There are, however several things which I didn’t like about this episode – notably the crazy camera angles, which I sense they have borrowed from Battlestar Galatica. Sorry, but it’s not cool to disorientate the viewer! Jaime still does silly things – like speak in front of the bad guy whilst she’s on the phone to the guys from the Bat cave..sorry, ‘Burket Headquarters’. Seriously Jaime, discretion is important in your job!

Whilst I appreciate the fact that the creators consciously tried to marry the ‘A’ and ‘B’ story, it still felt somewhat coincidental and even random at times. I mean what are the chances of Becca having a crush on Vincents son? What was the point of that boy anyway, except to to bring the two storylines together? It seemed too forced and they will have to address this in the remaining 5 episodes.

Oh, and where did Jaime get all of that ice from?

I felt that Jae and Ruth were still vastly under-employed. Seriously, is there no real work to do at the Bat cave, I mean, Burket Group?

Despite a few criticisms there were several bright sparks in this episode. I loved the introduction of more cool Bat cave, I mean ‘Burket’ gadgets in the form of Jonas’ Visual Caller ID. But did Jaime even have to ask whether it is legal or not? This is Burket Jaime, get with the programme! ;)

I liked Jaime’s line to the receptionist at the Spa – “TV’s really important to us”. I felt that was a nod to the fans maybe?

I thought it was cool to see ‘Heroes’ referenced in this episode – I just hope Heroes repay the old ‘quid pro quo’ sometime soon! Or make that sometime in Fall 2008, seeing as the strike has crippled it’s 2nd season.

I thought there was some cool use of bionic abilities in this episode – in particular I liked it when she used her Bionic hearing and then Bionic strength in the car bomb scene. The filming of these scenes was much better than the ‘oh there’s a propeller, let me bend it’ scenes.

I did feel that this episode was a little ‘filler’ – I mean when you see Jonas doing the dishes you kinda know what’s coming! It was a little slow in places and a little sentimental – but I can kinda understand that because after the death of Antonio we really needed to see the ‘human’ Jaime..the Jaime who struggles with the choices she is expected to make, the Jaime who is torn by her own morality and ‘the greater good’. We finally saw Jaime make a heartfelt decision..one based on the love for her sister. She so badly wanted to confide in Becca – and I even found myself willing her to do so -but she realised that the more Becca knows, the more danger she is in. This is a simple thing, but it’s something which, as a viewer, I wanted to see addressed, instead of skirted over. It was great seeing Jaime nearly, but not quite being able to share her secret with Becca. I felt that the writers finally did something to advance the storyline – the decision Jaime made was the wrong one (in my view), but it’s totally understandable and debatable.

My episode rating: 7.5/10 (but with huge promise)

Why is Jaime so irresponsible?..you would think that she was Becca’s age – at least then it would be understandable! Like I mentioned in last weeks review, I like Tom and Jaime as a pairing, but they’re now far too forced. Why on earth would Jaime entertain his “what are you wearing?” conversation whilst she is on a mission? Doesn’t she know that she may be Bionic but other people (i.e. civilians) are not? Didn’t she ever watch Spider Man 2? “With great power comes great responsibility”..come on Jaime, sort it out girl! As for Tom, he’s far too casual to be a believable CIA agent..he’s more IKEA than CIA..that’s how laid back he is!

Also, the show has to get to grips with the inconsistencies in Jaime’s abilities – why is it she can stop and bend a blade with her bare bionic hand and yet that same hand, on some occasions, cannot help her to pull herself up with ease from a building ledge? Why is it that Jaime is unable to utilise her bionic speed when being held at gunpoint by a man she knows she can out manoeuvre? Why didn’t he windscreen of the car she crashed smash when her bionic foot stepped on it as it came towards her at at least 60mph?

And while I’m ranting let me ask why Jaime goes to missions with heels on? Does she want to damage her toe again or is she secretly hoping to spend some more quality time with Nathan in the repair room? Oh and why O why don’t Burket buy her a better car? I’ve nothing against an old skool SAAB, but considering they can blow $8million at the drop of a hat, you’d think that upgrading her with a faster and more secure car would be a mere drop in the ocean for Burket. What are they, the studios? Come on, share the wealth Burket!

Sorry to continue the rant, but can someone PLEASE get Jaime a new ringtone!!? Honestly, why she even has it on full blast is beyond me - she has bionic hearing!!

I’m being critical here but I feel these are all valid points (well, maybe the not the ringtone one) and aspects which the show needs to address if they don’t want viewers to feel that their intelligence is being insulted.

