Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

La Femme Nikita: Playing With Fire

"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.

The whole musical montage of Michael and Nikita just standing there gazing into each other's eyes was somewhat silly. (Did they run short that week?) I knew what it was for – we were supposed to think they were going to fall into the trap that Operations and Madeline set for them. Come on. Michael set it up in the first place, for one. Walter projected his fears for them way too well with his eyes and manner, for two. If Michael and Nikita had fallen for it, what sort of super agents would they be?

The romantic in me just loved this episode, though. This entire season gave us such a strong, emotional shift for Michael. He is still the cold super agent, but when his personal life was destroyed at the beginning of the season, his only emotional outlet became Nikita. He was always protective of her (and possibly in love with her, although we never knew for sure). And now he is completely focused on her.

Nikita suggested that what they were doing was too dangerous, but note that she never said no to him, did she? Deep down inside, Nikita must have been thrilled that Michael was risking so much to be with her. If Michael is determined to have her, and Nikita will do anything for Michael, then what on earth can Operations and Madeline possibly do at this point to keep them apart, other than kill one of them?

I've always wanted to see Michael and Nikita so crazy about each other that they were compelled to make love in secret. I'd like to personally thank the writers and producers for giving me exactly what I wanted. (This, of course, was the third thing I really wanted to see them do.)

Bits and pieces:

— Should Birkoff have lied? In a word, yeah. Although I completely understand why he didn't. I bet next time, he'll choose differently.


— Madeline intimated that Michael and Nikita could have been doing more than making love, i.e., plotting to take over. I don't think she really believed it. I think it was an excuse.

— Davenport was back. Is he still Michael's ally? He certainly acted like he was uncomfortable with the assignment. I mean, who likes being assigned to kill someone just because they're having sex?

— We learned more about Mick Schtoppel. He has fun taste in brooches. He has a brother, and a possible inheritance. His mother thinks he's a dentist. And she stood him up. What a bitch.

— My favorite Michael moment. Do I need to say it? "We have one hour." They also recreated the "Hard Landing" bit with him looking at her through the porthole, symbolic of them breaking the "look, but don't touch" directive.


— Stupid panels. I know they don't do paper in Section, but couldn't Michael have just passed Nikita a note? For that matter, if they can meet in quiet areas of Section and talk, couldn't they also make love there?

— Operations' mother was always ill. Unless that was just a fabrication, part of his pointless garden-getting-sick metaphor.

— Roy Dupuis clearly did that motorcycle stunt himself.

Quotes:

Operations: "Friendship is inevitable under these conditions. It's something we tolerate to an extent."
Yeah. Those stupid humans. Have to expect that sort of thing.

Madeline: "By helping them, you're only jeopardizing their future."
Walter: "And what future might that be?"
Madeline: "We have bigger plans for Michael and Nikita."
Like what?

Mick: "You come from a wealthy family of New Zealand sheepherders. If she asks for details, tell her that they were all tragically killed in an avalanche."

Loved this episode. Four out of four stars,

Billie
---
Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

7 comments:

  1. I love mick and his crazy antics. His mother coming in was quite funny. poor guy. even Nikita felt sorry for him.

    ReplyDelete
  2. An excellent episode, once you get past the annoying premise of Operations and Madeline as obsessed relationship-wreckers. The mission sequence is excellent, providing a welcome return to stylish action and cool moves for both Nikita and Michael, plus Nikita’s “abduction” turns out to be a delightful surprise. The two lovers are not careful enough, however, and endanger their allies: while Walter staunchly supports his friends, Birkoff believably wrestles with his moral dilemma. Though the “trap” set for Michael and Nikita is far too obvious, at least they get to demonstrate why they are such a formidable team. Even the “B” story is pretty good this time, and I usually can’t stand Mick.

    Spoilers follow...

    Favourite Scenes:
    The true motive behind Nikita’s “abduction” on the mission: talk about adrenaline junkies! Only Michael and Nikita would think that sneaking off in the middle of a mission for a secret rendezvous is a good idea. Though it really is completely illogical to invite this much danger, this development is just so much fun that I’ll forgive the writer.

    Michael and Nikita meeting secretly in Section after the mission: the way he kisses her hand is beautifully romantic, and reminiscent of the same gesture in “Third Party Ripoff”.

