This episode may be the series finale, depending on the network and the length of the writers’ strike. That may seem premature, but at this point, it comes down to network expectation. The series debuted with solid numbers, after all, but the ratings have plummeted to mediocre levels. With all the creative woes plaguing “Bionic Woman”, I’m not sure the network will want to give the latest showrunner time to right the ship.
By John Keegan
Visit Critical Myth for an archive of John's TV Review archives, with more than 1100 entries.
This episode may be the series finale, depending on the network and the length of the writers’ strike. That may seem premature, but at this point, it comes down to network expectation. The series debuted with solid numbers, after all, but the ratings have plummeted to mediocre levels. With all the creative woes plaguing “Bionic Woman”, I’m not sure the network will want to give the latest showrunner time to right the ship.
This particular episode was written by one of the executive producers, and despite a few flaws inherent to the earlier scripts, this is one of the better efforts since the disappearance of Sarah Corvus. While the crisis at the center of the episode still has nothing to do with nanotechnology, it continues to underscore the idea that the Berkut Group covers a number of sensitive intelligence concerns.
One thing the writers had to sell to the audience is the idea that the whole “bionic” project was about building the perfect intelligence operative. So far that’s been sketchy at best, especially since the writers haven’t been particularly creative in applying Jaime’s technology to new situations. It’s still not clear how the Berkut Group is supposed to work or what their relationship to the federal government is. They are treated like private sector contractors, but they seem to get a free pass on activities that would normally be covert black ops.
Equally disturbing is the lack of formalized training by these operatives, which is something pertinent to this episode. For one thing, Jaime gets caught up in an assassination mission, which she’s simply not ready to execute (no pun intended). It’s good to see the writers acknowledging that Jaime is still, at best, an unskilled recruit, but this could have been an interesting way to touch on concepts from the first few episodes (such as the idea of embedded combat programming battling with Jaime’s moral preferences).
Instead this was about balancing the needs of the mission against the needs of the family, and the odd way that Jonas has managed to become part of that equation. I still think Jonas is too much of a mystery, but there’s no question that he recognizes the value in keeping Jaime’s home life in order. I’ve grown to like that dynamic, and it could have gotten better with time to develop the characters.
If this is the final episode of the series, at least it is going out on a better note than expected. If the series does come back, there are elements that could be emphasized to bring the show back into focus. This is still obviously a work in progress, but it was worth taking the time to see how it might end. |
