Bionic Woman

One of the pleasures that I was looking forward to each week on Bionic Woman were the action sequences.  I have long missed the well choreographed action sequences Le Femme Nikita, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Alias delivered each week.  For me, BW was supposed to satisfy the void in my TV schedule these now canceled shows satisfied each week.

Unfortunately, BW’s pilot, “Second Chances,” has had the action/best fight scene to date.  Michelle Ryan as Jaime Sommers and Katee Sackhoff as Sarah Corvus battling each other on top of the roof during a rainstorm was great TV.  Sadly, rather than serving as a warm up to what was to come, no action/fight sequence has quite lived up to what the producers led us to believe we would get each episode.  In fact, the pilot has turned to be a false promise, great action sequences, and I think it is no surprise as a result the pilot has had the best ratings so far and since the pilot aired the show has lost viewers with each passing week.  Part of the reason, among many, I think has to do with the unsatisfying fight sequences.

Regarding the fight scenes, Jim writes in to offer his advice:

That has been the most disappointing aspect of the show to me, so far. I do not watch BW to see martial arts, I want to see a bionic woman bend bars, leap high buildings, run fast, crash cars, not hit other people with her bionic body, and potentially kill them. They should focus on the former stuff, and I believe I would say this even if the fight scenes were halfway decent.

Regular commenter Chris offers is take on the action sequences:

Nope, still a mess. The fight scenes [are] atrocious. When is this stupid hand-held camera fad going to end?

…

More judo lessons in the Batcave with Jae? When she’s fighting during training, she never uses her superspeed, and ends up losing. If she used her speed when fighting, the opponent would be dead before they hit the ground. All she does is kick people every week. This is The Bionic Woman, not Hong Kong Phooey.

While I don’t agree with Jim and Chris 100%, I do think they are on to something.  There really isn’t enough action/stunt effects each week, and the ones we are getting aren’t satisfying and are mostly a mess from a filming/choreography standpoint. To date, the best stunt sequence after the pilot was found in episode 1.04, “Face Off” where Jaime leaped across a warehouse to escape the terrorists shooting at her. 

This sequence was good, but we just finished episode 1.07 and there have only been two action sequences worth mentioning?

Let’s hope two things while the show is on hiatus:  The WGA strike doesn’t spell the end of BW and during the break, the producers will take this time to get the show on track.