Michelle Ryan on Jonathan Ross

It's a shame Bionic Woman wasn't good enough to avoid the chop on NBC – if only because Michelle Ryan's the perfect role model for young girls: a pleasant, beautiful, well-spoken, intelligent, girl-next-door type. Did you see her on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross? Unpretentious, charming and eloquent throughout, I thought...

She just needs a role that plays to her strengths. Something light-hearted and fun. Bionic Woman wasn't it, with its chilly business-like vibe and bone-crunching martial arts. Ryan did well to look half-way proficient at the violence, but the best episode of the 8 produced had her undercover (and out of black clothes) as a nice English girl at a university campus.

I think she'd be the first to admit she's not the greatest actress in the world, but years working on a soap like EastEnders allows you to access big emotions more easily, and the work schedule is gruelling. Soaps are a good foundation for a teenage actress, and first-hand experience of the US TV system can only be a good thing. Oh, and she can do a decent American accent, of course.

Jonathan Ross avoided mentioning Bionic Woman was axed in the States, and thus perhaps damage ITV2's audience for the show when it starts on Tuesday (11 March) -- which was fair enough. You wouldn't really want to make Michelle Ryan uncomfortable, would you?

She did extremely well to land a plum role in the USA. Of the many problems Bionic Woman had, her performance wasn't really one of them. The revamp of the concept was flawed in so many ways, and there was no clear direction or vision for the show. Gritty espionage drama? Globe-trotting adventure? Frothy superhero show? Romantic thriller? It was all of those, and none of those.

Oh well. I look forward to see the gorgeous Michelle Ryan in something better; back here in the UK (no shame in that), or cast in another US show by a producer who recognised she was the glistening cherry on a cake burnt by too many cooks.

RANDOM ROUNDUP: Film & TV News

Sometimes it's a little unwieldy to blog about everything that catches my eye in the week, so I thought I'd just throw it all together on Friday. Hopefully there's some news here you didn't already know about...

Phoo Action; yep, the awful BBC Three pilot, based on a comic strip, has been picked up for a 6-episode series by the newly re-branded digital station...

Ashes To Ashes star Philip Glenister is currently filming a modern-day vampire series for ITV (working title The Last Van Helsing), as an American who trains his godson to fight undead creatures…

Plans are afoot for Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding to write and star in a movie version of their Mighty Boosh TV series…

The beleaguered Bionic Woman has been cancelled in the US after 9 episodes, while Chuck and Heroes have had new seasons ordered…

Hit reality series Dragons' Den is being remade in the US (for the second time, after a failed attempt years ago), where it will be known as Shark Tank…

The Star Trek prequel movie has been pushed back to summer 2009 from its intended Christmas 2008 release, with speculation that director J. J Abrams pushed for the delay so he can improve the script now the writers' strike has finished in the US…

Screen legend Al Pacino is rumoured to have a cameo in the new Bond film Quantum Of Solace, as the head of a villainous organization…

Five are planning to remake classic ITV series Minder, with Shane Richie rumoured to be a contender for the Arthur Daley role made famous by George Cole…

Joel Surnow, the co-creator of 24, has quit the top-rated thriller. The seventh season has filmed 8 episodes, but was a major casualty of the WGA strike, so won't be able to return until early-2009…

Lost producer Carlton Cuse confirmed that the production will try to produce 5 more episodes of the show's fourth season, bringing the total up to a strike-shortened 13 of the intended 16. However, there will probably be a month's break in transmission between episodes 8 and 9.

The Knight Rider pilot airs Sunday (17 Feb) in the US, with Val Kilmer replacing Will Arnett as the voice of supercar KITT, after Arnett had to leave the project because General Motors (who he provides voice-overs for in their adverts) weren't happy with the fact KITT is a Ford Mustang in the new series.

BIONIC WOMAN 1.8 – "Do Not Disturb"

Writer: Jason Smilovic
Director: Gwyneth Horder-Payton

Cast: Michelle Ryan (Jaime Sommers), Miguel Ferrer (Jonas Bledsoe), Molly Price (Ruth Truewell), Will Yun Lee (Jae Kim), Lucy Hale (Becca Sommers), Kevin Rankin (Nathan), Brian Markinson (Vincent Aldridge), Michael Brock (Nick), Brent O'Connor (Valet Parker/Matt), Ben Cotton (Javier), Julia Keilty (Hotel Desk Lady), Jonathan Kralt (Dreadlock Dude), Juno Ruddell (Spa Therapist), Sherry Klassen (Gift Shop Clerk), Justin Sain (Bodyguard #1), Gerald Paetz (Bodyguard #3)

Jaime goes on vacation with Becca at a spa resort, but things go awry when she's pulled into a deadly game with another guest...

