La Femme Nikita (1997–2001): Season 5, Episode 1 - Deja Vu All Over Again - full transcript

(SIREN WAILING)

NIKITA: The crime that
got Section's attention,

the reason I'm
here? I didn't do it.

Well, that may be true.

But what the hell
difference does it make now?

Suppose I was
framed in the first place

because they wanted me here?

If you won't help me, will
you at least not interfere?

Would you do that much for me?

What if you don't
like what you find?

That night ruined my life.



I did what I was told.

You work in Admin?

Yeah. Good. So
you can get the file.

It's too risky, for both of us.

I need to know why I'm here.

Dead?

The man who was
helping me this morning.

(SEAGULLS CAWING)

Michael.

What are we waiting for?

We're surrounded.

OPERATIONS: There's a bond between
them that can only be broken one way.

(BEEPING)

What's wrong? I don't know.



(CLEARING THROAT)

Mick Schtoppel? To a few, yeah.

But why?

Well, I needed to
investigate Section One.

You had to have
someone on the inside.

Of course I did.

Ready when you are, sir.

Nikita.

JONES: We
discussed this, Nikita.

And you know where I stand.

It's not the way.

This decision is mine.

And mine alone.

I'll make my own
decision regarding my fate.

NIKITA: I'm sorry.
You're not ready.

You'll stay in Section,

where your status will be
reviewed in seven years.

I'm transferring
you to the Farm.

You're gonna become a teacher.

MICHAEL: I've betrayed Section.

I've put your well-being
ahead of everything else.

I have no choice
but to recommend

your cancellation.

My work's done here, Mr. Jones.

Good job.

I'll see you back at Center.

Why did you break protocol?

I wasn't ready to see you die.

Are you out?

No. I've got to get back.

But you can make it.

Is that what you want?

I don't love you.

I never did.

(WOMAN SPEAKING FRENCH)

♪♪(BIG EXIT PLAYING)

♪ Look out ahead ♪

♪ I see danger come ♪

♪ I want a pistol ♪

OPERATIONS: I can't let you
leave without a going-away present.

Some advice.

You think you're going
to start a new life?

You think you're leaving the
violence and the fear behind?

You're very much mistaken.

Truth is, you were
sheltered here.

The dangers in
Center are far worse

because they're far more subtle.

Be especially
careful of Mr. Jones.

He's not what he seems.

♪ He told me straight ♪

♪ "You gotta leave ♪

♪ "It's getting late" ♪

♪ Too many cops ♪

♪ Too many guns ♪

♪ All trying to do something ♪

♪ No one else has done ♪

♪ Baby, baby ♪

♪ Ain't it true ♪

♪ I'm immortal ♪

♪ When I'm with you ♪

♪ But I want a pistol ♪

♪ In my hand ♪

♪ I wanna go to ♪

♪ A different land ♪♪

(JONES TALKING INDISTINCTLY)

You sent for me? Yes.

You recommend a matrix
organization for Section Six. Why?

Flexibility. Most of their problems
involve slow reaction time.

I've had a dozen
people look at this,

they're all more
experienced than you.

And they all argue
strongly against matrix.

They're wrong and you're right?

I think so.

Yes. Yes, so do I.

Michelle, could you get copies of
Nikita's report to the committee?

Yes, sir.

I also have some
recommendations for Section One.

Yeah, things are
unsettled there as it is.

We had an agreement, Mr. Jones.

All in good time,
Nikita. All in good time.

Now, if there's nothing else...

Just the matter of why I was
brought into Section in the first place.

We've had this discussion
before. There's no future in it.

I am going to find out
one way or the other.

This meeting is over.

(SCREAMING)

A new device.

It affects the vocal chords.

After two minutes,
the effect is permanent.

We have similar devices

for the retina, the tongue,

eardrums,

olfactory glands.

Wait.

You're a young, healthy man.

You could live another 40 years.

That's a long time

without taste,
smell, sight or sound.

One last chance, Mr. Milov.

Answer truthfully, or
spend the rest of your life

in a dark, silent cave.

The Red Cell substation
at Minsk was relocated.

Where is the new site?

(SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

O'Brien, your
record is impressive.

Thanks. It's not a
compliment, that's a complaint.

You know who you're replacing?

Michael Samuelle.

The most remarkable
field operative

we've had here in
the last 10 years.

His record was spectacular,
so impressive won't cut it.

You'll have to kick it
up a notch, starting now.

We're looking for a
new Red Cell substation.

We've interrogated
two field operatives.

Both cracked.

Both seem to be
telling the truth.

