We start of with another training session between Jae and Jamie. Jae tells Jamie about overcoming the programming of the Bionics which I am not clear about. If she has been enhanced, I would think the more believable approach is controlling the responses of her actions. For example, with her new strength, Jamie can really hurt people without intending to do so. If you remember in the first Bionic Woman series, Jamie was given a tennis ball and when she squeezed it with her Bionic arm she was able to pop the ball. I would have liked to have seen more of the new Jamie learning how to adjust herself with the new hardware. A good scene would be for Jamie working at the bar where she breaks bottles and glasses of booze or she breaks a sentimental item that either belonged to her younger sister or some type of family heirloom. This bit in the training sequence about her AI abilities to learn and unlearn is too Yoda-ish, “You must unlearn what you have learned.”
Next, we see Jamie and Becca having lunch. Jamie gets the call from Jonas and this is when we find out that Jamie has a GPS. The logic for Jonas to have this implanted in Jamie makes perfect sense up to a point. (More on that later.) Jamie gets an order to “sit on a guy” until the posse from the Berkut Group arrives. She gets rid of her sister by giving her a credit card to go shopping. Jamie then goes after the bad guy and plays the dumb girl to get close to him. She gets to use her Bionics in a subtle way which is a nice touch. The bad guy tries to roll up his electric car window on Jamie but she was able to push it back down with her Bionic arm. The bad guy has a great reaction to this feat but Jamie continues without missing a beat. (Hey, that rhymed!) When she sees him not willing to cooperate, she knocks him out by slamming his head into the steering wheel. Nice little moment without having to go over the top. Jamie makes her way back to the restaurant where she had lunch with Becca. Right off the bat, they both left the table and from a waiter’s pov they looked like they skipped paying the bill. I know I am making much about nothing here but there has to be a sense of logic even in a scifi series.
A couple of throwaway scenes later, Jamie with speaking with Jonas in his office. Jonas then reveals how there is streaming video coming from Jamie’s head. The issue then becomes a matter of personal privacy vs. the needs of the Berkut Group. Jamie makes a good arguement to get this thing out of her head. Jonas then throws back at Jamie that the equipment is so tied up with her brain that she will not be able to control the left side of her body. Good drama build but as Jamie says the conversation is not over and yet, suddenly it is. Jamie questions why Jonas asked her about feelings of Canadians. She is given a task to become a “Bionic Babysitter.” I’m sorry this is the same being distracted by shinning things. I know that Jonas has to do certain things in the grand scheme for the Berkut Group but Jamie has the power to refuse to do the job. She could have given an ultimatum to get the video implant out or else but she goes along with the job. Later in the episode, Jamie does stand up once more for her rights but by then it is pointless. I expected the Jamie’s role would be more independent not subservient.
Jamie goes to her assignment to meet Heaven who turns out to be a brat. The setup for this character is executed well but I sensed and seen this before that this type of character will change for the better in the end through Jamie’s influence. In another throwaway scene, Jamie and Becca are dancing in their apartment with Sarah Corvus spying on them. The point of this scene makes no sense until we see Sarah having a flashback to a time before she became Bionic herself. In almost the exact car accident that Jamie had with a dump truck, Sarah was also in the same situatio. She woke up after the accident to see her sister in the passenger sit dead. Sarah is still alive; so how was the Bionics placed in her? We flash forward to Jamie and Becca spending “QT” together and off to bed. Jamie dreams of Sarah and what she had be trying to warn her. She wakes up to see Sarah in her bedroom. A brief struggle and Sarah get Jamie to agree to meet someplace where they can talk.
After the break, Jonas goes nuts to bring Sarah but Jamie plays the my way or the highways card. Jonas resents the shift in power belongs to Jamie and this should have been done earlier with the streaming video issue. Sarah is in a room where she does exercise, sits, stares out of a window, and punches a wall. The high angle of this scene remind me of the opening scene of Apocalypse Now with Martin Sheen were see much of the same inner turmoil. Jamie then continues with the “B” storyline of babysitting which is hardly of any interests except for the conversation Jamie has on the phone. We meet a new character named Nathan who tries to asks Jamie out but as to his role in the Berkut Group; I have no idea. He only serves as a plot device to distract Jamie from watching Heaven. As Jamie panics to find Heaven, Jonas calls. Why doesn’t he reassign someone else to watch the brat. If catching Sarah is high priority he really has terrible management skills. In yet, another throwaway scene, Jamie brings in Heaven to the Berkut group. She drops off the problem child on Ruth, meets Antonio for a bit of exposition, and off she goes for her meeting with Sarah. Blah, blah, blah, the meeting goes south and Sarah runs and swims away.
At the beauty salon, Sarah catches up with Jamie and Heaven. Jamie does her best to do away the Soprano rejects with her Bionics but needs Sarah’s help. She jumps in to grab a gun off the floor and kills one of the goons. Another goon catches Sarah off guard and is able to move her arm up to prevent her from firing again. Wait a minute, this makes no sense. Sarah has two Bionic arms which are supposed to be stronger than an average human and yet, this dork is able to strong arm Sarah? Bull hockey! At the end of the scene, Sarah confesses that Jamie’s Bionics are the only thing that could save her and that she is dying. Why does it take more than ¾ of the show to reveal this fact? We knew something was wrong with Sarah with the hand tremors at the beginning and yet this is drawn out for a full episode? We can see that Jamie is willing to trust Sarah up to a degree and in the end would have worked with her without the whole cloak and dagger intrigue.
The following scene, Jamie, Sarah, and Heaven are in an underground parking lot. Sarah tells Jamie about hacking her GPS to disable it. Don’t get me started about the comment Sarah about the Berkut Group watching Jamie in the shower. Is Jamie that slow or is she made to look that way? Once she found out about the streaming video, the first thing that would have come to mind, “You saw me naked when I took a shower,” to Jonas or something to that effect and that should have played up more at the beginning. Okay, enough on this point but probably this is one of the best scenes out of this episode. Sarah makes good logical sense for Jamie to see Anthony Anthros, Will’s father. My only fear now is the potential arc of Sarah dying is within one year. Where was this noted in the show? This is a lame as Capt. Gideon of the Excalibur (Crusade) that said he only had five years to find a cure for Earth which just happens to be just as long Babylon 5 was planned for. Important rule, do not under any circumstance state in the title or the body of the show just how long it will run. Remember Star Trek and its five year mission, never completed after three. Crusades barely completed one season. Bionic Woman may not make it before the year is out.
As predicted, Heaven has a change of heart, hardly, and when she’s sees her dad she tells him that she loves him. She also gives Jamie a hug which frankly adds no warmth to this so far one dimensional show. I don’t even want to rant about how the show end but I am still not pleased by the stories or character growth. I will give this show one more chance before I stop watching this. Oh, by the way, does Katee Sackoff (Sarah) get paid more not to blink when she says her lines? Took me a while to figure out what was bugging me about her and plus, the almost Mannequin Skywalker dialogue delivery is killing me. Katee you are so much better than the material and go back to BSG.
The Monster Scifi Show 