"The way I see it you've got two options. Number one: I kill you. The other one is: you talk. And by talk, I mean you tell me everything I need to know to keep this technology out of North Korea. Which would you prefer? It doesn't matter to me, I just need to know whether or not to wear gloves."

-- Jonas Bledsoe (Miguel Ferrer)

The final episode before Bionic Woman's winter hiatus, Do Not Disturb finds the struggling series still unable to combine exciting bionic-based heroism with slick, compelling espionage thrills.

Here, Jaime (Michelle Ryan) and her Berkut Group colleagues raise a glass to dearly departed Antonio Pope in a bar, before Jaime is ordered by Jonas (Miguel Ferrer) to take some leave at a spa resort - -after she's delivered a briefcase to a contact in Montana.

Having done the deed, Jaime heads off on vacation with sister Becca (Lucy Hale), but pleasure soon mixes with work, when the Montana contact is killed in their hotel. Jaime is forced to work covertly and stop fellow hotel guest Vincent (Brian Markinson) deliver nuclear secrets to North Koreans -- with the added complication of Becca developing a crush on Vincent's son Nick (Michael Brock).

It all sounds like an entertaining mix of Jaime's personal and professional lives, converging together whilst on holiday and throwing up a variety of problems – but nothing really clicks. For one thing, Becca's crush on Nick is shallow and underdeveloped, so it never becomes a genuine concern. Vincent is also quickly revealed as more misguided than a genuine threat.

Fundamentally, by now it's just difficult to care about Jaime's relationship with her sister. This episode toys with the idea of having Jaime reveal her secret to Becca, but chickens out. What really irritates me is that I agree with the decision, because Bionic Woman is already struggling to keep things interesting episode-to-episode, so losing one of its main recurring threads would be madness.

Unfortunately, it means we'll have to put up with what I like to call "Lois and Clark Syndrome", which is very rarely enjoyable to watch these days. As a viewer, I'm already irritated by Jaime keeping her abilities a secret... I just wish there was enough going on elsewhere to make her telling Becca the truth a worthwhile sacrifice.

Elsewhere, there's a strange increase of in-jokes, too -- clearly aimed at any fanboys sticking with Bionic Woman. The briefcase contact quotes the opening narration of The A-Team, Jaime and Becca watch Heroes on television, their room is "108" (a familiar number to Lost fans), and Berkut geek Nathan (Kevin Rankin) has a Star Trek reference thrown at him! Genuine little gags from writer Jason Smilovic, or a somewhat trite way to try to entice fans to the show? If so, that's extremely patronizing. Hey, look kids, we reference all the shows you really love! We're on your level, y'hear? Hmmm.

On the positive side, the "bionic moments" are getting better, but you never feel Jaime is particularly threatening to anyone (Michelle Ryan's too baby-faced) and the thrill of seeing her throw people around and magnify images with her eye ran out ages ago.

Overall though, Do Not Disturb was another weak entry into a series with fundamental flaws in its make-up. No single actor or idea is particularly "bad", it's just that they cumulatively don't create any excitement or uniqueness.

It all just goes through the motions, making you wish they'd been more inventive with the show's premise – setting it in the future, creating more technological hurdles for Jaime to battle, providing a more interesting family unit for Jaime, crafting an ongoing storyline with cliffhangers, perhaps? All I know is: the standalone adventures of a bionic girl-next-door playing mother hen to her sibling isn't working...


28 November 2007
NBC, 8/7c pm

BIONIC WOMAN 1.7 – "Trust Issues"

Writer: Kerry Ehren
Director: Alex Chapple

Cast: Michelle Ryan (Jaime Sommers), Molly Price (Ruth Truewell), Miguel Ferrer (Jonas Bledsoe), Lucy Hale (Becca Sommers), Isaiah Washington (Antonio Pope), Kevin Rankin (Nathan), Jordan Bridges (Tom Hastings), Roger R. Cross (Bomani), Stefanie Samuels (Sniper/Julianne), Aubrey Arnason (Girl Agent), Jason Coleman (Guy Agent) & Julian Christopher (President Rudan)

Jaime and Antonio must stop the assassination of an African head of state on US soil, but Jaime begins to wonder if she can trust her colleague...

"Is that why James Bond never had a steady girlfriend?"

-- Jaime Sommers (Michelle Ryan)

After seven episodes, Bionic Woman is still chasing a winning formula, but it could all be academic. The concept and its execution are just too predictable and old-fashioned to grab my attention, and nearly every episode just seems to be going through the motions.

In the current climate of high-concept, imaginative science-fiction, simply outfitting a sexy woman with "super powers" and dumping her in a clandestine government agency is terribly stale. Still, with better creative direction, it may have become a super-charged Alias replacement, but there's no evidence of the freshness and spark J.J Abrams endowed his female spy series with.

