Possible Bionic News

Today I have an addendum to the Bionic Woman rant which is going to include some possible spoilage/rumor, so for those allergic to that type of thing, be so warned.

Here’s a pretty picture to peruse in the meantime.

According to a report from a BSG convention (I’m so looking forward to seeing Razor, I can’t wait to blog about it, ahem back on topic), Katee Sackhoff gave some con-goers the impression she won’t be returning to Bionic Woman. Other reports would seem to give her comments more ambiguity, implying an uncertainty about her future with the series.

Even as the show is in the midst of being retooled, yet again, the idea that the strongest, most intriguing part of the mix is completely gone would be a hard pill for a wannabe viewer, and reviewer, to take. In no small way because it would make me question the creative direction of a show which excised it’s most creative parts, and replaced them with parts which are significantly less interesting (Tom, I’m looking your way).

I can understand needing to re-imagine a show which is obviously floundering, both in viewers and in quality, but how can the right answer be to remove one of the incredibly few strong elements it had going for it? The character of Sarah Corvus works precisely because of how unique she was in the cannon of bionic characters, starting with Steve Austin and going right down the light to Sandra Bullock doing her uber-bionic running in a gymnast’s leotard, they have never exactly gone for the high drama.

Most disturbing is the thought that they might hearken back to more of the old model. Forget all the hackable body parts which can be monitored by any Tom, Dick and voyeur, deteriorating life span issues, or having emotions amputated, what kind of interesting story can be gleaned from that type of thing after all? It’s much better to watch Jamie blowing off her surveillance responsibilities so she can chat with her boyfriend.

To be fair, I’m waiting to see when (or if?) the show sheds it’s skin yet again what kind of creature is going to emerge. I’m worried they are going to do something like make Tom, or even Becca, get hurt and get Bionic-ified as a means of creating a new, more vanilla, brand of bionic mythology. That’s an assumption on my part, and it could well be the wrong one. Losing Sarah Corvus wouldn't necessarily mean the end of the bionic mythology she was the key to, but it's hard to see how it could exist without her at least finding a way to pass her angsty torch onto Jamie before exiting for good.

But trying to work up interest or excitement for the prospect for the new, new version of the show would take a big blow with losing the first bionic woman from the mix. And I mean that in every sense of the word. A new Jamie Summers has to be intriguing on her own merits, not because she shares a name with the one which has gone before. She has the potential to take big steps with the help of a character who brings so much to the table as Sarah Corvus by virtue of the connection between them, but failing that, it makes me wonder how much of the entire back story could be swept under the rug in favor of perhaps trying to turn Jamie into a bionic Sydney Bristow, or even a jacked in La Femme Nikita.

Not only because the main character herself lacks the ability, personality, and sadly the intelligence of Sydney and Nikita, but also because I know Madeline, I watched Madeline, and Ruth is no Madeline. Just as Jonas is no Jack Bristow, or even Operations for that matter.

What I hope for is that the show finds a story rather than a formula, and pathos rather than one-liners and insta-romances because Jamie’s shallow enough to obsess over every cute guy who crosses her path. I don’t have much faith (or Faith, for that matter, if Sarah Corvus were gone from the equation, naturally the one who might hold a candle to the original), but I do have hope.

It’s waning, however. Quickly.

At least I can hope that, no matter what, we won't be seeing the return of the Fembot. Right?