the poor girl needs, right? More guilt? It was chilling to watch the horror play over each of our heroes faces as they thought about all the years they spent at Division having no idea there was toxic gas waiting to be released on the whim of Oversight.Season opener " Game Change " featured several references to The Silence of the Lambs , and the mid-season finale brilliantly revisited one of the most startling sequences of the film with it's Guardian fake-out. In the movie, Jonathan Demme uses clever cutting between locations to trick his audience into believing an FBI SWAT team is moments away rescuing a young woman from the clutches of a serial killer, only to reveal that they're at an empty house, and lone, unsuspecting Clarice Starling is the one who's been ringing Buffalo Bill's doorbell. So was the case with Percy's upward glances at the ceiling, some sneaky edits, and the belief of most of the show's characters that a physical assault on Division was eminent. The Guardians bursting instead into Oversight headquarters with guns a-blazing was quite a nifty plot twist.Will Percy's escape plan work? Will anyone in Oversight survive if it does? Has Percy underestimated Amanda or has she been outplayed? Who's she working with? And I realize I'm getting way ahead of myself here, but if this is all happening at the middle of the season, what the hell is in store for us in May?