That aside it was a pretty good episode and things got fairly exciting for a moment back there didn’t they! I thought the episode had a much better ‘feel’ to it – I sensed that something big was at stake, despite Jaime’s laid back approach, this made the show much more exiting. Although I felt they dragged certain scenes out for longer than necessary on occasions, thus losing that extra ‘edge’.

I thought that Isaiah was very good as Antonio- he wont win any awards for his stint on the show but he at least gave it something extra that would otherwise have been lacking. The whole plot, well if I’m being honest, was silly and I just didn’t buy it for a second, but the pacing of the episode kept me entertained (despite a few scenes being a touch drawn out).

They need to give Ruth something to do, honestly, she gets her own office and good pay for what? For giving Jaime sessions which haven’t even begun to get under her skin yet? She needs to redo her psychology degree does our Ruth! I’m just surprised (but relieved) that they didn’t have Jae Lee mopping up the halls in his part time role as Janitor! Are they over-staffed (apparently not seeing as Jonas had to go to Halliburton in 1.02) or just really really bored down at Wolf Creek!? Ah well, I guess it was good to see Ruth leave the office to get a plant – though it would have been much more fun actually seeing her buying the damn thing! Hmm, do you suppose she will end up talking to that plant, seeing as both Jaime and Corvus have proven her sessions to be weak?

Speaking of weak, are they now going OTT with this ‘soft-guy’ Jonas approach? It was fun at first but seriously, let’s see some light and shade, let’s see him slam his fist down on a table or something! Hey, sometimes cliche’s work!

Nathan was good – once again delivering the best line of the episode when asking Jaime what she was wearing – you see Tom, some people have it and some people (like you) just don’t.

Also, I have to mention this – was it just me or was Jaime slow to react to a partner being shot? She’s bionic for goodness sakes, she should have ran him over to the hospital – ahh, but she has to be ‘discreet’ about her abilities right? That’s why she jumped up to a rooftop in broad daylight and why she apprehended a car by fly kicking it, before casually walking away with it’s contents in hand. Yup..discreet is our Jaime. Also, what happened to the optical relay thing? Did she convince Burket that she had a right to keep it turned off? Because I would really have liked to have seen that conversation. Not to mention the fact that a live relay to Burket HQ whilst on that mission would really have helped old Antonio out..Nathan’s insight might even have prevented him from walking into that bullet there.

Despite my ‘constructive’ criticism I did actually like this episode and the show is definitely showing great improvement – I’m just being honest (and perhaps harsher) in my review of this episode because I feel that the show is now at a stage where it can deal with it because it is getting better, faster and stronger. I want it to continue to improve but I feel that it needs direction and a firm hand (obviously not Jaime’s though ; )).

Well done to whoever wrote this episode..much better..far from being up to the level I expect but you gotta walk before you can run (maybe someone should tell Jaime that?), and now that we’re finally walking, let’s see if we can try jogging next week? Just a shame that the WGA strike has given the show cramp..
==============

Episode Rating – a promising 8/10

Best Actor – Isaiah Washington

Best Character – Antonio Pope

Best Quote – “What are you wearing?” (Nathan) – funny because Tom’s SO wasn’t.

Final Thought – I liked this episode even thought it’s hard to articulate why exactly. Please please build on this and make Jaime a bit brighter – is it just me or has she reverted back to her “Paradise Lost” days over the past 2 episodes? Hmm..

Oh, and no Corvus or Anthros..imagine what it would be like to actually include them in one of this ‘good’ episodes. Food for thought NBC, food for thought.

After a two week break due to Halloween, it was good to see Bionic Woman back with a brand new episode. I liked the Jaime/Tom partnership in the previous episode, it felt natural and organic. This episode was slightly different, the writers focused too much on the ‘love story’ when everyone knows that true romance just blossoms. I’m also slightly worried about Jaime..since Will’s ‘death’ she seems determined to sleep with anything that moves. I know she and Tom didn’t actually do anything but it’s clear Jaime wanted it to happen – this is the woman who is supposed to be protecting thousands of lives. The writers need to seriously address this issue and at least give her wreckless motivations some underlying reason – perhaps have her talk about Will once in a while and how his death and deception has effected her outlook on life? As I watched Jaime and Tom on their mission, I wondered what James Bond would’ve made of it all..he’s someone who mixed business with pleasure, but I’m sure even he would’ve been surprised with the liberties these two took during their very important mission. Isn’t Tom supposed to be a highly trained professional? Why not leave the bulk of the romance til the end like any self respecting secret agent?

