Captain's Log, Stardate 10.21.2009
(Warning: spoilers ahead, but I’ll tell you when I’m about to reveal)
I’ve been watching the TV series Le Femme Nikita (Peta Wilson) on Netflix, and while the first DVD didn’t thrill me, it hooked me by the second DVD of Season one. And the writing and acting really pleased me, for the most part. I enjoyed all the way up through most of season four.
Then it tanked for me.
I liked how the plot twists and turns in each season, developing new nuances of character and relationships. There are a few “throw away” episodes that just fill up the slot in the season, but most of the episodes embellish on character or backstory or plotline.
But then the stories started to fall apart logically, in my thinking. There’s a lot of “Let’s have the character do something unusual” and then reveal some hidden agenda behind it all—except the reasoning behind the character’s actions aren’t always logical in the writing.
There’s also too much of the same thing—namely, “Let’s issue a kill order for Michael or Nikita or both of them,” followed by “Well, let’s cancel that kill order for reason XYZ” which isn’t always a good reason. After enough “let’s kill them”/”let’s not,” it gets old.
SPOILER START
Some plot elements were rather interesting to me, like chemically turning off Nikita’s neural relationship centers so she doesn’t love Michael or connect with any other human being. But then having Michael reverse the process and not get killed for it is not believable.
And then that ending to season four? Come on. WHY did she have to (1) go rogue to escape, (2) come back to get Michael, and (3) get caught all to somehow “test” Section One and reveal she’s Mr. Jones’s mole? What was the purpose of all of that? And then it somehow triggers this evaluation period for everybody?
Although that scene where she’s about to die and Walter says goodbye did make me tear up. Walter’s so sweet.
But too many things that were a logical disconnect ruined the season ending episodes for me. Considering she has only ever wanted to escape Section, why would she act out of character and go back as a mole for Mr. Jones? And in doing so, that doesn’t explain so many of the things she did in the previous seasons. It’s like the writers just decided to whip that puppy out of their hats and ta-dah! isn’t that a cool twist?
Um, no. Not if it doesn’t make sense and there haven’t been clues dropped beforehand to foreshadow or somehow prepare the audience. The way it was done, it was just too random and convenient.
(And folks, if I ever do a “Let’s introduce an hitherto unknown twin sibling and then kill off the character and have the twin pose as his/her twin for some dangerous mission,” please somebody shoot me.)
SPOILER END
So now I’m watching season five, and it just sucks. Some key characters are missing, there are bigger and more logic flaws, and the Nikita character is a different personality, even.
They should have stopped at the second to the last episode of season four, in my opinion. Happy ending to be had for all.
I don’t know if I’ll finish watching season five. Life is too short to waste on bad TV.
(Warning: spoilers ahead, but I’ll tell you when I’m about to reveal)
I’ve been watching the TV series Le Femme Nikita (Peta Wilson) on Netflix, and while the first DVD didn’t thrill me, it hooked me by the second DVD of Season one. And the writing and acting really pleased me, for the most part. I enjoyed all the way up through most of season four.
Then it tanked for me.
I liked how the plot twists and turns in each season, developing new nuances of character and relationships. There are a few “throw away” episodes that just fill up the slot in the season, but most of the episodes embellish on character or backstory or plotline.
But then the stories started to fall apart logically, in my thinking. There’s a lot of “Let’s have the character do something unusual” and then reveal some hidden agenda behind it all—except the reasoning behind the character’s actions aren’t always logical in the writing.
There’s also too much of the same thing—namely, “Let’s issue a kill order for Michael or Nikita or both of them,” followed by “Well, let’s cancel that kill order for reason XYZ” which isn’t always a good reason. After enough “let’s kill them”/”let’s not,” it gets old.
SPOILER START
Some plot elements were rather interesting to me, like chemically turning off Nikita’s neural relationship centers so she doesn’t love Michael or connect with any other human being. But then having Michael reverse the process and not get killed for it is not believable.
And then that ending to season four? Come on. WHY did she have to (1) go rogue to escape, (2) come back to get Michael, and (3) get caught all to somehow “test” Section One and reveal she’s Mr. Jones’s mole? What was the purpose of all of that? And then it somehow triggers this evaluation period for everybody?
Although that scene where she’s about to die and Walter says goodbye did make me tear up. Walter’s so sweet.
But too many things that were a logical disconnect ruined the season ending episodes for me. Considering she has only ever wanted to escape Section, why would she act out of character and go back as a mole for Mr. Jones? And in doing so, that doesn’t explain so many of the things she did in the previous seasons. It’s like the writers just decided to whip that puppy out of their hats and ta-dah! isn’t that a cool twist?
Um, no. Not if it doesn’t make sense and there haven’t been clues dropped beforehand to foreshadow or somehow prepare the audience. The way it was done, it was just too random and convenient.
(And folks, if I ever do a “Let’s introduce an hitherto unknown twin sibling and then kill off the character and have the twin pose as his/her twin for some dangerous mission,” please somebody shoot me.)
SPOILER END
So now I’m watching season five, and it just sucks. Some key characters are missing, there are bigger and more logic flaws, and the Nikita character is a different personality, even.
They should have stopped at the second to the last episode of season four, in my opinion. Happy ending to be had for all.
I don’t know if I’ll finish watching season five. Life is too short to waste on bad TV.
I rode the same rollercoaster ride you are describing with that show. The chemistry between them was awesome and I could have lived with that alone, but when the crazy writing kept coming at you it was hard to enjoy the rest. Wonder why it ended abruptly...:O)
ReplyDeleteI'm really hoping that doesn't happen with Castle. I like the show because of the quips, the writing is great, and the chemistry between the characters is outstanding. If they fall of that wagon and make it suck, I'm out, faster than you can wink.
ReplyDeleteThat's what happened with Heroes. Won't watch it now, they ruined it. Season 1 was great, after that, not so great. Can't get in to it now, and won't.
Diane, I think the show got canceled midway in season five, but that's just a guess on my part.
ReplyDeleteWinnie, I feel the same way about Heroes!
Camy
I haven't watched this series, but I love watching series on NetFlix - my favorite is ALIAS! Loved it!
ReplyDelete