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La Femme Nikita (TV series)

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La Femme Nikita
File:LFN-Title2.jpg
La Femme Nikita title screen
Created byJoel Surnow
StarringPeta Wilson
Roy Dupuis
Country of originCanada
No. of episodes96 (list of episodes)
Production
ProducersJay Firestone (Firestone Entertainment) and Warner Bros.
Running timeapprox. 45 minutes
(per episode)
Original release
NetworkUSA Network
Release1997 –
2001

La Femme Nikita (Nikita in Canada) is a television spy drama based upon the original French film directed by Luc Besson, co-produced by Jay Firestone (Firestone Entertainment) and Warner Bros., and created for television by Joel Surnow, who later co-created 24 with fellow La Femme Nikita executive consultant Robert Cochran. This television series debuted in the United States on USA Network in January 1997 and ran for five seasons until March 2001.[1] La Femme Nikita was the highest-rated drama on American basic cable during its first two seasons; also distributed on television in Canada (as Nikita) and, ultimately, internationally, it continues to have a strong cult following, according to the definitive book on the series written by Christopher Heyn in 2006.[2]

Series premise

In the original Luc Besson film (and in the American remake Point of No Return, also released by Warner Bros.), Nikita is a drug-addicted juvenile delinquent who kills a police officer in cold blood during an attempted robbery of a convenience store. She is later arrested, sentenced to life in prison, then "recruited" by a secret government organization and transformed into a highly trained assassin who cannot be traced, since as far as the outside world is concerned, she has died in prison and no longer exists.

The television series differs from the film versions in one fundamental respect: Nikita (Peta Wilson) is innocent. She is not a killer, nor a drug user, just a homeless young woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. Section One — an elite, top-secret counterterrorist organization with no affiliation to any specific government — falsely believes Nikita is a killer, and has what it takes to become a deadly operative. Because Nikita will be killed (or "canceled") if she fails to comply, she is forced to carry out the organization's ruthless methods of fighting terrorism, while attempting to keep her moral integrity — and her soul — intact. This personal struggle becomes the primary conflict of the series.

Over time, Nikita's secretive and risky romantic involvement with her trainer, the mysterious Michael Samuelle (Roy Dupuis), will become another source of conflict, and the series's most significant relationship. Just before the conclusion of the series, Nikita also learns the truth of why she was recruited into Section One.

Style and presentation

Despite being advertised as an action-oriented series, the series's uniqueness primarily stems from its deemphasis on action as such and greater reliance on well-crafted dialogue and complex plot structures more common to the genre of sophisticated spy fiction as influenced by film noir and neo-noir. Since its inception, the series did not have a large enough budget to finance complex action sequences (as seen in later dramatic spy fiction or spy thriller TV series such as Alias or 24). Its creative team exhibited great ingenuity marshalling its modest resources, channeling their energies into the writing of episodes with more complex plot structures, fuller character development, and more substantial dialogue for the series's talented actors (all of which aspects are less costly than filming special effects in action sequences).

The autonomous nature of Section One allowed the writers of this series freedom to explore areas not usually associated with this genre on television. Nikita's voiceover in Season One establishes the Machiavellian motif of Section One. While founded as a counterterrorism organization (traditionally represented within fiction as good), Section One uses (as a standard) immoral means to achieve its objectives, while still citing efficiency and "service of the greater good" as justification for its actions. Its standardized implementation of draconian procedures include the use (upon both terrorist and innocent) of intimidation, torture ("The White Room"), murder ("cancellation"), assassination, abduction, suicide operatives ("abeyance" operatives), false imprisonment, and terrorist cooperation. In one early episode, for example, in exchange for crucial information Section One hands a woman over to a sadist knowing she will be carved up.

