Right, where to start? Alot has happened in the Bionic Woman World since I last posted. I guess we should start with the news that Lucy Hale has replaced Mae Whitman as Jaime Sommers sister, but with controversy following Isaiah Washington around like glue, I think we should begin with Bionic Producer, Jason Smilovc, defending the shows decision to cast him:

“We just found the best actor for the role,” Smilovic said. “The role was not conceived for Isaiah Washington, nor was it retooled for Isaiah Washington.” Smilovic said that Washington’s casting was suggested by newly installed NBC Entertainment co-president Ben Silverman.

“We feel he is the right actor for the role,” Smilovic said. “But also, we believe in second chances. We are not here to make judgments. When somebody does something wrong and you have a systemic problem, the best way to solve that problem is by allowing them to make amends, allowing them to make reparations and do the right thing. Rather than excommunicate someone, we felt it was better to give him a second chance.”

Smilovic said Washington’s casting was in no way intended to slight the gay community.

“We embrace the gay community,” Smilovic said. “We hope that they are going to watch the show, and we are in no way making any judgments or statements … about what was said or what was done. This is about making a television series. It’s about making some great entertainment, and we found a great actor to help us do just that.”

Okay, enough cliche’s already, my own opinion is that Washington was WRONG to say what he said and he certainly could have handled the aftermath better than he has done. I will never defend homophobia and will not defend him on this issue. That, however, doesn’t change the fact that the man is a brilliant actor, who ‘could’ bring alot to BW. Though I have to wonder whether his addition to the cast will bring good exposure to the show or bad exposure? Those who say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity could be right, but this could well damage the integrity of the show, because all everyone seems to be talking about, with regards to BW, is Isaiah and his reputation. Is this really GOOD for BW? If it continues in this vein it wont be, that i’m sure of. Sci-Fi fans are smart and they know what they like and what they don’t. BW has to be careful not to skirt over the ‘Washington situation’ too much, aswell as ensuring they don’t forget that the show itself is the most important thing in all of this.

Should the gay community boycott the show? The gay community should do what the gay community feels like doing. It isn’t for me to speak for them. All I will say is that people are individuals and I do hope that everyone gives the ’show’ a chance.

Now on to more light-hearted stuff, with the news that Lucy Hale will take up the role of Jaime’s sister, left by the axed Mae Whitman:

Lucy Hale, who’s appeared on “How I Met Your Mother” and “The O.C.,” has taken over for Mae Whitman (“Arrested Development”) in the new NBC drama, which stars Michelle Ryan (“EastEnders”) as the title character. In addition to the recasting, the character has undergone a fairly significant transformation too.

As originally conceived, Jaime’s sister was deaf and living with her following the death of their mother (and not happy about it). In the reworked pilot, executive producer Jason Smilovic says, the parents are still out of the picture, but that may not be a permanent thing. Hale’s character is a budding hacker who may “open a channel” to reconnecting with her folks.

“Without going into too much detail, it’s that we wanted to create an organic way for — Jaime was originally working in a lab. She was going to be assigned to these chimpanzees. The chimpanzees were going to Dr. Anthros, to this gentleman right here [co-star Chris Bowers], who was using them for experimentation. He would come down to get the chimpanzees and he would — you know, they sort of fell in love during that time. And we were looking for a — an organic way for her to be talking to the chimpanzees in sign language. Of course, the chimpanzees disappeared. The lab disappeared [in the version with Whitman]. The deaf sister stayed, but now she’s disappeared as well.”

Now alot has and will be said about the change in Becca’s backstory. Personally I can see the logic in it. Since the Chimpanzees and other such aspects of the show has been changed, it makes sense to no longer make Becca deaf, since sign-language element would no longer exist between Jaime and her work. I would’ve liked to have seen Mae in the role as Becca, as it would have been an interesting exploration, but they (BW producers) obviously have a plan and I feel that at this stage we must trust them and give Hale a chance.

The fact that she’s a hacker could provide an interesting overlap into Jaime’s Bionic transformation, though they will have to be careful to put a unique spin on it, because the hacker angle is rather ‘tired’ these days.

I am also interested in the parent situation and they have kinda left that story hanging, ready to bring into the show at anytime, perhaps:

“The parents were activists back in the day and … were very keen on saving the world, but as a result, sort of neglected their own children,” Smilovic says.

Michelle Ryan and David Eick talk about the new Bionic Woman in this fantastic IGN interview. Among the things they talk about is Eick’s ambition to tell the story of a “contemporary woman”. Ryan say’s that she’s a “tomboy” at heart and the opportunity to play a strong woman was too good to turn down. She also tells the story of how she got the part:

“I was filming a horror film with Faye Dunaway, a very low-budget British film, and I got the call saying would you like to audition? So I drove down, wrapped at 2:00 in the morning, drove down back to London, and put myself on tape. I didn’t think anything of it, and then I got a call saying they’d love to fly you out to screen test. And I thought, oh, OK, great. I can go to L.A., hopefully sign with a good agent, and, you know, it would be good experience to go in a few meetings. And then, I went in and met David Eick and all the producers. And I got so excited because they were so enthusiastic about the project, and I just thought, ‘Actually, I really want this now!’ When you see, like, Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider and you see her sort of kicking ass, you’re like, yeah, I want to be like that. I want to be strong, and I want to be confident and empowered. And I think that’s a really great message that Bionic Woman will hopefully bring out there.”

In other news, the worlds first Bionic Hand is invented in England:

LONDON, July 19 (UPI) — The new, high-tech i-LIMB bionic hand, with five motorized fingers, will soon be sold in Britain for about $17,000, The Telegraph reported Thursday.

Until now, amputees have been fitted with artificial hands that use a thumb and two fingers to produce a simple claw grip, however, the British-invented i-LIMB allows patients to control five digits separately, using tiny muscle movements picked up by electrodes attached to the forearm, the newspaper said.

Those wearing the devices can do pretty much anything they could do before they lost their hands — from typing to peeling a banana to turning a key in a lock to eating with a knife and a fork, designers said.

It’s amazing to think how far we’ve come, that Bionic Limbs and such now exist in a very real and tangible way. Next they’ll be telling us that there’s an actual Bionic Woman..