Nikita Season 1

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

Maggie Q stars in this sexy and suspenseful series as the charming and deadly Nikita. Trained as an invisible assassin by a secret government agency, no one has ever escaped…until now.

Great series, Nikita has it all. Though Maggie Q had been in earlier flicks, I fell in love with her in MI3 and Live Free or Die Hard. When this series was first announced I couldn’t wait for it to air. Maggie Q is, IMO, fabulous in her role as a trained assassin gone rogue, and on a mission. The other main and supporting actors also do extremely well in creating characters you will either love or hate, or, in some cases, can’t make up your mind because you really aren’t quite sure whose side they are really on. One of the great features about the series is that most of the episodes are self contained, though all of them build upon each other, including the use of flashbacks, to further develop characters and plots and sub-plots (of which there are several). There is plenty of action to satisfy virtually anyone. Definitely recommended to those who are fans of Maggie Q, action/adventure, espionage and intrigue.

-Scott D. Welch

This is perhaps the greatest spy-vs-spy storytelling ever to hit the small screen. Action, drama, romance, comedy, and fast-paced plotlines are all part of the package here. It’s held together by a deadly beautiful assassin called Nikita who’s trying to climb out of a sinful past of soul-damning acts by turning on the secret government agency that created her.

Sinister conflict and great fight scenes are part of most episodes, but it is the strong characters and superb storytelling that made the first season such a success. Maggie Q plays Nikita with great heart and charisma, but she is well-backed by the other female lead Lyndsy Fonseca who plays her younger partner-in-espionage Alex. The cast is rounded out by other solid actors, with each having well-developed characters that we get to know over time.

-The Deacon

This is the latest incarnation of La Femme Nikita (which has consisted of the original French film, the TV series that ran on the USA network years ago and the Bridget Fonda movie Point of No Return) tells the story of an assassin here played by the gorgeous Maggie Q, who is attempting to bring down the rouge black op organization called Division that she used to work for. she is aided by a recruit she planted in Division named Alex (Lyndsy Fonseca) and essentially disrupts mission after mission.

Each episode has a mission of the week flavor to it, but within that there are several overarching story lines (mainly that flesh out the backgrounds of the main characters). There is a lot that goes on story wise, and the cast is a very large ensemble. The three main characters are definitely Nikita, Alex and Michael (the agent that trains the recruits for Division). After that are Percy (played by Xander Berkley who is probably best known for his role in the early seasons of 24) and Amanda (played by Melinda Clarke from The OC). The other characters kind of rotate throughout the season. If the “main” characters the only two we really do not know much about in terms of their backgrounds are Percy and Amanda.

The show has a lot of action, but it does not rely on just action or the looks of the main characters (although Maggie Q is put in some skimpy outfits throughout the season much like Jennifer Garner was in Alias) to get by. There are a lot of well done stories and all the actors do a great job with their characters. There are a lot of twists and turns throughout the season and by the end of season 1 the show is in a very different place than it was when it started. That definitely helped keep the show from getting too repetitive which can easily happen with this kind of series.

For those who get the actual discs, the A/V quality of the blu rays is great as you would expect. A nice touch is that the series will play in a season play mode so you can stop in the middle of an episode and pick back up where you left off. As far as extras go, there are deleted scenes on every disc and the fourth disc has several behind the scenes features that tell the making of the story and short character bio vignettes. There is also commentary available on some of the episodes. So if you like going through the extras there is a substantial amount there.

While liking any kind of series like this is pretty subjective, if you are a fan of the genre overall, it it definitely worth checking out.

– Mike S.

DVD Wholesale Main Features    

Actors: Maggie Q, Lyndsy Fonseca, Shane West
Format: Multiple Formats, AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: Portuguese (Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Number of discs: 5
Studio: Warner Bros.
DVD Release Date: August 30, 2011
Run Time: 1012 minutes