In Trust Issues, Jaime (Michelle Ryan) helps Antonio (Isaiah Washington) protect an unpopular African dictator from assassination, although matters are complicated when she overhears Antonio colluding with the assassin. Back at home, new CIA agent boyfriend Tom (Jordan Bridges) is invited to dinner, to meet Jaime's younger sister Becca (Lucy Hale).

On the surface, this would seem to have all the ingredients for a diverting adventure (with some juicy betrayal thrown in), but it's all played out very straight and never holds your interest. This is mostly because the political elements (being fictional) are difficult to get involved with, while President Rudan (Julian Christopher) isn't very sympathetic, so I actually hoped the assassin would put a bullet through this tyrant's head.

The subplot with Jaime hoping to get her sisters approval of Tom isn't terrible -- but it's distracting, and makes you question how Jaime can so easily juggle work and home commitments. Her profession is almost treated like a nine-to-five job, with Jaime only occasionally being called to action at inopportune moments.

I'm just not invested in any characters or situations here, and Jaime herself seems to be getting quite mouthy and irritatingly back-chats psychiatrist Ruth (Molly Price) in one scene. I think Michelle Ryan is doing the best she can with the material, but she only really shines in the home-life interludes with sister and boyfriend.

Interestingly, this episode does end with a moderate bang at a horse racing track – with a wonderful leaping visual for Jaime, and the surprisingly death of a main character.

Of course, the death has zero emotional effect on the audience, as the only regular character worth caring about is Jaime. The whole of the Berkut Group could die in a horrible gas attack, and I'd actually be glad the show has a chance to recast – although Kevin Rankin is proving quite amusing, despite a clichéd role as tech-geek Nathan.

The culling of a character was either an intentional move by the writers to streamline their messy cast, a pre-planned "shock" that hasn't worked because the writing has been lacking for that character, or the actor just asked to leave – and became the first rat to leave this sinking ship...

I really want to be enthralled by Bionic Woman, but it's a pale shadow of other spy-based shows, and seems unable to make its bionic concept count for anything. Imagine if Alias gave Sidney robotic limbs? Or if 24's Jack Bauer was also a prototype cyborg? The shows would write themselves! But the writers of Bionic Woman only seem capable of sub-par terrorist stories and reheated teen drama -- with a bit of super-hearing, sniper-vision and amazing jumps thrown in for good measure.


14 November 2007
NBC, 8/7c pm

BIONIC WOMAN 1.6 – "The List"

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

BIONIC WOMAN 1.5 – "The Education Of Jaime Sommers"

Writer: Elizabeth Heldens
Director: Jonas Pate

Cast: Michelle Ryan (Jaime Sommers), Miguel Ferrer (Jonas Bledsoe), Molly Price (Ruth Treadwell), Lucy Hale (Becca Sommers), Isaiah Washington (Antonio Pope), Kevin Rankin (Nathan), Lara Gilchrist (Carly), Erin Karpluk (Robin), Matthew Smalley (Pt. Matt Walsh), Juan Riedinger (Student Sean), Trevor Addie (Parkinson's Patient), Jordan Bridges (Tom), Kenneth Welsh (Dr. Howard Samuels), Valerie Tian (Aoki), Shafin Karim (Nadeem), Sunita Prasad (Nadeem's Girlfriend) & Lee Majdoub (Student Buyer)

Jaime goes undercover in college as a British student, to investigate a professor suspected of illegal activities. However, her task is complicated when she falls for the teacher's assistant, who's also a suspect...

Jaime: So I'm a glorified fax machine?
Nathan: Come on, don't sell yourself short. You can also open cans.

While this isn't the most exciting episode, it's easily the most level-headed and accomplished in some key areas. For once, the messy mythology is pushed into the background and we're given a simple mission for Jaime (Michelle Ryan) as she infiltrates a college, posing as a British exchange student called Clarissa White.

Notably, this episode is the perfect excuse for Ryan to use her real accent. While her American accent has been impeccable, you can sense a truer spirit to her character emerging here – as she doesn't have to keep one part of her mind focused on maintaining a false voice.

The change in Jaime's attitude is so welcome, her English accent accent is constantly maintained for "method acting" reasons. Indeed, when she dips back into the American, you can't help but feel slightly disappointed. Can a "system glitch" keep Jaime's accent firmly in the UK region, please?

The main story this week concerns some illegal neural implants that can, essentially, control peoples' minds. A great teaser illustrates this by having an injured US soldier shoot his comrades dead inside a medical tent, although sadly this technology isn't fleshed out or well-utilized in the story.

