I might have some bad news for anyone who walked out of my Fall TV Preview thinking that “Bionic Woman” was going to be one of the best shows of the new season. Not that I’d blame you for thinking that, given that I offered the very dangerous claim that “it’s hard to imagine this not being the ‘Heroes’-like break-out series of the 2007 season.” But now that I’ve watched the recast and slightly-retooled pilot, I find that I’m not nearly as excited as I was when I watched the original pilot…and, ironically, the reason why doesn’t really involve the things that have been changed!
But, okay, even so, we should first focus on what has been changed. In the original pilot, the character of Jaime Sommers’ (Michelle Ryan) sister, Becca, was played by Mae Whitman (“State of Grace,” “Arrested Development”), but she’s since been replaced by Lucy Hale. More importantly, though, Becca used to be deaf; now, however, not only can she hear, but she’s also developed a talent as a computer hacker. Hmmm…maybe it’s just me, but this feels like one of those cases where someone in Research & Development said, “Yeah, here’s the thing: deaf characters don’t play real well in the sticks, but, hey, you know what does? Super-cute, super-smart teenage girls who have a natural aptitude that meshes well with their older sister’s newly-acquired bionics!” A deaf character would’ve been extremely interesting, but as it stands right now, this revised version of Becca feels less like a character than a plot device.
Yet, as noted, the change to Becca really isn’t what made me start to feel less confident about my initial assessment of “Bionic Woman.” No, basically, what happened was that as I watched the revised pilot, I began to realize that I’d been so taken by the awesomely kick-ass fight scene at the end of the show that I’d essentially forgiven it for anything and everything that had happened before it. This time around, however, I realized that even though it still has a dark look and feel to it that makes for good viewing, it’s riddled with way more cliche-ridden dialogue than I’d remembered. Also, Katee Sackhoff’s attempt to deliver the lines of her character – Sarah Corvus, the first bionic woman – like she’s a too-cool-for-school bitch actually plays more like she’s reading off cue cards. I did not, however, share the feelings of some of my fellow Bullz-Eye / Premium Hollywood contributors about Ryan’s performance; they didn’t think she had much in the way of charisma…and, somehow, I don’t think my suggestion that she reminded me of Ione Skye did do my contrary opinion any favors. But my take on Ryan’s take on the role, however, is that Jaime Sommers is a normal, ordinary woman who’s been placed in an extraordinary situation, and it’s gonna take some time for her to step up to the plate and become a larger-than-life heroine type…and, okay, admittedly, once she gets to that point, I hope she develops a more confident and threatening delivery than she has at the end of the pilot when she utters her farewell line to Jonas (Miguel Ferrer), the director of the bionics program. (Even *I* groaned at that.)
So, anyway, if you’re taking notes, here’s my new, revised opinion of the new, revised “Bionic Woman” pilot: I get the feeling that someone at the network might be pulling the strings to produce a show that’s focused more on thin characterizations and action at any cost than it is on the more interesting possibility of an intellectual technology-centered drama…and the fact that Glen Morgan has evacuated the project makes me even more concerned that that’s the case. Also, as the turmoil with CBS’s “Moonlight” has shown us, there’s nothing like the departure of a member of a show’s creative team to totally screw with its creative direction…and, unfortunately, that’s generally an ailment that all the nanite technology in the world can’t repair.
In closing, here’s a trailer for the show for your viewing pleasure:
