This episode was surely a fan-pleaser, because nothing says "fun" like a Groundhog Day scenario.

If you detected a little sarcasm in that last statement, consider yourself perceptive. I'm not the world's biggest fan of the Groundhog Day (hereinafter referred to as GD) scenario of reliving a day over and over and over and...For one thing, it's overused in genre TV (see: Buffy, Farscape, Star Trek, Stargate, Tru Calling, Xena, X-Files...).

Now, as things go, "5:55" wasn't the worst of the GD genre. There actually was some important character development for Vicki, but I feel that the GD scenario took away from the other characters, who weren't allowed to remember or learn. It made everyone seem a bit...puppety. As if they only existed to say exactly the right thing to make our heroine move along in the story.

But maybe that's just me. However, Vicki did learn a lot about herself over the course of that one day. For instance, she learned the importance of trust, that she doesn't believe in fate, and that she would do absolutely anything to keep Mike alive, including let him live happily ever after with Kate.

This episode is really about Vicki's feelings for Mike. Sure, she gets it on with Henry at the end, but it’s all about her realization of how important Mike is to her. To the point where she's finally willing to give him up, if it means he'll live happily ever after (emphasis on the "live"). Our little Vicki's all grown up, folks, and ain't it beautiful?

Mind you, poor Mike's going to feel like fate's yo-yo if this keeps up. Last week, Vicki looked thrilled that he'd finally accepted her world, this week she actually hugs him (!), and now it looks like she's going to push him away and into Kate's arms. Somehow I don't think that Vicki trying to protect Mike is going to make him happy, do you?

In fact, I predict some fireworks on that topic rather soon. (And what a nice turnaround from men trying to protect women, may I say.)

Okay, so at the beginning of this review, I got snippy about the show's use of a GD scenario, but I have to admit that there were a few things I enjoyed about it. For instance, I liked seeing the major changes each repetition, and how each change Vicki made changed everyone else's behavior. Most of all, I loved that Vicki didn't spend a lot of time whining or freaking, she just kicked ass and took names. Literally.

There was also a lot of good dialogue in this episode, such as Vicki's conversations with Mike at the murder scene ("I feel like I walked into the middle of a fight we haven't even had yet") and almost everything Henry said ("Well, if that don't put the pepper in the gumbo, I don't know what would"). And Vicki didn't get left out of the good dialogue either. ("We'll always have aggravated assault.")

I'm of two minds about the Kate and Vicki scene outside the interrogation room. On the one hand, it was so much more in-character than last week's catfight, but on the other hand, because of the GD scenario, Kate doesn't remember it. And that makes me twitchy.

When the episode was over, I found myself wondering if Vicki's ever going to tell Mike that she ended the world for him. She told Henry that he ended it because he trusted Vicki, but she pushed Henry to end it in order to save Mike. Because she didn't care: It wasn't a victory if Mike was dead.

(Cue the fanfic where Henry turns Mike into a vampire before Mike dies. I mean, not that I’m writing it, I'm just sayin'.)

This week's take-home message is, uh, don't get caught in a time loop? Wait, no, that wasn't it. Always be ready to end the world in case your ex gets murdered? No, I don't think that was it either.

Okay, I got it: If you kick enough ass, you don't have to be fate's bitch. And Vicki Nelson will never be fate's bitch.