So what does episode four have in store for us? Here are my WANTS and WANT NOT’S:

WANTS:

• More Sarah – in particular it will be interesting to see her state of mind after being rejected by Jaime, hunted by Burket and toyed with by Papa Anthros. Despite all of this we saw, perhaps for the first time, some humanity from her – she spared Becca and appealed to Jaime’s senses. Interesting theme alert!
• More Papa Anthros (and Mr. “Stitches”) – Despite being on the run, he’s in a position of power at the moment. I would like to see more interaction with the despairing Sarah, and some acknowledgement of his son’s apparent ‘death’ (though the cast list for tonight’s episode suggests that Chris Bowers – Will Anthros – will make an appearance, so make of that what you will). Also, what does Burket make of Anthony’s ‘escape’, and importantly, what does the “extremophile” make of them..? Just where are the battle lines?
• I like Jaime, but she needs to develop more emotion (Sisterhood was on the right path). By ‘emotion’, I don’t mean screaming or shouting every 2 minutes, but she needs to display more range more often. I appreciate that this is partly because she is now half computer, but the time has now come see her struggle more with the situation imposed upon her and her sister.
• Becca, more Becca! Some people think she’s cheesy or cliche, I quite like her and she makes me laugh. So yeah, more Becca..and perhaps we could actually see the ‘computer hacker’ Becca?
• More good music. The BW soundtrack has been pretty good so far with the likes of Sia’s “Breathe Me”, Rihanna’s “Breakin Dishes” and Sonic Librarians “Amplified” (granted that was only for the “Paradise Lost” promo)

WANT NOT’S:

• Please..please for the love of all that is good in this world..please Mr. Eick..please no more ‘Vivien’ or ‘Heaven’. Becca’s a brat, but she’s a lovable brat..
• No more disjointed storylines! Yes “Sisterhood” was a giant bionic leap in the right direction, but “PD” still haunts me..
• STOP with the randomness!! Explain things, like WHO the terrorists in PD were, and WHY Jaime took ‘Heaven’ (more like Hell) out to a nail-bar when she knew that Serbian ‘gangsters’ where looking for her?? Also, can someone please explain to me, since WHEN did shoulder wound become fatal? I mean Burket have SOO much technology, which I’m sure Will’s fragile shoulder would have appreciated! Unless of course he’s not really dead (Shh!)
• ‘Radio Silence’. Ok it’s not that bad, but it would be nice if the creators of the show were a little more interactive with the fans, y’know like Calton and Damon from LOST or Tim Kring from Heroes. Make it happen guys, get a weekly podcast or something..interact.

Now time for the episode – if you happen to miss it, fear not, just download it from Amazon Unbox.

Wow, this was certainly a step up from last weeks episode! If this episode was an indication of things to come then no wonder NBC have ordered more scripts.

The title – “Sisterhood”

I thought this was a good title for the episode as it played into the central themes – the relationship between Becca and Jaime and between Jaime and Sarah. Despite not telling Becca the truth about her being half machine, Jaime clearly loves her sister and feels protective over her. However, in this episode she realised that Becca could be her biggest weakness, as people such as Sarah can target her as a way to get to Jaime..as a way to make her comply, or conform to their standards. Sarah Corvus and Jaime are virtually sisters themselves, both of them share a connectivity or a ‘sisterhood’, if you will, by the fact that they both have bionic implants which have been placed inside them without their total consent (though I was of the understanding that Corvus ‘volunteered’ for the programme, but there you go). I get the feeling that although Jaime’s priority is to protect Becca, she also empathises with Sarah and wants to help her..she just doesn’t know whether she can trust her – likewise, Jaime broke Sarah’s trust by using the self-hack trick to alert the Burket Group. Can’t blame her really, you just don’t mess with a girls sister. I would like to see this theme explored in greater depth because it’s obviously one which the actors can easily identify with and consequently it will be depicted with great realism and integrity, as it was in this episode. By the way, Katee Sackhoff was simply brilliant.

Jaime Sommers & ‘Grooming’

So, it would appear that Will did indeed target Jaime for Bionic installation years before they ‘met’, as the file she found in last weeks episode indicated. Not only is this creepy, but it raises some serious issues about a person’s right to freedom as well as issues of trust. So, Will was looking for someone with the right genetic/personality/physical etc make-up in order to try out his new and improved Bionic technology. Question – where on earth was he test running all of this? Was it directly under the Burket noses or did he have another agency that he worked for? I mean two years is a long time, and one would assume that during this time he was still perfecting and testing the implants..and on who? That’s what I want to know. We also have the issue of Jaime’s grandmother who may have been an early Bionic subject, which would suggest that my theory that Sarah is not, infact, the first Bionic Woman is correct. I think that Jaime’s genes are suited to Bionic installation and perhaps her grandmother (who had a so-called ‘genetic defect’) was an early Bionic test run?