    Continuity Issues:
    Since both Michael and Nikita are operating at full capacity, I guess Operations and Madeline are dead set on separating the lovers because of the perceived challenge to their authority. It still seems like a rather petty reason for wanting to kill Section’s best operatives.

    Cringe-worthy:
    The silly “music video” montage was a result of the episode running short. Unfortunately, I can’t stand the music – this is a first for me, since LFN usually has excellent soundtrack choices. Adding a bunch of boring static images to the 70's disco sound makes this extremely long sequence feel even longer.

    ReplyDelete
  3. "The romantic in me just loved this episode, though. This entire season gave us such a strong, emotional shift for Michael. He is still the cold super agent, but when his personal life was destroyed at the beginning of the season, his only emotional outlet became Nikita. He was always protective of her (and possibly in love with her, although we never knew for sure). And now he is completely focused on her.

    Nikita suggested that what they were doing was too dangerous, but note that she never said no to him, did she? Deep down inside, Nikita must have been thrilled that Michael was risking so much to be with her. If Michael is determined to have her, and Nikita will do anything for Michael, then what on earth can Operations and Madeline possibly do at this point to keep them apart, other than kill one of them?

    I've always wanted to see Michael and Nikita so crazy about each other that they were compelled to make love in secret. I'd like to personally thank the writers and producers for giving me exactly what I wanted. (This, of course, was the third thing I really wanted to see them do.)"

    Your words say it all, Billie.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Michael on a motorcycle = Nikita's getting rescued! But I have to defend Birkoff. He's the reason Nikita lived through episode 1 of this season. Without him Nikita would have never found Michael at home, but Birkoff also saved her later when Ferreira locked her in a room on the mission thinking the fighter jets would blow her up. Or at least Operations thought Birkoff got in touch with George to change the coordinates to be hit with the missile.

    Michael also did the wrist holding thing in Psychic Pilgrim. I always thought that he exhibits self-control to such a super-human extent (except for that boat scene in Hard Landing), because he's not really in control of his life. He's responsible for so much and in charge of so much, but not really in control. When he breaks the rules for Nikita, he probably feels a compulsion to do whatever's needed to help her because he can't imagine not helping her. I see Nikita as a rebel, so breaking a rule isn't as big a deal as it is to Michael. He's been following rules all along. He's been jealous of other men all along, but I figured he was in love with her for sure at the end of Mercy because he: 1) went to her apartment to reason with her; 2) the look on his face when he saw her walking toward him to go on the suicide mission; 3) the comm unit he gave her to use; and 4) the way his face was superimposed on the flames after the explosion. His actions then could have gotten him cancelled. Come to think of it, he spent the last episode of season 2 also trying to save her by telling her to run. He knew they wouldn't be together if she escaped section, but he wanted to save her. His actions speak volumes.

    ReplyDelete
  5. If Section was a for profit company it would be losing opportunities and value with all the factional office politics interfering with normal operations. Very poor plotting.

    ReplyDelete
  6. "Madeline intimated that Michael and Nikita could have been doing more than making love, i.e., plotting to take over. I don't think she really believed it. I think it was an excuse."
    I agree. Madeline and Operations know exactly what Michael and Nikita do in their encounters! They simply give excuses to justify the hatred they feel when seeing the happiness of others.

    Marime

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree, writers could have done a better job, “music video” montage was a complete facepalm... And yet my inner romantic was also in a very forgiving mood :)
    - doesn't leadership have more important things to do? Anyway, if Michael and Nikita were plotting something, there are easier ways to do that, rather than meeting in person.
    - friendship is ok, but relationship no? How is that so much different? Probably "to an extent" is the key criteria in both scenarios.
    - for Michael and Nikita it is surely different. Risking their lives along with Walter's for an hour of intimacy was reckless. Living on the edge! :D By the way, shouldn't Walter have some problems now? It's obvious he has warned them.
    - huh, I didn't even think of paper notes. All these boat vibes have fogged my mind.

    On a side note, Michael's position in Section still puzzles me. He's a candidate for Head Strategist (with the work we saw him doing seems more like Head Tactician to me, but probably it would sound a bit less cool), he's practically in charge after Operations&M. Should he even go to the field? At least he doesn't go directly under bullets in every episode... And I guess they might value him a bit less after the conflict a couple of episodes ago. Or was it even his preference at some point to stay in touch with the field work?

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.