La Femme Nikita: Season 1

Used Product...Came to me just like brand new. Thanks and Cheers!

This was one my top three favorite series from the 90's. Binge watching the series during the pandemic 20+ years later it was still enjoyable start to finish. Sometimes the technology is a bit dated while at the same time (starting in season 4) some silly syfy elements are introduced but the story line is good enough that you can give shrug that off.For those otherwise unfamiliar with the story the premise is that there exists a super secret organization that forcibly recruits convicted murderers to deal with international terrorist groups. The sponsoring government is never revealed although a lot of the action appears to be in either Toronto or Paris. Being that the series was made prior to 9/11 the terrorists seem to be more of the Bader-Meinhof variety than Al Queda.For me part of the appeal is the stylishness of the locations, the characters and the style. This is, of course, silly since a bunch of good looking actors ( the good guys yet!) dressed in black leather hats and trench coats while waving guns through tourist and financial centers of major cities is not exactly clandestine! In short suspension of disbelief is helpful while watching this. Great fun in any case.[An aside: I have on two occasions seen US Federal types dressed like MIB's leap out of a convoy of black Chevy Suburbans behaving like they thought no one would notice. Maybe the portrayal in the series is more realistic than it seems.]

The other reviews of LFN are right on and written by people who, like me,became transfixed by the world it depicted. This television series had a brightand thoughtful fanbase. As I relived Season One watching my copy ofthe new release, I came up with the three aspects of LFN that I would bring toa newcomer's attention as reasons to own this great collection, and things to ponder:1. Interrogations - The bottom dropped out of my stomach whenever a scene cut to the "clamp chair" room. The portrayal of interrogation and torture as a daily,routine part of Section 1was fascinating. I've never been in the world of espionage,but it seems quite plausible that extracting information from unwilling prisonershas advanced to near the high-tech level portrayed. Madelline and co., to their credit, seemto always try scare tactics first, but failing that, there are no heroes in that room.No other TV series has ever dared tread this disturbing territory so regularly, orso competently. You thought Zhora in Blade Runner was "Beauty AND the Beast"-consider Madelline to be Zhora's mentor. But, like Hitchcock, the horror is moresuggested than actually shown. . .2. Nikita - thru Section 1 training, Nikita's street cunning was turned into a sophisticated tactical awareness. She became a superlatively trained humanbeing, carrying out orders with professional grace and efficiency (consistentwith her constant moral rebellion against Section ruthlessness). Off-duty,all of this cooled and mellowed to a vibrant charisma that broadcast even more stronglythan her drop-dead gorgeous looks. Every episode, Wilson brilliantly (or perhaps-just naturally) portrayed a fusion of strength, intelligence and compassion uniqueto females, and before which even the most capable of male "Class 5" operativesmust bow. Her struggle to complete missions without the ruthlessness demandedby Operations, and the ways she finds to do just that, is the central "addictive" componentof LFN.3. Section One as Negative Utopia - As an "employee" of Section 1, you had a lotof "freedom from choice". When you were finally allowed out of Section, to walkamong regular folks, either on or off duty, you had become a trained and focusedperson - a lion among sheep. The dangers that operatives and support personnel likeBirkoff faced on a daily or weekly basis, the training and unlimited-budget technologyat their disposal, the heavily-armed assaults, the deceptions and role-playing to gainaccess to guarded bad guys, etc, all constitute, even under the watchful gaze of Section,a kind of freedom and intense living that the rest of us can only dream of. Section 1was a prison because of the exclusive and extreme focus it demanded, but that focus createddynamic and capable (though generally unhappy!) human beings.

I watched this show when it originally aired. It was so ahead of it's time when it came to fashion, music, and technology. And a lot of these still hold up -- I'd wear ANYTHING Peta Wilson wears in the show today and feel like a million bucks! The storylines, the torture, the exciting action scenes, everything was done so well. I enjoyed all of the characters. The cold ruthlessness of Operations and Madeleine was fascinating to watch, but it's the relationship between Michael and Nikita that really offers a master class in how to develop and maintain chemistry between two characters. As fans, we wanted them together SO bad, but I have to admit, it was the sexual tension/unrequited love between them that made the show so addictive. I've also loved other shows by many of the creative team involved in LFN, including Queer as Folk and 24 -- if you like this one, check those out. I only lasted a few episodes of the recent reboot, Nikita. The characters just didn't hook me like those in the original, and part of what I loved about Section One was how removed/isolated it and its operatives seemed from the real world. I didn't get that sense at all from the new version, which was disappointing. I get that this show was based on a film (which I also enjoyed, but not as much as the series), but Alias was a complete ripoff of this show. I made it through one season, but Jennifer Garner and Bradley Cooper were just so goody-goody compared to the intensity and danger of Peta and Roy in LFN. No thanks! I'll just re-watch the best.

So happy to be able to find this show. Big fan of the show!

Its a love story between a stunning blonde who has humanistic values and a cool young man with very french appearance. Both work for secret organisation who does not accept love or failure. Death penalty comes for both crimes.. You u don't go to pension either. Nikit and Michael do their best. Nikita hides her rebel ideas and Michael keeping unmovable face and soft voice.

This is about as bad as TV shows get. Absolutely awful in every way.

Thought it might seem a bit dated but it was just as enjoyable all these years down the line. The appeal of the characters is that they are credible. Glad I invested in the whole five series. The minimalist sets retain a contemporary feel and even the story-line has an up to date quality that shows the world's changed very little in the intervening years.

Finally got to see the first season after the last time on hopeless sat channel. The pilot episode has some of the movie in it and a young jigsaw in the movie saw makes a guest appearance i forget his name. I like this series more than the reboot nikita series.

In my opinion, there is only one Nikita. When Luc Bessons' Nikita with Anne Pariliaud came out, I was very impressed but Peta Wilsons Nikita is SO much better. On the other hand, I suggest buying both because they are worth the money.