Pilot (26 Sep. 2007)

Jamie Sommers is a young woman and college dropout working at a San Francisco nightclub to support her rebellious 15-year-old sister Becca since the death of their parents. But her life ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Dinner

Writer:

Laeta Kalogridis

Stars:

Michelle Ryan, Miguel Ferrer, Chris Bowers

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Michelle Ryan	...	Jaime Sommers
Miguel Ferrer	...	Jonas Bledsoe
Chris Bowers	...	Will Anthros
Molly Price	...	Ruth Treadwell
Will Yun Lee	...	Jae Kim
Lucy Hale	...	Becca Sommers (as Lucy Kate Hale)
Thomas Kretschmann	...	The Man
Mark Sheppard	...	Anthony Anthros (as Mark A. Sheppard)
Aaron Douglas	...	Prison Guard
Katee Sackhoff	...	Sarah Corvus
Conrad Coates	...	Doctor #1
Alicia Thorgrimsson	...	Doctor #2
Jenn Forgie	...	Nurse
Heather Doerksen	...	Mother
Roan Curtis	...	Little Girl

Storyline

Jamie Sommers is a young woman and college dropout working at a San Francisco nightclub to support her rebellious 15-year-old sister Becca since the death of their parents. But her life changes in one night when the car Jamie is riding in with her fiancée is hit by a truck. But help arrives in the form of a top-secret government team, led by the shady Jonas Bledsoe, who saves Jamie's life by having her severely damaged legs, right arm, and right eye and ear replaced with million-dollar bionics which give Jamie superhuman abilities. But Jamie, refuses to accept this new change in her life for her responsibly to her kid sister comes first. But Jamie, the so-called 'Bionic Woman' is pressed into action when she is targeted by a certain Sarah Corvus, another bionic woman, seeking revenge against Jonas organization for construction her and betraying her to focus on Jamie.

---

Plot Keywords:

car accident | boyfriend girlfriend relationship

---

Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

26 September 2007 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

David Eick Productions, NBC Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

43 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

This episode was made available for free before the official air date on Amazon's Unbox service as a promotional tactic. A change in strategy after NBC Universal didn't renew their contract with iTunes to sell episodes.

---

Goofs

In the crashing scene, it can be perfectly seen from the camera inside the car that the truck hit the entire side of Will's car. However, in one of the following outside shots, the truck just hits a small portion of it and in a different angle.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Blonde Woman: I didn't want to.

---

Connections

References Superman (1978)

---

Soundtracks

"Breathe Me"
(uncredited)
Performed by Sia

User Reviews

Fairly Typical 2007 TV with a Couple Nice Twists

I'm not an avid TV show watcher, but was intrigued enough to download this for free from Amazon.com. I had occasionally watched the original Lindsay Wagner series in the 1970s and I liked the strength of her character and the fact that, despite her special abilities, the original Bionic Woman remained very human. So... I finally got around to watching the pilot for the new series last night, and found it slightly surprising and a little better than expected.

Michelle Ryan's character also starts out as a strong woman, but has a very different background, and a host of somewhat contrived emotional issues which are much more typical of 21st century soapy TV pseudo-drama . She's 24, pregnant, a bartender, and has a strong though problematic relationship with her boyfriend. Ms. Ryan's performance and the show's strong script, however, make her likable and believable - unlike many similarly cast TV heroes and heroines.

We all know the story... Promising young woman is crippled in what appears to be an accident and is given cybernetic limbs and a couple sensory organs. But the pilot also gives us a couple important twists. First - there is the shadowy and ambiguous sociopath played by the excellent Kaytee Sackhoff - is she going to be a mentor? Will she remain a murderous enemy? Or is it possible she will be both? Also, Miguel Ferrer's Jonas is perhaps the paradigm of the military organization that created the Bionic Woman - although the character promises depth, he shows up in the pilot as a ruthless, mercenary, military bureaucrat.

The pilot was well written, well acted, and well directed. The special effects are adequate but borderline cliché for scifi TV today.

All considered - worth a try.