“It’s very…dark and broody and violent - what people seem to be getting off on these days. So, it’s not at all what we were doing. We were doing a show for kids intentionally and making it fun and make it in such a way that adults could enjoy it, too, with their children.”
The above comes to us from Lindsay Wagner, television’s original Bionic Woman, who recently spoke her mind to the press. While I admit anything I might add to that statement would doubtless be superfluous, NBC’s newly revamped remake did manage some tiny signs of improvement this week that are worth a mention. , NBC’s newly revamped remake did manage some tiny signs of improvement this week that are worth a mention.
Last night’s episode, a story about Spanish terrorists forcing an American hostage to decode a pocket flash drive, introduced a shadowy espionage angle that, perhaps cribbed in part or whole from 24 or Alias, nevertheless brought some of the many previously disconnected storyline threads into a sharper focus. Lovesick Jae’s shaky loyalty to Jonas and the Berkut Group, Sarah Corvus’ renegade status and the moral wanderings of the elder Andros and his (likely still living) son Will were revealed to have a smidge more depth and perhaps a better defined role in the larger storyline.
We may be seeing here the early influence of the show’s new creative mind Jason Katims, or else Eick’s original take is beginning to pay off some of its outstanding narrative debts. Whatever the reason, the show has some massively bionic bounds still waiting to be leapt if it intends to catch up in the ratings race. It’s season premiered in first place but Bionic Woman has been steadily slipping, losing more of its audience each week.
According to the latest prime-time standings, this fourth episode marked an all-time low for the series: dead last among the big three networks. That shouldn’t be raising the eyebrows of anyone who’s been following the show. While the murky cloak and dagger plot of this latest episode did indicate a certain amount of progress, we’re still looking at a patient whose brainwaves indicate lifelong coma. Let’s keep in mind that a little toe wiggling doesn’t always lead to full recovery.
This post was authored by Jim Titus, a man worth significantly less than Six Million Dollars
