More LFN S3

[swatkat]

Okay, Hand to Hand? WTF was up with that episode? There *are* enjoyable things about the episode, and it certainly isn't as utterly inane as S4, but the main plotline? The fight sequence in the climax? If they *did* want hot girls fighting each other, they could've at least done it with some style (ref BtVS S3 for further info). *shakes head*

Actually, I'm surprised TPTB never took advantage of PW's looks to insert some girl/girl action scenes. I mean, as far as shows are concerned, LFN was as violent as it gets - apart from Open Heart (and probably Recruit – didn't Nikita and Karen fight?), where were the girls?

Um. Nikita's dream? Was it a premonition, or was this entire episode in flashback?

The Paul-Madeline-Renee plotline was fantastic. I wish they'd kept Renee around longer – she's eminently slashable. It also highlights yet another parallel between Paul and Nikita – they will both push and taunt and needle their partner, hoping to provoke them into action. Unlike Michael, however, Madeline always rises spectacularly to the occasion (and I have no doubt that Paul loves it, even when she outmanoeuvres him. hmm, sub!Paul? Paul/Madeline s/m? why isn't there more of this in fandom?). The 'Bitch, please' expression on her face when she talks to Renee, and the triumphant look after she kicks her out is simply priceless. *g*

Pimp!Michael is kinda hot.

Aw, Nikita can be so stubborn and annoying when decides on something against the mission profile. She'll even stoop as low as bringing up Michael's sister to get her own way. *pets her girl* I love how Michael coolly replies that she now has ten minutes to get to the van, because he knows exactly what she's doing. And then Nikita just moves into his private space (purposely giving him an eyeful ) and declares that she's not going – no wonder Michael sounds pissed when he asks them to take her away. *g*

ETA:

"I have to try. I can’t leave these women here. I have to help them". Nikita to Michael

"I think I’d feel too guilty, knowing there were people out there risking their lives." Nikita to Walter

"To yourself. At night you go to bed knowing that you live in hell - that’s the truth." Walter to Nikita

I have thoughts regarding these dialogues, but I'm a bit too sleepy to be coherent right now. Saving here for further reference. *g*

Comments

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. Cathy Atkinson wrote that, and I've got a copy stashed away with the rest of the stuff from the AW website. That *is* a really good example of a "fix-it" fic at its best.

However, we TRs were extremely lucky in that TPTB "fixed" it for us in canon later in the same season. Looking backwards from Three-Eyed Turtle, the idea of Operations and Madeline behaving this way -- and so blatantly! -- in front of a visiting person from Oversight (i.e., someone working for George) is fairly obviously laying the groundwork for the trap they were setting for him. So...I can live with the O/M subplot of Hand to Hand in that larger context without it making me grind my teeth too much.

Still, though, the episode annoys me because of the overarching women-fighting-women theme. Yuck.

fixes aside

[sk56.livejournal.com]

I agree -- this is one of the most condescending episodes I remember. Though yes, M as pimp might be hot, the working girl aspects of the program make me grind my teeth. I liked the treatment of sex work much better in the Formitz episode.

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

I heart the Renee-Madeline antagonism, the same way I heart the Nikita-Madeline antagonism. What can I say? It's a kink. *blush*

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Heh. Nothing wrong with kinks.

I wouldn't have minded Madeline having a female peer who was antagonistic -- that *is* kind of fun. What I hated was that the ep had them fighting over a man in the most stereotypical way possible. Frankly, it rendered the fish-fighting Nikita did quite dignified in comparison. But the fish-fighting *and* the fight over Operations in the same ep? Shows me that the writer has a very condescending (borrowing sk's word) view of women indeed.

Hmm

[swatkat24.livejournal.com]

Were they just fighting over Paul?

Swatkat

Re: Hmm

[jaybee65.livejournal.com]

Whether or not there was some other sort of rivalry going on, that was certainly the prism through which we were asked to view it.

I would have preferred just straight-out professional backstabbing. You didn't see Paul and George (or Birkoff and Hillinger) squabbling over women, and I *loved* the interactions between those pairs.

What you need to do, Swatkat, is write a story fleshing things out so we'll see what the *real* Madeline/Renee hatred was about. *Prods*