Before I Sleep | |||||
La Femme Nikita | |||||
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Episode no. |
Season 3 Episode 15 |
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Directed by | Joel Surnow | ||||
Written by | Peter M. Lenkov | ||||
Production code | 316 | ||||
Original air date | June 27, 1999 | ||||
Episode guide | |||||
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"Before I Sleep" is the fifteenth episode of the third season of La Femme Nikita.
Summary[]
The only known link to a deadly terrorist organization, commits suicide rather than work for Section. Although Section manages to find an exact look like to complete the mission, the woman is dying from leukemia, and only has three weeks to live. Nikita questions whether Section has induced Sarah's condition to force her to comply, but saying anything will threaten the success of the mission.
Plot[]
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A woman is strapped down to the chair in the White Room. "Hey! Let me go!" she screams angry. "Let me out of here!" She grunts in frustration. The door opens and Madeline enters. The woman hums as Madeline walks around her. "I'm gonna kick your ass...lady," she tells Madeline calmly. "Ms. Baylin, you have a business relationship with a man named Marco Ashe," Madeline says. "That's why you got me here?" The woman laughs with a mocking tone. "Classic." Madeline quickly grabs a hold of the woman's wind pipe, effectively silencing her. "Now listen carefully," Madeline tells her just before she releases her. "We have our reasons for wanting Mr. Ashe and you will help us. Usually, I'd extract what I want and you'd be disposed of." Ms. Baylin mocks Madeline's words. "Ooo, I'm afraid." Madeline tells her that there's an opportunity for someone with Ms. Baylin's skillset. "I don't wanna work in your organization." Madeline disagrees and believes that the work in Section will appeal to her. She tells Ms. Baylin that they want for her to complete her transaction with Marco Ashe.
Ms. Baylin drives down a busy downtown street in a convertible. Michael and Nikita follow her in their own car. Nikita confirms with Michael that she's going to take them to Ashe. "Can we trust this girl?" Nikita asks. "We trust her enough," Michael replies. A red light, Ms. Baylin goes rogue and cross into the intersection. Michael instructs the lead vehicles to drop back and pick her up. Suddenly, she turns her vehicle around to face Michael and Nikita. She presses the accelerator and drives towards them. Just before her car makes contact, Michael and Nikita exit the vehicle before the collision.
Act 1[]
Operations arrives at the briefing table and immediately begins by calling up information on the now deceased Jan Baylin. She was a courier who ran materials between a transient tactical group called The Alliance and a man named Marco Ashe. Ashe would give Jan Baylin a package and a location to The Alliance. Operations brings up that Baylin died three weeks ago on route to Ashe and gives a pointed criticism on how the offset team was unable to protect her. Birkoff adds that no one outside Section has discovered that Jan Baylin is dead. They plan to exploit that by using a White Duplicate. Operations pulls up information on a young woman named Sarah Gerrard. In addition to being Jan Baylin's exact double she has no immediate family and on medical disability from her job. She also has terminal Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. Sarah Gerrard has no more than a few months to live. "We have to run this on an accelerated clock. Bring her in, train her, and send her to Ashe," Operations instructs. He dismisses the briefing but Nikita voices her objection to Michael. "They're going to make an innocent woman spend the last days of her life working for us." Michael answers in the affirmative.
Madeline leads Sarah in Section One. She stops and looks around intrigued by her surroundings. "I'm gonna live here?" She asks with a mixture of surprise and awe. Further away, Madeline answers. "No, you'll be on Level Four." Nikita emerges from within Comm. "Level Four?" Sarah asks as she walks closer to them. She asks about how many levels there are. Rather than answer, Madeline introduces Sarah to Nikita as someone who will be working with her. "She's here to help you," Madeline explains. Nikita asks if she should get started and Madeline agrees. "And thank you again for doing this. I know how difficult it is for you," Madeline says. "It won't be," Sarah assures her. "If everyone here is as nice as you." Nikita turns away, barely able to keep her mouth shut at how deeply Sarah has misjudged Madeline.
