[LFN] Charity

TV Programme: La Femme Nikita
Season: 1
Episode: 4
Date I watched this episode: 20/06/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 1 year, 11 days.

The recent finale day gave me the chance to catch up on some programmes that I'm supposedly watching at the moment, but haven't actually watched for quite a long time. It has got a bit ridiculous to be honest, and I wonder if my maximum limit of ten programmes at once is too high for my current situation, where the fact that I've got a job means that I don't get as much time for watching TV as I always used to. Despite this, some of my friends think my limit is too low!!

Generally when a new series is recommended to me, I'll watch the first 5 or 6 episodes before making a decision as to whether to continue with it (and then buy the DVDs for myself so that I can finish watching the season). La Femme Nikita was one such programme, and I've got to admit: I wasn't overly impressed with the first three episodes I watched before this one. In "Nikita", Nikita was pulled off the street and inducted into the mysterious "Section One" organisation. In "Friend", Nikita met with an old friend from her past life, who turned out to be a terrorist. In "Simone", Nikita and Michael set out to rescue Michael's wife, Simone, but Simone got killed in the end.

However, on the other hand, some programmes that I've come to love have been ones that didn't really grab me in the first instance. Most notably Farscape, now my favourite programme of all time, but also Carnivàle and The Sopranos. So I like to give shows a chance. One of the added complications of La Femme Nikita is that I tend to compare it to Alias, my third favourite programme of all time, which was set in a similar situation but started with a real bang (Alias, in turn, I used to compare against 24 in the beginning, until I realised they were just completely different kinds of show). I was initially attracted to La Femme Nikita by the fact that it was created by Joel Surnow though (who later co-created 24) and so I feel like it deserves a bit of a chance.

This episode involved Nikita (using that name rather than Josephine for some reason) trying to work her way into the inner circle of a frankly chilling villain. Yes, it really did scare me a bit when he talked about the evilness of his work; and I'm sure that things like this really do go on in the world (in fact it's not too dissimilar from the events of [24H] Redemption, though ironically Joel Surnow has now left the staff of that show). I must hand it to Peta Wilson that the way she handled her character in this episode was outstanding. I know a lot of people say that they watch this show because they find her "hot" but she is just a bit too rough for me; nevertheless the way she came across in this episode was pretty cool.

Perhaps reflected in the name of the show though, it often feels like a one-person show. While there are other characters (Operations, Madeliene, Birkoff, Walter, and even Michael) who play a major role within the Section One organisation, they often play a minor role within the storylines. And Nikita just doesn't quite have the weight to carry this show all on her own. Michael seems to be whining a lot inside, Madeliene is so two-faced but hardly shown, Operations has a cool name but seems a bit two-dimensional (get things done at any cost), Birkoff is just a poor-man's Marshall Flinkman, and Walter is, well, a bit of a nobody.

I also miss the serial storyline structure of Alias. Which is quite a harsh thing to say, as that show postdates this one, but I can't ignore that the majority of the shows I watch have a serial story structure, that's pretty key for me. If shows have an episodic structure but I know they're going to move into a more serialised format later in their runs (as is the case with most science fiction shows, but also Smallville, Spooks and so on) then I can pretty much tolerate that. But I haven't found any real evidence to suggest that La Femme Nikita is going to do that. It can't blame its age either; even some older series I watch (e.g. Blake's 7) manage to have the serial format, though not many.

I'm uncomfortable that I really don't know what Section One is. It's a counterterrorist organisation with unethical means to critical ends. But I don't know what their goals are, who they work for, how their people came to be involved with them. I can't see them as a force for good when they basically force Nikita to work for them on pain of death. I know that's why a lot of people love this show, because it is so dark, but it's just difficult to turn that off and enjoy the episode.

"Charity" was in my eyes a lot better than the first three episodes of the programme. It had a certain special feel about it, the way it was shot and put together. Also, the twist of what Chandler was really involved in was admittedly unexpected, though most of the episode was quite predictable. Even with these things, it's still not enough. I have been known in the past to discontinue watching programmes (Teachers and Firefly come to mind, though this isn't quite as unenjoyable as those two). Especially with my now limited time for TV watching, I have to make sure that I'm not wasting time on programmes I don't really like.