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« Bionic Woman
Episode Recap: "Trust Issues"
I had high hopes that Bionic Woman would continue its recent wave of success, but "Trust Issues" brought this reinvigoration to a grinding halt. The show's quality depreciated to the same substandard levels of its debut episodes.
A large contributor to the show's creative woes came from the inconsistency of its storylines and cast. Whatever happened to Katee Sackhoff as Sarah Corvus? Despite being among the most poorly conceived rogues in television history, it was a shame that she was seemingly abandoned. Sarah Corvus was a principle player that would have assisted in supplying answers about the mysterious origins of bionics. There were so many different ways that Sarah's personality could have been developed. Flashbacks to Sarah's past would have provided motivation for her present actions and would also have made her more relatable to the audience.
This ambivalence to creative development separates Bionic Woman from classic shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In Buffy's third season, the villainous Mayor Wilkins was introduced as Buffy's new archenemy. The mayor was stiff in his early appearances, only acting as a plot devise to move the storyline forward. But Joss Whedon and his writing team continued to turn the mayor into a heinously hilarious villain. It turns out that the actor playing Mayor Wilkins, Harry Groener, had great comedic delivery and the scribes were able to use this to their advantage.
Not only did Bionic Woman ignore its failed storylines, but they also felt obligated to destroy any success that the show had achieved. I credited the character of Tom with contribution to the previous creative turnaround, so it was a shame to see Tom become just as serious and miserable as the rest of his cast mates. Tom's concerns for Jaime's well-being in the field were starting to interfere with their relationship. He also stopped doing what he did so well in the last two episodes, which was to bring the show some much-needed levity. Jaime and Tom's relationship should have been given the chance to blossom before any conflict was introduced. The Bionic writers should have recognized Tom's burgeoning importance and taken advantage of it.
Another success story of character development occurred during the first season of Heroes. Jack Coleman had a small role in the show's pilot episode, with only a few lines of dialogue. But Jack's performance was so strong that the producers promoted him to a series regular as HRG.
"Curtis from 24 is back from the dead!" That's what was going through my mind when I saw Roger R. Cross in tonight's episode. After I recovered from the sudden shock, I was baffled that I got so excited about an actor that I thought was at best average. Unfortunately, this all-too-brief moment was the most enjoyment I was able to reap from "Trust Issues." With Bionic Woman hemorrhaging viewers every week, the writers are running out of time to make this show work.
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Nov 15, 2007 9:31 AM
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I think part of the problem is, it's difficult to care for the characters. Antonio is toast? Oh well. I was reading a magazine by then anyway. I'm just not invested. But I do stick with it week after week. Mostly out of hope.
Although, I did laugh when Ruth (it is Ruth, right?) told Jaime that she bought a plant. She seemed so pleased! And I did feel bad for Becca when the crazy-driver that is her sister bailed on her fabulous dinner - although I had doubts about how fabulous it was going to be when she tried to grate an egg.
There was one tidbit that grabbed my interest. As a racing fan, I was curious to find out if Hastings Racecourse exists, as I'd never heard of it. It does, in Vancouver, no surprise. Yep, that was the highlight of my evening.
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Nov 15, 2007 10:08 AM
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I can't believe you didn't like this. Strong story and Ryan was good. Tom needs to be told about her Bionics. Once he does he wont be so freaked out so that's only temporary. Forget about Sarah. You are right she was poorly concieved and I hope she stays away (though I know she wont). I got everything I wanted from Bionic Woman with "Trust Issues."
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Nov 15, 2007 10:10 AM
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I had high hopes that Bionic Woman would continue its recent wave of success, but "Trust Issues" brought this reinvigoration to a grinding halt. The show's quality depreciated to the same substandard levels of its debut episodes.
I guess you didn't see the same episode I did. This episode was on the same level as the last few. There's still room for improvement but it's been better since Starbuck left the show. Prehaps if Katee Sackhoff had played a different character rather then Starbuck her episodes would have been better. Starbuck works in BSG but not so much in BW.
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Nov 15, 2007 1:09 PM
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What bothered me more about this episode was inconsistency. Jaime easily leaps 30 feet into the air, then struggles to pull herself up onto the roof. The "special rifle" (really a Barrett M99 .410 caliber) can shoot depleted uranium bullets 2.5 miles - but we'll be safe behind the car door - and this body armor will protect us. I guess they couldn't find a wooden chair this week.
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Nov 15, 2007 1:48 PM
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Based on the handful of posts this show seems to be getting I can't imagine it lasting very long. I had high hopes for this series when it debuted but they have pretty much dissipated. I watch it now out of short term habit knowing that Life will be on soon afterwards. The show has been far too inconsistent and with the WGA strike I don't expect anything to be fixed on this show that will get it a second season.
I think where this show falters is the absurd way in which Jamie even relates to the whole situation. I think the younger sister does a great job with what she is given but if this show were just about a lonely woman without the cliche baggage of raising her younger sibling I think things would be better. The introduction of a love interest for her has also been a big bomb for me. I think this CIA guy is a big D. The scenes they have together may work on a standard drama or sitcom but seem so misplaced on a show about a woman that has bionic implants. I try not to let scifi aspects of a show bother me but I agree with an earlier poster about how stupid it makes a trained CIA agent sound when he gets upset someone is not wearing a vest when the bad guy is using a rifle and projectile that would cut through body armor and people like a hot knife thru butter. The chair comment was also hilarious. I remember seeing that last week and almost doing a spit take.
Despite others complaints that Katee Sackhoff may have been channeling a little too much Starbuck for the role I think abandoning her story line like that pretty much seals this shows doom. Sara Corvus was the most intriguing part of the entire show. I don't hate BW but it is definately not a great show by any stretch of the imagination. I am far more pleased with the development of Life and Journeyman than I am with this show even if Journeyman does ignore some of the effects of changing any event in history in the way that it does.
