La Femme Nikita

I loved this show and never missed an episode. I thought it was suspenseful and well written. I was fully involved in this program. It will be sorely missed.

I cannot understand why we don't even get re-runs. I think the acting was well done and the characters detailed. I think the relationship between Nikita and Michael was intense and riveting. I have seen repeated episodes of garbage shows on television and I do not understand why no network thinks this show is worth repeating. I was hoping they would make another movie perhaps letting us know what happened after wards. I guess the actors have moved on. I think the original movie was very good and think the television show was a testament to it.

When "La Femme Nikita" premiered I thought the show would be a typically cheesey USA show: no plot, lots of naked women. To my surprise I genuinely think the show is among the best on TV.

The show's plots are complex and well-thought, taking the usual conventions of the action genre and turning them on their head. Even Peta Wilson, who looked like she was originally cast in the title role solely on her looks, has turned out to be a talented actress. She lends an emotional depth to the role of Nikita that is surprising.

Very good.

The TV series, "La Femme Nikita" is a spin-off of the fine early-90s French film, "Nikita". The first episode, although it deviates in many points, generally parallels the entire movie through the point where Nikita starts to perform missions.

However it does not try to look like the original, instead it has spun its own look that is every bit as captivating as the film, for a TV series. Peta Wilson who stars a Nikita is so perfect for the role she has created that it is impossible to imagine anyone else playing it now. She is all-in-one beautiful, sensitive, tough, loyal, in a superb acting job. I suspect the real Peta Wilson is not too far away from this character.

I find the series so captivating because of its mix of good and bad. "The Section" exists to foster good in the world, but any means justifies the end, and a lot of people, both innocent and crooked, get in the way and get "eliminated". However, Nikita and Michael both have consciences and in every episode there are ambiguous situations that their characters must deal with. You can't watch it and not ask what you would do in a similar situation. The dark tone of the show, the clandestine operations, the high-tech tracking and communications, the action - it all blends to pull you in and keep you in its grip, until the episode is over. Today, 01/01/01, USA network is running a "Nikita" marathon - 12 straight hours of the best episodes. Very compelling watching.

DEC2004 update: I am watching the DVDs for season one, very nice set.

I think this is one of the best written shows on television today! The creators of this series are really in-tune with what a tv "series" should be like. They are not afraid to have really good character development.

But each episode is also great on its own! They have got an incredible blend of character development and action and intrigue all blended together in each episode (granted with differing amounts in each episode).

The cast is truly amazing at creating the complex relationships (so that you never see the "same old" interactions all the time). And each episode delves a little deeper into at least one character (and not just the main one or two characters, but there are six relatively majorly developed characters).

It seems that one genre of film has rarely been successfully translated to tv: The spy film. Can't think of one off the top of my head--except the cartoons like Lancelot Link and Danger Mouse. I suppose in the sixties--Man From Uncle, Mission Impossible.

But here comes La Femme Nikita, a very stylish show, no question, with a certain ruthlessness about it that seems cold and dangerous. Everyone in it seems to adequately convey the sense of dangling over a precipice, waiting for the stark harsh powers to send them to their doom. But until then, they combat various and sundry international terrorists.

While the acting never really rises above adequate--the dialogue really doesn't allow it, the characterizations themselves are rather enjoyable. Megalomaniac Operations, icy Madelaine, zombie like Michael, etc. There's a certain menace that hangs in the air, as if even humanistic Nikita wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in you were the situation to require it.

I'm not suprised this show draws a devoted following--probably some who put it in the same late nineties genre of women wandering around beating the hell out big bad men (see VIP, Xena, Buffy, etc) But it's rather a bit more than that, the plots are routinely more complex than most spy movies--the last few James Bond movies in particular, maybe they could donate a few writers to the cause in bringing some life in that series.

The endless maneuvering for advantage, the incredible withering amorality, the sudden violence ... and don't forget the clothes, all give this a pretty slick, sexy feel to it. Like a very shiny, glistening new gun--lethal, but undeniably attractive.