(S01E02)"God you're a douche." - Jaime, to Jonas
Last week I mentioned that Bionic Woman had a lot of Alias in it, and the opening scenes of this second episode solidifies that viewpoint a little bit more, with Jaime's fiancee dead and her friends moving on with their lives ("I'm gonna to be a scumbag lawyer, you guys!") and Jaime stuck at a bartending job and feeling a little lost, a little unfulfilled.
Time to save the world!
But first Jaime has to be convinced. In fact, she pretty not only tells Jonas off after he approaches her, but she gets drunk and starts to have sex with some random dude in the men's room of the bar. Sydney Bristow would never do that! What is this, The Bionic Drunken Whore?
Jaime isn't sure about The Secret Organization (TSO) that saves the world (neither would you if you found out that your fiancé had been keeping a dossier on you two years before you met), but I would say working there has to be better than spending all of her time raising an ungrateful, annoying (and clichéd) younger sister who is caught smoking pot at school. The younger sister says "Maybe I should just move in with dad!" and I said to the TV, "YES, MAYBE YOU SHOULD!" That way the sister would be pushed to "guest star" status and we wouldn't have to see her every week.
Speaking of: Isaiah Washington is a "special guest star," and he meets Jaime at the bookstore (in one of the quickest meetings ever - one minute Jaime is with her friends at lunch and the next scene she's talking with Antonio Pope and his dog). She's reading What Color Is Your Parachute 2008 (nice touch) and the two talk about dogs and life and finding your way. At one point she says "I don't know why I'm telling you this," and I was thinking the same thing (the answer I came up with is "because the script says so").
And if you've seen any show similar to Bionic Woman in the past 10 years you know that Pope is MORE THAN HE SEEMS.
After saving a suicidal woman on a rooftop (how convenient!), Jaime decides she does want to save the world after all, plus she heard that TSO has a great dental plan and 401k. Jonas introduces her to Antonio. Bastard doesn't even really own a dog! We're then treated to a Rocky-like montage of training scenes with Jae, and to tell you the truth, this - OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THE SHOT OF MICHELLE RYAN'S RACK WHEN SHE'S DOING ONE-ARMED PULLUPS?! - scene is actually effective (if predictable). There's even a gadget/tech guy at TSO just like Marshall from Alias that we can expect lighter moments from.
The first assignment is to go to a small town that has been wiped out by an airborne toxin. Jaime and Ruth go to the town to investigate, find military men there but the whole town (201 people) dead. They do find a teen girl alive. She had just come to town to visit her grandmother and...oh, the plot is rather boring, actually. Suffice to say that Jaime beats up a military guy, Pope shows up, and Jonas tells her "welcome" to the team. (Side note: anyone else notice how much Ruth looks a lot like Sarah? Probably just coincidental casting, but I wonder if that could be a plot point...)
We do find out that Sarah and Jae weren't just lovers, they were married (still?). We'll see what happens with that down the road.
This second episode was better than the first, even if the toxin plot felt rushed and the ep was filled with clichés. And I'm still not sure I like Ryan in the lead role. Does anyone else think she's playing the role oddly, half soap opera lame and half way too snarky?
Next week Sarah shows up and the two Bionic Chicks fight again - only this time Sarah might be an ally! Yeah, right, I'm not going to fall for that, NBC promo editors.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-03-2007 @ 11:08PM
Megan said...
My teenagers and I have enjoyed both the Bionic Woman and Life. My 13 year old son likes them both........he is very picky about anything that isn't on Comedy Central or the SciFi channel. I am looking forward to see how this version of Jamie will develop.
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10-03-2007 @ 11:09PM
Michelle said...
Could the writers possibly give Jaime Sommers a back story that involves some time spent in Britain so Michelle Ryan could focus less on her faux American accent and more time on actually being animated on screen?
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10-03-2007 @ 11:35PM
Aberdeen said...
I think her accent's okay. I can barely hear any Cockney in it, and I think that's what most people are familiar with concerning her.
As for this ep, I thought it was kind of meh. Not bad, not great, not much zing. Looks like next week will be much better, though.
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10-04-2007 @ 12:04AM
Tedjs said...
Second week got even better than the first.
And how about Battlestar Galactica (new) being on in the house that Jamie and Ruth went into.
Great show...
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10-04-2007 @ 12:06AM
Jay said...
I had high hopes for Bionic Woman after watching the first episode. It was a very good set up for the long series ahead. Ryan was hot, and Sarah has some quirky, entertaining one liners.
However, the 2nd episode was full of cliches and was sub-par compared to other primetime action dramas. You need to engage the audiences and make them be worried about the welfare of Somers, and cheer for her. (I remember doing exactly that when watching Wagner in the 70s) I could not get serious about this virus stuff, not scarey at all.
I will give it another chance or two, and watch the third, and maybe forth, episode(s).
I will end my comment with a quote from the first episode, "Producer, you will have to do better than that!"
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10-04-2007 @ 1:27AM
Walt said...
Okay, so it's no HEROES. They're shooting for low expectations and hitting their marks. It's good counter programming against Criminal Minds, but it's got a ways to go to convince me it's worth watching on a regular basis.
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10-04-2007 @ 1:43AM
Nabby said...
They should rename this show "Bionic Trailer Trash".
This new Jaime Summers is a seriously uninteresting dame, in part because of Michelle Ryan's lacklustre and odd performance, but also because of the writers' decision to make her such a drab, muddled dorkette. Your review was spot on, Bob, our new bionic broad does come across as "snarky", and sometimes as surly, and a lot of the time as just plain boring.
