TV in September is a crap shoot, a cultural mind field (pun intended) that you have to navigate like a quarterback dealing with an oncoming defensive line. So when you get surprised, it’s the metaphorical equivalent of a touchdown for the soul.
I shouldn’t like Nikita or Lost Girl. At face value, at face they’re rehashes of everything that makes sci-fi/action TV a bloated corpse. You can only rehash graphic novels and classic movie/TV shows for so long before you bleach the goodness out forever. This is what makes my initial joy for both shows so wonderful.
La Femme Nikita has been getting re-done for as long as I can remember. Besson set the bar with his initial Nikita in the legendary film, Bridget Fonda sold it to the 90′s audience in The Point of No Return, and the initial small screen Nikita did a solid five years on Canadian cable. The thing about the Nikita TV show was that it felt very tied to its 90′s beginnings., in the same way Star Trek: The Next Generation still draws but still feels vintage to its time.
This new Nikita feels a lot better. Sharply shot and using Hong Kong film star Maggie Q as its avenging angel, it takes no prisoners while holding to the tradition of the original story. I love me some Maggie Q, but unlike say Bridget Fonda or Peta Wilson, you can actually imagine her as an ass kicking, spy seducing instrument of terror and take it seriously. Fonda and Wilson just made me giggle. So with that in mind, dig in for an ass kicking summer.
Lost Girl is just so outlandish, it works. The Toronto produced story of a woman who realizes she’s a succubus, has all the feel of the best fantasy noir, like what Buffy the Vampire Slayer might have been if it wasn’t rated 14A. You’re not shooting at the tween market when you do a story about an ancient creature that sucks the sexual energy of people, and has a tri-sexual love triangle. It should be cheesy or too smutty for its own good but the balance is right and you can actually get interested in the characters, even if the are pretty to look at too.
With no Heroes anymore, this fills the need for new ladies on our weeknights.