Bionic Woman

(2007)
I saw Michelle Ryan in the disappointing 4.3.2.1. and liked her in the small role she had, so I decided to take in something where she was the lead. BW had only eight episodes, and thus was a relatively minor time investment; Netflix supplied the two discs. I liked the Six Million Dollar Man, but then, I was nine or so when it initially aired. I have a fondness for meta-human stories and I also have a soft spot for strong female leads, so this seemed like a shoo-in. After only a few viewings, however, I saw easily why it only lasted a quarter-season. While the basic premise is sound (woman gets in accident, her boyfriend is a surgeon, he implants bionics limbs and an eye/ear), and some of the casting is good, the show had considerable trouble finding its footing. As above, Michelle Ryan plays the lead, Jamie Summers, and shes fine. Shes able to sell the action, and shes a capable enough actress for this show. It doesnt hurt that shes surrounded by a strong supporting cast Miguel Ferrer plays her boss, Jonas, and her main trainer, Antonio, is Isaiah Washington, as well as a nice turn by Lucy Hale as her too-cute-for-words younger sister, Beccabut Ryan is talented enough for the demands of this show. Shes attractive enough to rope in the male viewers, but not so distractingly hot to drive away the female viewers. The relationship with her sister is fairly well done, and the contrast between her home life and her work life, usually the dead weight that kills a show like this, is reasonably well-handled. Throw in a potential boyfriend (a CIA agent, Tom Hastings, played by Jordan Bridges, who strongly calls to mind an adult Xander Harris [he strongly resembles Nicolas Brendan]) who is enjoyable, and you have a nice mixtureno? Sadly, no. Unfortunately the first four episodes expend far too much time and energy dealing with the first bionic woman, Sarah Corvus (Katee Sackhoff), whos kind of a bitch and a pain in the ass; instead of allowing Jamie time to develop and breathe, shes immediately thrown up against an evil twin of hers, and the powers that be (were?) allow Sarah far too much airtime. Jamie isnt given enough chance to develop in the first four episodes, and Sackhoff chews the scenery almost as badly as Moriarty in Sherlock; shes bad, shes conflicted, and worse, shes dying, and only the original bionic scientist, Anthony (Mark Sheppard, far better known as Crowley on Supernatural) seems interested in helping her. She dominates the proceedings in the first four episodes, cramping Jamies style and effectively robbing her and the show of a lot of its mojo. On the second disk (episodes 5-8), we focus on Jamie as the lead and deal with her difficulty in dealing with her new life and lying to her sister about it. The second four episodes are so much better and more satisfying than the first that it feels like an entirely new writing staff came in and decided to plot the show in a new direction, ditching the Sarah storyline completely (thank you), and developing Jamie, her relationships with her co-workers and her sister, and getting her more deeply involved in the morally ambiguous world of espionage. The show really picks up in the second disc and

becomes a lot more enjoyable, but its hard to recover from a wasted set-up and the mistakes made in the first four episodes. Ryan is well cast; Jamie is both strong and vulnerable, and her relationship with her sister is largely well-realized. Once she is free of the albatross that is Sackhoff, she comes into her own. Ferrer can do this sort of thing in his sleep, but hes enjoyable here. Washington also turns in a good performance, and while Lucy Hale isnt given that much to do beyond playing the needy/rebellious teen, shes fun. The show utterly squandered its set-up and first four episodes, but the second four were largely engaging, and, if they represent the direction the show was trending, its kind of a shame it was canceled. By no means was this a great show, and again, the pissing away of so much time and attention on the Sackhoff character in the initial episodes crippled the show. I very much enjoyed the back half of the collection and was sorry to see it end so abruptly. Word to the wise: when you have an engaging central character, dont dissipate your energy by focusing on an annoying villain. Give people what they enjoy a character they connect with and allow them to develop a liking of and a relationship with her. Im reluctant to say this show is worth your time investment; you have to watch the inferior first disc to completely understand and enjoy the second half of the episodes, and Im not sure the payoff is worth it. Overall I enjoyed it, but again, I completely understand why it was canceled. June 9, 2013