Bionic Woman

Today's version of Bionic Woman, as much as the original series back in the `70s, relies quite heavily on the impact of its lead actress.  In the first Bionic Woman, the series actually came about as a result of audience response to Lindsay Wagner's portrayal of Jamie Sommers in a handful of episodes of its parent show, The Six Million Dollar Man.

In the modern retelling of the series, Michelle Ryan has taken the cudgels from Wagner, playing Jaime Sommers as a mechanically enhanced bartender.  Aside from Ryan, another strong female presence on the show is Katee Sackhoff, best known as daredevil starship captain, Kara "Starbuck" Thrace on a remake of another `70s classic, Battlestar Galactica.

"I love it.  She's just brilliant,” the British Ryan said of her co-star who incidentally plays her onscreen nemesis on the series.  “She has such energy.  We're so similar, and it's effortless."

And they really do share somewhat of a bond.  In Bionic Woman, Sackhoff's character, Sarah Corvus, is the first recipient of the bionic technology that was eventually responsible for saving Jaime's life after she figured in a serious car accident, which, ironically, happened to be Sarah's doing.  However, that is where all semblance of likeness ends as Corvus becomes a rogue killer with a major chip on her shoulders for those who experimented on and empowered her.

For her part, Ryan's Sommers may have to repay her monumentally costly bionic enhancements by undertaking special missions but she has committed herself to using her abilities for the greater good.

"She is a strong, feisty female character," Ryan remarked about her onscreen persona.  "She has a vulnerability to her.  She's very warm and compassionate. I think she has high morals.  She always questions things.  She says, 'We're the good guys, and I don't think that's right.'”


-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Newsday
(Image Courtesy of NBC)