History Series / LaFemmeNikita

%%* BattleCouple: Michael and Nikita.

%%* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou: The series' core premise.

* GovernmentConspiracy: Section One IS a government conspiracy; in the remake [[spoiler:this is one of the reasons for Nikita's vendetta]]
%%* TheHandler: Michael

%%* HeroicBSOD: Michael has this after being forced to abandon his wife.

* ViewerFriendlyInterface: Averted. Although this is mostly ''not'' averted in the remake, Nikita's computer looks like it's running GTK+ 1.0 under an X11 window manager.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Section One, according to some. Some of their enemies as well. Nikita appears to fall into this category in the 2010 remake.

* HollywoodHacking: Mid-nineties vintage.

* HollywoodNerd: Birkoff

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The series is often vague about its locations, including that of Section One itself. Its original command center is only revealed to be in [[spoiler:Paris]] when it is [[spoiler: destroyed to prevent the enemy from gaining control]]. The other command centers and Section One sub-centers are not revealed unless they are destroyed or are temporary installations. ** Yet, "[[CaliforniaDoubling mysteriously]]", all the locations look an awful lot like Toronto, even Sierra Leone (barring some stock footage inserted for an establishing shot).

* AffablyEvil: Madeline
* AliensMadeThemDoIt: [[spoiler:Nikita and Michael, forced to have sex as part of a mission.]] [[UnresolvedSexualTension Not that they weren't headed in that direction anyway]].
* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Nikita towards Michael. Nikita fandom towards Michael.

* BadassLongcoat: Michael

* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou: The series' core premise.

The series was also known for its [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_La_Femme_Nikita soundtrack]]. It had a unique way to determine what season an episode was in: [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118379/trivia the number of words in a title was the season number.]] For exampls, season 2 episodes [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_La_Femme_Nikita_episodes all have a two word title.]]

''La Femme Nikita'' (''Nikita'' in Canada) is a Canadian television spy drama based upon the [[Film/{{Nikita}} original French film]] directed by Creator/LucBesson, co-produced by Jay Firestone (Firestone Entertainment) and Creator/WarnerBros, and created for television by Joel Surnow, who later co-created ''Series/TwentyFour'' with Robert Cochran, his fellow ''La Femme Nikita'' executive consultant. This television series debuted in the United States on Creator/USANetwork in January 1997 and ran for five seasons, until March 2001. ''La Femme Nikita'' was the highest-rated drama on American basic cable during its first two seasons; also distributed on television in Canada (as ''Nikita'') and, ultimately, internationally, it continues to have a strong cult following.

The series was also known for its [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_La_Femme_Nikita soundtrack]]. It had a unique way to determine what season an episode was in: [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118379/trivia the number of words in a title was the season number.]] For instance, a season 2 episode [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_La_Femme_Nikita_episodes all have a two word title]].

%%* DirtyCommunists: Red Cell

* TheDogShotFirst: Unlike the original Nikita, who had been sentenced to death for a murder she had indeed committed, this version was framed for the same crime.

* ViewerFriendlyInterface: Although this is mostly the case in the remake, Nikita's computer actually looks like it's running GTK+ 1.0 under an X11 window manager.

* ManipulativeBastard: All the Section higher-ups.

* TwistEnding: All the time, often used to twist the knife and show that the Section had been manipulating Nikita in some way.

* UnCancelled: And as a result we got the eight episodes of Season 5 to tie up loose ends.

* VirtualGhost: [[spoiler:One is made of Madeline after she kills herself]], but it doesn't last long.

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The series is often vague about its locations, including, most importantly, Section One itself. It's original command center is only revealed to be in [[spoiler:Paris]] when it is [[spoiler: destroyed to prevent the enemy from gaining control]]. The other command centers and Section One sub-centers are never revealed unless they are destroyed or are temporary installations. ** Yet, "[[CaliforniaDoubling mysteriously]]", all the locations look an awful lot like Toronto, even Sierra Leone (barring some inserted stock footage for an establishing shot).
* YankTheDogsChain: Nikita's attempts to escape Section One seem to always end in bitter failure.

* StoryboardingTheApocalypse: Used to chilling effect in Season Two's Finale "End Game" by Operations and Adrian, especially due to the HarsherInHindsight nature this discussion takes following the Invasion of Iraq and the current rise of ISIS. Operations justifies his support of [[spoiler:Saddam Hussein]] by describing the chaos that would follow if the dictator suddenly fell from power. In a unique take on the trope, Adrian provides her own take on the situation, stating that Operations will use [[spoiler:Hussein]] as an attack dog to seize control of the Middle East and later go on without Hussein to take over more countries and strategic resources.

The show is notable for its remarkably dark and unforgiving story lines, especially for the time it was run. Nikita's employers are utterly ruthless and often treat their operatives as less than tools. Likewise, Nikita's own morality is not always justified against the kind of monsters she routinely faces.

The series was also known for its [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_La_Femme_Nikita soundtrack]] and the easy way to determine what season an episode was in: [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118379/trivia the number of words in a title was the season number.]] A season 2 episode [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_La_Femme_Nikita_episodes always has a 2 word title]].