Jaime & Sarah &’ Hacking’ into oneself

One of the most interesting themes from this episode – the fact that both Bionic Woman can ‘hack’ into their implants and ‘turn them off..and on’. How cool is that..and how cool was the nose-bleed aspect!? They’re beginning to present these BW more and more like machines..or computers and it’s a fascinating exploration into what it would be like to be bionic. I have a question though – how often can they hack into themselves before it starts to do irreparable damage? Sarah has been Bionic for what, 2-3 years, and already she is beginning to ‘erode’. This may be because her implants are inferior to Jaime’s but I would still imagine that Jaime’s lifespan is also limited? Another interesting aspect is the notion that if they can self-hack, then others can also hack into them – as Sarah claims (and I believe) happened to her when she killed those 14 BG scientists. I’m sure there would be no end of people who would want to hack into a BW, afterall, they’re part machines..machines that can be turned into the most dangerous and ‘effective’ of weapons.

Which brings me onto Antonio/Jae..

Embrace the machine or retain humanity?

These are the contrasting philosophies of Jaime’s two mentors – Antonio believes that she must unleash the ‘animal’ and embrace her machine side if she is to survive..whilst Jae, who has had to turn a gun on his own love, believes that “the machine is nothing without the woman”.

These are two crucial distinctions and it’s fascinating to see which one is most effective and which one Jaime will end up choosing. My bet is that she will have to choose BOTH if she is to survive. There may come times when she has to hold onto her humanity in order to keep her identity and possibly save her sister..but there will also be occasions when she has to make snap judgements for the greater good..decisions which may well mean ‘calling out the animal inside’ and stepping outside of her human morals and belief systems. As a BW she can no longer just think for herself..she has a wider picture to survey. No-one said being a BW would be easy..it’s the price she now has to pay for the curiosity of science and mans meddling with God’s work. Ah, and there’s another themes..natural evolution versus scientific evolution.

Sarah & her Sister

So, Sarah had a sister..I never actually considered that. It actually gives the most layered character even more layers, which is great as Katee Sackhoff is able to handle it..infact she seems like an actress who needs a challenge. Anyway, whilst my heart does bleed for Sarah’s loss, what I want to know is, who killed her sister? Afterall, it was surely no accident as it mirrored the way in which Sarah attempted to kill Anthros jnr..unless, of course, she is still so scared by what happened to her sister that she wanted to purge herself of the memory (guilt?) by inflicting a mirror ‘accident’ upon Will..? Eitherway, I felt bringing her sister into the game (yes Jaime, ‘game’) at this stage was great as it enhanced the episode and integrated with it’s central theme. Did I say Sackhoff rocks? And that’s coming from an anti-fanboy!

Papa Anthros

It’s amazing what Mark Sheppard does to an episode – perhaps next time we can just sit him in a room and have him talk about…anything! Seriously, the man is awesome..awesomeI tell you! So, Papa Anthros is quite the manipulator, it would seem. He obviously has his own agenda, which consists of getting his paws on Jaime’s bionics. Hmm, he must be pretty jealous that his son was able to create a more advanced Bionic Woman than his Sarah Corvus effort – is this why Will’s death doesn’t even seem to register with him? I knew there was some-kind of beef between the two of them. Anyway, enough about Will, he’s dead (or IS he?), what were those drugs that Papa Anthros gave Sarah? She must be at a very low ebb if she is trusting him, after all doesn’t she hate her creators?

We also found out that Anthony was in jail for treason – selling Bionics to the highest bidders. Now that is a storyline that has depth - it not only questions the ethics of the man, but it suggests that he is motivated by money (or the equivalent). Did he not care what the buyers of these ‘weapons’ did with them? Also, did he actually sell ‘Bionic Women’ to the highest bidders, and if so what has become of them? And why ‘women’? Sarah raised this issue in the episode, and it’s now made me question why ‘women’ seem to be the prerred gender for Papa and son’s Bionic installation programmes?

Oh, And where was Mr. Stitches? I miss his barrel of laughs..

Jonas and the Burkets

Loved Jonas this week, full of quips and witty comebacks! He is a pervert though (joking), and the issue of privacy is an important one. I mean, what do they do when Jaime is taking a shower? And did they really watch her and Will get it on (Yuck)? I guess it would explain why Jae was so quick to tend to Will’s ‘fatal’ shoulder wound and why Jonas was so quick to save Jaime’s dignity in last weeks toilet debacle -they’re monitoring her at all, well, ‘most’ times. So just to clarify, they (or rather Will) implanted an optical interface which is wrapped around her cerebral cortex and relays a live video feed or stream to BG HQ. So it’s in her brain and not her eye – which is perhaps why she is able to ‘hack’ herself – ‘if’ it was in her eye then surely no amount of concentration would allow her to turn it on and off at will? Although she could cut out her eye, but that’s another story (season 2 maybe? ;)). So yeah, Jonas and co. contravene her rights to privacy but then from their point of view she was a curveball who has $50 million of their machinery inside her body. So I guess Jonas has to keep track of his investment..hopefully he wont abuse that power on a late night at the office – he’s no longer married, right? Close your eyes whilst bathing Jaime..that’s my tip to you.

