The followup to the film Point of No Return, La Femme Nikita the late 1990’s basic cable TV series appearing on USA differs from the original film version in one fundamental aspect: Nikita (Peta Wilson) is innocent she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Section One sets Nikita up to be accused of murdering a police officer and sentenced to life in prison where she supposedly commits suicide and is brought into Section One. Like in the original film though Nikita will be killed (or “canceled”) if she fails to comply, she is forced to carry out the organization’s ruthless methods of fighting terrorism, while attempting to keep her moral integrity intact. This personal struggle becomes the primary conflict of the series. A key scene in both the film and the series involves Nikita’s first assignment—to murder a VIP in a crowded restaurant. Although the Nikita of the television series eventually does become, by necessity, a ruthless killer, in the television version of this first mission she uses her ingenuity to avoid having to kill the VIP (whereas the film versions of the character complete the assignment). However, despite the machinations of others in power around her, Nikita retains her compassion and humanity.
La Femme Nikita was the number-one drama on basic cable channel USA Network for its first two seasons. It had been “green-lighted” by the network’s founder and “cable network pioneer” Kay Koplovitz and nurtured by former USA Network president Rod Perth, a “key player” in its development. However in 2000 it was canceled but its dedicated viewers mounted an extensive fan campaign to revive it and were successful! These fans sent in over 25,000 letters and the network made a truncated 5th season. According the JPFmovies research staff, such a resurrection happened only a couple of times once when Firefly was canceled after one season but due to fan demand the network made a full-length film an Family Guy which was brought back after three years on the shelf.
The LFN original series was not bad for its time and given the fact that it was brought back from the dead does tell you something about it. If you do decide to take a look at it, watch for the ruthless character Madeline—she is as cold as it gets and she is another one you love to hate.
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