La Femme Nikita: A Time For Every Purpose

Jones: "Always trust your father."

This episode had a certain symmetry to it, a synchronicity bordering on predestination.

La Femme Nikita: Let No Man Put Asunder

Nikita: "I lied."
Michael: "I know."

Bride of Section. Can you believe the extreme wedding imagery?

La Femme Nikita: The Evil That Men Do

Walter: "Calm down."
Nikita: "I've been calm long enough."

This was an odd episode with a lot of separate pieces that weren't very cohesive: Nikita vs. Operations, Michael and the Collective, Quinn undercover for Mr. Jones, Adam tacked on at the end.

La Femme Nikita: The Man Behind the Curtain

Nikita: "You think you can just pass this along like a family business?"
Jones: "Why not?"

Michael showed up at the end of the episode looking like an extra in a biker movie. Have we ever seen him looking that shaggy? Who cares? Damn, I was glad to see him.

La Femme Nikita: All the World's a Stage

Walter: "The truth will set you free."
Nikita: "Not in this place."

I can feel a Mick-related tirade coming on.

When Mick was revealed as Mr. Jones in the middle of season four, silly me, I thought it was cool. When it was revealed at the end of season four that Nikita worked for him, I was only partially on board because, come on, three years? What about all the times we saw them together in Nikita's apartment, and nothing covert was mentioned? Too far-fetched.

La Femme Nikita: In Through the Out Door

Operations: "He's right. The place is falling apart."

Section isn't doing very well, what with the personnel shortage and constant equipment failures and a new arch nemesis and all. And Operations is taking every opportunity to try to bring Nikita down. What a time for the Gelman process to kick back in, huh?

La Femme Nikita: A Girl Who Wasn't There

Operations: "If Madeline were alive, this wouldn't be happening."

We finally got to say goodbye to Madeline. Her death was almost an afterthought at the end of season four. This was an episode they really needed to do.

La Femme Nikita: Deja Vu All Over Again

Operations: "Am I in command, or is she?"

Okay, better.

This episode made me think about a line from "The Princess Bride:" "Fool, fool, back to the beginning is the rule." The writers almost immediately addressed everything that went wrong in "Four Light Years Farther" and made a valiant attempt to clarify Nikita's motives as well as reconcile conflicting plot threads.

La Femme Nikita: Four Light Years Farther

Nikita: "You can live without me a lot better than I can live without you."
Michael: "No."

This episode made me want to run screaming out of the room. This was how they were going to end the series? Are you kidding me?

La Femme Nikita: Up the Rabbit Hole

Jason: "Hey, Walter. What's up?"
Walter: "My faith in humanity."

And they were back on a boat together. How appropriate.

La Femme Nikita: Face in the Mirror

Grenet: "In Section, I suppose passion is out of the question."

Was this for real? Please tell me it wasn't. Please.

La Femme Nikita: Time Out of Mind

Nikita: "The toxin is where the bulls run. Why are you on TV?"

This was the second episode in a row that Nikita spent dressed in white, tied to a bed, and injected with stuff against her will. There was even another lunatic mother and son. I wouldn't mind if this had been a good episode. This was not a good episode.

La Femme Nikita: Toys in the Basement

Operations: "If you have to grieve, do it on your own time."
Michael: "You owe me fifteen days."

The whole psycho in the basement plot left me cold. It's been done so many times, let's face it, and much, much better. At least Mrs. Collins turned out to be a psycho Betty Crocker instead of a mouldering body in a wig. And Henry wasn't your typical serial killer type since he was healing animals instead of the reverse, although all of those bandaged animals in cages did creep me out. (The meowing upset my cat, too.)

La Femme Nikita: Sleeping With the Enemy

Nikita: "What did you expect? Horns and cloven hooves?"

More extreme carrying on with Red Cell, as they exchanged key operatives with Section to ensure a truce while fighting off a deadly third party. Second in command for second in command. Madeline for Red Cell superwoman Satin. Dark hair, dark eyes, cold demeanor... Satin even looked like a younger version of Madeline. Maybe Madeline's years of experience gave her the edge.

La Femme Nikita: Catch a Falling Star

Nikita: "So Dingman's Hollow is..."
Michael: "Section Six."

The initial crash felt like the precursor of an alien invasion, and at first, I was worried that we were getting another sci-fi plot. I was relieved that it was a downed satellite and a terrorist sleeper base instead of the Section version of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."

La Femme Nikita: Abort, Fail, Retry, Terminate

Walter: "It's going to be okay, sugar."
Nikita: "No, Walter. It's never going to be okay."

Maybe this one should have been called, "Ego, Superego, Id, Kaboom." Omigod, did I hate it. I hated it even before Birkoff died.

