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La Femme Nikita - The Complete First Season

Riding on the cult following and success of the 1990 Luc Besson film of the same name, "La Femme Nikita" first appeared on the USA cable network in 1997, and garnered enough attention from viewers to afford it a five-season run into the new millenium. Stepping into the shoes once worn by the feature film's front-runner, Anne Parillaud, actress Peta Wilson plays Nikita, a street-smart homeless girl who finds herself working for a top-secret anti-terrorism agency after being incarcerated and sentenced to death for a phony murder charge. Some minor changes between the film and TV versions of the titular heroine are visible, most especially the fact that she's gone from being a drug addict to a mere homeless woman; I think it works in the show's favor, though, as it provides a much smoother transition into the lengthy plotlines of the individual episodes. ***

As a show, "La Femme Nikita" is never short of the kind of thrills associated with material that involves espionage and mystery, all interwoven with some very engrossing character development and a strong central performance from Wilson, whose sex appeal and edgy demeanor when handling the more physical aspects of her role are always a joy to watch. There were many times throughout this first season that I felt she was doing an admirable job of making the other more unbelievable elements watchable: we have a constant barrage of uninteresting supporting characters and hackneyed plot developments that would be mere driftwood were it not for her presence among them. In essence, she takes the show where she knows it should go, and does so with exciting results.

While not the best set of transfers for a television series, those for "La Femme Nikita" look quite good, actually. Where some TV-to-DVD efforts usually lack in places like contrast and solid colors, this one gets it right, with rock-hard blacks and vivid tones that look terrific in places. Color consistency is generally pleasing, although given the stylistic flourishes of the show, they fluctuate periodically. Detail and edge sharpness are good, even if they could be better now and then. Very nice. ***

The sound is mastered in Dolby 2.0 Stereo, and while the presence of surround envelopment that comes with a 2.0 or 5.1 remix is missed, these tracks will get the job done. The main problem with the track is the battle between the music and the dialogue, which sounds natural but is quiescent on numerous occasions. Sound effects and atmospherics pop up here and there to spice things up, but it's mainly left up to the music to accomplish the task of enhancing the visual thrills. Not bad, but let's hope that Warner decides to beef up those for the forthcoming seasons.

While the collection of extras here is meager, they stand as a pretty solid effort on the part of Warner Bros. to give the fans a little something-something for their dollar in addition to the episodes. The first of these is the featurette "Section One Declassified: The Making of La Femme Nikita," which is your usual public relations-type fluff piece that aims to promote the show by underlining its cult following while also talking about its creation and success. As with the show itself, Wilson is the main reason to watch here, as she has much to say that will be of great interest to the fan base. ***

There is also a collection of deleted, or "Cancelled" scenes that span the first four discs of the set, depending on which episode their pertain to. The scenes themselves aren't too terribly delightful, but the optional commentary with creator Joel Surnow does much to put into focus what was needed for the show to be the hit that it is.