Michael – a clandestinely happy-family man? Unfortunately, yes. While the Season 2 opening arc merely irritated many fans with the interplay between Nikita and Jurgen, the blood cover premise of the Season 3 arc began seriously to undermine the credibility of the series as a whole. Where previously we had mystery (seasoned with the odd minor anomaly in continuity or plot hole), now we had a major narrative warp that rampaged back over history. This was the first ‘bombshell’, and of course worse, far worse, was to come in Season 4. Not a big deal for a throw-away, see-once-and-forget show, but a blow to those fans who cherished and frequently revisited the early, and generally superior, episodes. Those same fans, in fact, who appreciated the show enough to spend their time discussing and analyzing it, as alluded to in Roy’s joke. Michael’s ‘I can’t think of a single reason’ remark in the Charity tag is sincere and poignant in Season 1, a meaningless lie after we know about Adam. From this point onwards La Femme Nikita ceases being character-driven, and becomes essentially plot-driven. Roy, known to be fiercely protective of Michael’s persona, must have found it increasingly difficult to keep in character as events drove him further and further from his original creation.

The other detrimental influence on the writing was TPTB’s paranoia about the ‘Moonlighting’ factor, in the face of some serious clamouring for action that didn’t involve mission gear (reference to the fall in popularity of the 80’s series Moonlighting after the characters played by Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis became an item). Solution? Hold off as long as possible (60 episodes as it turned out!), let them get together for five minutes, then start driving them apart. The lunatic excuses and methods that constituted the ‘hard wedge’ tried the patience of the most committed fan. In short then, Season 3 charted Michael’s barely restrained emotional progress from the release from his marriage (the un-revealed secret of Season 2), to his total physical obsession with Nikita. Apart from some filler episodes, this is a remarkably consistent progression (or, as the cynics might say, downward spiral!), and very uncharacteristic of the maestro of self-control. It does, however, make it very much Michael’s season, his circumstances being what drives the main theme, with Nikita just tagging along for the ride.

The major obsession of the season was, of course, the short hairstyle, subject of miles of message board threads. The pre-season publicity shots of Michael by Marni Grossman were stunning, and the more groomed effect did indeed bring out classic lines in his face. There was no way, however, that Roy was going to break a lifelong habit and keep it short indefinitely, and by halfway through the season the new growth at the nape of his neck seemed determined to stick out sideways, despite the best efforts of hairdresser R. de Sousa. Office-wear continued to be Gaultier, and according to Laurie Drew, Roy particularly liked the style of his mission jacket this season.