Media Maven Musings

With 4 episodes now in the bag, I think it’s pretty clear what Bionic Woman is all about. It’s not riveting, can’t-wait-til-next-week kind of stuff, but it’s entertaining, well produced and very unique (um, aside from that original Bionic Woman). It can’t hold a candle to exec-producer David Eick’s other Katee Sackhoff sci-fi adventure, Battlestar Galactica (mini-series Razor debuts on Sci-Fi in 2 weeks!), but it certainly can hold its own. Let’s take a look at the specifics of last night’s episode:

1. Becca – It’s a good thing they cast 18-year-old hottie Lucy Hale as Jamie Sommers’ little sis (it was originally supposed to be Egg, I mean Plain, I mean Ann, from Arrested Development– and she was supposed to be deaf!) because her part is so damn boring.  I understand how absolutely necessary the little sister/big sister relationship is to the show– it keeps Jamie grounded in humanity and more importantly, provides her greatest weakness.  But can’t they come up with something better than this cliche trust issues stuff?  I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: Until Becca knows about Jamie’s secret (she’s half robot!), this relationship will be tiresome and lame.  Count on it.

2. Dr. Burke — …shall henceforth be known as Antonio!  Why?  Because its a cool name, it fits him well, and Grey’s Anatomy is dumb.  He was pretty sick in this episode, taking on Jamie in some hand to hand combat, beating up some terrorists, and getting kicked 10 feet into a wooden shelf.  His tenure on the program is coming to an end– I have a feeling he’s going to go out with a bang, so keep your eyes peeled for that soon.

3. Starbuck — …shall henceforth be known as Starbuck!   So we have more scoop about her story– the flash drive that Jamie let hunky doctor dude run away with has the info that can update the technology for both Starbuck’s and Jamie’s bionics, saving them both.  But since Jonas did not have the drive, Starbuck went nuts on his ass, snapped some bro’s neck, and bounced from the facility.  Once again, she proved that she’s about 10 times more compelling to watch than Michelle Ryan, even more so now that she burned her boyfriend in order to escape.

4. Jamie — Some good, some bad.  The good — her hand can heal Claire Bennett style, she has totally conquered the art of kicking ass, and she’s a sick spy operative.  The bad — she’s the opposite of Sarah Corvis — where Corvis is too much machine, not enough human, Jamie is too much human and not enough machine.  While the former condition forces Starbuck to become a ruthless killer, Jamie’s condition renders her weak and ineffective as a superhero.  Until she can put aside her empathy and treat her duties like an occupation rather than an extension of her life, she’s going to make lots of stupid mistakes like battling Antonio rather than killing hunky doctor dude.  Always secure that flash drive!  Come on!

We’re moving along nicely here.  I’m not crazy about this show, and there isn’t enough serialization to make me desperate to watch every single episode; if I missed one, I probably wouldn’t care.  But on the other hand, I likely won’t miss any because I truly do enjoy watching the program.  Great action sequences, the production values are very high (what else would you expect from David Eick), the characters are starting to flesh themselves out, Jamie still has a long way to go on her journey to fully embracing her new body, and the juxtaposition of Jamie’s humanity with Starbuck’s machine-like coldness is riveting television.  My recommendation?  If you haven’t watched yet,  give it a shot.  You haven’t missed all that much (she’s half robot and the blonde chick is evil– got it?), and its a fun show with good ratings that should be around for at least a couple more seasons.  Might as well use those bionic legs and jump in now right now because I have a feeling this show is going to start getting real good real soon.

Grade: B-