CW: New Nikita

[Cat]

Neither do I. The original movie was so cool and 80s. I wasn't even sure that they should have done a TV series. But the TV show pulled me in, thanks to the white-hot chemistry between the two leads.

[Sylph]

The TV b!tches thread reminded me of something: I wish this new Nikita brought Siân Phillips!!! She is 77, but I just loved her as Adrian. Too bad the horrid writing ruined it all quickly.

[Cat]

Oooo, Sian Phillips was brilliant as Adrian. I loved her voice, her whole demeanor in general and on LFN felt that the writers tied up her story too abruptly. There were some good theatre actors slumming it on LFN -- Edward Woodward and Steven Berkoff come to mind.

Yes, the plots and the dialogue were some kind of awful. Half the time, I didn't understand what everybody was whispering about. They had all these extras walking around holding ridiculous gadgets (aka 90s cell phones trussed up to look futuristic). The dude who played Michael made some dodgy acting choices and had a frankly painful-looking hockey mullet. But dang it. When he used to do that let-me-torture-you-with-kisses thing on Nikita... I forgot about the hair. Because the two leads had some electrifying chemistry, and that was the point of the show really, wasn't it. Not International Terrorism but an examination of a somewhat twisted, obsessive relationship.

[Sylph]

Too true. It just... ended and was, apart from the beginning, a bad story. She really should have taken over Section One and not be deposed in some coup Madeline cooked up. And the Head of Oversight shouldn't have been her lover, that was just a bad choice.

Everyone on that canvas was so Sphinx-like. Madeline, Operations, Michael... Birkoff was just pathetic and there was potential in that munitions guy.

As always, your descriptions and observations are spot on: they had tremendous chemistry even though, as you point out, Roy Dupuis came from Moss' School of Wooden Acting. I guess that stiffness actually contributed to the chemistry! My God, those looks, that circling around each other, the kisses! It attracted you like a magnet.

Too bad it just weavered around, with no endpoint, a fixed target it needed to reach. And so often it was so hard to endure all the pain Nikita had to go through.

[kelly1142]

The cheerleading one (Hellcats) is produced by Tom Welling's new production company, and is getting a presentation pilot (which I guess is shorter than a regular pilot).

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/02/02/pilot-intel-cw-tom-welling-hellcats/

[Cat]

That's what I was hoping for, too. It would really have shaken things up if Adrian had become a show regular. And if Oversight decided to have two Sections or two Operations heads (Operations and Adrian) who would work together but also rival each other... Adrian and Nikita in one group, Operations, Madeline and Michael in the other. If anything it would have ramped up the romantic angst between N + M.

The hippie munitions guy added some much needed snark and humor to balance out the "sphinx" stuff. Because some of that spinx-dialogue was hilariously bad. They have some LFN gag reels on YouTube and it shows all the actors cracking up after having to say ridiculous stuff and stare intensely at each other.

Thank you for the kind compliment! Uh, it's because I liked that kooky show a little too much, though. I suspect Dupuis was much more comfortable with portraying the physical, sensual and romantic stuff on screen than he was playing the robotic operative (some actors are just the opposite). LFN was clever about slowly exploiting that connection between Dupuis and Peta Wilson (who, when she was allowed to tease and come alive, I absolutely *loved* as Nikita) -- they had the best chemsitry I have actually ever seen on television. I remember one scene where Michael, who decided to play on Nikita's feelings in order to keep her in Section, simply traced his fingers over the palm of her hands and her fingertips in circular patterns. It was unexpectedly intimate and sensuous, and thankfully Wilson and Dupuis did not overdo it with a lot of heavy panting or crazy orgasmic facial expressions.

But, yes, seeing Nikita so tortured every episode was hard-going. Peta Wilson tried to imbue as much kick-ass strength as she could in the character, and it was interesting seeing the newbie operative eventually surpassing her mentors. But like I said, Section was just a metaphor for this intense, initially abusive relationship which was always going to end in tragedy, and that was both fascinating and depressing to watch.

[Sylph]