Bionic Woman

Bionic Woman star Kevin Rankin, who plays Nathan on the show, recently gave an interview in which he was asked about the plight of disappearing cultures in the modern world. 

Kevin stopped by a gifting even in Los Angeles in December, and while there agreed to answer a question about diminishing cultures.  The interviewer asked Kevin what he thought should be done, or not done, in order to help preserve cultures that are vanishing in the modern world. 

Kevin’s answer was fairly impressive considering that he did not seem prepared to speak about such a complicated topic that day, and the question was far more intricate than the fluff questions television actors typically get at swag events. He managed to connect the issue of globalization of commerce with people’s need to understand the cultures that made our world what it is today:

“Well, as far as preserving culture, once you start losing that foundation …  I mean everything we have today is because of the existing cultures before it.  You can’t have the branch without the tree underneath.  You start losing sight of the culture, of influences, you start to question why are we doing this again, the things we are doing today you don’t know what the reasons are, what the traditions came from, if you don’t know what the past was about. 

“And I think that, you know, enough with the globalization, we don’t need a McDonald’s on every corner, yeah it may create a job or two, but ultimately it make take away from the distinct taste of cultures that were there before us.”

The question was related to a film that will be released in 2008 called Hawaii: A Voice for Sovereignty.  The documentary was toasted in Los Angeles on February 29 at a green carpet gala that marked the film’s premiere.

Busy actor Kevin Rankin, who plays fan favorite Nathan on Bionic Woman, was in Los Angeles last week to help promote his other show, Friday Night Lights.

The event was presented by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as a celebration of Friday Night Lights, which is a critical favorite on ABC.  Kevin has become a fan favorite on that show as well, where he plays the snarky wheelchair pal former quarterback Jason met in rehab:

Based on this description from the TV Guide site, Herc is another memorable Kevin Rankin character:

“Are you familiar with Herc? In case you are not, here is a little back story on him. When Jason was moved from the hospital into rehab, he was introduced to this cocky little guy suffering about the same type of paralysis as Jason. He was very instrumental in getting Jason through the initial sorry-for-himself stage. He was very good at pushing his buttons. At one point they were going at it so hard and furiously they both ended up overturned on the floor. Jason sheepishly asked “What do we do now?” Herc told him “Don’t worry. Eventually somebody will come by and help us out.” They both cracked up and have been friends since then. Herc also introduced Jason to wheelchair rugby.”

Other stars at the event included Connie Britton, Taylor Kitsch, Jesse Plemons, Adrianne Palicki, Aimee Teagarden, and tabloid sensation Minka Kelly.

Executive Producer Jason Katims, who cast Nathan on Bionic Woman and was one of BW’s many showrunners, was also there for the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences event.

It seems I can’t write enough about actor Kevin Rankin these days.  Rankin plays Nathan on BW and next to Katee Sackhoff as Sarah Corvus, Nathan is my other favorite.  Rankin adds a wit and style to the show and he is often the most entertaining to watch. 

I have compiled a Youtube clips play list of my favorite Nathan scenes from all eight Bionic Woman episodes.* Enjoy!

*Note - Rankin joined Bionic Woman in episode 1.02 and appears in only 7 of the eight episodes which have been produced and aired on NBC.

Regular readers know that Kevin Rankin as Nathan is one of our favorite characters on Bionic Woman.  Rankin adds a sense of humor and levity to the show and is overall a funny character.  His weekly flirtations with Michelle Ryan’s Jaime Sommers are the funniest moments of the show and usually the most entertaining. 

Rankin is a busy man as he also stars in NBC’s prime time drama Friday Night Lights.  BW is filmed in Vancouver, FNL in Austin.

Rankin recently gave an interview to the LA Daily News and discussed his hectic schedule and the fate of Bionic Woman.

On landing the role on BW:

“At the beginning of the season, they did a lot of retooling. They fired some of the producers and writers. The guy they brought on to fix the show was Jason Katims. He was the show-runner for `Friday Night Lights.’ Within a week, he called me up and invited me and offered me the part. He said come up and try and instill some humor, and ground it in reality a little bit. I became Nathan, the bionics guy, I work with computers. I’m going out on missions and learning how to fight.”

