Bionic Woman

Entertainment Weekly has an four-page feature on blonde action heroine and former bionic babe Katee Sackhoff in this week’s issue, where the star talks about her roles on Bionic Woman and Battlestar Galactica as well as her plans for the future.

Among the more interesting revelations for Bionic Woman fans was Katee’s frustration about how watered down Sarah Corvus became as the show got more and more attention.

“She was sooooo much crazier than what ended up on the air,” said the actress.  “She kept being pulled back.  That’s the norm for network television, as far as I am concerned.”

It’s another insider comment about the stunted potential of what could have been a great show, and one that is especially intriguing considering the Sarah Corvus scenes that made it on the air were pretty crazy.  The Sarah we saw was needy, violent, homicidal, caring, self-destructive, palpably alive and yet slipping into psychosis while dying. 

What Sarah Corvus could have been, or would have been, if Sackhoff had been allowed to truly unleash her man-eating and scene-chewing glory will be a mystery for the ages.  As will the question of who she was with in the pilot, and what would have become of her complicated relationship with the elder Anthros played by Mark Sheppard.

The article also contained high praise for Katee from Bionic and Battlestar executive producer David Eick:  “You’ll see I tend to cast Katee in everything I possibly can … She’s a very special find.  Those actors who can combine the qualities of strength and vulnerability - they usually call those people movie stars.”

The magazine interview featured some gorgeous pictures of Katee looking fiercely lovely with flowing blonde extensions.  There are also videos of Katee from the shoot on the magazine’s web site for those who are interested.

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.

Miguel Ferrer recently voiced his support for the writer’s strike to the National Ledger, saying that the writers are doing the right thing trying to pin down the producers on earnings from new media.

“The producers said a few years ago, ‘Just trust us to do the right thing,’ and it didn’t work,” he says. “Things are changing so dramatically. Working on a one-hour network drama, I feel like I’m in the last days of vaudeville.”

Miguel also said that he was happy with the development of his character, shadowy and secretive Berkut Group head Jonas Bledsoe. Like many of the actors on the show he has been vocal about his belief that the show is getting better, even though it took awhile to find its voice.

Let’s hope that Miguel and the rest of us get to see more of Jonas and future Bionic Woman episodes. If you are interested in saving Bionic Woman so we can finally see it live up to its potential, check out the petition to save the show. Special thanks to Tony for keeping us updated on the petition progress … as of yesterday there were almost 600 signatures in support of the show.

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.

One of the funnier moments of last night’s Bionic Woman was Ruth’s spontaneous confession and deadpan comment at Antonio Pope’s funeral:

"I slept with him once … it was amazing."

Unfortunately that humorous admission comes at the price of ruining our hopes that Ruth Truewell is a lesbian.  Or at least makes it less likely.

The show has flirted with the idea that Ruth is a lesbian since the beginning, giving her a haircut that After Ellen has dubbed a classic lesbian cut and even having a character ask her if she was a lesbian at one point in one of the early episodes.  Unfortunately seems like it was all just a tease.

The show certainly would be a lot more fun if it was true, but last night’s deadpan confessional seems to indicate that Ruth is just your standard repressed shrink.  I suppose she could be covering, or perhaps she found Antonio’s squinting too hot to handle (although that seems unlikely). 

Ruth is still a hidden gem on the show no matter what her sexual orientation, but it would be nice to think Bionic Woman had the guts to acknowledge what most of their remaining viewers were already thinking.

While Ryan and I were eating turkey last week, the rest of the Internet was buzzing with speculation that Katee Sackhoff may be leaving Bionic Woman.  Roco has the links here if you want to read the sources, but essentially folks are saying that Katee is either not happy with the show, fighting with Michelle Ryan in real life as well as on screen, or both … and as a result Katee is taking Sarah Corvus and her bionic toys and going home.

There are a lot of good, logical reasons why Sarah Corvus could be off the show including budget cuts, new show runners who don’t like the dueling bionic women concept, yet another character change for Jaime Sommers, or even the producers wanting Michelle Ryan to gain more fan momentum before they bring back Katee and her charismatic Sarah Corvus. 

But it seems illogical that Katee would just up and leave a prime time show that has gotten her a ton of good press … even though the reviews for Bionic Woman have been spotty at best, Katee has gotten raves from fans and industry insiders who have praised her dark and dangerous portrayal of Sarah Corvus.  Even if she has had troubles with Michelle Ryan, which may or may not be true, she would also be a fool to piss off prolific producer David Eick who will probably cast her in another production once Bionic Woman and Battlestar Galactica are over.  Not to mention that talking bad about your coworkers to fans is just bad form.

Long time Katee fans know that Katee’s spunk can sometimes translate badly in interviews.  She is known for her unpredictable interview style, which fans and journalists love but probably gives her publicist nightmares (for example, she made comments at a Battlestar Galactica panel this summer that made it pretty clear she is familiar with the after effects of smoking pot … it was funny at the time, but not exactly what most television shows what their actresses talking about in front of the media). 

In this case the comments were not in an interview but in a fan Q&A at a convention, so we don’t have a lot of public information about what really happened.  There is a good chance that this rumor whirlwind could be caused by odd comments from Katee that were then taken out of context.  She is a polarizing presence for Battlestar Galactica fans, and some folks have implied that the fan who wrote the blog that started the rumors is simply trying to spin her comments as negatively as possible. 