So what's the problem?

They gave different answers.

One said Moscow, the
other Saratov. Your thoughts?

You run a background
check on the operatives?

Of course.

Red Cell would've designed
each story for optimum credibility,

given the respective
profiles of the operatives.

So?

So, run a reverse
sim on each op.

Combined with our
database on Red Cell,

we should be able to
triangulate the new location

with a certainty of 80 percent.

Maybe more.

Report to Ordnance,
pick up your weapons.

JONES: Red Cell moved
a substation recently.

Section One got conflicting
intel from interrogated operatives.

Yes, I saw the report.

Operations came up with a rather

ingenious analysis
using reverse sims.

He came up with the
new location. Baku.

That's out of Red
Cell's territory.

Yes, their relationship
with terrorist organizations

in that region is rather dicey.

That's all right.

And yet, they decide to open

a substation there.
The question is why?

One name kept
cropping up in all the sims.

Josef Dolmatov. Do
you remember him?

Cairo, three years ago.

I went undercover
as his bodyguard.

Yes, you made
quite an impression.

I'm sure he'll do
business with you again.

I know, your days in the
field are supposed to be over.

But Red Cell's becoming active
again, and we need to find out why.

This is the best way.

It's temporary.
One mission only.

You report in the morning.
He's expecting you.

OPERATIONS: This is Nikita.

She'll be joining us
on a temporary basis.

Some of you know her already.

Quinn, for instance,

spent two days as her prisoner while
Nikita impersonated her in Section.

I'm sure you haven't
forgotten that.

No, I haven't forgotten.

And O'Brien, Nikita's the one
who brought you into Section.

No doubt you have
a lot to catch up on.

The rest of you may know
Nikita by reputation only.

You may have heard
she was a spy for Center.

That for three years,

she reported our every word

and deed behind our backs.

And in the end, she
passed judgment

on people who thought of her

as a friend or colleague.

Two of them are dead,
another forcibly retired.

All that is true.

But whatever you might
think of Nikita personally,

it will not interfere
with your work.

Is that clear?

That's all.

By the way,

welcome back.

Josef Dolmatov.

Arms dealer, money launderer,

general facilitator for terrorist
activities in Northern Africa.

Our reverse sims point to him.

Subsequent investigation
validated that result.

Intel indicates a high rate of
interaction among terrorist organizations

who normally
have little contact.

Decrypted communique refer
to an event five days from now.

What event?

My analysis indicates
a sort of summit meeting

with representatives
from several groups.

Perhaps an attempt
to bury mutual hostility

and focus on
anti-Western activities.

That would explain Red
Cell's new substation being built

outside its normal territory.

Exactly.

The analysis is quite competent.

What are your recommendations?

Obviously the summit
has to be prevented.

That would be premature.

Facilitate and then destroy.

Encourage the meeting,
attack after it convenes.

That way we get the
maximum number of hostiles.

Yes, of course.

OPERATIONS: O'Brien and Nikita
will draw up an infiltration profile.

Support teams will receive
their preliminary briefing

on their panels by 6:00.

You're new to the
job. It takes time.

Go to hell.

I'm sorry.

I gave you an opportunity.

You looked bad.

Worse, you made me look bad.

It won't happen again.

If there's anything I
can do to make up for it...

There may be something.

How well did you know
Michael Samuelle?

Not well.

What do you think of him?

He's dead.

Think again.

Have you ever seen
him and Nikita together?

Yes.

Then you know.

He loved her, and she loved him.

Her report said
it was all an act,

part of her mission for Center.

Mr. Jones may
believe that. I don't.

The Abeyance Mission... A sham.

She could no more have
killed him than I could...

Than you could
have killed Madeline.

What do you want me to do?

Prove that
Michael is still alive.

If I can prove to Mr. Jones

that Nikita lied about Michael,

it'll cast doubt on
her entire report.

I'll get on it right away.

Your file said you spent
some time at the Madrid station.

That's right.

I was there, I think we met.

Did we?

I don't remember.

The mission's been moved
up. We leave in half an hour.

I know. Everything
will be ready.

On those infrared sights,

I'd like you to knock
down the contrast

a notch and a half.

That's against regs. I know.

But most operatives prefer it.

Do it anyway. It's a
simple adjustment.

Let me tell you something.

Maybe that old guy was wrapped
around your finger, but I'm not.

I do things by the book.

You got a problem
with that, tell Operations.

Somehow, I don't
think he'll back you up.

What Operations said
about you spying for Center,

is that true?

Yes, it is.