In the White Room, Sarah is confined to the chair. She has a headpiece on. "Where would rather be on a sunny day? The museum or the zoo?" The female torture operative asks Sarah from the observation room. Madeline stands next to her, observing. Sarah weakly answers the museum. The female operative increases a dial and Sarah is subjected to painful electrical shocks. "What color eyes do you prefer?" Sarah is asked. "Blue or green?" Sarah weakly answers green. She is once again asked the question about where she'd rather be on a sunny day. Sarah immediately answers the zoo but she is once again shocked. "Why did you do that? It's the zoo," she cries. "It's neither," Madeline tells her. "Jan Balin isn't interested in right answers and she doesn't care about pain." Sarah wants to know what she cares about. "That's the wrong question. It's how does she behave...independently. She makes her decisions quickly and without regard to consequences." Madeline tells the torture operative to continue. "If you had to hide money in a house, which room would you choose?"
In Systems, Sarah watches surveillance video of Jan Ballin head butting a man in a parking lot. Nikita asks her how things are going. "I can't become that person. It's just not in me," Sarah admits. "It's just acting," Nikita advises. "She's horrible. I don't understand what's in her mind." Nikita subtly takes a look around and quietly asks Sarah why she's helping them. "Why did you Madeline convince you to come here?" Nikita suggests that Sarah would rather be home. She agrees and when Nikita asks if she wants to go home now, Sarah adds that then she wouldn't be helping anyone if she did. "Madeline said--" Sarah states but Nikita tells her to forget about Madeline. "She says whatever she needs to." Operations interrupts them and tells them that there's been a change in the schedule that that they'll have a beta run that afternoon. Nikita tells him that Sarah isn't ready but Operations dismisses her concerns and tells her to begin prep. "She will fail and she'll get hurt," Nikita tells him quietly. Behind them, Sarah weakly interjects. "It's all right. I'll do my best. No one expects more than that. Right?" Operations likes what he hears and tells Nikita that Sarah will be fine.
A pair of black, high heeled boots walk down the corridor to Van Access. It's Sarah, now completely transformed into a physical copy of Jan Balin. Her hair is cut into Jan's blunt bob and wear wears a midriff baring crop top with a long skirt and a coat that she wears off her shoulders. Nikita is standing at the entrance to Van Access and stares as Sarah approaches her. "Well you look just like her," Nikita tells Sarah who agrees. "It's exciting," Sarah adds with a small thrill. "No, it's dangerous. Not just for you but for everyone around you," Nikita tells her bluntly. "Just stay focused." Sarah nods obediently. "Just, I never felt like this before," Sarah tells her with a sultry shimmy of her shoulders, clearly enjoying this aspect of her transformation. Nikita steers her inside and tells her to go over the profile in the van. Resigned, Nikita follows and the door closes behind them.
Act 2[]
The Section van travels down a city street. Birkoff pulls out a set of glasses and tells Sarah to put them on but she refuses, claiming not to like sunglasses.
Nikita enters Madeline's office. She asks Nikita about Sarah's whereabouts. "She's resting," Nikita tells her. "You saw the playback. It was a total failure. She can't do it," she adds. Madeline disagrees. "She took it much better than we expected. Right now she's post processing it internally." Nikita is unconvinced but she wants insight on what Sarah could be thinking. "She's horrified by how much she enjoyed it," Madeline tells her. "That's absurd," Nikita replies. Madeline instructs Nikita to take Sarah to Voice when she wakes up. "She needs more modulation in her tone. Then have Michael work with her. She needs to get more comfortable with men."