I could say much more about this episode as I thought it truly rocked! Last week was such a disappointment for me, so it’s only right that I congratulate the guys at BW for a fantastic episode this week. It wasn’t perfect but please let this be the start of many more good things to come. Everyone recognises that this show has potential, and if Eick and co. continue to tap into that potential then people will remain curious..don’t drop the ball guys!

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Best Performer: Katee Sackhoff (Did I say she rocks?)

Best Character Performance: Sarah Corvus & Papa Anthros (awesome..both of them)

Special Mention Award: Lucy Hale as Becca (great addition to the cast and an excellent character so far)

Best Quote:

Antonio: I’m about to go analogue on your ass!

Jaime: Bring it bitch!

Best Moment: Jaime hacking herself so that her optical interface came back online and alerted the Burkets of Sarah’s presence. That was an awesome moment!

Episode Rating: 8.5/10

No doubt it will purify her of any germs that she may pick up during drunken sex in a public toilet? Is that why she was so libral in allowing Steve to ‘embrace the machine’?

Hmm, I guess the truth is that we still know so little about the make-up of the new Bionic Woman. We know she can heal faster than the rest of humanity (Sarah aside), but does this prevent her from getting colds, disease…older?

That’s a point..what if she doesn’t age?

I touched on this in last weeks Bionic Investigations: In the first episode, Sarah Corvus proclaims that she is the first Bionic Woman. But is she?

Just before she makes love to the man now dubbed “Mr. Stitches”, she asks him if she reminds him of ‘her’. He replies by suggesting that her skin does. Could this “her” with the Sarah-like skin have been a previous Bionic Woman? Was she another experiment of Anthony Anthros..or perhaps more likely, Will Anthros, seeing as “Stitches” wanted him dead..?

All this makes me wonder what a living version of an earlier Bionic Woman would do to Sarah’s ego? Whilst she seems more intriuged rather than de-throned by newer model Jaime, perhaps the existence of an earlier Bionic Woman would make her feel less ‘original’..less special? Afterall, she does seem to have a needy side to her, despite her bravado.

Of course this is mere speculation right now, but it’s something to consider, perhaps.

Place your bets below (Poll closes after Wednesdays episode, so get your vote in!):

[poll=7]

1.01: “Second Chances” 

Finally..I get to watch the ‘real’ version of the Bionic Woman Premiere. I previously reviewed the ‘pre-aired’ Pilot and thought that it was good with lots of potential, after watching this final cut version, I feel much the same way.

I’ll try to focus on the aspects which I haven’t already mentioned here - Basically this episode is super enhanced, much like Jaime herself, it’s a familiar world yet those little modifications make all the difference. It’s glossier, crisper, neater and oh yeah, there’s Lucy Hale as Becca! I wasn’t Mae Whitman’s biggest fan in the first version, but I thought Lucy was really good – the chemistry and interaction between her and Michelle was so much better. Although a few people have said that Becca’s computer hacking background is cliche, I actually think it sets the backdrop for some interesting future plot-lines – there’s alot of irony in the fact that Jaime effectively has these micro-computers inside her whilst her unwitting sister is a computer whiz – let’s see you hack into that, Becca!

I thought Jaime’s super-speed-running was alot better – I really liked the CGI exploration into Jaime’s bionic legs..now that..was COOL! However the annoying little girl in the car..that was belittling my intelligence. Speaking of Bionic legs, it was cool to see how they changed the way they were first revealed to Jaime..gone were the metal plated drum-sticks and in their place were synthetic legs with visible anthracites coursing through her veins..neat! Still, she almost took my ear out with all that screaming!

I also have to give special mention to the excellent soundtrack, some of the music used in this episode was fantastic – particularly Sia’s “Breath Me”, which left me breathless.

I genuinely liked this episode and I’m so excited for this show – it wasn’t a Pilot of ‘LOST’ proportions, but I don’t think it’s too far behind last years ‘Heroes’ Pilot..and thinking about it, was Heroes really ‘all that’ from episodes 2 to 6? I think BW has created solid foundations from which to build on..the episode wasn’t perfect..but neither is Jaime…YET.

Onwards and upwards..bring on next week and more Sarah and Anthros..Anthony that is..not Will ;) 

EPISODE RATING: 8/10 (All things considered)

STAR PERFORMER: KATEE SACKHOFF

SPECIAL MENTION: MICHELLE RYAN & MARK SHEPPARD

BEST IN EPISODE CHARACTER: SARAH CORVUS!