I thought it would give me a
chance to make some changes.

Such as?

Such as doing away with some
of the worst features in this place,

constant surveillance,

the use of abeyance operatives,

that sort of thing.

Our own little Florence
Nightingale, right here in Section One.

Nikita?

My name's Kristov,
I'm... I'm Level One,

I've just been
active a few months.

I've got a mission. I...
I know. I'm... I'm sorry.

I just wanted to tell you,

I know it sounds corny,
especially in this place.

But to a lot of
us you're a hero.

If you're really trying to
make things better, don't quit.

We're counting on you.

I'm in position. Ten seconds.

The SAT scan shows denser
security than our last sweep indicated.

NIKITA: Wet or wired?

Both. This might be impossible.

(GROANING)

At least let me
disable the beams.

No. Stay with the profile.

(ALARM BLARING)

We'll need central security,

plus modular nodes
for each group.

No overlap on the friendlies?

No. I don't want to
take any chances.

If we have to
subcontract, so be it.

(INTERCOM BEEPING)

What is it?

MAN: The perimeter's
been penetrated.

Have you ID'd a target?

Negative. We're
performing a sweep.

Keep me informed.

(ALARM BLARING)

What the hell is going on?

(DOGS BARKING)

Find out.

HENRIK: Perhaps
it's a false alarm.

Even so, it's unacceptable.

How can we provide security
for the conference if we can't...

Hello, Josef.

You've forgotten?

Cairo, three years ago.

Nikita?

What are you doing here?

Looking for work.

And from what I've just seen,
you could really use the help.

What do you say?

The truth is I can use
some extra muscle.

Red Cell has called a meeting
of other groups with similar goals.

Sort of a terrorist convention.

More or less.

I've offered to
facilitate the meeting.

I'm in position.

I'm into the main
building climate control.

I've found your corridor.

You need to enter
in three minutes.

What about the wall?

I'm blocking the beams now.

Go.

(GRUNTS)

(DOGS BARKING)

(HIGH-PITCHED WHINING)

(YELPING)

(BUZZING)

What's the weather report?

The temperature differential
has narrowed sufficiently as of

now.

You're invisible to infrared.

Take the north stairwell to the
second floor. You're clear all the way.

I offer you the
same as in Cairo.

Plus 10 percent.

And the same for my partner?

Partner?

He's into technology.
I'm more visceral.

Together we're very effective.

I don't like unknown quantities.

I'll introduce you to him. He
should be here any minute.

He's just going to
stroll into my office?

That's right.

No doubt you have a
low opinion of our abilities.

But your success was an
exception, I promise you.

And as far as hiring someone I
don't know, this late in the game...

(KNOCK ON DOOR) Come in.

Marco, Josef. Josef, Marco.

I reviewed the files
of his last mission.

Seventeen people in the
structure when it exploded.

DNA traces were recovered for all
but three. One of them was Michael.

Suggestive, but not conclusive.

I also ran a back trace on
Nikita during the mission.

Four hours, six
minutes unaccounted for.

Just the amount of time needed
to reach the mission site and return.

The chance of both
occurrences happening randomly?

Less than one in
a quarter million.

Formalize it. I'll take
it to Center tomorrow.

That would be premature.

We should facilitate
and destroy.

If Michael's alive,

sooner or later
they'll find each other.

When they do,

we'll deliver them both to
Mr. Jones in a nice little package.

You're learning.

I have an exceptional teacher.

Which one of these dirtbags
are we supposed to be protecting?

A man named Rustam Federov,

he's the chief strategist
for Black Moon.

Nikita. Yeah?

Be advised, Federov is sick.

Black Moon has sent a man
named, uh, Piket in his place.

Piket... Please
enter. He's on his way.

No problem. What is it?

Piket and I crossed paths
in Marrakech, two years ago.

Does he know you were
with Section? Oh, yeah.

How much contact? A few
minutes. Maybe he forgot.

Welcome, Mr. Piket.
I'm Nikita, my colleague.

Let me show you to the room.

You should be a princess
or a film star, hmm?

Not a bodyguard.

It's the 21st
century, Mr. Piket.

Women have many talents.

I would love to know
more about yours.

I don't mix business
and pleasure.

By all means then,
let's forget business.

Your room.

Do you smoke?

What are you doing? He
recognized you immediately.

I saw it in his eyes.

(BEEPING)

Well, that should be enough.

We've got it.

Good. The meeting's
in four hours.

We need the masks
in three and a half.

You'll have them.

But there's not enough
time for a voice synthesizer.

We'll get by. Just
get us the masks.

