BIONIC WOMAN: Paradise Lost

I have watched this show twice, and it is lame twice x 2 = very lame...I was not expecting the old Bionic woman type of show but I was hoping for the same kind of feel minus all the lame 80's special effects both visual and sound...Maybe I expect to much...

This week...as with last week's episode, was strangely edited and truncated. There is a nice production quality about the show...but it's missing a certain fluidity. For instance, last Wednesday's episode didn't get started with its plot until well into the program. Instead we were treated to Jamie Sommers rescuing a woman trying to commit suicide...and some side story about a hearing problem that she was experiencing...a plot device which built up to nothing but a lame joke. Then there was the side story of the evil Bionic Woman and her love relationship with her ex--a teaser that only acted as filler material that failed to advance the plot of the episode or the overall story arc.

The problems which the series is experiencing seem to stem from the writers and producers attempting to service too many characters. With science fiction, you just have to write in short hand and cut to the chase...by diving right into the story, i.e., the plot of the episode. Once you are there, you develop the character, and that character's story arc...while he/she is under fire and on the run. That is how you write action/sci-fi material. As I said...you jump start the stories by just diving into them head first, no apologies--but to do that, you must scale down on the number of characters, and thus fat, that are in the stories and scripts therein.

What was cool about the original series is you just had Oscar Goldman (Jamie's boss), the designer of the bionics...Rudy Wells, ocassionally Steve Austin...and of course, Jamie Sommers herself...end of cast. However, the new show is attempting to emulate the multi-cast member feel of shows like Heroes and Lost...and there is a danger in that--dealing with all the side characters, I mean...and the side plots of the bad guys, as we are losing focus on Jamie Sommers herself. Point is...this new series, is just being over thought. They just need to simplify things, and concentrate on Jamie's adventures...as opposed to constantly concentrating on speculations about Sommers...by her co-characters.

The original series was about Jamie Sommers going on various unrelated spy missions and using her special talents and abilities in places where, and when, no one else can get the job done...and that's what the new show should be focusing on. The first episode of the New Bionic Woman probably would have worked better if Sommers was already established as an agent and then employed flash backs...to show us how she got into her situation...much like how Alias handled similar material.

Here's the fix: They need to inject some humor into the series, drawing said humor from scenes organtically...where appropriate, and the producers need to get Jamie involved in some overseas spy missions. This will give them a chance to do some stand alone episodes, not dependant on any story arcs, while increasing the pacing and action on the program. All they need to do is look at the episodes of the original series for inspiration...if not outright remake certain choice episodes in order to kick start the new series.

Finally, the show would have worked better as a sequel series...not a remake. Lindsey Wagner should have been brought in again to reprise her role as Jamie Sommers and Lee Majors as the head of the organization (The OSI) who is behind the new Bionic program. With Jamie Sommers acting as the tasking officer of Michelle Ryan's character-a new generation agent who is outfitted with bionic limps, etc., we could have witnessed a startling revelation...when Jamie Sommers reveals to the new recruit that she has gone through the process herself...but learned to cope with the changes in her life--and who would know better, as she is her mother???

Perhaps even now we might still see that very scenario occur on the new series. The producers can simply write in a brief back story explaining that the new Bionic Woman was named after her mother( Lindsey Wagner)...who disappeared just after she was born. And who better to be revealed as the proud pappa other than the original Steve Austin himself??? If the producers of this series want to draw much needed media hype to the new series...while attracting viewers looking for much needed nostalgia related to the original series, this is the way to do it...in spades!!!

I couldn’t disagree more. I watched this expecting a lame rehash of the original series but Michelle Ryan blew me away. Sure, Sackoff shows her polished angst, but Ryan gave me the most important thing a character in a science fiction show needs: intelligence. I love the way she solves problems and stands up against authority. I can’t wait to see where this series takes her.

Truncated is a great word, Metal. The pilot could have easily been two hours, but unless previews are rock solid, it can be hard to convince people to commit that much time to an unknown. Not only did everything seem quick and underdeveloped, but some parts just felt they would have been better revealed half a season later. Additionally, her sudden reversal to work with this organization seemed completely unrealistic. It's like the writers were so focused on getting past the setup so that the last 5 minutes could have her in hand-to-hand combat.

Episode 2 was better, but it was partially dependant on the first clunky episode, as (by the previews) is the 3rd. Maybe they'll all play out as a tidier story arc.

I'm liking it better than Chuck, but not enough to dedicate myself to another hour of TV. I may give it another week or two, but as far as new programming, Journeyman is NBC's best shot (for me) this fall... and conveniently it follows a show I'm already hooked on.

I have to disagree with this Bionic Woman. Michelle Ryans character comes off as a smart aleck LOSER with Bionics. Her character is shallow and for the most part BORING!! She should be killed off and Corbis made the main character.