Jaime's sent into college because Dr. Howard Samuels (Kenneth Welsh), who works on campus, could be involved in the implants. It's not long before Jaime is developing a relationship with hunky Tom (Jordan Bridges), one of Samuels' assistants, who makes an obvious play for her affections.

Elizabeth Heldens' script is more interested in a romantic plot than the neural implant idea -- which is slightly disappointing, but because the Jaime/Tom romance works so well, it's easy to forgive...

Michelle Ryan looks far more comfortable in this educational setting – with its vague Alias and Buffy overtones. The story benefits from keeping The Berkut Group in the background as support for Jaime, instead of having agents assigned to hold her hand at every turn. I particularly like techie Nathan (Kevin Rankin) munching on noodles as he peers through Jaime's bionic eye via a monitor back at the base.

Ultimately, The Education Of Jaime Sommers (dumb title aside) finally gives us characterization to savour, some engaging performances from Ryan and Bridges, better use of Antonio Pope (Isaiah Washington), who masquerades as Jaime's uncle at one point, and a generally enjoyable vibe. Unfortunately, the episode is let-down by the fact it totally fudges the interesting neural implant macguffin, and that plot is drowned by the fish-out-of-water antics of Jaime adjusting to college life and love.

As entertaining as this episode was, it mainly serves to highlight the problems in Bionic Woman's usual episodes. I'd prefer it if Jaime was British and living a dual-life in a US college, despite the fact such a set-up isn't perhaps the most original idea. But, then again, we are talking about a remake of a 70s TV show -- so originality's never been an issue before...


24 October 2007
NBC, 8/7c pm

BIONIC WOMAN 1.4 - "Faceoff"

Writers: Robert Rovner & Jon Cowan
Director: Paul Shapiro

Cast: Michelle Ryan (Jaime Sommers), Miguel Ferrer (Jonas Bledsoe), Molly Price (Ruth Treadwell), Will Yun Lee (Jae Kim), Lucy Hale (Becca Sommers), Katee Sackhoff (Sarah Corvus), Isaiah Washington (Antonio Pope), Brian Hallisay (Dr. Mark Stevens) & Kevin Rankin (Nathan)

Jaime is sent to rescue an American doctor who has been captured in Paraguay. While there, she discovers the shocking truth about her life expectancy...

Sarah: From you, I want nothing. Kill me or let me go.

Jonas: You know I tried that once before. It didn't work. This time I thought I'd help.

I just can't find a reason to enjoy this show. Michelle Ryan is likable enough as a lead, and Katee Sackhoff's performance is great fun, but other than that... Bionic Woman offers nothing you haven't seen before, or seen done better...

Faceoff atleast gives Jaime (Michelle Ryan) a more grown-up mission: helping Antonio (Isaiah Washington) rescue captured Dr Mark Stevens (Brian Hallisay), an expert in bionics, from some bad guys in Paraguay...

As usual, the episode is a jumble of enjoyable sequences desperately in need of an engaging story to hang them off. The few "bionic moments" are nicely-handled (particularly a series of death-defying leaps), but Jaime's skills are still mostly confined to block/punch/kick choreography that's already overused and boring.

The rescue of Dr Stevens basically serves to dispense information to Jaime about her new abilities and shortcomings. The anthrocites in Jaime are shown to prevent body repelling foreign objects (her bionics), but unfortunately their behaviour is very unhelpful if you're shot by a bullet...

Most importantly, Stevens tells Jaime her body will ultimately reject the anthrocites, meaning she'll die in 5 years time. That's actually a good way to inject the show with an inherent "deadline", and provides a recurring theme of Jaime's own mortality. On a show awkwardly trying to carve out an identity, it's one of their better ideas.

Unfortunately, far too much emphasis is being placed on Sarah Corvus (Katee Sackhoff), whose had more screentime as a "recurring character" than some of the regulars! She's clearly someone the writers feel they can have fun with (more so than Jaime) so she's again brought back for a subplot here. But, as much as I like Sackhoff in this role, Sarah is suffering from overexposure. It's only episode 4 and we know the bulk of her entire backstory, it seems! She should be used as a mysterious shot of adrenaline every now and then, but instead she's a crutch.

Faceoff has Sarah captured early on by the Berkut Group and shipped to their secret HQ -- where she's restrained in a silly Hannibal Lecter-style stretcher and interrogated about the whereabouts of rogue bionic scientist Anthony Anthros. Her capture is so swift and easy, it destroys the unbeatable vibe Sarah had, and her eventual escape is just as simple and anticlimactic.