On BW returning after the WGA strike is settled:

“The show was getting its feet under it before the strike happened, but I’m not sure if it’s coming back,” he admitted. “I just don’t think it got a fair shake. I’d love to see it come back.”

His first big break:

Kevin’s first regular television role came on NBC’s short-lived but well-remembered comedy “Undeclared,” in which he played the resident adviser in a college dorm. He knew he was a part of something special because the show was created by writer/director Judd Apatow, who is responsible for such movie hits as “Knocked Up” and “The 40-Year-Old Virgin.”

“That took me to a different level,” he said of “Undeclared.”

“Little did I know that a couple of years later, (Apatow) would be the biggest thing in town.”

Although Bionic Woman and FNL are on hiatus during the WGA strike, Rankin fans can catch him on the second episode of NBC’s Law & Order, which returns in January.

Let’s hope Rankin is wrong about BW not returning and we get more of Nathan.

Bionic Woman episode 1.08, “Do Not Disturb,” was not the greatest hour ever to air on t.v., but it had some fun moments. 

Like the following scene.

Almost at the very beginning of the episode, when it opens, we find Jaime on assignment tracking a bad guy while Nathan banters with her as she gets shot at and almost run over.

Like I said, fun. 

Enjoy.

It’s no secret that we are huge Kevin Rankin fans around these parts.  As regular Bionic Woman fans know, Rankin plays Nathan on BW and usually delivers the best lines of the episode.  Rankin also pulls double duty and plays Herc on NBC’s high school drama Friday Night Lights. Needless to say, Rankin is a busy man, shuttling between Vancouver, where BW is shot, and Austin, TX, where FNL is shot.

The Houston Chronicle caught up with the actor to talk about his busy life.

The mailbox at actor Kevin Rankin’s Los Angeles apartment isn’t overflowing in his absence. His girlfriend, whom he says he sees too little of, has been picking up the mail.

“She’ll love to hear that’s her job,” he says, laughing.

But Rankin hasn’t spent much time at his home. He’s typically on the set of Bionic Woman in Vancouver, British Columbia, between three and seven days before he jets to Austin for several days making Friday Night Lights. Rankin, who was born in Louisiana and grew up in Magnolia, most likely can be found on set or at an airport.

“If I’m home,” he says, “it’s rarely more than three days.”

But the two roles have proved a big breakthrough for Rankin. On FNL, he’s Herc, a wheelchair-bound hellion who befriends one of the show’s principals. On Bionic, he’s Nathan, a tech geek who aids the show’s titular character while getting to provide some snippets of funny.

Several times in a fairly short conversation, Rankin talks about living out his dream. He seems enamored of both shows, though he clearly prefers one set.

FNL is shot in the Austin area “with the bands, food and all the things I miss about Houston,” he says. “I had no idea; I had to leave to find out how good I had it. That’s not to knock Vancouver cuisine, but last time I visited Houston I ate out every night.”

Rankin, 31, says there are “a bunch of Rankins in West Texas,” but he didn’t move to that region until his father took an oil job in 1987.

He graduated from Magnolia High School in 1994. There he played football. “I was a linebacker,” he says. “They wouldn’t really let me on offense. I tended to run toward people as opposed to away.”

…

In addition to glowing about FNL, Rankin also springs to the defense of Bionic, which hasn’t received much love from critics. He points out that early episodes were reshot and also created by committee, but “the more recent episodes were done with one director, one cook.

“It’s very much getting its feet.”

Let’s hope talk of the demise of BW is just rumor and we get more of Rankin.

There are clips of Rankin as Nathan after the jump.

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It’s the Thanksgiving Day weekend in the United States and customarily this means getting together with family and friends and often flipping through photo albums and reminiscing about the past.  I thought in that tradition that I would post some random photos of the Bionic Woman cast snapped at the various events celebrities often finds themselves.  Enjoy!

Kevin Rankin poses for a House of Petals portrait at the AMA Sanctuary Lounge at House of Peals on November 16, 2007 in Los Angeles, California.