On top of all that, we have her younger sister, who comes across as an ever more annoying pain in the butt!
Here's a thought for the writers. Ditch the sister, and instead bring in K-Fed in the part of Jaime's live-in boyfriend. It could be a perfect fit. And unless flat stringy hair is considered vital to the character, try getting Jaime a better shampoo.
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10-04-2007 @ 1:45AM
publius said...
you know what this show does? it sucks. hard.
it's a moronic cross between sex and the city and 24.
the dialogue is beyond awful, the acting not much better.
we get a nice mix of propaganda ("don't the american people have a right to know about this?" "if we told the people about this they'd panic...") and soft-core porn (ooohh....that suggestively dangling free hand as jamie does one-armed pull-ups...and those breasts!).
this is lowest common denominator crap. if you're over the age of 16 and you think this show is good...you're way beyond help.
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10-04-2007 @ 2:09AM
Billy said...
Some people can be such moralizing prigs.
Jaime had a bad day, got a bit drunk, and decided to have sex with a stranger in a dingy men's room. Millions of people do that every day. That doesn't make her dull, it makes her a realistic, ground-breaking television heroine for the 21st century. Someone girls and women across America can look up to and emulate.
As for her being snarky and having stringy hair, with a rack like that, who cares?
And as for the plot, well, like I said, with a rack like that, who cares?
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10-04-2007 @ 2:45AM
Randall said...
Attention: TV Squad. What's with you? Reviewing this sack of crap while ignoring Criminal Minds? Come on!
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10-04-2007 @ 6:30AM
Usama said...
I had not liked the pilot episode so I didn't watch this week (plus, I was very busy). After reading this review my only regret is not being there for the infamous pull-up. Well that's not true, I'm glad I didn't watch it. It's too bad about the terrible writing and clichés.
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10-04-2007 @ 7:01AM
greg said...
I liked this episode, people say it was boring but just because she has bionics now, doesnt mean she should be able to kick but from the start. The girl don't know how to fight, thats why she is in training, give her ( and the show ) time.
One more thing...... bathroom sex can be fun, trust me!!
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10-04-2007 @ 8:57AM
Anita said...
I didn't like the pilot episode. I think it has promise and Michele Ryan has talent. Plus, I really like the director's style and the film quality. However, NBC has reduced it to a sci-fi numbers game & by hitting the cliches,& only doing those. In doing so, it's shutting off the possibility of doing something interesting.
Whiny teenaged sister who she must raise alone? Check.
Fiancee at secret organization who wants to make a difference? Check.
A lead with a high IQ who incongruently works at some dive? Check.
A lead who agrees to cooperate, but only if they do it 'her way'? Check.
Come on, NBC, if you're going to redo the Bionic Woman you should build her bigger, stronger, better & faster . . .
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10-04-2007 @ 9:13AM
eric f. said...
Some of you should not be so snobbish about your tv. There is nothing trashy about Bionic Woman. It's filmed with style and the second ep was an improvement over the pilot, IMO.
@ Nabby, "trailer trash"? She is so covered up in the show I was surprised when we got a glimpse of (as TV Squad puts it) that Smokin' Rack.
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10-04-2007 @ 9:47AM
kevjohn said...
Paradise Lost? I can think of a much better title for this episode: Strike Two.
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10-04-2007 @ 10:05AM
Steve said...
This show is full of cliches. Why is the boyfriend suddenly dead he got shot in shoulder he seems ok she runs after Starbuck. It he was so seriously injured why didn't she try to help him.
Her relationship with her sister is so stupid they fight in the middle then kiss and make up in the end just like the first episode.
What this show needs is more Starbuck it at least seems like her character has some back story.
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10-04-2007 @ 10:17AM
Bob Mc said...
Dittos, kevjohn. I still really want to like this show, but it's not letting me.
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10-04-2007 @ 10:50AM
David said...
I stopped watching about 45 minutes through. The "plot" was pathetically pedestrian. This is a step 10 years back in TV writing. I have, sadly, deleted "The Bionic Woman" from my DVR's series list :( What a disappointment.
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10-04-2007 @ 12:08PM
Kevinc said...
Could they possibly throw in another spin shot? Are we going to ride the merry-go-round every time she uses her hearing?
Just because the doorman thinks they are married doesn't make it so! Why the hell didn't he just shoot her in the face again??
This was strike two. I'll give it one more.
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10-04-2007 @ 1:01PM
seamus said...
I'd like to see them retool the show by throwing a serious twist into the plot. (Actually, I couldn't care less what they do with The Bionic Woman since I have no plans to watch the show after having been entirely unimpressed by the first episode. It's not a good sign when you watch a pilot and spend the entire episode thinking about how you would have done it differently.)
Still my idea is to allow the show to build predictably for 8 or 10 episodes and then have Jamie die. At which point, you realize the title role is really Sarah.
The Sarah character is a lot more interesting with a lot of anger and baggage within the organization. Is Sarah a bad rogue agent or is she actually on the side of good, trying to bring down a corrupt government agency and its unnatural human-based weapons. (There is potential for good internal conflict and complexity in her character.) And she can actually act.
This approach would save of us from the poor acting, clichéd characters, and the teenage hacker (who I think they showed using a Mac?). And it would also give the producers an opportunity to flip everything upside down, retooling all the characters (or our perception of them) and any other element that isn't working.
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