That aside, I thought it was a good episode – not as good as “Education” but it was a strange and curious yet ‘fun’ detour. The iris recognition thing that Jaime had to do was cool and it was good to see Ruth with a meatier role, although why Jae was even in Paris is beyond me! That man is fast becoming a punch dummy or a soundbite..I haven’t yet made up my mind which. Will Yun Lee is a good actor, but they need to give him something to do..heck I’d take a weekly beating from Jaime for the money Jae’s on!

So yeah, a fun episode but I wonder how ‘fun’ it would be without Nathan – did anyone else laugh at him calling Victor ”Casino Royal”!?

What worked:

• Michelle Ryan looked HOT HOT HOT!
• Nathan was brilliant yet again..he even brought Ruth out of her shell! Go Kevin Rankin!
• The application of Jaime’s bionic eye – good to see it being used in a new way.
• Jonas and Becca – a lot of people have dissed there scenes together, but I quite liked it. It yet again showed the softer side of Jonas and I think Becca appreciated him covering for her. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t think that Miguel Ferrer is being ’challenged’ by the role (far far from it), but when he’s on screen it’s usually a good thing.

What didn’t work

• The Jaime/Tom love angle. They have plenty of chemistry but the writers were too forceful in their attempt to advance their relationship. Would Jaime really attempt to sleep with him whilst on an important mission?
• No Sarah Corvus or Papa Anthros (remember them?). Though it’s understandable seeing as the focus moved to Paris.
• I’m not feeling the way the episodes don’t borrow from one another. They’re far too ‘standalone’. In fact Tom is one of the few things from a previous episode which has been applied to a current episode. The writers need to alter the formula and make the episodes connect more. This will enable the audience to care more for the characters.
• The random Alexis woman (CIA boss?). I mean, honestly what was the point..? She also had some terrible terrible lines (she’s more convincing as Diane in LOST – I think that’s the woman who plays Kate’s mom?)

Best Quote:
Molly: “You do realise that spies don’t really talk that way?”

Nathan: “I know it blows, I’m just trying to bring back the cool”

Best Character:
Nathan

Best Actor:
Kevin Rankin

Episode Rating: 7/10

What Worked:

The opening scene where the man kills his fellow soldiers was awesome in that it instantly presented us with the theme of control and manipulation. This mirrors Sarah Corvus’ claim that she was hacked and ‘made’ to kill the Burket scientists and brought it to a whole new level with not only the notion of non-bionic hacking, but the proof that it can be done..even to ‘humans’. I mean if you can effectively ‘hack’ a human, you bet they can hack a machine, right? Corvus is innocent I say! (well, apart from all those subsequent murders maybe)

Nathan is SO the man! His whole protective rant at Jaime was so funny and believable. Gotta love the tech geek! He’s fast becoming my third favourite character – who would have thought?

Jaime going back to college. OK, so I thought that this would suck, but it was actually rather well done. Particularly the bit near the end where her roommate gave her the results of the paper Jaime completed for her – it was sweet to see Jaime fulfil, if you will,  her ambition to experience further education (something she had to give up due to looking after her sister).

Jaime & Tom. OK I was cynical. I don’t watch BW for the ‘romance’. I get enough pointless love stories watching ‘Heroes’. However, this was good. The chemistry between Ryan and Bridges was fantastic, he managed to bring out that sparkle in Ryan and I dare say she added to his performance too. They are certainly more ‘believable’ than her and Will Anthros (who by the way is no longer boring since his ‘death’), and I think the audience will care more about them as a couple as they lead their double lives and perhaps find solace and understanding in one another. Of course it wont be as simple as that..well, I hope not.

Antonio Pope. You have to hand it to Washington, he knows how to work the camera. I thought he was fantastic in this episode, not only because of his presence and intensity, but because he actually gave a more ‘subtle’ performance, which was perhaps helped by his script allowing his character to show more ‘compassion’?

Jaime’s ‘British’ accent. Yes Yes and YES! Now the only thing I’m left thinking is why they didn’t just make her an English Bionic Woman in the first place!? I think NBC are also wondering this as it almost seemed as if they wanted to see ‘our’ reaction to her accent (which is very clever by the way whoever thought of that script). Although Ryan has done a great job with her American accent, it must be hard work keeping it up when it’s not your natural way of speaking, and I actually think that this may be the reason why some people perceive her character lack ‘emotion’ or ‘life’. Maybe she’s concentrating so hard on getting the accent right that she is not able to harness the rest of her acting talents? After all if I were to suddenly have a new arm it would feel kinda foreign to me for a good few months and I’d imagine that co-ordination would be a problem. So, NBC, here’s my suggestion..ditch the American accent..find a way..get freaky-geeky Nathan to rewire her ‘programming’ (he has a fetish for the English accent, right?) and have her speak in her natural accent. You may get some stick for it, but this is the business you’re in..you’ll think of something. I really think it will be worth the risk because for the first time Ryan (as good as she has been) reminded me of her performance in the outstanding ’Jekyll’. Please bring back the English Bionic Woman..even ‘Tom’ (if that’s his real name) liked it!

