The Bionic Woman: Michelle Ryan Vs Lindsay Wagner

The new "Bionic Woman" series produced by NBC bears little resemblance to the original series, "The Bionic Woman," which aired in the mid-1970s. The new "Bionic Woman," which stars British actress Michelle Ryan, opens at the Wolf Creek Biotech Research Facility with an extremely brutal and violent scene. We see Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff hovering over the body of a man she has killed. Several other of her victims line the hallway. Then Jae Kim, played by Will Yun Lee, shoots the woman in the chest and face.

The plot line of this "Bionic Woman" premiere episode is dark and extremely adult in tone. We learn about Jaime Sommers, a bartender who has been saddled with the responsibility of caring for her younger sister, Becca (Lucy Kate Hale). Jaime informs her professor boyfriend, Will Anthros (Chris Bowers) that she's pregnant over dinner. Then the couple is involved in a serious automobile accident. Will turns to Jonas Bledsoe (Miguel Ferrer) who replaces Jaime's damaged legs, right arm, right eye and ear with bionic implants. In one scene, Jaime reacts with horror when she awakens to find the bionic arm and legs attached to her body. We discover that the accident was no accident. Jaime and Will were deliberately run over.

We discover that the killer in the hallway at the research facility is not dead at all. In fact, she is the one who purposefully smashed into the car which Jaime and Will were traveling in together. It becomes clear, later in the show, that this villain, Sarah Corbus, will become a regular in the series.

There are violent fight scenes and sexually suggestive scenes throughout this episode. Despite all this, "Bionic Woman" is only rated TV 14. I do not believe this show is appropriate for fourteen year olds. Parents deserve a much stronger caution regarding this program than they have been given by NBC.