Unlike most organizations engaged in counterterrorism, Section One's key personnel work neither for monetary gain nor for "pure" ideological devotion; instead, since most of these operatives are purportedly reformed criminals (though their backgrounds are often ambiguous), they work out of fear of execution for substandard performance or disloyalty (fear of being "canceled"). Such a dynamic based on fear fosters a bleak social environment in which there is little interaction among members (except regarding issues relating to work). This rather paranoid environment, combined with the futuristic hyper-realist setting of the counterterrorist organization, the brutally real nature of counterterrorism, and Section One's particular mantra of efficiency, results in a dark, minimalist ethos reflected or expressed in all aspects of the television series, most particularly in its design of costumes and selection and original composition of music, as well as in aspects of dialogue, plot, themes, lighting, and acting modes and camera styles. Also notable are intriguing camera angles and frequent close ups on actors' facial expressions, focusing especially, during pauses in dialogue or in reaction shots, on their eyes in long takes.

Owing to the harshness (both mental and physical) of the environment in which operatives have to perform, the writing tends not to romanticize any potentially positive aspects of the organization or of most of the series's characters (excluding Nikita, Birkoff or Walter, and, at times, Michael at his most vulnerable). The series generally exudes a dark tone in keeping with the organizational philosophies, the counterterrorist (frequently dangerously violent) situations, and the requisite tactics used by operatives of Section One. Unlimited operational resources for missions coupled with human propensity to hide ulterior motives and individual personal moral relativism lead to widespread intra- and interdepartmental infighting and recurrent secret alliances, backstabbing, blackmail and abuses of power between and among the characters, specially among those in the highest levels of power: Operations, Madeline, George.

The series raises, explores, and offers fresh insights about ethical and moral issues emerging from the paradoxical nature of a counterterrorism organization which resorts to terrorist methods to succeed in its own ostensibly altruistic goals, and the commensurate dilemmas in which the generally unwilling operatives in such an organization find themselves plunged. Nikita's unwavering belief in a kind of moral absolutism (as opposed to Section One's prescribed philosophy of situational ethics) consistently and coherently motivates the underlying dramatic plot conflicts in the majority of the episodes.

Characters

Main cast

Nikita (Peta Wilson)

Falsely accused of killing a police officer, Nikita is sentenced to life in prison. Soon afterward, she is recruited into Section One when the organization fakes her suicide. As the only truly innocent recruit into Section, her compassion and sympathy constantly conflicts with the often ruthless orders she is given. After spending two years being trained by Michael, Nikita learns to use her beauty as a weapon and becomes an expert in martial arts and ordnance. Initially reluctant to kill (she uses creative measures to avoid having to commit a murder during her first mission), she eventually becomes more efficient at doing so. She is used in a wide variety of capacities, from "valentine operative" to assassin, despite her moral qualms, but manages to hold on to her humanity while working for the organization. Eventually, she and Michael become romantically involved, a development that threatens not only their standing in Section One, but their very lives.

Michael (Roy Dupuis)

  • Main cast: Seasons 1-4
  • Special guest star: Season 5

Blank-faced, often emotionless and coldly efficient, Michael Samuelle is a former radical student activist whose protest group sparked the Paris Riots of 1984. Not long after being sent to prison, he is recruited into Section One and becomes one of their most successful and respected team leaders. A few years later, however, the apparent death of his wife, Simone — a fellow Section operative whom he married against the wishes of Operations and Madeline and who is revealed still to be alive early in the first season but sacrifices her life to save both Nikita and Michael — profoundly affects him, and he completely shuts down emotionally, becoming almost an automaton. It is not until Nikita enters the organization that he begins to open up emotionally once again. Complicating their often difficult relationship is Michael's "blood cover" marriage to Elena Vacek, the daughter of a fearsome terrorist that Section One has pursued for decades. His son, Adam, is a product of that union, and his protective fatherly instincts will have a major impact on his future relationship with the organization.