''La Femme Nikita'' (''Nikita'' in Canada) is a Canadian television spy drama based upon the [[Film/{{Nikita}} original French film]] directed by Creator/LucBesson, co-produced by Jay Firestone (Firestone Entertainment) and Creator/WarnerBros, and created for television by Joel Surnow, who later co-created ''Series/TwentyFour'' with Robert Cochran, his fellow ''La Femme Nikita'' executive consultant. This television series debuted in the United States on Creator/USANetwork in January 1997 and ran for five seasons, until March 2001. ''La Femme Nikita'' was the highest-rated drama on American basic cable during its first two seasons; also distributed on television in Canada (as ''Nikita'') and, ultimately, internationally, it continues to have a strong cult following, according to the definitive book on the series written by Christopher Heyn in 2006. And hey ''someone'' had to make this page

A remake, ''Series/{{Nikita}}'', was launched for the 2010-2011 season on the CW. In this series, Nikita, played by Maggie Q, is already rogue and is trying to take down her former employers. At the same time, the series also features a new recruit and tells the story of how a nobody gets turned into an assassin, although [[spoiler:there is, naturally, a twist to this.]]

%%* AffablyEvil: Madeline

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: In-universe: is Operations a power-hungry MagnificentBastard bent on ruling the world or a WellIntentionedExtremist who truly wants to keep the world safe by any means necessary?
** Did Madeline intentionally [[spoiler:murder her sister over a childhood plaything]]? Even Madeline isn't sure.
* AscendedExtra: The characters who would be come Birkoff, Frank, Madeline and Operations--the entire cast minus Nikita and Michael, in other words--existed in the original film as minor characters, collectively getting less than ten minutes of screen time.
* AwesomeMcCoolname: Let's see:
** Mr. Jones [[spoiler:Real name Phillip. Codename: Flavius]]
** Michael Samuelle. Codename: Jacques
** Operations a.k.a.: [[spoiler:Paul Wolfe]]
** And don't get me started on Section's enemies: Red Cell, Glass Curtain, Freedom League...
%%* BadassLongcoat: Michael

%%* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou: Anyone who works for Section One.

%%* BoxedCrook

%%* ColdBloodedTorture: Madeline's specialty

%%* TheConsigliere: Madeline for Operations.
%%* CoolOldGuy: Walter, man. Walter.
%%* CoolShades: Nikita and Michael.

%%* DeathFakedForYou: Against her will, but they can always make it real.
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler: Operations]] never really recovered from [[spoiler: losing Madeline and control of Section in one blow. In his final episode, another character approaches him with a deal; instead of twisting the situation to his advantage, as he's done throughout the series, he shuts down: "I've played the game too many times. It bores me."]]

%%* TheDogShotFirst

%%* GirlsBehindBars: A disturbingly popular trope in the series.

* HollywoodHacking: Subverted in the remake -- Birkoff shouts at his students "I do all the hacker stuff... I even make it look like a videogame so your twee minds can understand it."
%%* HollywoodNerd: Birkoff

%%* IJustWantToBeNormal: Nikita, of course.

* KnightTemplar: Averted, oddly enough. No one in Section One is remotely overzealous. Instead, they're just soullessly practical.

%%* ManipulativeBastard: Operations and Madeline. [[spoiler:Adrian]] is a manipulative non-bastard, we think.

** Particularly [[spoiler:Nikita being a mole for Center since her return to Section One in Season 2.]]

* MoralityTropes: ShadesOfConflict
** Almost all of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Femme_Nikita#Style_and_presentation black and gray/grey]] ShadesOfConflict sub-tropes apply. Section One uses immoral methods to stop terrorism. At the same time, Nikita's actions of upholding moral standards sometimes end in Section One losing the advantage.
** BlackAndGrayMorality: Though, more like black and extremely dark gray bordering on black morality.

%%* NebulousEvilOrganization: Red Cell ''AND'' Section One.

%%* OpeningNarration

* RecycledTheSeries: The series is based on [[Creator/LucBesson Luc Besson's]] film ''Film/Nikita''.

%%* RightHandCat: {{Subverted|Trope}}.

%%* ShootTheDog: This entire series is an exercise in dog shooting.

%%* TragicHero

%%* TwistEnding: All the time.

%%* UndercoverAsLovers

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield
** The location of Section One's command center is only revealed to be in [[spoiler:Paris]] when the center is [[spoiler: destroyed to prevent the enemy from gaining control]]. The other command centers and Section One sub-centers are never revealed unless they are destroyed or are temporary installations.
** The locations of the missions are constantly shown with on-screen text such as "Berlin, Germany, 20:00 hours". Other times the agents say "terrorist Smith was located in London" or "agent Greg is in Venice and will return by dawn".
** There are [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GBp_qRk9GA several]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX5admHkzsA episodes]] where the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEgARMSVrCU location]] is given as "Building X, Eastern Europe" or "this information came from Northern Europe", but generally the viewer knows where the operation is taking place.
** Yet, "[[CaliforniaDoubling mysteriously]]", all the locations look an awful lot like Toronto, even Sierra Leone (barring some inserted stock footage for an establishing shot).

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