La Femme Nikita: Line in the Sand

Hillinger: "After all we've been through, it really couldn't end any other way."

Last week, the return of Elena and Adam. This week, the return of the exceptionally annoying Hillinger.

La Femme Nikita: Kiss the Past Goodbye

Corliss: "You gotta stay detached, Michael. It's the only way to do this job."

Finally, a return to Michael's family. It was about time.

La Femme Nikita: Hell Hath No Fury

Leon: "For us, it's the thrill of the game that makes our hearts pound."

We appear to be in the middle-of-the-season Michael/Nikita relationship hiatus, so what did we get? Proof that Michael and Nikita aren't the only ones who can screw for Section.

La Femme Nikita: Time To Be Heroes

Nikita: "Do you think they'll make it?"
Michael: "No."

Yes, they've played house in the past, but this time, Michael and Nikita got to play Section. They were assigned to train their own little squad of Section Muppet Babies.

La Femme Nikita: He Came From Four

Walter: "Well, I've seen just about everything now."

Was this episode bad, or was it just off base?

La Femme Nikita: Down a Crooked Path

Operations: "In spite of all our preventative measures, it seems that George has finally found a way to get rid of us."

At the start, I thought, oh no. Haven't we already done a plague episode? Instead, it was worse than repetition: it was our very first clip show. I don't mind an occasional clip show if it has a cohesive theme and introduces even a little new information. But this one didn't even make sense.

La Femme Nikita: No One Lives Forever

Nikita: "I don't want to be free if I can't be with you."

Office politics taken to an absurd level. Total paranoia with a twist.

La Femme Nikita: Sympathy for the Devil

Michael: "Sometimes our thoughts and our feelings take us where we can no longer go."

Operations is a great villain, so of course he has depths. But sympathy for the devil? Not from me. I don't really care how tough it was for Operations in Vietnam. It surprised me a bit that Walter appeared to care, though. At least Operations got to the end of the episode with his illusions about Willy Kane intact.

La Femme Nikita: Love, Honor & Cherish

Christophe: "Welcome aboard the good ship Volker. I'm sure you'll find it interesting."

Holy Nikita plot twist, Batman! I started wondering about Helmut when he said he wanted "Anna" off drugs; I thought, oh no, please don't tell me he has redeeming qualities. But I absolutely did not see that Interpol thing coming.

La Femme Nikita: Man in the Middle

Helmut: "You're both much too gorgeous for words."

The chess game continued. But this time, Section won. It certainly didn't take long for Operations and Madeline to see through Nikita's robot girl pose. And Mommy and Daddy were both very angry at Michael. (Operations: "You are expendable." Michael: "I know.") Michael rebelling against Section appears to be a continuing theme this season. And oh, how I love it.

La Femme Nikita: Into the Looking Glass

Madeline: "You're not afraid to die. Are you, Michael?"
Michael: "No. You've seen to that."

This episode was like a complicated chess game. Michael, the master manipulator, finally checkmated Operations and saved his queen. Sympathy, fear, love -- yes, let's stimulate those obstructing emotions. For awhile, I was afraid they'd disappoint us and Michael would go for fear or sympathy. But no.

La Femme Nikita: View of the Garden

Walter: "Who would you rather be killed by? Operations or Michael?"

I mean, really. Who would I be more afraid of? It's a difficult decision. What must have tipped the scales for Birkoff and Walter was that Michael was trying to save Nikita. Plus Michael is a man of his word. Operations is not a man of his word.

La Femme Nikita: There Are No Missions

Operations: "We can take all the precautions in the world, but this is Michael we're dealing with."

Michael vs. Section, and it was just as much fun as it could possibly be. I loved seeing Michael as the romantic superspy, using all of Section's tricks against them, breaking in, manipulating everyone, and even stealing a woman in cryofreeze. He brought Section to a standstill. James Bond couldn't have done any better.

La Femme Nikita: Getting Out of Reverse

Madeline: "Michael means nothing to her any more. She's a perfect robot."

Talk about role reversal. Back in season one, Michael was the emotionless robot, following orders and manipulating Nikita. Now, Nikita is acting a lot like Michael used to, but worse.

La Femme Nikita: On Borrowed Time

Michael: "We'll be together soon. I'll make it happen."

What an absolutely infuriating cliffhanger.

La Femme Nikita: Playing With Fire

Michael: "We have one hour."

What is it with these two and boats? Was that even the same boat? I think it was. And is Michael a top, or what? The thing that really struck me about the love boat scene was the way he held her wrists. Michael has to be in control in Section, and in bed. Boat. Whatever.

La Femme Nikita: Three-Eyed Turtle

Operations: "I'd like to see you in the Tower."
Madeline: "What is it you want me to be? Your whipping post, or your whore?"

