Writer: Bridget Carpenter
Director: David Boyd
Cast: Michelle Ryan (Jaime Sommers), Lucy Hale (Becca Sommers), Miguel Ferrer (Jonas Bledsoe), Molly Price (Ruth Truewell), Will Yun Lee (Jae Kim), Kevin Rankin (Nathan), Reilly Dolman (Brennan), Tracy Spiridakos (Annie), Anja Savcic (MK), Olivia Rameau (Hotel Clerk), Sean Bell (Buyer), Mitra Lohrasb (Indian Woman), Bruno Verdoni (European Man), Ahmad Sharmrou (Dark Haired Man), Zain Jamal (Moroccan Associate), Brian McBride (Cop), Jordan Bridges (Tom), Callum Keith Rennie (Victor Booth), Brando Eaton (Ethan), Beth Broderick (Alexis) & Matias Hacker (Spaniard)
Jaime teams up with Tom to stop a man selling a list of Berkut and CIA agent names in Paris...After such a hectic run of episodes, it's nice to find Bionic Woman settle down and have some fun. The List has a very simple plot (stop a bad guy selling a list of secret agents), mixes in some chemistry (between Michelle Ryan's Jaime and Jordan Bridges' Tom), and just has some fun. And it works, for the most part...
Most importantly, Ryan and Bridges seem to have a genuine rapport on-screen, which makes them an engaging couple to watch. There are shades of Mr & Mrs Smith in their pairing and comedy comes from the fact Tom doesn't know Jaime is a bionic super-soldier. It all helps make this episode a frothier cocktail than the sludgy coffee we've seen recently.
The story is easy to follow and the use of the various Berkut Group members is handled better. Ruth (Molly Price) and geeky Nathan (Kevin Rankin, in purple lipstick?) provide backup behind-the-scenes backup for Jaime, while Jonas (Miguel Ferrer) gets a little subplot with Jaime's sister Becca (Lucy Hale).
Thankfully, Becca's subplot isn't too distracting or overplayed, although it's not really very plausible that the boss of a top-secret organization would personally get an operative's sister out of a drink-driving charge. Still, it allows for a little scene between Becca and Jonas that better explains Becca's uncertainty about her sister's new job and personal life.
But the real fun of the story is in watching Jaime and Tom pretend to be a couple in Paris; gliding through a swanky party together and trying to locate blackmailer Victor Booth (Callum Keith Rennie, another Battlestar Galactica alumni).
Michelle Ryan looks more relaxed and comfortable, perhaps because Bridges' return to the show as a work colleague/love-interest gives her more to play with emotionally. The restriction of the Berkut ensemble, focusing of the story, and increased moments of playfulness, also make The List far easier to digest.
Mind you, the elements that made this episode entertaining can't become too ingrained in the show's general set-up. People don't watch Bionic Woman to see Lois Lane and Clark Kent with the sexes reversed, do they? It worked here, and it might work for occasional episodes to come, but it's not what we signed up for week-to-week...
31 October 2007
NBC, 8/7c pm