You liked the fight scene? First off, it was only one soldier/terrorist/NRA wannabe/whatever she was fighting not two. Although I can understand the confusion given the weak editing. Second it was established in the pilot that her bionics come included with a whole slew of pre-programmed combat scenarios (that’s how she took out the mugger with all those fancy martial arts maneuvers). Plus she held her own against a fully bionic Corvus. And now a normal human, however well trained, can toss her around like a rag doll. Huh? Did the writers of the second episode not watch the pilot (not that I blame them)?

I understand the need not to make Jamie a sudden superwoman but they shouldn’t establish abilities then forget about them.

Metalworker hit the nail on the head when he said the show has no focus. Obviously the producers pitched ‘Bionic Woman’ and had not clue where to go after that. The fact that they are still adding/tweaking the cast and all the shifts behind the scenes indicates a production in chaos.

On a separate note. Did anybody else catch the TV in the house playing the Pegasus death scene from Battlestar Galactica?

I watched both eps. The show is generic. No guts to it. Jamie has no freaking life but there she is making demands on the corporation that created her. Dear writers: grow some balls.

thorin, I noticed Galactica on the TV, but gotta admit I couldn't pinpoint the exact episode like you did. Nice catch!

So far, I'm less than enthralled with Bionic Woman. Maybe it's because I had high expectations, but I really don't think that it's much better than most of the other new series which have debuted so far - which is to say, it's pretty blah. I saw today that the ratings dropped 30% from the premiere, which I think is the steepest drop-off for a new show thus far this season. No doubt all the hype was partially responsible for the drop-off. I know I'm not adding it to my must-see list.

First, I would say it's a hell of a lot better than the average Heroes episode and even most of their best episodes. That's said, here's:

My review.

I had high hopes at the start of this episode, and Jai still seems the show's saving grace, but it proved to suffer from the same problem that I fear will bog this series down: commercially-accessible coolness. None of the dramatic moments feel real enough. Jaimie Sommers didn't cry at her boyfriend's funeral. Though she claimed to be emotionally-affected throughout the episode, she was more interested in kicking butt than dealing with grief or even showing signs of struggling with all the changes she's been through. It feigns grittiness and dramatic depth, but is somewhat like the shameless Heroes or The O.C. in just going through the dramatic motions and supplying lots of action. However, having her get her arm stuck in a wall, whlie trying to punch someone was a great idea of believable clumsiness.

Even the conspiratorial world being built up seems more akin to the mess created by Glen Morgan (a producer who eventually left Bionic Woman) and James Wong on Millennium's second season. Unsatisfied with the subtle, psychologically-compelling, even humanized, serial killers which grounded Chris Carter's amazing first season, they opted for a more caricaturish approach. They created a conspiracy of villains whose dramatic motivations were so calculated and single-minded as to be inhuman. The same seems to be happening here with villains conspiring to kill human civilization -- to bring about the end of the world. There seems little chance of seeing their perspective in the context of understandable relatable emotions. They do what they do simply because they are "evil" or believe in a misguided idiology. There is no sense that the viewer could learn something of her or himself from the depiction of the "villain" -- as is so excellently done on "The 4400" or "Battlestar Galactica" -- as well as through the flaws of the "heroes". So much of TV history is filled with easy "bad guys", couldn't this show be part of the Ira Steven Behr/Ronald D. Moore revolution in realsitc writing to properly depict the human condition? If it can't, then it's just fluff entertainment with the same old plot mechanics. I can only hope what precipitated Glen Morgan's departure also pushed out away this traditional, shock value premise for adversaries.

Even the way characters introduce themselves is very cliche with easy one-liners and none of the potential awkwardness of real life. Jamie Sommers is perhaps the worst offender, constantly shifting the mood from life-or-death seriousness with zippy phrases a la Buffy. Buffy was more successful as a comedy with nice enough drama, but was mostly a show which constantly cheated; it worked at a more superficial level and was fun yet strangely moving. It was good, but not great. Bionic Woman has none of the humor of that and yet the drama is slightly more serious, yet if it is to be something memorable and great, it can't just try to be a variation on the Buffy formula. It must be, and can, be something more engaging. Emotional realism must be the key. This present incarnation of the show is a kind of halfway commerical compromise which is not very satisfying.

First post, so be nice. Even though I must say I will probably stop watching the show.

I found it to be predictable and boring with big plot holes. The only thing I found interesting was the Battlestar Galactica clip.

Example of bad writing and plot holes: The 1 survivor they find after Ruth says it has been 12 hours since the gas was released so it is safe. (It may have even been 3 days after the attack. If I remember correctly, Ruth and Jonas were looking at the video of the attack BEFORE Jamie met the man in the bookstore. Later that man questions Jonas sending Jamie out when she has only been there for 3 days.)

So I am to understand that this girl had NO IDEA that the town had been attacked. She stayed in the basement for over 12 hours? Even if it was for 12 Hours, she had to have left the basement at least once. If it was 3 days later and she did not know about it, it was just sloppy.

I just chalked it up to bad writing. If the show continues this way, it looks bad.