Same Archetype, Different Show, Same Result, Different Opinion
Okay, this is me so not reading about Public Administration to do a post about fannish things, but hell, I have come to realize that PA is just one huge exercise in post modernistic frustration so it's not like I'm going to take anything definitive away from my reading. Anyways, the whole remake of LFN and daybreak777 's comment to me about our shared love of certain characters has gotten me to think about PW's Nikita and how I got annoyed with her over things that I not only forgive Gabrielle for but actually enjoy about Gabrielle.
Same Archetype
It is unnerving about how similar Nikita and Gabrielle really are in the beginning of their respective journeys. Both start off as young women with a reverence of life who get thrown into paradigms that will constantly challenge that conviction. The only difference between the two of them is that Gabrielle had a choice that Nikita lacked. (Of course, Gabrielle's alternative to staying would have meant that she would have been forced into a marriage that she didn't want.)
They also share similar personalities. It is no secret that I liked S1 Nikita with her smarts and spunk so it was easy for me to like Gabrielle for the same reasons. I think that both characters take a lot of flack for their S1 beginnings/personalities, but I have always felt that it makes sense for Nikita/Gabby to hold on to their, I hate to use the phrase but ,*childlike wonder* or more to the point *black and white* perspective. They are both young adults who get thrown into paradigms that are completely unfamiliar to them so it makes sense in the beginning to hold on to their former perspectives while they get use to their new paradigms.
Even though, LFN couldn't be more different from Xena in terms of style and tone, Nikita and Gabrielle seem to go through the same changes and hit the same benchmarks. They both have to deal with taking a life, they both have mentors with dark histories who are responsible for introducing the shade of gray into Nikita and Gabrielle's perspective, and they both have to decide who they are going to become, which is perhaps the most interesting point about the characters.
At different points through their journeys, they both had a chance to leave the path that they were on. Nikita had her choice in between s1-s2, but she decided that she was going to work for Center. By the way, did the show ever say why Nikita went back to Center? I mean, she had to know that she would end up becoming a part of Section if she came back. In season one, she always held a part of herself back so I'm not sure why she drank the kool-aid. I doubt it was because of Michael since she was willing to kill herself at the end of S1
Anyways, Gabrielle actually left Xena a couple of times, but she always came back. However, I always felt that Gabrielle never really made her choice about whether to stay or leave until the end of S3. In the ep, 'When in Rome...' you get the feeling that if Gabrielle had not followed through on her part of the plan that Xena and Gabrielle would have walked away from each other forever. Mainly, 'WIR" sort of highlights that the problems that X/G had during the 'rift arc' were still not solved and Gabrielle had a choice: if she followed through, then she wanted to be on the same path as Xena.
Because both of them made a choice to stay, they both were destined to end up in the same place at least in terms of who they are and not how they felt about it, but as fate would have it, they both end up in the same place and with the same feelings about the situation. Nikita ended up as Operations, condemned to her fate at Section without Michael; and Gabrielle ended up as Xena, walking a path that's not really hers without Xena.
It was quite obvious that Nikita never wanted to be Operations/Madeline and Gabrielle, while she loved Xena and wanted to emulate some aspects of Xena's personality, I don't think that Gabrielle really wanted to become Xena.
So Nikita/Gabrielle are very similar characters so why do I adore Gabrielle and find Nikita S3-S5 terribly annoying, I really don't know. The simple answer is LFN pitted TR v HR and I chose TR. And possibly, it could be that it is just impossible to not love Gabrielle. Don't believe me check out 'The Ring' trilogy in S6, Gabby has more people in love with her than she knows what to do with.