The third annual "New York City La Femme Nikita Party" was held on
Sunday, October 15, 2000, and LFN fans from Connecticut, Washington, DC,
Rhode Island, Boston, New Jersey and New York City descended upon Ernie's
Restaurant on the Upper Westside, eager to discuss their favorite series,
renew old friendships and make new ones. As twice before, it was a
heartwarming sight for consummate LFN Fan and organizer of the party,
CelineDeux — me.
My reason for starting these LFN parties arose from the need to meet
other fans who are as addicted to USA's most successful spy drama series as
I am (and have been since Season 2, when my sister, a fan since the shows
debut in 1997, insisted I tune in and watch).
As I had found out early on, LFN Fans encompass a wide range of
professionals — doctors, therapists, lawyers, airline pilots, secretaries,
publishers, writers and students, to name a few, as diverse in age as in
profession. They are enthusiastic about the show with the ardor of teenagers
and the wisdom of adults. No two fans see an episode the same way, which is
great fodder for discussion and often time's laughter, both in face to face
meetings and on the message boards.
I organized the first NYC LFN party in October of 1999, after I had
lurked on the Heyn's Hussies message board for almost a year before
registering, and one day found another fan from New York. I introduced
myself to her via e-mail and told her I was interested in meeting. We set a
date and met in a West Village restaurant where she, my sister, and I talked
LFN for three solid hours, discussing episodes, writers, and different
points of view. It was wonderful! The next morning I posted on the board
about meeting a NYC fan and someone suggested we have a get together — thus the plan for the first NYC LFN party was born. Fifteen fans gathered at
Houlihan's on 49th Street on a Friday evening in October. The party started
at 7 p.m. and we reluctantly left around midnight.
The second party, in January of 2000, was organized to celebrate the
upcoming Season 4 and the Millennium. The finale of Season 3 was very
exciting and with Michael's words, "I won't let them do this," still ringing
in our ears we needed to meet to discuss what he was going to do to bring
Nikita back to her senses. This time I decided to arrange for a space at
Ernie's on 75th Street and Broadway. The food there is good, prices are
moderate, and the waiters tend to look like Section operatives. Most of the
fans that attended the first party were present, with a few new additions,
and again we discussed what we thought was going to happen in the new season
well into the evening.
This third party, not quite a "Farewell LFN" party yet, but more an "I've earned this because of the hell USA put us through party" in light of the
series cancellation, our campaign, and the subsequent revival, was suggested
by my sister, since we are only getting a shortened Season 5. So again I
posted on the board and they came, this time in numbers — 21 altogether.
Our table of fans, each in need of an extra pair of eyes and ears to
listen, look and exchange thoughts about any given episode, was a sight to
behold! I had decided to bring a souvenir for each attendee and created a
button with a picture of Michael and Nikita from the recently aired episode
"Up The Rabbit Hole," printed from SueR's web site. Jezebel created a CD with the wonderful music from Seasons 1, 2 and 3
to give to everyone and Michele-Ray passed out little magnets she designed.
While enjoying our brunch, music from Seasons 3 and 4 played as
background to our discussions, laughter, and exchange of episode theory.
Even though most of us had never met before, introductions were quickly made
and friendships immediately established. LuLu and others brought albums
filled with pictures of French Canadian hunk, Roy Dupuis, aka Michael
Samuelle, and the rest of the LFN cast for us to admire. I captured this
wonderful moment of perfect strangers having a great time in each other's
company because of their common interest in LFN with both my camcorder and
camera.
Our luncheon had started at 2 p.m. but ended much too soon, since plane
and train schedules had to be kept. We regretfully brought this wonderful
party to an end, around 8 p.m., when everyone hugged and kissed and said
their good-byes, and I was just very happy that I had contributed something
to the fandom.
In the future there will continue to be discussions on the message boards
and web sites keeping our love for this exceptional show alive. As for
another LFN party — I don't know yet. But I'll keep you posted.
In Nikita circles Mary-Christine Bryant is known as CelineDeux.
