Wow, what an episode that was! Not only did “The Education of Jaime Sommers” combine interesting scientific themes with plenty of funny moments, but it also integrated some much needed on-screen chemistry, particularly between Michelle Ryan and Jordan Bridges. All this without Katee Sackhoff or Mark Sheppard.
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.
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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.