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Bionic Woman, Episode 1.06 “The List,” featured one of our favorite Berkut Group employees, Kevin Rankin’s Nathan, pretty heavily.  Rankin has done a great job, week after week, making Nathan a funky, energetic guy.  His scenes with Michelle Ryan’s Jaime Sommers have been hidden gems since Rankin joined the cast in episode 1.02.  Thus far, Nathan has been the go to guy to fix Jaime when she injures herself, or the person in charge of watching her back via her ocular implants when she is undercover.

Each week, I like to highlight Nathan’s rants and observations.

This episode’s best Nathan scene is between Nathan and Molly Price’s Ruth Truewell.

The setup:

The Berkut Group gang have flown to Paris to capture terrorist Victor Booth and recover the list of undercover CIA agents Booth has stolen and attempting to sell to the highest bidder.  This clip begins as Nathan arrives at the CIA’s Paris HQ.

Best line: 

Truewell:  “You realize that spies don’t really talk that way?”

Nathan:  “I know, it blows. I’m just trying to bring back the cool.”

Kevin Rankin as Nathan will always bee cool to us!

Damn, those Angels!  The three ladies snagged an exclusive interview with actor Kevin Rankin, a.k.a. Nathan, from Bionic Woman.  Nathan is one of our favorites around these parts, as evidenced by our series of Nathan and Jaime clips from previous episodes.

Viewers may also recognize Rankin from one of NBC’s other shows, Friday Night Lights, where he plays Herc.  Filmed in Austin, TX, Friday Night Lights is quite a ways from Vancouver - home to the set of BW.  Rankin’s schedule keeps him busy shuttling back and forth from Texas to Canada.

Technical difficulties prevent us from hearing the entire interview, but you can listen to most of it here.

Some highlights:

Romance between Nathan and Jaime?

• Not going to happen anytime soon, but who knows.

Travel between Austin and Vancouver?

• Hectic but he loves the two cities.

Inspiration from the original series?

• He was more of a Six Million Dollar Man fan but he loves the bionics.

How was he cast as Nathan?

• The latest show runner for BW, Jason Cahill, is a producer for Friday Night Lights and he asked Rankin to join the cast.

I for one hope Rankin gets a bigger role on BW because the scenes between him and Michelle Ryan are great.

We here at Watching Bionic Woman have become big fans of Nathan, the snarky tech guy who has become Jaime’s pal on the show. He is also her only real friend and ally at the Burket Group, as he is the only person who takes the time to explain things to her about her bionic body … although he did leave her to find out about her shortened bionic lifespan on her own.

So who is the charming fellow who plays Nathan?

His name is Kevin Rankin, and like Katee Sackhoff he is pulling double duty these days as he has a role on another Universal Television show in addition to his part on Bionic Woman. also plays wheelchair-bound Herc on NBC’s Friday Night Lights, the cocky fellow who became a fan favorite when he befriended football hero Jason after his tragic accident. Based on this description from the TV Guide site, Herc is another memorable Kevin Rankin character:

Are you familiar with Herc? In case you are not, here is a little backstory on him. When Jason was moved from the hospital into rehab, he was introduced to this cocky little guy suffering about the same type of paralysis as Jason. He was very instrumental in getting Jason through the initial sorry-for-himself stage. He was very good at pushing his buttons. At one point they were going at it so hard and furiously they both ended up overturned on the floor. Jason sheepishly asked “What do we do now?” Herc told him “Don’t worry. Eventually somebody will come by and help us out.” They both cracked up and have been friends since then. Herc also introduced Jason to wheelchair rugby.

Over the years, Kevin has played memorable characters on a long list of critically acclaimed television hits including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, Bones, Six Feet Under, The O.C., and Spin City. On Buffy, Kevin played Tara’s creepy and kidnap prone brother Donny. On Grey’s, Kevin played one of the frostbitten mountain climbers in last May’s grizzly sweeps storyline about survival and friendship. On Bones, Kevin played a morgue worker who was murdered … but not before he got to enjoy some kinky sex in the coroner’s cooler. Kevin was even cast in the short-lived cult favorite Undeclared, which has had a revival in the press this year thanks to the Hollywood dominance of creator Judd Apetow.

We are not sure how much more we will get to enjoy Kevin on Bionic Woman now that Jason Katim’s is no longer the interim show runner, but hopefully new producer Jason Cahill will have the sense to keep Nathan as an integral part of the show as his interactions with Jaime are usually one of the highlights each week.

Rounding out the third Jaime and Nathan scene from, episode 1.05, “The Education of Jaime Sommers,” this clip is fun because it shows Jaime figuring out how to break into the office of the professor she has gone undercover to investigate.  Her goal is to break in the place and scan his computer to get proof he is selling his mind controlling computer chip to terrorists.

Jaime and Nathan’s scenes are some of my favorites because Kevin Rankin has turned out to be a fun, likeable character.  Unfortunately, we don’t know too much about his character Nathan, other than he is the go to guy for Jaime all things bionic.  He mends her when something breaks, watches her while she is undercover and here, assists as she figures out how to get in the office.

Also, note Michelle Ryan uses her British accent and she does sound, as Nathan says, “It is literally the hottest thing ever.”

I hope there is more of Nathan as the season goes on and we finally get to see more of him.

Favorite Line:

Nathan:  So typical of this place, they spend $50 million dollars on you and won’t spring for Bluetooth.

Continuing the highlights of Jaime and Nathan scenes from Bionic Woman, episode 1.05, “The Education of Jaime Sommers,” this scene finds Jaime already on assignment undercover as a British transfer student working to find out if a world renewed professor in Parkinson’s research is selling his research to terrorists.  The professor has a teaching assistant, this week’s extra special guest star, Jordan Bridges.  Turns out, Bridges plays “Tom” the CIA agent, also on assignment to learn who is selling the professor’s mind controlling chips.

Jaime has become quite enamored with the teacher’s assistant.    Unbeknownst that the other is a spy, Jaime and Tom hit it off and start to become more than “student” and “teacher”.

Poor Nathan, he has to sit back at Berkut HQ and watch through Jaime’s ocular camera as Tom smoothly seduces Jaime.  It’s fun watching Nathan get jealous as Tom’s smooth style obviously has a romantic effect on Jaime.

Favorite Line: 

Nathan:  Chatty Kathy, cut the cord.

It’s no secret around these parts that I really like the interaction and chemistry Michelle Ryan as Jaime Sommers and Kevin Rankin as Nathan have each episode.  In fact, I think these actors have the best chemistry on the show, and the producers haven’t even bothered to give Nathan a last name!

Here’s one of three, count ‘em three clips of Jaime and Nathan from episode 1.05, “The Education of Jaime Sommers”.

The set up:

Jaime is going undercover as college student transferring in for the semester to study neurobiology under a world renewed professor suspected of selling his brain chip research to the highest bidder. 

Jaime feels completely overwhelmed because a) she didn’t actually go to Harvard and b) had she gone, her major was going to be Irish literature.

Poor Nathan, the more time he spends with Jaime, the more he realizes they aren’t such a perfect match.

Favorite line:

Nathan:  Wow, we have very little in common.

Katee Sackhoff has gotten lots of great write-ups for her portrayal of Sarah Corvus, the “first bionic woman” and dedicated nemeses to Michelle Ryan’s Jaime Sommers, but there is another character I like almost as well - Nathan.  Each week, Jaime and Nathan engage in playful, flirty banter that has really taken on a fun, fan perspective recurrence.  Nathan starts most scenes with the “What have you done to my ear, toe, etc.” question after Sommers has damaged her bionics.  Sommers reminds Nathan each time those body parts belong to her. 

Nathan is played by veteran tv actor Kevin Rankin.  Many fans will recognize him as Herc from Friday Night Lights. 

In Bionic Woman, we know practically nothing about Nathan, not even his last name, except he is the go-to-guy when Sommers is having technical difficulties.  He is a sort of Q to Sommers.

I’ve pulled together a couple of clips.

This clip comes from 1.02, “Paradise Lost”.  Sommers is having problems with ringing in her bionic ear and Nathan fixes the problem with an unconventional technique.

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