BIONIC WOMAN: Paradise Lost

I know this is said A LOT on this site. But how can you at least twice condemn a network sitcom for poor writing, and have typo's in your "column" I mean I agree with most of your review, but just because this is the internet doesn't mean you don't have to be professional, especially if you put the title "columnist" after your name. AND right after you slam someone else's writing as amature. C'mon show some professionalism. It's called spell check. An yes it's nitpicky but there really is no excuse for sloppiness in your craft. I on the other hand am allowed to misspell here cause I'm only a geek poster. Not a "columnist":)l

Ah, dude, you misspelled "professional"...

and I agree with all that has been said in this review. This show needs to have better writing.

you corrected yourself before I was able to post- shoot.

and besides, I added the disclaimer.

Katie Sackhoff's portrayal of the evil Bionic Woman feels inspired when she plays it straight, but when she does that crazy thing...it's more than a bit over the top, and crumsy. The same is true of the effort to add humor into the episode, as many of the jokes which involved Sackhoff delivering the so-called punchlines, just fell flat...and were forced. One of the biggest problems with the new Bionic Woman is the fact that the writers and producers are writing the show more to satisfy the high concept, rather than to service the characters as real people, with real emotions, hardships, and real lives. Alias, during its first and second seasons was great at supplying a cloak & dagger filled suspense plot...but when they cut to Sidney's personal life, it was seamless...and done with ease: you felt like you were eavesdropping on real conversations between our heroine and her friends.

The new Bionic Woman's Jamie Sommers has been robbed of such real intimate moments, thanks to her relationship with her sister...a sort of Buffy/Dawn focal point. The difference???: Buffy: The Vampire Slayer had years to establish who Buffy was...before Dawn was introduced: on the Bionic Woman though, we barely know Jamie Sommers, and yet her kid sister is in the way, receiving almost as many lines as she is. It really is a bit too much. I know the producers want to attract teen viewers, but there was just too much pandering to that audience here...complete with TRL style Pop Metal Punk bands constantly playing in the background. The music was so irritating, I could have screamed at the tv screen.
Adding to the show's problems-- there were too many characters in the episode, including the actress who played the Canadian girl. BTW...I found her to be a really good actress...and let me tell you, she would have been a much better choice to play Jamie Sommer's little sister. But, as I have been doing lately, I digress. Back to my shorthand review of the episode--and that problem with the large cast.

If the problem with the little sister taking up too much screen time, as well as several guest stars (the Canadian girl and her dad), weren't enough, the producers and writers of the show are now creating a parallel duality--story arc, for Sommer's villainous bionic doppleganger (Sackhoff) which is taking away even more focus from the viewers learning about just who Jamie Sommers is...and who she is going to be. And the problems with the bloated cast got even worse as the episode rolled on. It was almost 30 minutes into the show until Isaiah Washington's character showed up--a character that is the most intriguing in the cast. I find this strange that the first half of the show did not feature him, since several of the non essential side characters delivered lines that could have easily gone to him...thus, it would have served to strengthen his character, and the overall story arc of the episode...one which was choppy and uneven.

The show really needs to break from the Heroes/Lost/New Galactica multi-cast fueled story arc format...and move toward doing stand alone episodes...with Jamie featuring a villain of the week format instead--at least, until this show finds its legs.

PS: About the column. There are always typos in all writing. Case in point-- I just read the forward for the graphic novel "Wanted", and found two accidental typos. The guy who wrote the forward, BTW...is a celebrated writer--Ex Machina (spelling???) being one of his praised graphic novels, and I think, Y: The Last Man On Earth...being the other. Yes, even the pros...get typos, spell check, or no spell check. The computer screen can create a sort of "white-line fever" or "mirage" effect with the brain and eyes where you think you see one thing, i.e., a proper spelling...when you are actually seeing another, that being a wrong spelling--hence...I often find it easier to print hard copies of my writing out to search for errors...but when one is in a time crunch and posting volumes of info on the internet, typos happen...and cannot always be vetted.

FYI..."Wanted" was a mixed-up mess with some very good, and some very sick, ideas in it...but its ending failed to justify it being made...as the climax...was largely anti-climatic in terms of the big reveal. Think of it as a comic for Hitler Youth. This book does not deserve the unchallenged praise that it has been getting...not even close!!! It's nothing but the handbook for the next Columbine.

I am going to stick with the series for a bit but I hate this to be a girly cry feast full of estrogen. It's too bad they could not have started out with Bionic Man instead of woman. Give us a real action series that started it all. Also it would not have hurt the series to have special music effects and a theme song either. Why are fans always ignored when that's who they are catering too?

I have been looking forward to this since I heard it was in production. That being said, I plan to stick with the program with hopes that it will improve. If the writers are half as creative as metalwater, I shouldn't be disappointed. You've had some great ideas! Was anyone else hoping Isaiah would end up being bionic too? When he challenged Jamie to bring out the animal in her, I thought he would be. I know it wasn't meant to be funny, but that scene was so meaty cheesy it was hilarious.

Biggest problem with the show for me is that Michelle Ryan is just so dull. She's undeniably hot, but that's just not enough to carry this show. She reads her lines like she's half asleep. There is almost zero range of expression on that beuatiful face of hers. In comparison, Katee Sackhoff brings lots of energy to her role and the show only comes alive when she's on-screen. This show would do better with an Alias-style reboot that has Sachoff as the bionic woman of the title.

I too was hoping that Isaiah Washington's character was bionic. or at least partially bionic, like super arm or something...like a beta version of Sackoff's character (which I find more interesting than Ryan's...which is sad considering Ryan is the lead) I watch this show week in and out (plan to) in hopes that it would improve. I don't get why they need to pull the B movie move (Universal Soldier: the Return) and put that metal music in EVERY kinetic scene. This show needs more grace....and then knock u down with the action scenes, instead it starts stagnant, almost still, and then tries to trick u into thinking you are intrigued by turning up the volume...I too think the episodes are gradually improving though. So here's to next week. Lets hope they give us at least a B- worthy ep.

I can see the problems people here have pointed out, but I think alot of it is just growing pains. It is a newer concept for today's TV with an original take and I don't think it has quite found its legs yet.
Looking back at the first few episodes of some series in reruns I've noticed many awkward moments either in plot, character, or consistency that were later corrected.
One that pops into mind is on the first episode of Stargate SG-1, the stargate is shown operating as a two way opening, then later it became one way, going out from the point of origin with no explanation of the change.
Bionic Woman has a lot of potential and is already better than most episodic TV. If given the time and the good track record of the producers on BSG, I'm sure it will improve.