TV Review: Never Judge A Show by Its Pilot - Bionic Woman

Before I watch the pilot of Bionic Woman I think that it’s only fair to disclose that I was a big fan of The Bionic Woman (please note the subtle difference in the title). The Six Million Dollar Man spin-off premiered when I was eleven years old. To me the fantasy world of bionic secret agents working for the OSI was magical. Of course when I was a kid it was a lot easier to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Realistically I can’t expect the same magic that I felt as a child, but I’m expecting to see something really cool. Cool enough that the show has earned a spot on the NBC network instead of its sister cable channel, SciFi.

I watched the pilot. It looks really cool. These bionics are much more elaborate than what we have seen in the past. This bionic woman (Michelle Ryan) does not run in slow motion. The new Jaime Sommers is a college dropout working as a bartender and is her teenage sister's (Lucy Hale) guardian. Jaime and her college professor boyfriend Will Anthros (Mark Sheppard) get into a car accident. Jaime's injuries are severe. Fortunately Will is also a surgeon who specializes in cutting-edge, top secret, bionic technology. Will replaces Jamie's legs, right arm, eye and ear with bionics that were designed for military applications. She is hardwired for highly specialized warfare.

Now Jaime must adjust to her new life and use her new abilities to pay back the organization (The Berkut Group) that spent 50 million dollars to rebuild her (talk about inflation). Most of the pilot was dedicated to explaining how Jaime becomes bionic but there are other things in play that should set up future episodes. There is another bionic woman, Sarah Corvis (Katee Sackhoff), who went bad and was presumed dead. Now she is involved with some bad guys, setting the stage for future adventures. Sarah was responsible for Jaime's accident and toward the end of the pilot she shoots Will. Sarah and Jaime have a knock down, drag out fight. I look forward to the next episode because I never judge a show by its pilot.

Article Author: Tony Figueroa

TONY FIGUEROA is a standup comedian, writer, actor and storyteller based in Los Angeles. A "day job" teaching comedy traffic school led to Tony cohosting and coproducing several radio shows. Tony’s CHILD OF TELEVISION Blog is an example of life imitating art. …

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