Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to Nikki And Helen. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Was Nikki harassed after the riot?; abzug [Apr 16, 2006]
Topic Started: Jun 1 2006, 05:16 PM (878 Views)
ekny
No Avatar
In love with a prisoner
abzug PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 8:02 pm

Was Nikki Harassed After the Riot?
I've read some plot summaries (including the mini one on the dvd) which say explicitly that all the prisoners are pissed at Nikki after the riot. I had never seen any evidence of this.

But then I was just rewatching that episode, and there's a scene of Nikki lying in her cell crying (this is when all the cons are locked up the day after the riot), and there's all kinds of shouting in the background. I couldn't understand most of it, but I caught a word here and there and it sounded like everyone was yelling at Nikki. Is this right? Was anyone ever able to decipher what they were yelling? And was Nikki crying about Helen dumping her, or crying about being hated by her fellow prisoners?

_________________

ekny PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 9:51 pm

Re: Was Nikki Harassed After the Riot?
I'd have to rewatch, but my knee-jerk response is to say gawd, I always *totally* thought that was about H dumping her. If she's being harassed it's by the PBG: anyone who matters, like Yvonne, even the 2-Julies, *know* good & well the riot was a riot because of Maxi's actions, not Nikki's. It's possible the nameless faceless masses have been swayed by Maxi's goadings; will have to see how other people weigh in on that.

_________________

COOLUK1 PostPosted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 11:47 pm

I always took Nikki's tears to be primarily because of Helen. The whole riot debarcle was tramatic and stressful so she may have been upset in part due to that l suppose.

Imo Nikki was too well respected to be harassed by the prisoners in general..most people knew that her intentions were good and it was the Peckham mob who caused all the trouble....there may have been shouty comments directed at her but my guess is that any bad feeling toward her soon fizzled out.
Her mates, such as Von and the Julies, would have stuck up for her and set the record straight with any misguided bods anyway.

_________________

abzug PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 3:02 am

I think you're both right. I had always assumed the tears were all about Helen, but I think the shouting in the background is significant as well, because it heightens Nikki's feelings of isolation, and her feelings of being misunderstood. She didn't even want to start the protest in the first place. Crystal and the gang talked her into it, and she felt the obligation of her leadership position strongly enough to take it on at their urging. Then, she stuck it through, even as it all turned to shit, and when folks like Yvonne had absolved themselves of any responsibility. And then what does she get for it? Cruelly dumped by her girlfriend, and attacked by at least some of her fellow prisoners. Kind of reminds me of a moment in season one when our favorite wing governor was "gettin' it from all sides...from above and below"

_________________

COOLUK1 PostPosted: Mon Apr 17, 2006 7:35 am

I take your point ..Nikki must have wished she'd never got involved with Femi at all...yet being 'Nikki' could she have just stood back and done nothing...nah

As you say a cruel blow to get dumped on top of all the other kerfuffle.

_________________

Just Another Mad Bad Fan PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:20 am

Was Nikki Harrassed After The Riot?
I've just had a listen to this scene with earphones and having also always assumed that Nikki's tears were a result of Helen's dumping her, I have to agree with you abzug, that it is perhaps not only about that.

The shouts from the other prisoners appear to be:
"This is all your fault Wade."
"Bloody slag! I'm gonna kill you for this!" (A Scots accent - could be Al, but I'm not sure.)
"I thought you and Stewart were meant to be best friends."
"Gonna have you Wade."
"You're not Stewart's pet now Wade!"

These are all rather horrid aren't they! Poor Nikki! She obviously embarked on the sit-in against her better judgement (you could see her hesitation), but went along with it out of loyalty to her fellow prisoners as a stand against injustice and now it's all well & truly backfired on her! Not only has she lost Helen, but her loyalty was obviously sadly misplaced, as the cons are now turning on her. She would have been better off if she had sided with Helen, at least she wouldn't have alienated her. She would only have risked the wrath of the cons and clearly they perceived her as "Stewart's pet" anyway, so they would have more or less expected it from her. It has really gone "tits up" for her this time! I suppose this also illustrates how much she would have been at risk had Caroline's status been exposed, as she no longer had the respect of the majority, they would have been more likely to have turned on her - her status wouldn't have protected her anymore.

