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Nikita TV series
Nikita (re-titled La Femme Nikita in the United States and other international markets) is a television spy drama based upon the French film directed by Luc Besson (see Nikita). Created by Joel Surnow, who later co-created 24 with fellow Nikita executive consultant Robert Cochran, this series was originally televised for five seasons in the United States on USA Network, from January 1997 to March 2001. A Canadian co-production between Warner Bros. and Fireworks Entertainment, Nikita was the highest-rated drama on American basic cable during its first two seasons, and the series continues to have a strong cult following internationally. In Canada, the series was televised initially on CTV.
Series Concept: The television series revolves around the life of Nikita (Peta Wilson), a counter-terrorism operative. As Nikita's voiceover and the accompanying action establishes, prior to the first episode, originally homeless, Nikita has been falsely accused of murdering a police officer and consequently sentenced to life in prison. The series begins, only somewhat faithful to the Luc Besson film on which it is based (Nikita in the film actually has killed a policeman), with Nikita's selection as a "recruit," when she is abducted from prison and presented with an ultimatum: she can choose either the "opportunity" to work for Section One as a potential counter-terrorism operative or her own immediate execution. It appears (at first) that Section One falsely believes that Nikita has killed the police officer, and is therefore capable of committing deadly acts of violence (ultimately, Nikita learns the truth). After Nikita accepts Section One's work "proposal," all traces of her former life are revised or purged; her official records altered to state that she committed suicide while in prison. Nikita undergoes two years of training as a recruit under the supervision of top operative Michael Samuelle (Roy Dupuis), and, after barely passing the final field test, she is reluctantly assigned the code name "Josephine", thereby conveying her status as a covert operative. Section One provides Nikita with a new identity and a small apartment, in which she stays when she is not working for the organization (during her "down time"). Over time, Nikita forms distinct relationships with various members of Section One, most notably with the ambiguous Michael, with whom she becomes romantically involved. As she engages in missions in service of Section One, Nikita learns to accept her new life, becoming an efficient (and, when necessary, cold-blooded) killer along the way, though she often experiences conflicting emotions and questions the "morality" of "Section," retaining her sense of "humanity" and her "soul," which makes her appealing to Michael and which continually puts the methods of Section One in debate. Style and Presentation: Despite being advertised as an action-oriented series, the series' uniqueness primarily stems from its deemphasis on action per se 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' talented actors (all of which asepcts are less costly than filming special effects in action sequences). The autonomous nature of Section One has 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 counter-terrorism 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, false imprisonment, and terrorist cooperation. In one early episode, for example, Section One hands a woman over to a sadist to be carved up in exchange for crucial information. Unlike most organizations engaged in counter-terrorism, 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 sub-standard performance or disloyalty (fear of being "canceled"). Such a dynamics 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 counter-terrorist organization, the brutally-real nature of counter-terrorism, 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, most notably 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. Due 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' 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 counter-terrorist (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 inter-departmental infighting and recurrent secret alliances, backstabbing, blackmail and abuses of power between and among the characters. The series raises, explores, and offers fresh insights about ethical and moral issues emerging from the paradoxical nature of a counter-terrorism 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
Recurring Cast
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