Operations (Eugene Robert Glazer)

A Vietnam veteran, former Lieutenant Paul L. Wolfe was recruited into Section One against his will just before the fall of Saigon. A shrewd and driven man, Operations eventually topples the founder and head of Section One, Adrian, seizing control of the organization himself. While giving lip service to the aims of Section — the eradication of terrorists and the protection of the innocent — Operations uses Section One as his own power base, gaining considerable control over dictators in many regions of the globe. This lust for power brings him into direct conflict with George, head of Oversight, who on many levels despises him, and even Adrian returns from her forced retirement to mount an unsuccessful coup attempt against Operations. He is also distrustful of Nikita, and even attempts to kill her on a number of occasions, but is forced to grudgingly accept her success at completing Section missions. (The same is also true of his relationship to Michael, when he discovers his romantic involvement with Nikita.) While he and Madeline make an effective partnership — including a brief romance — their days running Section One together are numbered.

Madeline (Alberta Watson)

  • Main cast: Seasons 1-4
  • Special guest star: Season 5

As the executive strategist for Section One, Madeline is Operations's closest ally and confidante. The ultimate personification of Section One's ideals, she is cold and efficient in the execution of her duties, which often involves torturing information from captured terrorist subjects. A master manipulator, she knows the psyche of each Section operative inside and out, and can push the right buttons to get what she wants from each one each time. This brings her into constant conflict with Nikita, whose independent spirit she grudgingly admires, but overall, views as a threat to her control within the organization. Madeline's "Type One Directive" against Michael's and Nikita's romantic partnership will kick off a chain of events that even Madeline is unable to predict, events that will force her to make a fateful choice that will have major repercussions on the future of Section One.

Seymour Birkoff/Jason Crawford (Matthew Ferguson)

  • Main cast: Seasons 1-4
  • Special guest star: Season 5

Seymour Birkoff is Section One's resident genius, whose computer abilities are legendary, and who, as the head of Comm, supervises Section missions in progress. He and Walter are close friends despite their wide difference in age, and even Nikita is especially fond of him. It isn't until many years later that Birkoff learns he was one of two twin boys born to a Section operative. The boys became the subject of a Section One psychological comparison, in which Birkoff was kept within Section One, while his brother Jason was adopted by the Crawford family outside the organization. This was due to a fateful flip of the coin by Walter, and when Birkoff discovers this, it permanently strains their relationship. Birkoff's new obsession with leaving Section One leads to the creation of an artificial intelligence program to take his place, in order to create more downtime. Unfortunately, the A.I. becomes self-aware, and Birkoff is forced to make a decision that will change the face of Section One permanently.


Walter (Don Francks)

The oldest surviving operative in Section One, Walter is head of Munitions, responsible for creating new and necessary gadgets, tools and weapons for Section operatives to use on various missions. While initially sexually attracted to Nikita upon her arrival into Section, he ultimately becomes her loyal friend and confidante, even participating in a cover-up to hide the ongoing romantic status of her and Michael. His brief marriage to, and loss of, Belinda, an "abeyance operative" (one who is scheduled for elimination by Section One), is ample motivation for his willingness to do anything to get back at what he perceives to be Operations's cruelty. However, Operations continues to pardon Walter's life, likely because of a long-standing relationship that began in Vietnam and may have included a period where Walter was his Section trainer, although this is merely speculation.

Quinn (Cindy Dolenc)

  • Main cast: Season 5
  • Recurring: Season 4

Katherine "Kate" Quinn is Seymour Birkoff's replacement as head of Comm, and is markedly different from her predecessor. Arrogant, sharp-tongued and distrustful of all men, she nevertheless is unflappable in the face of danger and manipulative of her superiors when necessary. Forced to work alongside newly recruited Jason Crawford, she shares a number of humorous exchanges when she becomes the focus of his romantic interests. However, her sights are set on Operations, and she seeks to be the woman at his side in charge of Section One. Little does he know that her allegiances are to an even higher authority.

