The bionic woman?

Question

I saw the new "Bionic Woman" and thought it was pretty good with an excellent cast, and a big improvement over the campy original. It had sort of a dark "Blade Runner" kind of feel to me. I noticed the critics didn't like it though, but I'm not sure why. How did everyone else feel about it?

Junebug: I know what you mean. The main character definitely had some Sidney Bristow in her!

Answer 1

I saw it, and I'm kind of torn.

Standing alone, on its own merits it *is* some pretty good television. But....

Thing is, I didn't just *watch* the original Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman spin-off, when I was younger. Yes, I was a kid in the 1970s and saw the original airings. ^_^

But I also *read* the *book*. _Cyborg_. The book on which the whole idea was based.

Now here's the thing. In terms of the geeky stuff--the bionic limbs, the surgery, almost everything *but* the nanotech--the new "Bionic Woman" is actually closer to the book, to the original source material, than the original TV series was. That they did get right, that and the darker, grittier military tone of the people working at the secret base.

But...it really looks like the show is *second-guessing* itself here.

Does anyone remember the *promos* for the show, where they showed the leading lady with actually *mechanical looking* bionic legs? Ok then. You know what I'm talking about, that look didn't make it into the pilot, instead they just showed her natural arms and legs with an effect layer over it for the nanoprobes. I guess somebody *somewhere* thought having her sporting actual "borg limbs" would have been disturbing.

Which is rather the point. A cybernetics organism that has *machine limbs* is *Supposed* to be disturbing. Someone with "fake arms and legs" is supposed to be disfigured, at least for a little while, even with multi-billion dollar technology.

Likewise....I'm not really sure they have the right *actress* in the lead role. It seems like they were going, not for a woman who was a "badass" per se, but someone who was a "girly badass" in the _Buffy_ mold. Which works in a lot of shows, but not *Bionic Woman*. Really, in the beginning it really did seem like the *kid sister* was more of an adult and more tough than Jamie was. So....

It just seemed a little rushed that her boyfriend/creator got killed so quickly, because Jamie wasn't *convincing* in her turn from wimpy-girly to tough. Yes, she went through a lot for a first episode, but the speech at the end about "burying people" just wasn't real to me. It didn't work.

Granted....the boyfriend could have survived, been saved somehow, when his colleague made the call and said "we need *everybody*", that's always going to be an out for this type of show. Still, it just seemed rushed, and there didn't seem to be enough going on to make the character change real.

But hey.... ^_^ Let's be honest here, the Original show didn't even *come close* to paying this kind of attention to character and plot, now did it? It would be *so* unfair to judge this show by a _Heroes_ standard when the Original show would have fallen to pieces by that standard.

The truth is....the new "Bionic Woman" is pretty damn good. It is, on every objective level, *better, stronger and faster* than the Original series. But it's *not* going to be able to compete with our childhood memories of the Original.....nor should it.

I'm just worried that they went too far in terms of using such a tiny, girly lead actress for the main role. She really doesn't sound like she has a "tough" bone in her body, even post-bionics.

But we have a whole season to give the show a chance....for all we know it might turn out really good.

Hope this helps...thanks for your time! ^_^

Answer 2

I thought it was a better version than the original, which I watched back in the '70s. The cast was great and the action was well done. Still, there were quite a few flaws.

Jamie Summers adjusted too quickly to her loss and rebirth, if you want to call it that. That's quite a traumatic change for someone to go through and she simply slept through her emotional recovery.

There was a lot of "show" crammed into the hour, but at the expense of explanations. For instance, how did the professor get free at the end? He was in a maximum security prison, so it would take more than one guard to get him out. Why do the bad guys want Jamie dead? Her boyfriend's team could just build another.

The show left me with the impression that the original script called for a 2-hour pilot, but it was chopped down to one hour at the expense of explanation. Still, it's a tv show, not the Mona Lisa. The bottom line is that it was an entertaining hour, and it was interesting enough to make me want to see what happens next.

Answer 3

I Liked it...it was pretty good and interesting. I kept going back and forth between this show and Private Practice. of course I got so interested in the Bionic Woman, I almost forgot to go back and watch PP. That tells you right htere..t.aht Action is more interesting then Medical drama....even though I liked PP.

Answer 4

Like most pilots the pace of the show was too rushed trying to fit everything in. I hate it when shows do that. I will give it another chance though because the Bionic Villian was excellent. Alias (which this reminds me of) was better done though.

Answer 5

I thought it was good. It reminded me of the new "Battlestar Galactica" -- and well it should, considering many of the same people are involved in cast and crew. Michelle Ryan seems a good choice to play Jamie, although I'm not so sure about her boyfriend. Katee Sackoff makes an excellent villain!


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Answer 6

I like it. I'd watch a few more episodes and see how the story goes. It's kinda weird how the preview shows she said "I'd like to give this save the world thing a try". Save the world again? I've heard that line enough from my favorite Heroes show already :)

Answer 7

I watched it last night and really liked it. This was one of my favorite shows growing up. I think it is a great remake of the original which is more appropriate to our times. I will definately watch next week.

Answer 8

I watched it & liked it....

(Always interesting to me to see Brits speaking with "american" accents)

I like that it's a "darker" show than the original - but that's to be expected since the producer on the show is the same fella who revived the "Battlestar Galactica" show on Sci-Fi (and made it a grittier, darker drama)

Answer 9

I thought it was a great show with lots of action. I wait until next week.

Answer 10

I was dissappointed. I downloaded the pilot from amazon.com thru my tivo..... I just couldnt get into it. I guess I am comparing it too much to the first one.