Sackhoff's charisma deflects attention from the plodding nature of the other plots, but it's a trick that's working less and less. It's time to rest Sarah before fatigue sets in. Let's have some better development for Jaime or her two-dimensional sister Becca -- who mentions being in an internet chatroom, despite being banned from computers in the Pilot (the second such oversight in as many weeks!)

To summarize, Faceoff is a mundane episode that delivers information pertaining to Jaime's lifespan and finally has Becca (Lucy Hale) questioning her sister's mysterious working life, but there's previous else going on. It passes the time well enough, but it's difficult to work up any enthusiasm for anything you're seeing.

Bionic Woman needs to be super-Alias, or a cybernetic "Jaime Bond", but it's just not happening. The idea to equip the 70s series with an expansive mythology is fine, but at the moment everything is unfocused, rambling, ill-defined and plays like mid-90s sci-fi in a TV landscape where Lost has upped the ante...


17 October 2007
NBC, 8/7c pm

BIONIC WOMAN 1.3 - "Sisterhood"

Writer: David Eick
Director: Steve Boyum

Cast: Michelle Ryan (Jaime Sommers), Will Yun Lee (Jae Kim), Miguel Ferrer (Jonas Bledsoe), Lucy Hale (Becca Sommers), Molly Price (Ruth Treadwell), Mark A. Sheppard (Anthony Anthros), Katee Sackhoff (Sarah Corvus), Isaiah Washington (Antonio Pope), Kevin Rankin (Nathan), Magda Apanowicz (Heaven Von Fleet), Aleks Paunovic (Assault Team Leader/Curtis), Malcolm Stewart (Mr. Von Fleet), Elise Gatien (Anne Corvus), Graeme Duffy (Geek #1), Brad Kelly (Gangster #1), Richard Stroh (Blond Man), Julie Kim (Manicurist), Christopher Gauthier (Geek #2)

Jaime is tasked with protecting a Canadian defense contractor's daughter, while having to decide whether to help Sarah Corvus save herself...

Antonio: So what do you say, Sommers? Are you ready to find the animal?

Jaime: Bring it on, bitch!

I'm still not feeling the vibe with this Bionic Woman remake. It seems determined to update a very simple, fun idea by squashing it under the weight of modern cliches like shadowy government agencies. It's unsure whether to cut loose with action-packed hijinks, or just stand around morosely discussing how dangerous and serious everything is.

The title screams silly fun, but creator-producer David Eick is trying to rise above expectations, in a similar manner to Battlestar Galactica (of which Eick was involved.) It's admirable, but 70s Battlestar Galactica had far more scope than the 70s Bionic Woman ever had. In trying to provide depth and mythology to an essentially one-line premise, Eick's update is so far struggling.

Sisterhood is better than last week's travesty, primarily because it focuses on the one aspect of Bionic Woman that looks interesting: Sarah Corvus (Katee Sackhoff), the original cyborg who's gone rogue and "insane".

It transpires that Sarah is malfunctioning, feeling sick and having homicidal impulses. Acting on the advice of her creator, Anthony Anthros (Mark Shepherd; always a pleasure), who was sprung from jail in the Pilot, Sarah is told Jaime's superior technology holds the key to her survival.

To hammer home the ying-yang of Jaime (Michelle Ryan) and Sarah, we're also given some flashbacks to a time when Sarah and her sister Anne (Elise Gatien) were involved in a car accident. Anne died and survivor Sarah has blamed herself ever since. See? They both have sisters. They've both been in car crashes. They're both bionic. They're, like, opposites. Blonde hair/brown hair. You follow?

As with last week, the actual mission-based plot for Jaime is plain awful. She comments on its mundaneness herself ("Bionic babysitter?"), but reluctantly becomes a bodyguard to annoying teen Haven von Fleet (Magda Apanowicz), whose father is an important Canadian defense contractor. I understand Jaime isn't ready to be involved in more exciting and complex problems, but this baby steps approach is denying us any excitement!

Jaime's home life with sister Becca (Lucy Hale) is also lacking, with it particularly vague why Jaime can't, or won't, just tell her sister what's happened. Instead we have superhero-style dual identity scenes, with Jaime disappearing to beat-up baddies while her sis is sent off to buy some jeans. I'm also confused about Becca being legally forbidden to use a computer in the Pilot, but she's clearly seen showing Jaime photos on a laptop here...

The Berkut Group itself remains uninteresting, vague and littered with cliches. I've had my fill of secret, fictional government agencies. If we had more 24-style "reality", with Jaime a secretive aspect of their work, I'd be much happier. As it is, we have an assortment of two-dimensional suits, all jostling for prominence and taking it in turns to mentor Jaime...

Jae Kim (Will Yun Lee) is the martial arts expert seen sparring with Jaime whenever the script needs an injection of non-plot action. Jae's probably the more successful character, as he was romantically involved with Sarah Corvus (still is?), but is otherwise bland.

