Why Bionic Woman Sucks
I had such high hopes for Bionic Woman. When I learned David Eick, of Battlestar Galactica fame, was turning his eye to this 70’s classic, my nostalgic heart skipped a beat. While no woman would ever replace the original Jaime Sommers, Lindsay Wagner, I was ready to let go of the past and enjoy a darker, more subversive hour long drama.
With each passing episode, episode 5 just aired, my disappointment and dissatisfaction grows. Now on the third show runner (the person in charge of the show), BW has been a bionic mess since the un-aired pilot made its way online.
This scene from episode 5 pretty much sums up the problem with BW: the writing is inconsistent and Isaiah Washington. Take a look.
This scene makes absolutely no sense to the episode nor the characters as they have been presented. Isaiah Washington’s character is supposed to be a world class top secret spy and his alias to guest star Jordan Bridges is that he is Jaime Sommers’ uncle? This is stupid.
Furthermore, why is this scene even necessary to the episode other than to satisfy Washington’s minimum line per episode contract? It’s awkward, it doesn’t make sense, and of course, it goes without saying that Washington’s acting style is horrible.
BW is has many problems, but an easy one to solve is to write clear, logical scenes that are beneficial to advancing the plot and logically fit the construct and narrative of the week’s episode and the series as a whole.
It’s time to cast Lindsay Wagner as the head of a competing corporation to the Berkut Group. This would be fun and at least it would satisfy my nostalgic cravings.
October 29th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
I could not agree more. I deleted the season pass from my DVR yesterday. I am sad to say I have given up on this show.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
I thought the episode was fun, but this scene was absolutely horrid. Honestly, Antonio Pope is supposed to be a spy … aren’t they supposed to be experts at coming up with plausible answers?? An uncle????
How about friend of the family, or old classmate from Oxford, or her immigration attorney, or the foreign exchange student liaison, or the guy from the state department who helped get her the visa, or SOMETHING. I can think of at least a dozen more answers that would have been believable, not UNCLE. And the little joke about how people don’t believe it because he is American was supposed to be cute I guess … but it wasn’t.
It could have worked on another show, but Bionic Woman is not that clever. Yet. I have not given up … but moments like this make me want to delete my season pass too!
October 30th, 2007 at 12:16 am
I’ll keep checking up on the show here. If they ever ditch Isaiah, or get a clue, I might be back. I am such a TV Junkie, I may not be able to stay away. LOL
October 30th, 2007 at 5:00 am
Although the scene was added a bit of light relief why is it “stupid” that he is her Uncle? If you mean stupid perhaps because he could have chosen a far more conspicuous excuse then fair enough. However if you mean stupid because he can’t be her Uncle then you are wrong. It’s perfectly plausible he could be her Uncle if he was married to any of her Parent’s siblings.
October 30th, 2007 at 6:15 am
[...] was great (love the accent!), and it seems to be coming together. Even if there were still some bad scenes, and even if the plot about the terrorist implants was totally preposterous, watching the episode [...]
October 30th, 2007 at 8:22 am
Ashley, you are absolutely correct that it is completely plausible. But the point of my comment was that since spies are supposed to be likable but not memorable, and since they are supposed to offer explanations that do not require follow up questions (unless they want them, of course), then “uncle” was not the way to go.
October 30th, 2007 at 10:38 am
World class spies tracking terrorists using microchips to turn our soldiers into killing machines would not care who Sommers is kissing.
And on that note, she is the Bionic Woman, no one needs to protect her. As we are reminded each week, she has $50 million dollars of bionics inside her. She protects others.
November 10th, 2007 at 11:12 am
[...] It’s no secret that I have been extremely disappointed with Bionic Woman. The show has been mediocre at best and unfortunately, poor casting decisions, the inability to keep an executive producer,and the unevenness of the characters have had a negative effect on the ratings. Sadly, Bionic Woman is losing viewers faster than Isaiah Washington loses gay friends. Via Syfyportal: [...]