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Nov 15, 2007 5:06 PM
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I really wanted to like this show. With a Pantinkin-less Criminal Minds, I was looking for Wednesday night viewing. I just can't continue to watch this. The characters are not only flat, they're just bad secret agents! It's a shame. I had high hopes.
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Nov 15, 2007 5:25 PM
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The only hope for this show is this: Kill off Jaime and focus the show on Sarah. Do that and I and other people I know will become fans of this show.
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Nov 16, 2007 9:10 AM
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I think being able to get Katee Sackhoff back for more episodes probably IS the best bet for the series survival, but I can't see a whackjob homicidal-in-a-sorta-sympathetic-way character carrying the show, no matter how brilliantly (and with perfect deadpan comedic timing) Ms. Sackhoff portrays "having issues". Either they rehabilitate and homogenize her character to the point of "ho, hum", or it becomes a black comedy cult fave on the *really* fast track to cancellation. Maybe if it was on Cartoon Network...
I think the producer took marching orders to lighten up the show anyway, after the first few episodes. Looking at the pilot, Jaime's boss was surely envisioned as someone she might work for but probably should never trust very far, and anyone who saw the early promos know that the sister character was originally supposed to be a little plainer, heavier, angrier, edgier, pierced, tatooed - oh, and deaf to boot.
I don't know if the original vision would have played better or garnered ratings, but as it is, they might as well have Jaime get that day job as a school teacher...ooops, I mean timeshare sales woman. Oh, and how about a cute bionic german shepherd?
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Nov 16, 2007 4:57 PM
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With all due respect, if you want to blog about Buffy or Heroes, perhaps you should do it someplace other than here. You barely touched on Bionic Woman.
This show is growing, and it is undergoing tremendous behind-the-scenes changes. We will see that play out over the next several episodes. In the meantime, we watch as Jaime experiences all the things that go along with covert ops, including the loss of a partner. The dilemma she faced in whether or not to trust Pope further exacerbated her guilt when he was killed while protecting her. Who do you trust when you're not sure who the "good guys" are? I think this idea is being well played out.
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Nov 16, 2007 11:05 PM
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Odd...I left a comment and now it's gone. I've seen others complain about their missing comments, so apparently this site has some kind of glitch.
Well, to recap what I said before, I liked this episode and who else thinks that Michelle Ryan's eyeliner looks odd?
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Nov 17, 2007 7:25 AM
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Joshua, you almost seem to have the impression that Bionic Sarah was supposed to be the "Bionic Woman" of the series title. Sherlock Holmes didn't have to deal with Dr. Moriarity in every single story, either. Nor did Sydney Bristow have to deal with her mystery mother in every episode of Alias, or her dead roommate's genetically-modified clone, either. But they worked well as recurring characters.
You seem to be looking at this show as a comedy-drama like Buffy. And it's true, I guess, that if that's your expectation, it's on the wrong road creatively.
But the focus of this show from the start was the dark mystery in which Jaime is immersed. They need the occasional comic relief, like Ruth's pathetic attempt to lighten up her office with a tiny plant, to keep the mood from turning somber.
Do you think Bionic Sarah should be a comical villain who turns into a humongous snake at the end of the season like the Mayor on Buffy? Good grief! Bionic Sarah is straight from the heart of darkness.
Yes, "Tom's concerns for Jaime's well-being in the field were starting to interfere with their relationship." Because the scene in which he grumbled about her not having protective equipment reminds us that we really don't know jack about who "Tom" is and what he may be up to. Earlier, Antonio had told Jaime that her relationship with Tom could risk exposure, and Tom doesn't yet know about her bionic stuff and the fact that the Berkut Cult has this whole anthrocyte cottage industry going.
Who called Tom to go act as Jaime's "backup"? We saw no other indication he was assigned to protect the dictator. Were those two CIA agents she beat up really assigned to do a routine check on her because she's Tom's girlfriend? Is "Tom" even his real name? Was that bit from Jaime's sister "Bex" about how Jaime always picks loser guys and how she has a walk-on-the-wild side temptation just a throwaway line? Were the potential parallels between the fatally flawed pair Antonio/Julia and the Jaime/Tom match-up that I thought the episode almost beat us over the head with just a coincidence?
Joshua, I think it's fine to blog about a show you dislike. But it sounds like the only show you found to have any real redeeming value was episode 5, "The Education of Jaime Summers". Isn't there somebody on TV Guide's staff who could also blog here who can appreciate some of the very good moments of this show? And who isn't judging it as though it's meant to be a comedy-drama, which it clearly isn't?
One thing I appreciate about Bionic Woman is the way they make use of the lighting and staging to keep the dark tone of menace and mystery prominent. That scene when Jaime first arrives at the aiport has her striking what I think is her best "iconic" image so far, of looking back over her shoulder in the darkness. Also, if someone was actually looking instead of imagining things to gripe about, you might notice that in that scene her bionic eye glows green, giving her a vampirish look for a second or two. Very cool. Unless you mistakenly thought the main character of this show was a vampire hunter played by Sarah Michelle Geller.
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Nov 17, 2007 4:54 PM
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I think Jaime should die saving Sarah's life which causes her to realize that she has to be a force for good but one who will always struggle with it. This sounds much more interesting than boring Jaime.
Thanks.
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Nov 17, 2007 4:58 PM
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I wanted to add that there are some similarities to Buffy. Jonas, for example, could be seen as filling the Giles role as Jamie's mentor in the ways of the dark, secret world.
But Bionic Woman isn't a comedy-drama.
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Nov 18, 2007 2:33 AM
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