Jonas Bledsoe (Miguel Ferrer) is rent-a-boss material, lacking any charm and content to just grouch and act tough. Molly Price (Ruth Treadwell) has yet to make much of an impression, although she seems more nuanced in terms of performance. Antonio Pope (Isaiah Washington) is ultimately pointless, but I like Washington as an actor. It's just a shame Pope's surplus to requirement.

As I said last week, Michelle Ryan is doing fine with the material as Jaime Sommers. She's believable as both a down-to-earth big sister (love that dancing scene) and a woman trying to negotiate a dangerous new life. But it's not enjoyable watching Jaime get to grips with her abilities -- and it should be. It's probably because most of the bionic-moments rarely extend past a few Terminator-style eye shots and bone-cracking kicks and punches. Jaime isn't an accomplished "weapon" yet, but even the prospect of her becoming an efficient bionic agent isn't exciting!

Sarah Corvus is far more entertaining, as she's given the best lines, is more skilled, and played with scene-chewing relish by Sackhoff. Mind you, this episode reveals a family tragedy as a silly parallel to Jaime's, so the producers are even beginning to fudge their best character!

Overall, Sisterhood is a big improvement over episode 2, but the show is way off attaining greatness. At the moment, I think Bionic Woman would have made a great film, or an entertaining TV-movie, but it's straining to become a credible and exciting TV series.


10 October 2007
NBC, 8/7c pm

BIONIC WOMAN 1.2 - "Paradise Lost"

Writer: Jason Smilovic
Director: Tim Matheson

Cast: Michelle Ryan (Jaime Sommers), Lucy Hale (Becca Sommers), Will Yun Lee (Jae Kim), Miguel Ferrer (Jonas Bledsoe), Molly Price (Ruth Treadwell), Katee Sackhoff (Sarah Corvus), Isaiah Washington (Antonio Pope), Carly McKillip (Vivian), Jacob Blair (Steve), Lara Gilchrist (Carly), Erin Karpluk (Robin), Lorena Gale (Mrs. Busey), Michael Jocelyn (Priest), Marrett Green (TV Announcer), Chelah Horsdal (Suicidal Woman), Emily Holmes (Marty), Chad Cole (Bartender), Dalias Blake (Hazmat Soldier at Outpost), Kurt Max Runte (Merc Leader), Tyler McClendon (ND Agent at Stockyard), Fabrice Grover (Doorman at Hotel), Terence Dament (Merc at Stockyard), Tanya Champoux (Dead Woman) & Troy Hatt (Becca's Duet Partner)

Jaime continues to adjust to her new life with bionic implants, but finds herself drawn towards going on a mission...

Ruth: Would you please stop eavesdropping?
Jaime: Maybe if somebody said something to me for a change.

Following the funeral of her boyfriend Will Anthros, Jaime (Michelle Ryan) tries to return to normality, but having enhanced hearing and strength is a constant reminder she's different (better?) than other people... and on the precipice of an exciting, dangerous new life...

After accidentally breaking a guy's rib during a fumble in a toilet, shadowy company boss Jonas (Miguel Ferrer) interrupts to try and persuade Jaime to work for him... which obviously fails. Fortunately, Jonas' team have more covert methods of persuasion, and Antonio Pope (Isaiah Washington) manages to talk Jaime round -- after posing as a friendly dog-loving stranger in a local bookshop.

It's not long before Jaime's back in the top-secret company HQ (when will we be given an identifying name?) Inside, she undergoes fight training from Jae Kim (Will Yun Lee), before being dispatched to investigate the remote town of Paradise, which has been struck by a deadly toxin called DMC-30. After arriving in town with another company agent Ruth Treadwell (Molly Price), Jaime is alarmed to discover such acts of terrorism are commonplace every day, but covered up from the media...

Paradise Lost is a very poor episode, only existing so Jaime can decide to live a secret life away from her sister Becca (Lucy Hale). As plots go, it's nothing we haven't seen a trillion times before, in countless TV shows with similar premises. Now And Again, anyone? As a confirming episode of Jaime's direction on the show, it gets the job done; albeit in a forced, uninspired way. Jaime suddenly has a bit of an attitude post-Pilot, but it's nothing to get excited about...

The mass culling at Paradise is a weak example of probable story types Bionic Woman will be using. Sadly, the threat unspecified and confused. Just who are the terrorists? What did they want? How can the government cover up mass deaths like this, without arousing any suspicion? A whole town was wiped out! If such events are as common as we're led to believe, surely someone would have twigged by now...