In a room brightly lit by sunlight, Michael sits with a nervous Sara. "I make you nervous," Michael points out. Sara tells him that's how she is and observes that the situation is strange. Michael agrees and pours a glass of water from a nearby pitcher. "It usually takes two years to train an operative and even then most don't make it, but you already fit in. You're a remarkable person, Sara." Michael takes a sip of water. "I'm sorry. I frightened you because of what happened today." Michael's demeanor is calm and soothing. "It doesn't matter. We can use someone else." Michael slowly starts to rise from his seat but Sara stops him. He reconsiders for a moment and retakes his seat. "What is it about me that scares you?" Michael asks. With tears in her eyes, Sara tells him that it's usually a different reason every time she meets a man although she adds that doesn't normally meet many men. "And what reason are you giving yourself this time?" Michael asks. "You're handsome. You probably get everything you want from women, which means you're probably not very nice. After a moment, Michael confirms her observation. Sara smiles slightly at his admission before studying. "Do you have a girlfriend?" On a monitor, Madeline and Nikita watch Sara and Michael's conversation on a video feed. Michael answers that he doesn't. "But you love someone, don't you?" Sara presses. Nikita gives a subtle and pleased smile. "Why do you say that?" Michael asks. Sara wipes tears from her cheeks and points out that it looks like he's thinking about someone. Michael tries to gently sidestep the question. "We're not here to talk about me." Sara takes a sip of water from her own glass. "I thought you were here to make me feel comfortable," she asks him. Michael confirms. "Talking about you does make me feel comfortable." Michael smiles and concedes her point. "Okay, I'll tell you abut her."
Pleased with what she sees, Madeline shuts down the feed.
Nikita meets up with Michael after his session with Sarah. She points out that it appeared to go well with her. "I haven't seen the output yet," he tells her but Nikita mentions that Madeline is of the opinion that everything went fine. "Do you think it's right, what they're doing to her?" Nikita asks. "She doesn't seem to mind," Michael replies. Nikita tells him that it bothers her. "She was told three weeks ago she was terminal. We gave her an opportunity to do something important. She agreed." Nikita is curious about the timeframe and Michael notes her contemplative tone. She tells him nothing is wrong when he asks and walks away.
Act 3[]
Act 4[]
Tag[]
Madeline and Operations meet for a working breakfast meeting. "Looks like we're going to have point eight surplus in personnel this month," Operations shares and he asks Madeline where she'd like to allocate the extra resources. "Housekeeping. Attrition has been high there," she tells him and Operations makes the note in the computer. Madeline requests his advice on a matter. "I had to lie to Nikita before the Alliance mission...she accused us of creating Sara's medical condition." Confused, Operations confirms that they didn't do that. "No, but I didn't think Nikita would believe me and there wasn't time, so I created an incentive scenario," she shares. "So she thinks there's an antidote," Operations concludes. "I see your problem. Did she share any of this with Sara?" Madeline doesn't think so. "Let's see her convalesce here. Give Nikita some downtime. Let her play nurse for a while." Madeline notes that she'll pull Nikita off the Lebanon mission.
In Medical, Nikita meets with a severely deteriorated Sara.
Nikita approaches Michael, who works at a terminal. He asks how Sara is doing and Nikita tells him that she's going to be fine. "Did you check your protocols," he asks. Nikita tells him that she hasn't yet but that she'll begin prepping soon. "You don't have to. You're off Lebanon," Michael informs her. Nikita asks why but Michael doesn't know. "They probably want me help Sara get back on her feet, Good," Nikita hypothesizes, pleased. She leaves Michael to his work.
In Madeline's office, she tells Nikita to take a seat. "It's about Sara," Madeline begins.
Cast[]
Main Cast[] |
Special Guest Stars[]
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Episode Quotes[]
- Michael: "What is it about me that scares you?"
Sarah: "I guess...I guess I find a different reason every time I meet a man."
Michael: "And what reason are you giving yourself this time?"
Sarah: "You're handsome. You probably get everything you want from women. Which means you're not very nice."
Michael: (thinking it over) "You're right."
Music[]
- i feel free | CREAM
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