What Didn’t Work:

The fight scenes. Was the camera person drunk? Seriously what was going on behind the camera? The filming of the fight scenes was so jumpy and disorientating.

The lighting/editing. What I mean is that the outdoor scenes look so ‘pale’. The colours aren’t ‘rich’ enough for what should be a glossy, super-slick show. I mean take a look at the other Sci-fi shows and they ‘look’ much richer on the eye. Unless it’s a dark scene the BW lighting/editing (whatever) just doesn’t look good. Please sort it out NBC because the visuals shouldn’t be noticeably bad – No-one talks about the great visuals on Heroes because they’re just that..great.

More random terrorists. OK, enough is enough – I know that “this isn’t your moms Bionic Woman”, but do we really need the random terrorist plot week after week?Yes, the world is a scary place, much ‘scarier’ than it was in the 1970′s (or at least that’s what they say) but honestly, there’s more going on than just terrorism. Yes, by all means drop it in there every once in a while, but not every. single . week! If something doesn’t work, get rid of it..that’s what I thought NBC were doing with this show, seeing what works and what doesn’t until the show finds it’s identity? Well, the random terrorist plots don’t work, they look silly and only serve to prop up the much more interesting themes – like neuro-hacking..nowTHAT’s a theme..run with that, heck leap from building to building with it, just cut out the random terrorist plots each and every week. We get it, the world is a scary place..but it’s much more believable when the corners of science and it’s often unethical application in society is explored.

Ruth. What have they done to her?? She’s vastly unemployed after such a promising start. Let the caged bird free..

Recommendation:

Other than the whole ‘bring back the British Bionic Woman’ and lose the ‘constant’ terrorism plots, what I recommend NBC do, is to give the Burket’s a barometer – bring a tangible rival organisation into the picture. Not the CIA, an actual rival ‘bionic’ agency. We need something to compare them against..Jaime is constantly questioning the idea that they are the ‘good guys’, so let’s put this to the test, let’s find out just how ethical Burket really are, let’s find out how far it is acceptable for an organisation to go before it becomes immoral and unethical. We have a plethora of themes and issues which should be explored here. Let’s see whether Jaime, who is doing this on her terms (apparently), is fighting for good, for the ‘greater good’, or for the interests of a few fatcats who simply want to shape the world as they see fit. It always gets sticky when the main protagonist finds out that not only are they a puppet on a string, but every choice they thought they were making, was actually a choice which was made FOR them. Let’s explore the notion of freewill, control, manipulation, personal gain and sacrifice. Let’s see this Bionic Woman become a pawn and then have her fight for her right to be free and to make her own decisions..real decisions which she believes in. Then you have the question of what IS real and what is controlled – we’ve seen it with Corvus..now let’s explore that cautionary tale.

———-

Best Actor: I’m pleased to say that it was Michelle Ryan. The lead actress is coming into her own! 

Best Character: Jaime Sommers

Best Quote: One of many from Nathan’s scenes! Oh and this one from Jaime’s room mate:

“I just like secret food, OK!”

I don’t know why that made me laugh, but that’s the whole point..great stuff!

Worst Quote: (Tom) “You’ve got something on your nose” (or words to that effect)

Excuse me whilst I cringe! ;)

Best Moment: The various scenes which showed people being ‘controlled’ (notably the opening scene).

Worst Moment: The fight scene (daytime). Apart from Jaime knocking the guy out with a Melon, watching it gave me a headache. Sort it out..maybe give the camera technicians some of those neuro-control transmitters (I’m kidding about the last bit..but seriously please sort it out)

Episode Rating: 8/10. I’m tempted to raise this by .5 but I hope that there is still alot more to come.

So now they have me interested again..I’ll admit it, I was beginning to wonder whether I had misjudged my excitement over the premise of this show, but although “TEoJS” wasn’t perfect, it was a continued improvement. I really do think that it will be worth being patient with this show as they find their groove. It’s almost like watching a ‘beta’ project at times, but the fact that they have a new show runner suggests that NBC are in this for the long haul, and if they keep on improving then my interest in the show will continue to peak. The biggest compliment that I can pay this episode was the fact that the lead actress did just that, she led and she was brilliant. Furthermore, four of my favourite characters were absent – Papa Anthros, Sarah Corvus, Jae Lee and Becca Sommers – yet I honestly didn’t care.