I wonder then, if Helen was aware of this change in attitude towards Nikki. It is quite possible that in the aftermath of the riot she would have been on the wing overseeing the mopping up operations and the cell searches, and would no doubt have heard the animosity directed towards Nikki. This would have made her very aware of the increased danger to her if she was involved with Caroline, to the extent that she preferred to risk Nikki's contempt by shipping Caroline out, than put her at risk. Wow, that was pretty selfless really, because there was no reason that she would think that Nikki would one day understand the reason for her action and thank her for it, as she had no way of knowing that Purvis was going to let the cat out of the bag! Nikki could in fact have served out the rest of her sentence, thinking that Helen had indeed only been out to destroy any chance of happiness that she may have had. So I suppose they both owed Maxi one!

So I think Nikki's tears in this scene are probably not only her sadness at the loss of Helen, but also her frustration and despair at how her backing the wrong team, could have backfired so badly on her. The cons are also rather considerately reminding her of her loss of Helen's favour, thus rubbing salt into her wounds! You're right, this is indeed a far worse scene than I thought it was! Sad

_________________

abzug PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:22 pm

JAMBF, thank you SO much for posting this! I couldn't hear those shouts, but I think you've got them spot on. How chilling and upsetting that they were picking on Nikki about her relationship with Helen! And great points about Helen overhearing them as well, and the fact that she never would have expected Nikki to find out about Caroline.

In a way, this has always been a character trait of Helen's--she doesn't mind if Nikki misunderstands her feelings, as long as she knows in her own heart she's doing the right thing (when Nikki accuses her of being a coward when they break up at the start of season 3, Helen says "Fine, if that's what you think then hate me for it").

_________________

COOLUK1 PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:11 pm

I still think it would only have been the Peckham lot who were calling out to Nikki..None of the other main characters would have. As for the 'extras'..can't see it somehow?

_________________

abzug PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:37 pm

But how would the Peckham girls have known Nikki was Stewart's pet? I agree it wasn't any of the main characters, but I think the animosity extended beyond the PBG.

_________________

COOLUK1 PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:32 pm

abzug wrote:
But how would the Peckham girls have known Nikki was Stewart's pet? I agree it wasn't any of the main characters, but I think the animosity extended beyond the PBG.



Errrrmm...good question...not unless they'd picked it up in the time they'd been on G-Wing. They'd have seen H&N talking etc and may have heard general chit chat..??
OK one or two other inmates *may* have hurled insults ...all adding to Nikki's heart ache and distress..a very rough patch for her poor baby!

_________________

abzug PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:33 pm

It makes it a bit more understandable that she was so keen to hook up with Caroline--a port in the storm, so to speak.

_________________

Just Another Mad Bad Fan PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 4:50 pm

Was Nikki Harassed after the Riot?
I have had another listen and the voices are definitely "Extras" voices, no recognizable ones, except for "Bloody slag! I'm gonna get you for this!" possibly being Al, but the "Bloody" doesn't really sound like her. At the same time as all this shouting was going on, Maxi was too occupied with going through all the paperwork which she removed from the filing cabinet, looking for anything incriminating, and Tina was battling to flush all the irrelevant stuff down the bogs. Immediately after that the screws came in to do the cell search, so it definitely wasn't Maxi or Tina.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
richard
Member Avatar
Enhanced
This is an interesting one as I had always thought that the plot description was at odds with the actual episode. I am going by memory but didn't Helen keep the prison locked down for a week following the riot? It was tough on Nikki as she had very delicately manoeuvred between pushing for concessions for Femi, not seeming too much in league with Helen and trying to rein in the PBG and their gang? As it turned out- with Yvonne's last minute help- the PBG were banged up, the roof riot never happened, the bloodbath was avoided and the reprisals were far less than they could have been.
Everyone won (except the PBG) except Nikki who got the blame and lost her girlfriend into the bargain. I would guess that the more gullible lot who followed the PBG would have been the ones mouthing off at Nikki, not knowing of these underlying complexities which Nikki was only too well aware of.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abzug
Member Avatar
In love with a prisoner
I went back to the "How Long Was Nikki in Prison" thread (it sure does come in handy!) and found this, which I had written directly after watching the riot episodes with a particular eye to the timeline, so I presume it is accurate:

