TV Jots

Bionic Woman had boatloads of potential. The showrunners were not only reimagining a series that was a fond childhood memory for many TV watchers of a certain age, but they were getting the chance to potentially reinvent, or at least revise, the basic plot to attract a new generation of science-fiction, superhero, and television fans who’ve been weaned on bigger, better, and faster action fare.

Someone must have thought casting Battlestar Galactica veteran Katee Sackhoff would be a good thing, an easy way to earn the series instant credibility in specific circles and effortlessly acquire a base audience. Perhaps that worked out as planned, too, but it also caused critics to voice their observation that Sackhoff has a much stronger screen presence than series star Michelle Ryan.

I disagree that Sackhoff overshadows Ryan. What she does is distract from Ryan and anyone else occupying the same scene, thanks to her unnecessarily exaggerated facial expressions (my least favorite is the oft-repeated, pop-eyed “I’m a wackadoo” stare with her head tilted to one side) and painfully affected manner (the smiling while menacing thing worked the first time maybe, but after the third go-round, it got more than a little tired).

I’m guessing those “quirks” are supposed to help bad bionic babe Sarah Corvus seem scarier and dirtier. Even if they did, that wouldn’t make the overdone mannerisms any less annoying. The fewer scenes Corvus is in, the better the show becomes, though not by much.

Sackhoff isn’t the only turnoff, however. The unimaginative, generic super-spygirl plots do a good job, too. We’ve had the “Jaime gets buff and struggles to cope with her secret life” episode (“Paradise Lost”), the “Jaime pretends to be a bodyguard” episode (“Sisterhood”), the “Jaime discovers an earth-shattering secret about her abilities” episode (“Faceoff”), and the “Jaime goes undercover and gets the hots for her mark” episode (“The Education of Jaime Sommers”). Which one of those have you not already seen elsewhere and likely done better? If you draw a blank, I suggest watching a little Alias, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and/or Dark Angel. Just a dab will do.

Coming soon, Jaime will learn that her father really works for a spy agency, too, which is why he’s such a lousy absentee parent. And, her dead mom was also an undercover agent, preferably born and raised in a foreign country. Oh, and she’s not really dead. Each episode will include mandatory filler comprised of humdrum undercover missions in which Jaime always gets the last blow in with one of her bionic limbs or abilities.

At regular intervals, her sister (Lucy Hale) will continue to whine ad nauseam, until Jaime ultimately reneges on her vow to keep her sister safe by remaining close-mouthed and instead spills every last bean about her dangerous job. That, of course, will force her employer, the Berkut Group, to either kill or recruit young Becca. Or, maybe she’ll just be murdered or held hostage by an enemy agency, if she doesn’t work for one already. All outcomes apply equally well.

In all seriousness, the current series does succeed in terms of making the central character Jaime Sommers a contemporary, independent, self-sufficient young woman with a distinct personality. If only she had some compelling and truly subversive plots to go with her spunky attitude and enviable fighting skills, and to deepen the pilot episode’s dark and moody atmosphere. Now it’s all mundane backdrops with intermittent snark.

There was much promise in the Mark Sheppard storyline involving his character Anthony Anthros, the escaped convict father of Jaime’s late fiancé, and his malevolent intentions for the bionics technology he established. Yet, Anthros has virtually disappeared from the show all together recently, leaving viewers who want some depth to go with their slick nearly empty-handed.

I’ll continue to watch Bionic Woman whenever I have the chance out of a sense of duty to sci-fi programming, all the while hoping that it’ll get better eventually but not holding my breath.

The Verdict: C

Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Bionic Woman, Katee Sackhoff, Michelle Ryan, NBC, television, tv