Now the bad news is that just when things get interesting, NBC decide to put another show on in it’s place for Halloween, so no new episode next week. Bionic Woman returns on November 7.

This week, I’ve broken my views down in to what I felt worked and didn’t work:

What worked:

-Jaime’s reaction to Becca ‘making out’ – This was actually a believable scene and it allowed us to see Jaime using her bionic installations for personal use – much to the displeasure of Jonas.

-Jaime and Nathan. I’m fast becoming a Nathan fan! I like his quips and the way he and Jaime interact. He SO wants her, but it does cross my mind as to whether he likes ‘Jaime’ or the technology that is inside of her. After all, he is a tech-freak.

-Sarah being carted away, ala Hannibal Lecter, as she makes small talk with Jaime as if she didn’t threaten to kill Becca the week earlier (or whatever the timescale currently is in this show). Funny stuff!

-Finding out about Jaime’s “5 year” bionic lifespan was a good device. Kinda knew it was coming seeing as we found out about Sarah’s the week before, but it was a good move. Just a shame we didn’t focus more on this potentially interesting theme.

-Fight scene between Jaime and Antonio (although I would like to know how Antonio escaped from ‘bad guy hideout’ in the first place..)

-The idea that Will Anthros was working outside of the Burket Group. As Jonas said: “I don’t think we knew Will as well as he thought”. Basically, Will is getting more and more interesting since his ‘death’! Was he selling bionics to the highest bidder, just like his father before him?

What Didn’t Work:

-Sarah’s escape. Fair enough they explained the ease of her capture by her admitting to Jae that she ‘wanted’ to get caught, but her escape was far to ‘easy’ and rather disappointing.

-Sarah and Burket interrogation. Apart from the line where Sarah admits to Ruth that’s she’s “crazy” and where she references “Mr. Ed”, I found the interaction between Burket (Jonas, Ruth, Jae) and Sarah, unbelievable. It needed more tension and better dialogue. A missed opportunity for some real character development methinks!

-Jaime’s decision making. OK, she saved the CIA guy, but why did she give him the flash file? Would she REALLY trust him enough to do that? Maybe I’m being picky, but that just made no sense…she previously didn’t strike me as stupid.

-Fan bending. I know what they were trying to do here (i.e. give Jaime something ‘cool’ to do), but what was the purpose of that fan other than to give Jaime something ‘cool’ to do, lol!? Also, would the fan really continue to work afterwards, and stop every single bullet that the bad guys fired? Perhaps it’s a super fan..

-The scene were she did her bionic leaps as the bad guys fired bullets at her was cool (it certainly looked cool in the trailers), but wasn’t it a bit convenient that she just happened to get shot and land in the exact spot where she would have ended up had she followed Mr. CIA man (which would’ve been the logical thing to do anyway!)?

-So Will, who works for a top secret agency, leaves all of his data on Jaime’s bionics on one flash file? Maybe limiting the data to one source is not such a bad idea, but the whole plot device about the CIA man getting caught just seemed so random!

All in all this was quite a mixed bag, however something kept me interested. Whether it’s the promise of things to come, the hope that Mark Sheppard might grace the episode with his presence or the faith that they will finally start driving home the powerful themes..whatever it was, I still enjoyed it enough to watch the episode in full. However it has to get better than this, I’m used to quality shows and demand that ‘BW’ doesn’t waste this opportunity to give us themes which no other show currently can. Come on guys, don’t waste this chance!

Best character: Antonio Pope – not great in this episode but he gives us that ‘curveball’ intensity and makes me laugh when he ‘tries’ to face off again Jaime..like duh, she’s bionic, dude! He must like getting kicked through walls!

Best Actor: Michelle Ryan (OK, Jaime was dumb in this episode, but I thought Michelle gave the best performance. Wasn’t feeling Katee this time, perhaps it’s down to her script?).

Best moment: The Antonio/Jaime fight (Incidentally is THIS why it was called ‘Face Off’? I can’t think of any other reason…except maybe for the capture of Sarah. But that was hardly a face off..more a passing glance!). Anyway, the fight sequence still rocked!

——–

Best Quote:

Ruth: “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”

Sarah: “..If Mr. Ed wont drink, you grab him by the mane and hold him under…he’ll swallow”

—-

Worst Quote

Jonas (to Jae) “You want to help her..help her help herself”.

——–

Main Episode Theme: Trust, trust and trust..did I say TRUST?