As with all things Bionic Woman, we don’t have a ton of information and so only time will tell.  Supposedly Katee has a meeting with the producers coming up which will determine her role on the show going forward, but with the writer’s strike making everything unpredictable we may not know the fate of Katee, Sarah Corvus, or Bionic Woman for a very long time.

Katee Sackhoff is making the media rounds this month, talking Battlestar Galactica and of course Bionic Woman.  Sackhoff plays “frenemy” Sarah Corvus on BW and she is obviously having a rockin’ good time.  Here are some highlights from an interview she gave TV Tattler.

Hey Katee. Are you still at work today, or is the writers’ strike giving you some downtime?
I haven’t been affected at all, yet. I’m working regularly.

Are you working on both shows right now?
No, I’m only working on ‘Battlestar’ at the moment, and just waitin’ for ‘Bionic Woman’ to write me in again.

On to your other kick-butt character this season, has it been fun playing more of a bad girl on ‘Bionic Woman’?
Yeah, you know, I keep saying that. It was a welcome change, because I’m so used to playing the whiny, sniveling, reluctant hero. (Starbuck) may be tough, but she cries the entire time. So I was definitely ready to go play a character who isn’t as emotional.

We love Katee here at WatchingBionicWoman and WatchingBSG and can’t wait to see her in the upcoming final season of Battlestar Galactica and in Bionic Woman.

I love Katee Sackhoff as the evil Sarah Corvus.  From the moment I watched her in the un-aired pilot, I knew she was going to make watching BW fun.  Just like her stellar performance as Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica, Sackhoff breaths new life into every scene when guest starring on BW.  Especially her fight scenes.  Unfortunately, contractual obligations prevent her from being in every episode, but I will take what I can get. 

Andrew Williams of Metro UK caught up with busy actress recently and in addition to explaining the spelling of her name, how she started out in Hollywood, and starring in BSG, she discusses Bionic Woman.

Here are some highlights:

You’re filming Bionic Woman and Battlestar Galactica at the same time. Are you worn out?
I am and I’ve got a cold. Both are filmed in Vancouver so there’s a little bit of running between the sets. They wanted to make me a regular character in Bionic Woman but you can’t be contracted to two shows at the same time. I appear in half the episodes. I’m the villain. It’s quite fun. I do a lot of scheming and a lot of trying to kill the Bionic Woman [played by Michelle Ryan].

Has Michelle become particularly ‘bionic’ since she left EastEnders?
She’s doing really well. She’s at the gym training every day. She worked her butt off to get into the physical condition that she’s in now. They won’t pay for me to go to the gym. I’ve got to do it on my own. I did weights for the first year of Battlestar but I got bored, so I just run now. They usually teach me the fight routines on the set of Bionic Woman. Because of the stuff I’ve done on Battlestar, it’s usually pretty easy to pick up.

You can read the entire interview after the link.

For some more fun, watch Katee learn to surf.

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!

Earlier I asked if the mysterious and all around Berkut Group wonder woman, Ruth Truewell, played by the talented Molly Price was a lesbian.

I wondered this after we were introduced to Truewell in episode 1.01.  I guess the writers thought it would be fun to tease the audience with the same question when they literally had another character ask outright in episode 1.03, “Sisterhood”.

It seems I am not the only one who thinks BW should introduce one of the characters as outright gay.  Via GayWired:

Oh come on. For a show about a butch dressing bartender who gets a second lease on life when a secret government agency hijacks her body, makes her bionic and sends her to do battle with a rogue bionic woman with a fierce blonde bob and bulging biceps, Bionic Woman is seriously missing the queer quotient. Maybe Isaiah Washington ixnayed any reference to homosexuality, but seeing as how his character supposedly ends his limited run this week, the opportunity is there to up the gay factor. Perhaps Jamie Sommers (Michelle Ryan) and Sarah Corvus (Katee Sackhoff) could take their rivalry to the next level. At the very least, give us some wet wife beaters—and more of Katee’s slicked back hair. Totally hot stuff!

Roco at Bionic Blog takes up the same topic.

Now that Washington will be leaving the show, Truewell, or another character should be identified as an out gay person.  However, let me go on the record and offer unsolicited advice to the writers:  DO NOT WRITE A BECCA SOMMERS EXPERIMENTS WITH LESBIANISM PLOT LINE.  It would be stupid and Lucy Hale has not proved herself capable of handling this kind of scene or plot line. 

So, Gay it Up, Bionic Woman!

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.

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.

Bionic Woman episode 1.05, “The Education of Jaime Sommers,” really only had one fight scene.  There was one brief scuffle with a guy trying to attack Jaime, but it hardly counts and I’m not even going to bother posting it.

The set up:

Jaime has been sent undercover as a college student to investigate the black market sale of advanced microchips that once implanted in a person, can actually be used to turn them into killing “Manchurian Candidates”.  The chips were created by a world renewed expert in Parkinson’s Disease.

The fight scene erupts while Jaime and crew move in to stop the bad guys from getting away with the microchip.  Jaime, CIA agent Tom and Antonio Pope all work to take the bad guys down.