You forgot something.

An abeyance op.

Or we just use a silent drop.

Too risky.

Nikita, reform Section
after the mission.

We need an abeyance op.

Quinn. Protocol six.

I'm punching up the
abeyance list now.

Nikita.

Got the masks?

Yeah, that'll do.

Wait. I only have a
two-minute window.

It just closed.

Nikita?

(GUN FIRING)

These will be fine.

I'm triggering the alarm.
You'll have 10 seconds.

We'll be ready.

(ALARM BLARING)

What's going on?

NIKITA: He came
in through the vent.

He killed Marco.

Mr. Piket, are you all right?

He's fine. And your
security system needs work.

Mr. Piket, I don't
know who's behind this,

but I swear to
you I'll find out.

And when I do,
they'll be punished.

It was a false alarm.
Mr. Piket is fine.

The meeting will
go on as scheduled.

Quinn, they're all here.

How long? 17 minutes.

Guest list? Just as we'd hoped.

Goff, Bauer, French,
Terik, a dozen other leaders.

This will put us
ahead five years.

Relay the signal.

Gentlemen. Gentlemen.

This is an unusual occasion,

unique in fact.

Because Red Cell originated
the idea of this coalition,

I have asked their
representative, Mr. Goff,

to be the first speaker.

GOFF: On behalf of Red Cell,

I thank each of you for
being here this evening.

Put simply,

our hope is

we can all forget
our differences

long enough to
create a reign of terror

that will bring the
West to its knees.

Wait! Mr. Piket,
is there a problem?

I told you, the attempt on
your life will be avenged.

If there's something
else, let's talk.

(BOMBS WHISTLING)

I'm afraid your departure
has been delayed.

And why is that?

Three Western embassies in Pakistan
were bombed about an hour ago.

What does that
have to do with me?

The bombings were
traced to Willem Goff.

That's impossible. Goff's
dead. Apparently not.

He died at Dolmatov's.

I saw it myself, and
your intel confirmed it.

It seems you were wrong,

and so was I.

How is that possible?

I don't know.

But Mr. Jones is
waiting for us in Systems.

JONES: And it's not only Goff.

Bauer, French,
and a dozen others

seem to be very
much alive and active

since they supposedly
died at the conference.

While you were patting yourselves on
the back, the enemy was hard at work.

Instead of being years
ahead, you are weeks behind.

And weeks can turn
into forever very quickly.

It won't happen. I'll make sure.

I'm not overly impressed
by that at the moment.

I am deeply disappointed
in both of you.

And you will both stay on
the job until this is put right.

Nikita, I am formally
assigning you to Section.

You will live and work
there until this is cleaned up.

And you will keep your
personal agenda out of it.

Nikita is your deputy

and you will treat
her accordingly.

I'll expect your first
progress report in 48 hours.

Wait. Our agreement.

This is hardly the time.

It's never the time, Mr. Jones.

You've been putting
it off for months.

Nikita... I came back to
Section three years ago

because you made
certain promises.

It's time you kept them.

Is that a threat?

Only if you feel threatened

by being asked
to keep your word.

Am I in command or is she?

You are in operational
command, as always.

In certain matters
of internal policy,

Nikita has a degree
of independence.

Now, in the meantime,

what I suggest is that you
both listen to recordings

of The Mikado or
Pirates of Penzance.

Gilbert and Sullivan.

They hated each other,

but they made
beautiful music together.

So will you.

(DOOR OPENING)

Walter.

Thank you for coming.

Didn't have much choice.

You're on inactive status.

Strictly speaking, you
could have refused.

I did what I did because
I thought in the long run,

I could change
things for the better.

And you just happened to claw
your way to the top in the meantime?

Is that what you think?

What am I supposed to
think? Madeline's gone...

Michael's gone.
You're number two.

Believe me, it's not my choice.

But while I'm here I intend
to make some changes.

Good luck.

I was hoping you'd help.

How?

By coming back to your old job.

I thought I violated
protocol too many times.

So did I. I was wrong.

Would it matter if I
apologized for deceiving you?

It's all water under the bridge.

Anyway, it's not
too bad where I am.

A little teaching, tinker
around with a few new gadgets.

Out of the pressure cooker.

You could help me change things.

I've done my stint as Dear Abby.

Let somebody else have a turn.

The new guy's not in your class.

He'll learn.

I guess that's it then.

Guess so.

Suppose I said you are
the best man I ever met,

and another day in Section
without you seems unbearable.

Would that matter?

It might.

(WOMAN SPEAKING FRENCH)