Approximate Timeline

It is important to recognize that as a fictional TV series created by many people, La Femme Nikita's internal reality is formed by the whims of those people.

Not all we see on the screen can be considered ‘written in stone’ since lies told can change the back-story or the timeline at will – and have.

The information given is from the episodes’ dialogue. Since subsequent shows sometimes discount the ‘facts’ as given earlier, keep in mind that in absence of other evidence, some of the math must be taken with a grain of salt.

**Season One**
Nikita	2 years	OPERATIONS: (to Michael) 'It's been two years.'
Love
Charity
Friend
Simone		WALTER: (to Nikita) When he thought she died three years ago, he just shut himself right off. He didn't talk to anyone until...until you came along, sugar.
Mother
Treason	How long is the probation?	MADELINE: (to Nikita) You’ve completed what might be called the probationary period. You’re a full-fledged operative now, the equal of any operative in Section.
Escape		October 17, 1975 is given as Nikita's false birth date to fool Helen Wicke into thinking she's her daughter.
Gray
Choice
Rescue
Innocent
Gambit
Recruit
Obsessed
Noise		NIKITA: (to Birkoff) So you really do live in Section. Madeline showed me your file. Except for the van, seems you haven't been outside Section over seven years -- that's not healthy.
Voices
Verdict
Missing
War
Brainwash
Mercy
SUMMARY	2 years plus ?	From mission to mission it is difficult to know exactly how much time has elapsed. There is little indication of how much time passes between episodes, and not much more information on how much time passes during each episode. According to what has been said, from the day she woke up in the White Room to the end of Mercy, Nikita has been inside Section for two years (training), some unknown time (probation), plus whatever increments of time between and during the other 21 episodes.

**Season Two**
Hard Landing	6 months +	OPERATIONS: (to Madeline regarding Nikita's apparent death) It’s been over six months. He's got to let it go.
Spec Ops
Third Person		OPERATIONS: (to Nikia) Seven months ago, I sentenced you to death...(as shown in Mercy) You're back on full status.
Approaching Zero
New Regime
Mandatory Refusal
Half Life	Although she says the 'Bloody Hour' was formed in 1984, she does not say when the bombing took place. Still, it seems Michael has been in Section for quite a long while.	NIKITA: (to Michael) Rene Dian. In 1984, along with some other extremist students of Paris University, he formed a radical activist group called "L'Heure Sanguine" -- the "Bloody Hour." There was a bombing, people died. Everyone escaped except for you. You were arrested. Of course you died in prison just like I did.
Darkness Visible
Open Heart
First Mission	How long does one have to be at Section One to lead missions? How long has it been since she returned from her six month 'vacation'?	Nikita is promoted to lead her very own first mission.
Psychic Pilgrim
Soul Sacrifice	From when she returned from the outside (Hard Landing) or a routine six-month 'check-up'?	Operations says Nikita's six month numbers just came in. Terry says that she was involved with another operative before Nikita came to Section, and that was 4 years ago. This number seems to be in keeping with the approximate timeline so far.
Fuzzy Logic	Add seven years (Noise) and six months (Hard Landing) plus an estimate of one year and subtract the total from Birkoff's age (21) means the last time he had left Section for something other than a mission, he was only 12 or 13 years old.	GREG: (bragging to Madeline) Okay, what about...Birkoff? Seymour Birkoff. Age: twenty-one; one hundred thirty-five pounds; 20-80 vision; Sysadmin for every host on this LAN. Should I continue?
Old Habit
Inside Out
Not Was	How much more over three years did Nikita know Michael?	Nikita tells Michael she has known him for over three years. Also, Michael claims to have been born in 1965.
Double Date
Off Profile
Last Night
In Between
Adrian's Garden	If Nikita trained and got her apartment at the end of two year, then that makes a total of four years with Section.	Nikita: (to Carla) You pretended to be my friend for two years.
End Game
SUMMARY	We must add six months plus Season One's two year training period, plus take into account Nikita says she has known Michael 'over three years'.	We close season two with knowing Nikita is a level two op and while she is not canceled, Operations and Madeline intend to increase her mission frequency and let the matter take care of itself.

**Season Three**
Looking for Michael
Someone Else's Shadow	A controversially low number.	NIKITA: For three years you never told me you had a family, Michael.
Opening Night Jitters
Gates of Hell
Imitation of Death	If cloning were a possibility, one might assume the small girl was begun when Nikita first entered Section One.	Nikita suspects the small girl she discovered on Level Eight to be her clone. The girl appeared to be approximately four years of age.
Love and Country
Cat and Mouse	Dominic could not have hatch this plot until after he encountered Nikita's file in War.	DOMINIC: I spent two years bioengineering Abby...
Outside the Box	Again, three is a controversial number. By adding up the least amount of time Nikita spent with Section from that fateful night, three falls short of the mark.	NIKITA: Look at my face. Take a good, long look at my face. Remember? Three years ago? ‘You want to earn five bucks, kid?’
Slipping Into Darkness
Under the Influence
Walk On By
Threshold of Pain
Beyond the Pale
Hand to Hand
Before I Sleep
I Remember Paris	Was Michael recruited into Section right after his 1984 arrest? If so, nine years is too low; what accounts for the balance of time to bring the total to the late '90s/early 2000?	OPERATIONS: You’ve been here how many years, Michael? Seven? MICHAEL: Nine. OPERATIONS: I came here 24 years ago.
All Good Things
Third Party Rip-off
Any Means Necessary
Three Eyed Turtle
Playing With Fire
On Borrowed Time
Summary	It seems it's time to pass the salt shaker; the numbers don't logically line up. Perhaps, if further information is presented, the timeline will make more sense.

**Season Four**
Getting Out of Reverse
There Are No Missions
View of the Garden
Into the Looking Glass
Man in the Middle
Love, Honor, and Cherish
Sympathy for the Devil
No One Lives Forever
Down a Crooked Path
He Came From Four
Time to Be Heroes
Hell Hath No Fury
Line in the Sand
Kiss the Past Goodbye
Abort, Fail, Retry, Terminate
Catch a Falling Star
Sleeping with the Enemy
Toys in the Basement
Time Out of Mind
Face in the Mirror
Up the Rabbit Hole
Four Light Years Farther
Summary

**Season Five**
Deja Vu All Over Again
A Girl Who Wasn't There
In Through the Out Door
All the World's a Stage
The Man Behind the Curtain
The Evil That Men Do
Let No Man Put Asunder
A Time for Every Purpose
Summary

Hi. My name is Floyd. I can take you home.