Birkoff: About

  La Femme Nikita - General Context

TV series, 1997-2001, based on the film Nikita (1990) by Luc Besson. An innocent girl living in the street, Nikita, is framed for murder and sentenced to life in prison. From there she's taken into Section One, the most covert anti-terrorist organization in the world. She must do what they want if she wants to live, but she often disagrees with their ruthless methods and likes to do things her own way. The show is marked by the love story between Michael and Nikita, first her mentor and trainer, then her team leader and biggest ally.

Birkoff - The Character

Seymour Birkoff, level 5 operative, system admin, resident genius, and computer specialist in Section One. His job usually consists in finding intel and providing tactical for missions, though he's also known as the person who can find out almost any kind of information anyone needs. As his character develops, he is sometimes involved more actively in missions. He lives inside Section, plays computer games in his spare time, and likes gummy bears and Oreos.

Later we find out that Birkoff was born in Section. His mother was an operative, Lisa, "the brightest light in Section before Nikita came along" according to Walter. Birkoff has a twin brother, Jason Crawford, whom Section has allowed to have a life outside as an experiment.

Secretly in love with Nikita, Birkoff soon understands he has no chance with her, and moves on to date another operative, Gail, for a while. Abby, Nikita's look-alike in Cat and Mouse, seduces him so she can steal some intel, but lets him down abruptly after that. Birkoff is shown to date Valerie in a later episode, apparently in parallel with Walter. He also seems to have a connection with a terrorist girl in Any Means Necessary.

In Abort, Retry, Fail, Terminate, Birkoff creates an artificial intelligence copy of himself as a backup for when he's away. The AI quickly gets out of hand and locks down Section, intending to kill everyone and set Birkoff free. As all attempts to deal with it fail, Birkoff has to do the ultimate sacrifice, killing himself and the AI in the same time, so that everyone else can live.

After Birkoff's death, Section recruits Jason, his twin, to substitute Birkoff and cover-up for his death with Oversight. He quickly adapts and takes over for his brother, including in his friendship with Walter and Nikita.

Main Cast

Peta Wilson - Nikita
Roy Dupuis - Michael Samuelle
Eugene Robert Glazer - Paul Wolfe, aka Operations
Alberta Watson - Madeline
Matthew Ferguson - Seymour Birkoff
Don Francks - Walter