——-

Overall Episode Rating: 7/10

*Coming soon: “Face Off” Episode Investigations

So Will Anthros is dead – OK, major shock, didn’t see that coming! Maybe that will teach you to not run off to play with Sarah Corvus after your boyfriend has just been shot, Jaime..I mean there is such a thing as 911! I must stress that I don’t actually think Will is dead, but i’ll come to that another time.

Jaime grieves by breathing in Will’s scent (yuk!), before stumbling upon a secret spy-file that he had been keeping on her, dating back 2 years before they ‘met’. Hmm, these Burket people sure like to test the water before they actually introduce themselves properly, don’t they Antonio. Anyway, I can understand Jaime’s confusion and anger over making this discovery, but I’m not sure why they nearly made her lose her dignity in a public toilet? Sorry, but much like the sex montage with Will last week, this seemed out of place and unnecessary.

Another thing that sucked was the insensitivity of Jaime’s ‘friends’. Erm, she’s just lost her boyfriend and they’re so caught up in their own selfish issues. This may be true to life but I just didn’t like that scene..at least bring Crystal Lowe in so I have something good to look at if I’m going to have to watch stuff like that!

Now for my biggest complaint..and this one is even worse than the annoying “I just think it’s cool that girls can do that” girl from last week – enter ‘Vivian’, the girl with the heart made of stone. So she has just found out that her grandparents have been killed in a terrorist attack..whilst she slept..and she doesn’t even shed a tear…What!? To make things worse she goes on to utter “They were good to me”, Yes Vivian..too good, by the looks of things. So that was bad acting..but more so it was terrible writing, I mean seriously.

But thankfully it wasn’t all bad, somehow Isaiah Washington managed to save the episode with a polished performance as Antonio Pope. I like his character, not as much as I like Sarah Corvus or Papa Anthros, but he’s interesting, layered and seems to be well acted, thus far. This episode really needed more Corvus, however, and what we saw of her was some more good character building, as my suspicions of her being ‘forced’ to kill those BG scientists gained credence. Afterall, she’s half computer and computers can be hacked.

Speaking of hacking, another bright spark in this episode was Becca. I like her snarky attitude and her interaction with her elder sister is actually believable. The montage scene at the end was good and once again we have evidence that they made the right decision in replacing Mae Whitman with Lucy Hale.

Jae Lee really likes the sound of his own voice, and whilst I loved his “The machine is nothing without the woman”soundbite, he really needs to let Jaime get a word in edge-ways! This is afterall, HER show, lol.

The episode had some other good lines, but you could tell that even the likes of Molly Price (again excellent) and Miguel Ferrer struggled with the script at times.

All in all it was an ‘OK’ episode, overall, the writing was fairly bad in places and the direction they took was disjointed, and at times, baffling. There were far too many eye-rolling moments and moments of dialogue which just seemed ‘off’. We need more layering of characters, more emotion, better character interaction and better production values (seriously make the visuals more glossy). They need to look at LOST and see why that is such a success. For example, every scene should be important and should act as a set-piece to the larger plot. The creators need to start making the characters people who we can emotionally invest in, not ones we actually detest, when that is not the overriding intention - i.e. Vivian. 

My disappointment is amplified due to the potential this show has – the themes are so powerful and interesting, but the worry is that we’ll waste too much tome seeing Jaime having drunken sex in public toilets before we get the explore these themes. I’m sure next weeks episode will be better, we mustn’t forget that the show is still finding it’s feet and most shows take a while before they fall into a rhythm. With the likes of Katee Sackhoff, Miguel Ferrer, Isaiah Washington, Molly Price and Mark Sheppard on board, I still have every faith that this show will live up to the hype. Just make sure next weeks episode is ‘better’ and ‘stronger’, Mr Eick.

————-

Best Quotes:

Jaime “I’m faster than you are”

Ruth ”Only at running”

———–

Jae (to Jaime) “The machine is nothing without the woman”

———-

Worst Quote:

Vivian (finding out her grandparents have been murdered) “They were good to me” (notice the absence of any tears or concern whatsoever)

————-

Best Performer: Isaiah Washington (Antonio Pope)

———–

Some Select Shots:

“RIP Steve..er..I mean, Will”

“Thank You for saving this episode, Isaiah!”

“Listen..not everyone can jump rooftops like Corvus and I!”

“YUM!”

———–

EPISODE RATING: 6/10 - The best is definitely yet to come.

*I should add, that the character of Vivian does interest me in regards to ‘how’ she managed to survive, whislt the rest of ‘Paradise’ died..however apart from that, she was awful.

