What 'Bionic Woman' Is About:
Jaime Sommers was a bartender with a troublemaking kid sister to take care of and scientist boyfriend on the verge of proposing, when a semi crashes into her car and changes her life. Her boyfriend, Will, is part of a secret government cybernetics program; he replaces her mangled legs, right arm, ear, and eye with bionic parts and installs nanotechnology that integrates them into her system, adding warrior instincts and skills along the way. But Will is killed by the first bionic woman, Sarah, whose mind is affected by her outmoded implants. Jaime reluctantly decides to work with the government, but on her own terms.
Status of 'Bionic Woman':
Bionic Woman is currently not in production. It aired for 1 season, from Jun 6, 1909 to Nov 11, 2007. Network: NBC. For current showtimes see Show Listings.
Origins:
The original Bionic Woman (1976-1978), starring Lindsay Wagner, was a reasonably successful spin-off of the hit show The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-1978), which was in turn based on three 1973 TV-movie adaptations of the Cyborg novels by Martin Caidin. The original series was developed by Kenneth Johnson, who also helped create V, Alien Nation, and The Incredible Hulk. The 2007 series was created by David Eick, who also helped bring to life another reimagined old sci-fi series, Battlestar Galactica.
Key 'Bionic Woman' Characters:
Michelle Ryan (Jaime) has grown into her character, and sells her action scenes as someone who was just pouring drinks a while back. Miguel Ferrer, as Jaime?s gruff boss Jonas, makes seeming empathic and slippery at the same time look easy. Isaiah Washington (Antonio), fresh off being written out of Grey?s Anatomy, is such a ruthless tough guy he makes the rest of the spooks look like Captain Nice ? especially Will Yun Lee (Jae), whose street-fighter cred is emasculated by his mooning over the fantastically fabulous Katie Sackhoff (Sarah).
Flavor of 'Bionic Woman':
Early episodes essentially answer the question, ?What if Everywoman got superpowers and a job as a government agent but wasn?t too thrilled about it?? The production values are slick and the stunts are excellent, but the characterizations aren?t consistent. The show?s at its best plumbing the sympathetic/antagonistic tension between inexperienced Jaime and unbalanced Sarah.
