new show review The Bionic Woman
September 29th, 2007 by screenwriterguy
Geeks everywhere have been wondering whether Ronald D. Moore and company, now universally loved by critics for turning the 1970s sci-fi cheesefest Battlestar Galactica into a relevant and beautiful allegory for the 21st century, would be able to work their same magic on an even cheesier sci-fi show. So far, the answer seems to be yes.
If there’s one thing any screenwriter knows, it’s to hook your audience on the first page of your script. This show absolutely did that for me. And for the most part, it kept my attention and respect. There were a few moments when I rolled my eyes, or when I spent my time discussing with my housemate what a bionic vagina might feel like, but for the most part I was interested in the handling of this new incarnation of Jamie Sommers. So far, her character is a little thin, but the texture of her world filled that gap, and giving her a badass nemesis helped plenty.
The Bionic Woman managed to achieve something few superhero features seem to do, and that’s getting the character’s origin story out of the way so we can skip to the interesting part. The plot moved along, and soon enough we were at a climactic action sequence. I often zone out when dialogue stops, but the rain-soaked rooftop face-off at the end of this episode kept me watching.
The best sci-fi deals with humanity, society, and emotion, leaving monsters and powers and space and magic simply as metaphors for discussing those topics. The new Battlestar Galactica has that idea down firm (as evidenced by the subdued use of special effects.) So far, the new Bionic Woman seems likely to explore humanity as well, so I’m ready to add my first new show of the season to my list of appointment TV.
Best Aspect: Can I pick Michelle Ryan’s eyes? OK, no, really the best aspect was Katee Sackoff’s turn as a bionic villain.
Worst Aspect: The bitchy, computer hacker kid sister.
Verdict: I’m in. They’ll have to drop the ball to get me to take it off my watchlist.
Odds of Success: Can anybody tell me why NBC didn’t pair this with Heroes? Do they think BW’s audience is women? Um… hello! It’s NERDS, people. That’s who’s going to watch this show. Across the nation, pants-wearing contests will be decided between husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends over whether the remote points at this show or Private Practice. From the pilots, BW is stronger. The show has a shot.
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Oct 2nd 2007 at 10:41 am
I finally got around to watching this last night. I agree with you that it’s in the wrong time spot, across from that new Grey’s Anatomy spinoff, Private Practice. IF I didn’t have a DVR, I’d be screwed, because my girlfriend has class Wednesday nights I have have to record that for her. They should have paired this after Heroes when nothing of interest is playing (Journeyman doesn’t do it since you’re right, it’s too cliche).
I was excited by this pilot as it does want to get on with the story instead of the origin of her. I’ll keep watching until I think it gets a little too cheesy (not there yet, but we don’t know why that accident was caused, and that’s bugging me).