Favorite Characters: Seymour Birkhoff (Nikita)

I’ve already talked about Birkhoff’s relationship with Nikita, one of my favorites on the show, but I figured the man himself deserved a separate post.  There’s no doubt that Birkhoff is a well-trod archetype – the vast majority of genre shows have a tech genius, and Birkhoff’s mix of extreme nerdiness and unrelenting snark is particularly reminiscent of Topher from Dollhouse.  However, despite the familiar ground, he never feels generic.  Here’s a closer look at this supremely entertaining character (includes spoilers.)

As I’ve said before, I like that Birkhoff is relatively amoral, pretty selfish, and a more gradual convert to Team Nikita.  I like that there’s some bite to him; while his pre-Division crimes aren’t as lethal as those of most fellow agents, he’s still a criminal.  He was recruited by Division (presumably to escape life in prison) after hacking the Pentagon, and he uses his computer prowess for other unscrupulous purposes at different times in the series.  At the same time, though, at the start of the series, he’s not as outright ruthless as dyed-in-the-wool Division folk like Percy or Amanda and shows periodic misgivings about some of their less conscionable operations.  This more middle-of-the-fence approach to morality gives him ample opportunity to defy expectations.  When he’s at Division, he sometimes circumvents the nefarious marching orders, and when he joins Nikita and the good guys, he sometimes turns to his old wayward tricks.  Throw in his strong rebellious streak, and you have a character with lots of potential for shaking up the story.

Like most characters on the show, another big draw is his extreme capability.  Again, his skillset is different – less ultraviolence, more hacker-fu – but even though it’s not as visually satisfying to watch Birkhoff type as it is to watch Nikita lay an epic smackdown, he’s still remarkably impressive.  His unprincipled background gives him a knack for sniffing out technical traps, and he pulls off some crazy stuff both in and out of Division.  He has such a high opinion of his own skills that he’s generally the first to point out what an incredible job he’s done, and that’s always good for a laugh.  Additionally, while he’s more of a physical liability than the likes of Nikita, Alex, or Michael, he’s not just an incapable weakling.  His Division combat training doesn’t get as much regular use as the others’, but in a fight, he can at least keep himself alive and only occasionally needs saving.  (I always love it when the techies can look out for themselves.)  However, he’s not as accustomed to fighting and killing, and when he does get into the fray, it tends to affect him more than it does the other characters.

And really, you can’t go wrong with such a genuine geek on a TV show; Nikita doesn’t call him “Nerd” for nothing.  There’s his tech knowhow, of course, and his hyper-intelligent tendency to treat others like troglodytes, but more than that, he’s a huge, unabashed fanboy.  Throughout the series, he tosses out casual Star Wars references, he quotes Lord of the Rings non-ironically, and when he hacks into the control system of some serious weaponry, he does his best Dalek impression.  Not only is it super-fun, but it also helps ground the show, which can sometimes veer into awesome-yet-outlandish, in the real world.  When the show offers up triple agents, shadowy conspiracies, brainwashing, faked deaths, and organic prostheses, it’s good to come back to Earth with the thought of Birkhoff watching X-Menin his safe house.  Not to mention, few of the characters seem to have many hobbies outside of field missions and pondering their own tragic backstories, so Birkhoff’s cornucopia of geek interests rounds him out nicely.

Relationship Spotlight: Seymour Birkhoff & Nikita Mears (Nikita)

I knew I’d like Nikita’s relationship with Birkhoff as far back as the pilot.  When she abducts him for mission-related reasons, I love that he still calls her “Niki.”  True, Birkhoff is a bit of a nicknamer in general – he often calls Michael “Mikey” – but “Niki” has such a ring of endearment to it.  Although they’re on opposing sides at the time, there’s clearly affection between them.  They don’t have much screentime together in season 1, since Nikita’s war against Division mostly happens during field operations and Birkhoff doesn’t get topside often, but the interactions they do have are stuffed with potential that more than pays off later.  (Since Nikita’s arcs are so dynamic, any discussion of a series-long element comes with spoilers.)

At the outset, it’s clear that neither wants any real harm to come to the other, despite the fact that they’re technically enemies.  Birkhoff doesn’t hide his admiration for Nikita’s skills when she foils Division operations, and whenever he comes into direct contact with her, she usually lets him off (relatively) unscathed.  The really good stuff, however, doesn’t start until Birkhoff joins the resistance in season 2, so I’ll skip ahead.

It’s an interesting, opposites-attract sort of friendship.  Nikita’s all action and lethal efficiency, driven by a need for justice.  She wrestles frequently with her demons, and the years she regrets are never far from the surface.  Birkhoff, on the other hand, is essential to most operations but usually avoids the fray, preferring to stay behind his computer.  He doesn’t have many moral qualms, and when it comes to his motivations, self-preservation, personal gain, and a strong sense of superiority are major players.  Even his decision to join Nikita and Michael is as much about 1) saving his own skin, 2) boredom, and 3) sticking it to Division, as it is anything nobler.  He’s not a crusader like Nikita – he starts doinggood long before he starts beinggood, if that makes sense, and this gives Nikita plenty of reasons to clash with him, to bolster him when he’s skittish about the risks, and to smack some priorities into him when he’s too opportunistic.

Lest we make Nikita the saint to Birkhoff’s sinner, I should note that theirs is definitely a two-way street.  Nikita’s flaws are numerous, and Birkhoff doesn’t keep quiet when he feels she’s in the wrong (which she sometimes is.)  She can be reckless, obsessive, and stubborn, and she tends to shut people out.  Birkhoff’s not the only person who confronts her on these fronts, but he’s usually the most effective.  With Michael and Alex, the ties are too deep, too complicated, and it’s easy for emotions to run too high on both sides.  Birkhoff, though, can reach her.  I’d love know what their relationship was like before Nikita escaped Division, because they both know and understand each other remarkably well.  I wonder how they got that way.

Much of the time, they have a bit of a big sister-kid brother dynamic.  They squabble, they hang out, and they rib each other – it’s a lot of fun, and a nice chance for Nikita to unwind a little.  As I said, however, this also allows for more serious interactions – honest arguments, sympathetic advice, and shared personal moments.  I love that, when Nikita gets back in touch with the group after going off on her own at the end of season 3, Birkhoff has it out with her over the comms, emphasizing that he has just as much right as Michael to be upset about her leaving.  And, when things get intense, you see just how much they mean to one another.  Nikita first beats herself up and then goes on the warpathwhen her actions lead to Birkhoff being endangered, and though he doesn’t always see eye to eye with her, there’s no question he’d follow her into hell.