Recurring guest stars

Actors who appeared in three episodes or more

Broadcasting history

Ratings success

La Femme Nikita was the number-one drama on basic cable channel USA Network for its first two seasons (Heyn 21). It had been "greenlighted" by the network's founder and "cable network pioneer" Kay Koplovitz and nurtured by former USA Network president Rod Perth, a "key player" in its development (Heyn 21-23; 5). But, after Barry Diller assumed control of the network in April of 1998, he replaced Perth with Stephen Chao as network president (Heyn 21). Heyn observes: "Although both Diller and Chao praised La Femme Nikita publicly, it soon became obvious that the series was no longer a priority. The non-stop publicity the series enjoyed under Perth began to dry up, and the only attention that La Femme Nikita received was the occasional promo spot, and even the frequency of those began to decline" (23). During Nikita's third season, following Chao's "bizarre request that La Femme Nikita cast wrestlers in key terrorist roles as a way to cross-promote USA's broadcasts of the World Wrestling Federation" despite evidence that the shows did not have compatible demographics, Chao also began retooling USA Network's successful "Sunday Night Heat" bloc of action dramas, which also included Pacific Blue and Silk Stalkings; he canceled Silk Stalkings and replaced it with a slate of new series that included The War Next Door, G vs. E, Manhattan, AZ and Cover Me, all of which ultimately failed in the ratings and were also canceled (Heyn 23). Consequently, La Femme Nikita tumbled in the ratings too, although the series still remained the top-rated drama on USA Network, even during its fourth season, when promotional advertisements for the series all but disappeared (Heyn 23). Negotiations to continue Nikita for a fifth season and beyond failed owing to "disagreements between USA Network and Warner Bros. over La Femme Nikita's renewal terms[,] [which] spilled out publicly into the pages of [industry trade publications] Variety and The Hollywood Reporter" (Heyn 24).

"Save LFN"

Following the series's cancellation in 2000, its dedicated viewers mounted an extensive fan campaign to revive it. "Save LFN"[3] was not the first successful fan campaign to use the internet to rally fans and renew a canceled series — "These kinds of efforts had resurrected canceled series before, beginning with the original Star Trek on NBC in 1968 all the way up to UPN's Roswell in 2000" (Heyn 25); however, "Save LFN" is notable for its size and inventiveness, including an "online renewal petition" which led to a full-page advertisement placed in The Hollywood Reporter that requested USA Network and Warner Bros. reconsider their decision, as well as over 25,000 letters sent to both companies containing everything from dollar bills featuring images of co-star Roy Dupuis to sunglasses (Nikita's signature accessory) to old TVs, VCRs, and remote controls (Heyn 25-26).[4] A group of organizers calling themselves "First Team," based on the term for the lead members of a mission used frequently in the series, coordinated most of these efforts through their Save LFN fansite (Heyn 25-26).[4] As a result of these efforts, Stephen Chao announced in September of 2000 that La Femme Nikita would return for a truncated fifth season of eight new episodes, which began airing in January 2001 (Heyn 26).[4]

After the fourth season, Peta Wilson changed her look to escape from possibly being typecast as Nikita- thinking, of course, the fourth season was the show's last. When the show was unexpectedly renewed for the fifth season, a scene was inserted into the season premiere showing Nikita cutting her own hair (although a wig was used) for reasons never specified to explain the change in Wilson's appearance [5]

Merchandising

DVD releases

The DVD box sets use the USA/international title, La Femme Nikita.

As seen below, each DVD boxed set features a solitary image of Peta Wilson on the cover, although the remainder of the La Femme NIkita cast is featured on the interior artwork. Only the covers for Season One and Season Five feature images of Wilson that were taken specifically as promotional photographs for use in advertising campaigns during those seasons. The DVD cover images for Seasons Two and Three once again feature promotional photographs used during Season One, while Season Four features a promotional photograph from advertisements for Season Two.

Season Episodes Originally aired Release date
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
1 22 1997 July 8 2003 N/A March 1 2007
2 22 1998 March 15 2005 N/A N/A
3 22 1999 June 28 2005 N/A N/A
4 22 2000 July 25 2006 N/A N/A
5 8 2001 October 17 2006 N/A N/A
  • Season Two was originally scheduled for release on July 20, 2004, but Warner Bros. was unable to license the song "Loaded Gun" by Hednoize, featured in the episode "Off Profile." (Some websites have claimed that the song in question was from Garbage, but that is incorrect.) This was eventually resolved by replacing the song with another piece of music. A small number of Season Two box sets were distributed and sold in 2004 with "Loaded Gun" before it was withdrawn from store shelves and internet sales sites, and these sets are considered collectors' items.[6]