The exact nature of the company Jaime's involved with is also very hazy. They seem to be an all-purpose, secretive agency, but it's not clear why they ever developed a bionic-human program. Are "super-soldiers" like Jaime even necessary? Nothing she does couldn't have been achieved by regular agents!

One pitfall for the series will be balancing Jaime's abilities. She's not totally bionic, so has her weaknesses, but at the moment it's only her lack of training that gives regular combatants any chance of winning. Once she's au fait with her fighting technique, the writers will have to be careful trying to keep her plausibly beatable, but not tiresomely so -- because a big proportion of viewers want to see Michelle Ryan kick some ass!

I'm also not convinced by Jaime's homelife, looking after her younger sister Becca. In the unaired Pilot I saw originally, Becca was deaf, but the character is now hearing unimpaired and played by a different, cuter, younger actress...

While Becca's lack of disability undoubtedly makes scenes flow faster (without all that sign language), it takes away an interesting disabled/superabled schism for the Summers sisters. Basically, having a deaf character was the show's only intriguing idea, but it's been replaced by a bog-standard sister act.

The trouble is, I'm having difficulty caring, or believing, in their close-knit relationship. Why is Jaime acting as sister/mother? Maybe it will make more sense once we understand what happened with their parents, but isn't that something the Pilot should have cemented?

There's also a small subplot for the first Bionic Woman, Sarah Corvus (Katee Sackhoff), who was the undoubted highlight of the Pilot. Even with limited screentime, her smirking tomboy act is fun to watch. It's a cliche to say villains have more fun, but it seems to be true; as Sackhoff's focused deviousness is more exciting than Ryan's tentative naivety...

I actually don't blame Michelle Ryan for Jaime's mundaneness, as I think she's performing the material to the best of her ability. She's beautiful (even making one-armed pull-ups look sexy!), with a great girl-next-door vibe, but everything that works about her is physical at the moment. Once the character has grown in confidence, perhaps Ryan will deliver a super-heroine with a personality to match the body.

As for the supporting cast; they're just playing archetypes. Miguel Ferrer is so synonymous with slimy, tough guys, that his presence is annoyingly conformist. His RoboCop connection doesn't help either! How much better if Isaiah Washington had been the boss? He has a far more agreeable chemistry with Ryan, but the writers need to settle on who's going to be her "mentor", as there are four characters being shuffled around in that role!

Paradise Lost is just a poor, unexciting episode. Jaime's decision to join the company is predictable and cliched. The deadly toxin plot is lazily handled, dramatically unsatisfying and rather boring. The only highlights are a fun training sequence for Jaime and scenery-chewing Sackhoff: totaling 5 minutes.


3 October 2007
NBC, 9/8c pm

PREVIEW: BIONIC WOMAN 1.1 - "Pilot"

Writers: Laeta Kalogridis & David Eick
Director: Michael Dinner

Cast: Michelle Ryan (Jaime Sommers), Chris Bowers (Dr Will Anthros), Katee Sackhoff (Sarah Corvus), Miguel Ferrer (Jonas Bledsoe), Molly Price (Ruth Treadwell), Will Yun Lee (Jae Kim), Mae Whitman (Becca Sommers), Emma Lahana (Sally Crane) & Aaron Douglas (Supermax Prison Guard)

A barmaid is involved in a car crash, and her scientist boyfriend saves her life by equipping her with bionic limbs...

Writer-producer David Eick knows a thing or two about cyborgs, having spent the past few years working on Battlestar Galactica. Now, he's heading his own show, based on the kitsch 70s sci-fi series that starred Lindsay Wagner as a tennis player given a bionic upgrade, but with a contemporary punch...

British actress Michelle Ryan (EastEnders/Jekyll) takes the lead as Jaime Sommers, updated from a tennis player to a barmaid; how's that for 30 years of women's lib? Jaime is dating dishy young scientist Will Anthros (Chris Bowers), whilst taking care of her younger, deaf sister Becca (Mae Whitman). Life is all roses, until Jaime makes the cliched mistake of announcing her pregnancy, resulting in a terrible car crash...

Fortunately for Jaime, her boyfriend is involved with a top-secret research project into bionic replacements, so after life-saving surgery involving the injection of "anthrocytes", Jaime wakes up as the eponymous Bionic Woman, with synthetic legs, arm, ear and eye.

So far, so predictable; and that's the main worry with this Pilot. Everything you expect to see updated is handled deftly, but whenever the script diverts to something original (such as a shadowy past for the company regarding their "first bionic woman"), it begins to drag or become unfocused.

Interestingly, the script gives Jaime a younger sister called Becca, who has been dealt a double blow in life: she's not as beautiful as big sis and she's deaf. As if to rub it in, her disability is even more pronounced in comparison once Jaime becomes bionic! But it seems the creators got cold feet over their disabled/superabled siblings, because Becca's deafness has been dropped from the show. The transmitted Pilot will have Mae Whitman replaced by Lucy Hale, and her character rewritten as a "budding computer hacker".

