Fast-paced tourney quarterfinals: Nikita vs Scandal

We’re running a tournament to find the show that’s doing fast-paced storytelling the best. But for each round, we want to know what you think. Vote below!

Wow. This is actually a tough one for me.

Nikita and Scandal are actually not too dissimilar in terms of storytelling techniques. They both like to get through storylines quite quickly. They both aim to please and entertain as well as dig into character development when needed. And they both deal with quite delicate and dark story matters.

And then we have the notorious heroine — sometimes anti-heroine — both a bit jaded, both living in shades of grey.

You know what? They’re more alike than I realized before I began writing.

There’s just the obvious element missing: the people on Scandal talk a mile a minute!

When Scandal first premiered, it did appear as though that was just its gimmick, just the way that it would try to set itself apart from the rest of the TV pool. But when season two began, it was clear that Scandal wasn’t concerned with aesthetics; it wanted to shock you at every single turn. Everything you thought could happen in season two of Scandal, actually did.

Nikita offed its Big Bad at the end of its second season, but Scandal most likely would have premiered its season that way. Both of these shows are quite fearless, but Scandal always seems to not just approach the brink, but jump off the cliff, too — never concerned with where the chips may fall, but always leaving it all onscreen.

Scandal just knows what type of show it is and how to entertain. Yes, Nikita does too. But there’s this devilishly fun aspect to Scandal that lends itself to its fast-paced nature. And it never fails to deliver on its own merits and its own terms.

Winner: Scandal