Okie doke. Just watched the two riot episodes. Both of which have very specific timelines. The first, S3E11 where we meet Femi and the riot begins, starts at most two days after the end of the previous episode. We know this because the Peckham girls have just been moved off the intake dorm, and we know prisoners only stay there two days at most (ie over a weekend). Then, we have the following days in these two eps:
Day 1: Nikki talks to Helen about Femi, Femi gets beaten up and put on the block
Day 2: Nikki gets pushy about Femi, Helen won't give her any info. That night the riot begins (and ends)
Day 3: The riot is over, everyone is locked in their cells--this is when the cell searches occur
Day 4 (or maybe Day 5): Everyone is let out of their cells, Caroline and Nikki get together (both the potting shed scene and the library scene happen the same day). This is the day before the Julies get released.
Day 5: Caroline gets shipped out, the Julies get released and re-arrested. Helen and Thomas leave for the conference.


So Nikki only suffered in abused isolation for a day or two. Still misery, but not a week of misery.
Visit the Bad Girls Annex!

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
richard
Member Avatar
Enhanced
Thanks abzug for that one. I had the idea of something like a week because Helen promising that she was not going soft on the consequences of the riot - as the wing was pretty badly trashed- as her way understandably of getting herself off the hook after standing firmly against letting the heavy mob loose on the prisoners. It ought to be accepted that, while Nikki had to do a tricky balencing act, so did Helen on her side especially when the riot threatened to spiral out of control.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abzug
Member Avatar
In love with a prisoner
richard
Jun 3 2006, 03:34 PM
I had the idea of something like a week because Helen promising that she was not going soft on the consequences of the riot - as the wing was pretty badly trashed- as her way understandably of getting herself off the hook after standing firmly against letting the heavy mob loose on the prisoners. It ought to be accepted that, while Nikki had to do a tricky balencing act, so did Helen on her side especially when the riot threatened to spiral out of control.

Thanks for reminding us of Helen's perspective on the riot. I always find it hard to step back and really see the ways she was trying to protect Nikki and not come down too hard on her (professionally-speaking), which is an enormous contrast from S2E2 ("Shit Happens") when Helen's responses to Nikki were so reflexive and repressive. Helen has taken a huge journey between these two episodes.

Its interesting, however, to think that in S2E2, Helen comes down too hard on Nikki and then begs forgiveness and is finally able to admit her feelings for Nikki. Meanwhile, after the riot, when she has perhaps not come down hard enough (again, just in terms of the rules and guidelines of how a governing governor should respond to a prisoner leading a riot), she punishes Nikki instead by denying her affections. I think its ekny who has written quite a bit about Helen constantly confusing the personal and the professional, and the two examples above really epitomize that confusion, the blurred lines of her emotions and actions.
Visit the Bad Girls Annex!

Posted Image
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Tashenka
Member Avatar
Down the Block
I think also, as Richard said, Helen blames Nikki for putting her in the position of being literally moments away from sending the riot police in after the prisoners, which goes against everything she's tried to do. She's been put in the position of having to decide to use force against the prisoners, by someone who understands just how much she opposes those tactics. For Helen, that's a personal betrayal that spilled over into her professional conduct, so yet again her reaction is to tell Nikki it's over.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Free Forums with no limits on posts or members.
« Previous Topic · Nikki · Next Topic »
Add Reply