While it's certainly true the deaf sister aspect is the least interesting thing about the Pilot, atleast it's fresh compared to the computer hacker cliche! I actually find it quite distasteful that a show involving dream technology for disabled people, chooses to drop their one disabled character! It would have been nice to explore the jealousy between Jaime and Becca, particularly because Becca would have been more grateful for having super-hearing.

The script by Laeta Kalogridis and David Eick is well-paced, but predictable and prone to jumping from cliche to cliche. Jaime's car crash rescue by helicopter is straight from RoboCop, her rooftop leaps are pure Spider-Man, and a climactic punch-up in the rain evoked memories of Matrix Revolutions. They even wheel out a knife-wielding goon in a dark alley for Jaime to beat up.

The cast also seem chosen to be apeal to genre fans, with RoboCop's Miguel Ferrer behind another cybernetic project as Jonas Bledsoe, and three actors from Battlestar Galactica have small roles...

Indeed, BSG's Katee Sackhoff is perhaps the most interesting element of the Pilot as Sarah Corvus, an evil bionic woman. Sackhoff clearly delights in stalking around the screen with slicked-back blonde hair. Her rooftop rumble with Jaime is the undoubted highlight of the Pilot -- if only for her fun introduction: "without being too melodramatic about the whole thing, I'm Sarah Corvus. The first bionic woman. Ta-da."

As the lead actress, Michelle Ryan has a big task ahead of her, but she acquits herself well here. Her American accent is very good and she exudes girl-next-door sexiness that should prove a big draw for male fans and young girls. She can also act tough whilst looking pretty and vulnerable, which is all that's really required for this premiere.

There is a noticeable vein of decade-late Girl Power in the writing, which is kept in check most of the time, but noticeably distracts when a little girl sees Jaime super-running, but finds her mother doesn't believe her. "I just thought it was cool a girl could do that, that's all," the tot replies somberly, causing eye-rolls around the world.

As you'd expect, the special effects are good throughout, with only the aforementioned running sequence causing any real embarassment. The effect for Jaime's bionic eye is particularly cool; a night-vision sniper rifle with telescopic zoom and Terminator-style screen readouts. The car crash and rooftop fist-fight are the main injections of adrenaline.

Overall, Bionic Woman is certainly not a disaster, but there are plenty of concerns with the original elements Eick has included. But when the episode focuses on a woman exploring and reacting to "super powers", it's a lot of fun. The script just gets bogged down in its serious moments and contains lapses in logic: Jaime has a higher I.Q than Ferrer's boss, but works as a barmaid? Jaime can draw Sarah Corvus post-trauma, but fails to recognize Sarah in her bar? Was it because she wore lipstick?

So yes, there are problems, but Michelle Ryan is good, Katee Sackhoff is great, and the visuals are lively. The 70s original was hardly a work of perfection either, and I have faith David Eick can smooth out the wrinkles and deliver a fun, spirited adventure for audiences.

The Bionic Brit

A bizarre piece of casting news just in today. Ex-EastEnders actress Michelle Ryan, who played Zoe Slater for five years, has won the lead role in a remake of The Bionic Woman!

The original 70s series starred Linda Wagner as tennis pro Jaime Sommers, whose body is rebuilt with advanced technology following an accident, giving her superhuman powers. The series was a spin-off from The Bionic Man, where Lee Majors was similarly upgraded as astronaut Steve Austen.

The new pilot for a potential revival of the kitsch TV series begins shooting soon. 22-year-old Ryan apparently had a lot of competition from American actresses, but her audition impressed executives enough to win through.

Michelle Ryan is undoubtedly a very beautiful young woman, who commendably never started posing for various lad's mags just to keep her profile up. Her only high-profile job has been in EastEnders, so many people will be greeting the news with a typically cynical "East End chav gets lucky in the States" mentality, but there's more to Ryan than that. She's actually very middle-class and posh-sounding in real life and I'm sure her acting range extends beyond Zoe Slater...

So look out for her in Jane Austen's Mansfield Park alongside Billie Piper soon and as James Nesbitt's co-star in a new Jekyll & Hyde adaptation for the BBC. It's also interesting to note that Nesbitt apparently demanded Ryan's role was increased and some of her excised scenes reinserted because he thought she was that good.

I'm very happy with this news. We never champion homegrown talent, particularly when they "defect" to the States -- but why not? Ryan's clearly talented and undoubtedly gorgeous, so I'll check out The Bionic Woman redux and have my fingers crossed it turns into a top-rated NBC series.