Soundtracks

An official soundtrack, released in June 1998, is still available on CD from TVT Records. It features the title theme from composer Mark Snow, as well as numerous songs heard during the first two seasons of the show from artists like Depeche Mode and Afro Celt Sound System.[7] A "promotional release" in a limited run of 2000 CDs of Emmy-award winning composer Sean Callery's selections from his orchestral score for Nikita was first made available by Callery during the Close Quarters Standby 4 fan convention in May 2001.[8]

Main article: Music of La Femme Nikita

Series merchandise

According to Christopher Heyn, "To many long-time viewers, La Femme Nikita had always been a natural for merchandising. Besides the usual array of T-shirts, jackets, coffee mugs, posters and other trinkets, the action content of the series lends itself perfectly to the development of video games, comic books, toys and action figures. Yet, during the entire run of the series, Warner Bros. released only one piece of merchandise — the soundtrack CD on TVT Records. Beyond that, there was nothing. This frustrated [former president of USA Network and key player in the series's development] Rod Perth to no end" (20). Heyn quotes Perth as saying: "'Warner Bros. never had an interest in this show ...'" (20). Nevertheless, Heyn reports, he himself "successfully brokered an official merchandising agreement between the Specialty Products division, a vendor in Toronto that already produced merchandise for the series's cast and crew, and the Sidekicks Society, the organizers of Close Quarters Standby 2," the second in a series of four La Femme Nikita fan conventions held in Toronto in October 1999 (Heyn 20). Such items included jackets, T-shirts, coffee mugs, and keychains emblazoned with the series logo and the copyright notice "©1999, Warner Bros" below the logo (photograph in Heyn 21). "Because of a delivery mixup," Heyn's photo caption reads, "most of the coffee mugs and keychains never made it to the convention in time for sale," and, he adds, "the remaining boxes of jackets, T-shirts and coffee mugs sold out in less than an hour, leaving many empty-handed attendees frustrated and upset" (21). Moreover, Heyn observes, "That unfortunate outcome only validated Warner Bros.' reticence to merchandise La Femme Nikita on a larger scale. The studio lost money on the internet broadcast and made next to nothing from the limited merchandising deal, which echoed their attitude toward the series' financial construction" (Heyn 20).

In 2001, a computer game based on Nikita — featuring dialogue written by La Femme Nikita supervising producer Peter Lenkov — was announced for the Xbox system, but the project was later canceled.[9]


Notes

  1. ^ "IMDB entry for La Femme Nikita".
  2. ^ Christopher Heyn, Inside Section One: Creating and Producing TV's La Femme Nikita, introd. Peta Wilson (Los Angeles: POV Press, 2006) 21. Heyn served as the assistant to executive consultants Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran for all five seasons of the series; he also provided the audio commentary for a collection of deleted scenes in the DVD box set of Season Four. (Subsequent references to this source appear within parentheses in the text.)
  3. ^ "LFN" refers to La Femme Nikita, the title of the series as televised in the United States and in other international markets outside Canada.
  4. ^ a b c "Careers That Won't Quit: 'La Femme' Again", CNN.com, January 1, 2001 (December 29, 2000), accessed June 23, 2007.
  5. ^ http://www.tv.com/la-femme-nikita/deja-vu-all-over-again/episode/14813/summary.hSuperscript texttml?tag=ep_list;ep_title;0
  6. ^ "DVD Times UK news article on La Femme Nikita Season Two DVD re-release". Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  7. ^ "TVT Records page for La Femme Nikita soundtrack". Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  8. ^ "Soundtrack.net listing of La Femme Nikita soundtrack by Sean Callery". Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  9. ^ "IGN.com news article on the cancellation of the La Femme Nikita video game". Retrieved 2007-04-10.

References

  • Heyn, Christopher. Inside Section One: Creating and Producing TV's La Femme Nikita. Introd. Peta Wilson. Los Angeles: POV Press, 2006. ISBN 0-9787625-0-9.
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