Fall Preview: Bionic Woman

NBC's Bionic Woman, a remake of the 70's show, is all about control, or lack thereof. The pilot opens with a scene of carnage at a biotech research facility. The cause of the carnage, a blonde woman kneeling over a dead body, has this to say to the armed men who discover and then kill her: "I didn't want to. I'm not in control." Three years later, it's bartender Jaime Sommers who isn't in control.

After she's critically injured in a car accident, Jaime's scientist boyfriend takes her to that same biotech facility, where he apparently works. They are able to save her life, but she's now (dum dumdumdum!) The Bionic Woman. Super-strong, super-fast, super-everything, with just one little catch: the people in charge of the facility want to make her into a super-soldier. Oh, and that murderous blonde woman from the beginning? She's still alive, and causing trouble Jason Bourne-style, although not entirely on her own. Also, she's played by Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck) of Battlestar Galactica, for you legions of BSG fans.

Jaime is certainly sympathetic as a responsible older sister who has medical procedures performed on her against her will, can't control her own body, and whose ex-captors are trying to force her into becoming a fighter--and the fight sequences are pretty exciting. However, this show didn't really grab me. I guess I can't call it a Dark Angel rip-off, since this is a remake and the rip-off was probably the other way around, but it doesn't really feel like anything new or fresh, and it could probably stand to take a break from the heaviness once in a while. If Bionic Woman is aiming to be the next Alias, it's either going to need to improve the writing, or I'm going to need some more appealing man-candy on the screen than Miguel Ferrer, great actor though he is.

If you're really into serious action shows, especially ones with ass-kicking heroines (which I am, of course, all for), this could be the show for you. Otherwise, I'd advise you to spend Wednesdays at 9 watching the episode of America's Next Top Model that you DVR'd during Pushing Daisies while you're waiting for Dirty Sexy Money to come on. God, Wednesdays are exhausting me already. Premieres September 26th, or you can catch a 15-minute sneak preview over at AOL TV.

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