Nikki and Maryn

Nikki and Maryn are hair and makeup artists that work for the public-access talk show Capital Cineforum. They are heavily implied to be non-human and are also implied to share a single consciousness.

Appearance
Nikki and Maryn take the form of two women, one of them shorter, with blond hair, and the other one taller, with dark hair. Typically, the blonde one is referred to as Maryn and the dark-haired one is referred to as Nikki, although the two draw little distinction between each other.

Personality
Nikki and Maryn both fit into the archetype of the "chatty hairdresser" eerily well. They spend most of their time sharing gossip with each other, or with whoever they can manage to get in their chair. They are both depicted as bad-mouthed and caustic, although they both apparently share a soft side, as shown in "60 Minutes Later."

Nikki and Maryn often speak simultaneously, repeat each other, or finish each other's sentences. They are shown to be capable of having slightly different opinions on things like fashion, but these minor disagreements are functionally no different than a single person debating what outfit they should wear.

Abilities

 * Mind Reading: Nikki and Maryn are both implied to be capable of reading peoples' minds, which is how they learn all their gossip.
 * Shared Consciousness: Essentially, Maryn and Nikki are two parts of the same organism. This means that they always know what the other is thinking. This is not telepathy, as that would imply psychic communication between two different people. There is no Nikki. There is no Maryn. There is only Nikki and Maryn. The severing of this shared identity is incredibly traumatic, as shown in "60 Minutes Later."

Jerry Lee's Gauntlet
Maryn and Nikki meet KC when she stumbles onto them gossiping. They address KC with casual contempt. KC asks how she can help them, and the two of them tell her that they'll give her their point if she lets them give her a makeover (It's worth noting that Nikki and Maryn share one point, even though Jerry Lee said that each individual crew member had one). KC tries to refuse but Nikki and Maryn force her into their chair. Nikki tells KC that she's a "solid 6" but that they could easily raise her up to an 8.5. The two hairdressers become distracted, however, when they get into a disagreement over whether or not "rural" is in fashion, allowing KC to escape.

Later, KC sees Nikki and Maryn giving Tori a makeover. Maryn exclaims that it's the best makeover they've ever done, and Nikki agrees, saying that they've raised her up to "at least a 6.5." The two give Tori their point.

Nikki and Maryn and are both present when Jerry Lee informs the crew that Ariel is missing. When Renée nominates herself to take Ariel's place, she tells Nikki and Maryn to do her makeup. The two are hesitant at first, but eventually admit that they do love a challenge.

Renée's Investigation
When Renée finds the video of her and Ariel, she goes to Nikki and Maryn, hoping they might know who made it. She attempts to address one of them directly but gets confused when she realizes that she can't remember which of them is which. When she asks them to remind her, the two stare at her, blank-faced, and tell her that they don't understand the question. When Renée asks them if anyone's been spying on her, the two find this question funny, causing Renée to storm off.

The Super-Group
Later, KC interviews Nikki and Maryn for her "superhero" team. When she asks them what their powers are, they boast that they know everything that goes on on-set. They claim to be in the crew's heads, "literally and metaphorically." When Joey asks them what they mean by that, they share a look, then simultaneously tell him "not to worry about it."

When the Masked Cape challenges Joey to a duel on-air, Nikki and Maryn show up with the rest of KC's team. They introduce themselves as "The Killer Bees," claiming to know "all the buzz on set." They then proceed to tell him to "shut up" and call him a nerd. When Joey punches the Masked Cape out, they look just as surprised as the rest of the crew.

The S.H.O.T. Outbreak
"'I can't die without getting new highlights!'""'I can't die without seeing your new highlights!' - Nikki and Maryn hiding from S.H.O.T. zombies."When the outbreak occurs, Nikki and Maryn hide in the editing bay with Neil, Joey, Jameson, and Chris. When the crew begins to turn against Joey, Nikki and Maryn join in, calling him "scum" in unison. When Renée starts grieving over the loss of Ariel, the two hairdressers try to get her to stop.

Later, the crew runs into Jerry Lee. Nikki and Maryn, believing him to be infected, prepare to kill him through some unknown means. They back down when he convinces them that he's not a zombie.

After the crew splits up to find the cure, Nikki and Maryn go to search the studio with Renée. They point out Chris's camera, speaking in unison. Renée asks them to "stop doing that," but the hairdressers show no sign that they know what she's talking about. As they explore the studio, Nikki and Maryn tease Renée about her obsession with Ariel. When Renée reacts negatively, they explain that they've noticed that Renée is always "having a hard time," and they just want to help her out. Nikki says that they've "gotten bored just doing her makeup," and want to help "makeover her life." It's at this point that Nikki is jumped by Ariel and infected. Maryn, horrified, goes into some kind of seizure as Renée drags her out of the room, away from danger.

The two hole-up in the peace room and Maryn continues to convulse. Clearly terrified, she tells Renée that she doesn't know what's happening and that she's never been apart from Nikki this long. As Renée attempts to calm her, S.H.O.T. begins speaking through Maryn, taunting the both of them. Briefly regaining control, Maryn tells Renée that she can still see Nikki and that she's cold and lonely. S.H.O.T. takes over once again and espouses its plans of world domination. Finally, it gives control back to Maryn, who only has enough energy left to tell Renée that Ariel is "the worst for not noticing her" before falling into a catatonic state.

Later, Nikki and Maryn are cured along with the rest of the crew.

Notes and Trivia

 * According to the season's show bible, Nikki and Maryn were extraterrestrial in origin. This never got any pay-off, unfortunately, as the season was unexpectedly cut short.


 * Nikki and Maryn's superhero names, aside from setting up a "buzz" pun, are a reference to their "hive-mind" existence.
 * This was Nikki Beck's first acting role. She would go on to play Nikki Day in season 18 and Shauna in season 19.