The Hillinger finally hit the fan. So did Operations' escalating sexual harassment of Madeline, as well as the entire season's arc about George. It was a three fan episode.

La Femme Nikita: Any Means Necessary

Operations: "I'm sending you out."
Birkoff: "In the field?"

I love Birkoff. Really, I do. And I realize that by this time in a season, our principal actors are exhausted and need a break. But that was still no excuse for such a weak episode.

La Femme Nikita: Third Party Ripoff

Nikita: "You've created a situation where everyone loses, Madeline."

This episode was like a companion piece to "All Good Things." Last week, Michael was in charge, and master of all he surveyed. This week, he was practically cleaning the toilets.

La Femme Nikita: All Good Things

Nikita: "I don't want special treatment."
Michael: "Would you prefer to be dead?"

Meet the new boss. Not quite the same as the old boss. Even though Michael in charge was pretty satisfying, he was even colder and less emotional than Operations... with a couple of interesting exceptions.

La Femme Nikita: I Remember Paris

Nikita: "I don't know what was more unusual. Operations blowing up the Section, or you coming to dinner again."

Say hello to the new Section. Same as the old Section. I was entranced by the possibility of a new Section, all new sets. But no.

La Femme Nikita: Before I Sleep

Darius: "What do you want out of life?"
Sarah: "I'll be happy if I can finish my drink."

I can't say enough good things about Juliet Landau, one of my favorite actresses from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She did a fabulous job here playing the outrageous Jan and the terminally ill Sarah, total opposites. Sarah was an easy character to like, and her choice was a brave one; it was surprising and touching when she rose to the occasion.

La Femme Nikita: Hand to Hand

Sandra: "How can you be so calm?"
Nikita: "Because I come from a place not unlike this."

Killer prostitutes and fighting fish. I wasn't sure if this was a good episode or a really bad one. It was certainly different.

La Femme Nikita: Beyond the Pale

Nikita: "How long do you think we'll stay here?"
Michael: "Not long enough."

Yes, it was a trick, much like what they did to smoke out Philo. But I sure wanted it to be real. I wanted Michael to decide it was time to go, and take Nikita with him. (But then the show would be over, so I sort of take that back.) At least they got to play house again, like in "Psychic Pilgrim." But this time, it was almost for real.

La Femme Nikita: Threshold of Pain

Nikita: "I got the impression that they inflict pain and death for the sheer fun of it."

Michael again broke the rules for Nikita. And I just never get tired of that.

La Femme Nikita: Walk On By

Nikita: "That's the kindest thing you've ever done for me."

It's old home week. In Section, that means deception and death.

La Femme Nikita: Under the Influence

Madeline: "You'll have your own emotions back when this is over."

This episode had its good points. But it also took the Michael/Nikita relationship by the scruff of the neck and dragged it right back to season one.

La Femme Nikita: Slipping Into Darkness

Nikita: "Something's not right. Operations is cold and ruthless, but he's not irrational."

Section is scary. Section with a madman at the helm is a lot scarier.

La Femme Nikita: Outside the Box

Nikita: "Suppose I was framed in the first place because they wanted me here?"

Poor Kruger. He was just a ne'er-do-well with a genetic mutation that Section happened to need, and that's it for the guy, for the rest of his life. Kruger was very appealing -- Elvis hairdo, broken tooth, big brown eyes, the works. The parallels to what happened to Nikita three years ago immediately jumped out at me, as well as to Nikita. Was Nikita recruited in the same way?

La Femme Nikita: Cat and Mouse

Nikita: "How long do you expect me to do this?"
Torture Guy: "Until Michael's life has no further value to you."

Ah, the evil double. A cult show dramatic staple, and for good reason.

La Femme Nikita: Love and Country

Madeline: "You have to admit it looks like you're going after Markali for personal reasons."

Gee, Madeline. You think?

La Femme Nikita: Imitation of Death

Walter: "You can't just walk up to someone and kill them. Even in here."

Poor Birkoff. Working with murderers has its drawbacks.

La Femme Nikita: Gates of Hell

Michael: "I've caused you enough pain already. Go, while you still can."

When I first fell in love with this series and was marathoning my way through season two, I kept longing for three specific things to happen. All three of these things actually happened in season three. (The writers and producers are to be commended for giving me exactly what I wanted.) The first was for Michael to have a total emotional melt-down. So that's one. (I'll share the other two things when they happen later in the season.)

La Femme Nikita: Opening Night Jitters

Michael: "If she dies, they die."

He tried to do it. He intended to do it. But as soon as Michael actually had trouble saying, "They've asked me to p...poison Elena," I knew he wouldn't go through with it. Does he love her? He may. He may not. But he certainly cares for her, and she's the mother of his son.