What did YOU think about this episode?

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!

I thought that the episode began brilliantly with Sarah Corvus and Jae Lee setting the pace and the angst of the episode. Seriously, those are the words I would use to describe this episode because ALOT happens and there is plenty of gritty realism (moulded with science!). Speaking of which I found Michelle Ryan’s performance believable – she portrays an ordinary woman thrown into an extraordinary situation with great skill and integrity. I found myself willing Jaime to succeed as she first stumbles and then leaps her way through the various obstacles that she faces in this episode. I think it’s crucial that the viewing public are sympathetic to this character and boy does she have me invested.

So what about the other characters? I couldn’t really find a weak link. All of the main characters add value to the show – Sarah Corvus is the obvious standout character. I think that she could possibly be one of the best TV Characters we will see over the next 12 months..that’s how awesome she is. I didn’t know much about Katee Sackhoff before Bionic, but I can see why she is so highly regarded – she has bucket-loads of charisma, style, guile and she is beautiful..absolutely beautiful to look at – so much so that her rather ‘manic’ grin adds to her aesthetics rather than detracting from them. Sarah has an interesting back story, as I mentioned in my Episode Notes, she was hired to kill Will Anthros by the guy who breaks Anthony Anthros out of jail – so there’s a whole interesting storyline going on there.

I thought that the characters of Jonas Bledsoe, Ruth Truewell and Jae Lee were well acted – I found myself wanting to find out more about all three characters and it will be interesting to see how Isaiah Washington’s character fits into their hierarchy. I can already see how he could act as an awesome counter-balance to Jae Lee.

I have to give props to Mark Sheppard- he only had about 2 minutes of screen-time, but man did he do a great job with Anthony Anthros! The guy is just awesome – I totally know what Producer Smilovic meant now!

As for the now re-casted Mae Whitman, well watching it a second time I found her not too bad. She wasn’t brilliant but until I see Lucy Hale’s performance it will be hard to tell whether the right decision has been made. But I don’t think it’s a ‘travesty’ she has gone.

Overall this original Pilot was good and the best thing about it is that is has me wanting more. I thought the mixture of science, ethics, love and humanity used throughout was just about right. On the downside the visuals need touching up a bit, things seemed a bit bleak and grey. I don’t mind dark setting’s but dark with a bit of gloss would be nice (ala ‘Heroes’). As I mentioned earlier, alot happens..perhaps too much? I think they needed to pad out certain parts and offer more context. I also wasn’t best pleased that they skirted over the issue of Jaime’s baby dyeing – a 2 minute montage of ‘surgically changed’ Jaime and Will making love was a bit, shall we say, off-key. Oh and why did Jaime leave Will to die after being shot by Corvus? ..where’s her priorities!?..and after her rooftop dance with Corvus she STILL didn’t seem too worried - even after seeing him being strapped into an ambulance? Could her ‘machine side’ (if you will) be de-humanising her already? I’d rather that than a plot-hole to be honest.

———

‘OH YES..THAT ROCKED!’ MOMENTS:

1.Rooftop Battle – This is such a great scene, I challenge anyone to not love this! What can I say?..the whole thing was great, from the way Sarah initially turns her back on Jaime to her soon to be iconic “tadah!” to the way she lays the smack down on Jaime to Jaime’s second-wind as she begins to harness her abilities and fights back. It was simply O..M..G! Great visuals in ‘that’ scene also..and i’m not just talking about the hotness of Michelle and Katee :)

2. The remainder of Jaime’s Bionics going online whilst she’s working. I thought this was a great way to show her experiencing the ‘machine within’, as she suddenly develops all these new abilities that she didn’t have before. It was also great the way Sarah, wearing bright red lipstick(!), toys with Jaime but then shows alot of empathy as she helps her. It was just a nice moment which emphasised the light and shade of her character.

3. Jaime being imprisoned by the Burket Group whilst they figure out what to do with her – Jaime walks up to the ‘non-see through’ glass and says “BOO!” to Jonas who is watching her from the other-side. This was great, as she seemed so de-humanised yet appeared to be realising that they couldn’t keep her for long. Jonas’ smile was also great.

‘THAT STINKS!’ MOMENTS:

1. The little girl who notices Jaime using her Bionic speed says to her mom “I just think it’s cool that girls could do that”. I mean COME ON..hello!??..lines like this will take us back to the 1960′s, never-mind the 1970′s! I get the point they wanted to make, but surely there was a better – less ridiculous – way to do it? I don’t like having my intelligence insulted thank you very much! I hope that doesn’t show up in the final version of the Pilot.

