I eagerly watched the previews of the show on NBC's site, and more than once. The first time, months ago, I was really looking forward to the show. It looked like a fresh, original, and much more character driven, less hokey version of the '70s version.
The actor playing the lead is quite lovely, but in an approachable and down-to-Earth type of way. The storyline with Jamie's deaf sister, and the scenes between the two, looked really interesting-- real drama mixed with the science fiction motif. I hoped for a storyline that approached just the right mix between drama, SciFi, and action that involved a strong woman lead coming to terms with a drastic and permanent change in her life. One whose remarkable new superpowers if anything, complicated things for her even more.
It's emblematic of how something with great potential was greatly compromised, in that I noted that they got rid of the actor playing Jamie's deaf sister, and that whole storyline, and replaced her with an Olson Twins lookalike, stereotypical angst-ridden, smart-Aleck caricature of a teen.
That was only the first, and worst, of the sell outs. Perhaps all else was going to be the same anyway, but with what could have been one of the most durable foundations of the story taken away, what was left was a glorified, extended play music video.
The writing and pace of the story seemed intent on cramming in as much, with as much flash, in as little time as possible. There was no room to connect with any of the characters, or to really care about them.
Within fifteen minutes we are introduced to Jamie, her sister, her scientist professor boyfriend (another two-dimensional cardboard cutout hunky guy with a stubble); we learn that she's pregnant, compulsory tender moment over dinner at a restaurant, and then poof, accident, secret underground lab, bionic woman, other bionic woman....pant, pant.
Of course, there was the compulsory, only been done a million times before, attacked-by-and-beats-up-thug in the alley scene.
The chemistry between Jamie and her "boyfriend" was nonexistent--or we weren't given time to even see it. What little we were allowed to see of it, including the scene in the restaurant where she tells him she is pregnant, was superficial to the point of being almost laughable. And the scene where she confronts him about what has been done to her, they go to bed, and then he gets shot--what was the point?
What could have been a truly effective and interesting depiction of her transition to a cyborg, and adjustment, was instead given only cursory note. It was as if the writers weren't interested, and, just as regarding the part of the story before her accident, were impatient to just get it over with.
I know that Michelle Ryan can act; the long ago, very promising previews--with the deaf sister and accompany storyline--on NBC's website demonstrated that. But the glitzified, hurry-up writing, and frenetic pace of the story, and the changes that were made that I mentioned in the beginning ensured that there was little opportunity for any of the actors to sink their teeth into their characters, or the story.
The first bionic woman, the storyline with the Russian, and the man released from the supermax prison would have been all the more interesting if they had not been introduced in the tepid context of the overall story.
What a disappointment; I had almost completely lost interest in the episode before the ending. For me, I don't know if it's going to be worth the time to stick it out for another episode or two.
The actor playing the lead is quite lovely, but in an approachable and down-to-Earth type of way. The storyline with Jamie's deaf sister, and the scenes between the two, looked really interesting-- real drama mixed with the science fiction motif. I hoped for a storyline that approached just the right mix between drama, SciFi, and action that involved a strong woman lead coming to terms with a drastic and permanent change in her life. One whose remarkable new superpowers if anything, complicated things for her even more.
It's emblematic of how something with great potential was greatly compromised, in that I noted that they got rid of the actor playing Jamie's deaf sister, and that whole storyline, and replaced her with an Olson Twins lookalike, stereotypical angst-ridden, smart-Aleck caricature of a teen.
That was only the first, and worst, of the sell outs. Perhaps all else was going to be the same anyway, but with what could have been one of the most durable foundations of the story taken away, what was left was a glorified, extended play music video.
The writing and pace of the story seemed intent on cramming in as much, with as much flash, in as little time as possible. There was no room to connect with any of the characters, or to really care about them.
Within fifteen minutes we are introduced to Jamie, her sister, her scientist professor boyfriend (another two-dimensional cardboard cutout hunky guy with a stubble); we learn that she's pregnant, compulsory tender moment over dinner at a restaurant, and then poof, accident, secret underground lab, bionic woman, other bionic woman....pant, pant.
Of course, there was the compulsory, only been done a million times before, attacked-by-and-beats-up-thug in the alley scene.
The chemistry between Jamie and her "boyfriend" was nonexistent--or we weren't given time to even see it. What little we were allowed to see of it, including the scene in the restaurant where she tells him she is pregnant, was superficial to the point of being almost laughable. And the scene where she confronts him about what has been done to her, they go to bed, and then he gets shot--what was the point?
What could have been a truly effective and interesting depiction of her transition to a cyborg, and adjustment, was instead given only cursory note. It was as if the writers weren't interested, and, just as regarding the part of the story before her accident, were impatient to just get it over with.
I know that Michelle Ryan can act; the long ago, very promising previews--with the deaf sister and accompany storyline--on NBC's website demonstrated that. But the glitzified, hurry-up writing, and frenetic pace of the story, and the changes that were made that I mentioned in the beginning ensured that there was little opportunity for any of the actors to sink their teeth into their characters, or the story.
The first bionic woman, the storyline with the Russian, and the man released from the supermax prison would have been all the more interesting if they had not been introduced in the tepid context of the overall story.
What a disappointment; I had almost completely lost interest in the episode before the ending. For me, I don't know if it's going to be worth the time to stick it out for another episode or two.