| 506 - The Evil That Men Do | |
| Writer/Director | Andrew J Horne, Katherine Tomlinson / Roy Dupuis |
| What it's all about |
Operations tries to 'off' Nikita by ensuring that she's abandoned by the rest of the team during a mission. Having survived, she confronts Operations and they decide to call an 'Article 3' - a sort of high-tech, low-excitement duel using a debate with Mr Jones on a plasma-screen instead of pistols at dawn. It would appear that Operations loses, as Mr Jones then attempts to have him killed by leaking his flight co-ordinates to the Collective. (Surely high risk, but perhaps he hoped it would also serve the purpose of flushing out Michael the Mole.) Operations manages to eject before the plane is destroyed, forcing Mr Jones to send Nikita to his rescue, to prevent him being captured alive by the Collective. He's safely back in Section not two minutes before Mr Jones decides to eliminate him more conventionally, via Containment. Nikita speaks on his behalf, however, citing losing Operations' skill as a waste. Mr Jones is now even more convinced that Nikita is his chosen successor, although she insists she's not. Meanwhile, Graff and Haled have come to the conclusion that Michael isn't giving them his full co-operation, and lay plans to kidnap Adam. |
| Words of Wisdom - The Director Speaks | "It’s 506 …….."
(469K) "I did it by curiosity …." (750K) "We’ll see if I miss it …." (600K) |
Performance Rating |
With 93 LFN episodes already in
the can, Roy’s directorial debut would not have allowed him much artistic licence.
His job would have been to create a show that slotted seamlessly into the familiar format,
an exercise in forging a signature style rather than formulating his own. However, his
familiarity with the environment and the presence of the technicians he had worked with
for years would have made that task easier. The most significant outsiders were the writers, The Evil
That Men Do being their first, and only, LFN script. That said however, the extent of
the changes between the shooting script and the final aired version was no greater than
normal. **Apart from weeding out some proprietary names, removing a table from the White
Room (!), and giving a bit more consistency to Operations’ character (not all
necessarily attributable to the director), most of the differences were minor dialogue
trims and scene shifts that could easily have occurred in the final edit. Roy stayed
pretty faithful to the script and, it turned out, produced an episode that had both flair
and pace.
The story offered a balance between 2 or 3-handed dialogues and some dramatic action sequences. The writers invented the strange ‘Article 3’ arrangement, so Roy would have had fun creating that effect. Otherwise the camera angles and set pieces were generally familiar LFN devices executed, to my eye, with a deft touch and as well as any of the professional directors. The two shoot-outs (at Quexxar Industries and during Operations’ rescue) were stirring, and Nikita’s spectacular jump into the awning was particularly effective. Probably the trickiest scene was the attack on Operations’ plane, with an angled, juddering camera mimicking the plummeting descent. This situation often looks contrived even in feature films, so credit to Roy for a worthy attempt with minimal resources. One little bit of business in particular seemed to bear the stamp of Roy’s influence. I have not a shred of proof that this was his doing, but here’s the case: The script has Operations paying the boy for food with gold coins secreted in his shoe, and also leaving the watch with the transponder at the cabin. Later he introduces the caesium with its unique spectrum signifying the rescue protocol into the car’s tank from ‘a container holding three small vials’. But this isn’t James Bond with his numerous gimmicks, this is Section as seen through Roy’s eyes. The watch becomes the payment as well as the decoy, and the caesium is broken off the tag that we recognise as Operations’ insignia (and which Michael himself has worn in that office). Efficient, economical – Roy’s approach to the ways of Section. |