2. Padding – this episode lacked a bit of padding and with so much happening it really did need a 2nd viewing for me to get the most out of the episode. I hope they address this.

3. Jaime and Jonas in their final scene – what was up with the dialogue!? Very clumsy in parts:

“If we do this, whatever this is, then we do it on my terms”

Ok Jaime, but what if your terms, whatever your terms are, conflict with my terms, whatever my terms are?.. LOL!

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Performance ratings:

I rate all performances ‘relative’ to what they had to do and the impact they made upon me as a viewer. I have also taken into consideration that this was a ‘pre-air’ Pilot:

• Michelle Ryan -    7.5/10 – Good start
• Katee Sackhoff -   9/10 – Awesome!
• Miguel Ferrer -    7.5/10 – The bad-good guy..I like
• Molly Price -         7.5/10 – Suprisingly good
• Will Yun Lee -       7/10 – Will do better, but OK
• Mark Sheppard -  8/10 – WOW.
• Mae Whitman -    7/10 – Did OK

OVERALL EPISODE RATING 7./10

Ryan over at wathcingbionicwoman.com has also given his review of the Pilot (final cut). It’s well worth checking out. Also I will be posting my Episode Notes and Review of the ‘Final Cut’ Pilot soon, so check back!

Careful: Some Spoilers from the Pilot follow:

Bionic Woman has a number of things going for it. For starters, while it does drift occasionally into sci-fi territory, it looks like it will be very accessible to non-geeks. The relationship between Jaime and her sister will most likely be developed throughout the series. There was enough of that shown in the first episode to suggest that there are some problems with Becca that will need to be addressed at some point.

There is definitely more to Jaime’s back-story than we got to see in the first episode. One of the things that struck me as a bit odd was how, with the exception of her initial freak-out over the powers she has, she appeared to take to her new super-strength fairly quickly. Normally, I’d complain about this because frankly, it’s unrealistic, even for television. After all, she is just a bartender. But it was mentioned at one point in the episode that she has some kind of criminal record – an incident from her past that was sealed by the courts. This could explain her somewhat tough-guy attitude.

I find this interesting as I have been thinking about how quickly Jaime becomes ‘assured’ of her abilities. I had put it down to one of two things – one being that the (pre-aired) Pilot had alot of stuff happen and so they wanted to expedite Jaime’s ‘realisation’ – and the other being that her Bionics had actually started to influence the way she felt about herself..almost as if her ‘machine-side’ was beginning to take hold of her – an issue which we may see develop in future episodes.

Anyway, you can read the whole review HERE.

I’m planning to get my BW Pilot review posted soon.

In short, the new Bionic Woman is less dense in the interpersonal aspects, and more polished in the blackened science fiction murk that it seeks to bring. The color temperature is up, but the mood is down.

‘Polishing’ was the very thing I thought the pre-aired Pilot needed so i’m glad that they have touched it up somewhat. “The mood is down” – say what? From what I saw the mood was fairly low as it was – i’m interested in seeing just how much lower the mood is! He continues:

The most obvious loss is Jamie Sommers’ deaf sister. Replaced now by a typically mouthy teenager, this loss is one that viewers of both versions of Bionic Woman may feel the most. Having Jamie’s sister be deaf gave the series an irony that could be oft recycled in some seriously confounding ways. Here you have a character, Jamie, who is brought back from horrible mutilation without her consent, walking around keeping the very technology that could restore her sisters hearing a total secret.

Having seen the pre-air and been rather disappointed with Mae’s performance i’m not too fussed about her absence, though I do accept the loss of some worthwhile irony. However is there not also irony in the fact that Jaime’s ‘new’ sister is a computer hacker..? I’ll be interested to see just how they play Lucy Hale’s role..

Those of use who savor characters and conflict will mourn the loss of Bionic Woman‘s more challenging architectural features, but fun loving science fiction fans probably won’t bat an eye at the absence of them

Erm..I savor characters and conflict..yet i’m also a fun loving science fiction fan, so where does that leave me, Jon!? I’m pretty sure the fans of Bionic can’t be so easily pigeon-holed. As for the loss of challenging architectural features, i’m pretty sure he’s referring to Mae’s absence..oh and the loss of the chimpanzee’s? Look they’re gone, get over it already (sorry John, it’s just i’ve heard so many people bemoan this)! In all seriousness though I will wait to see the re-tooled version before I comment too much on these ‘losses’ – but I can give my ‘opinion’ and in my opinion those losses are ones which can be sustained.

You can read Jon’s full review HERE.

Bionic Woman lands on our screens Sept. 26, 9/8c on NBC