“Aim high and serve nothing but aces”: (Re)-watching The Bionic Woman

[James from London]

The guest-stars seemed very impressive. The only one I knew of beforehand was Hoyt Axton

For me, the most notable guest was Fionnuala Flanagan as Tammy. Last time I watched TBW, I recognised her as the fierce matriarch in Brotherhood, a kind of blue collar Irish-American version of The Sopranos. Since then, she's provided the most tangible link (that I know of) between the OSI and Walford by playing another fierce Irish matriarch in the Kat and Alfie spinoff Redwater.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

For me, the most notable guest was Fionnuala Flanagan as Tammy.

Oh yes. I didn't mention her when discussing it, but she's a big part of the reason the moist-eyed latter scenes worked so well. It was a nice performance. She was perfect as the flame-haired country star. I'd never have known she wasn't American had I not Googled afterwards. I had no idea about the EastEnders connection though.

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

I have had a lot of trouble with discs lately. Putting them back and taking out and quite a few getting splits or worse cracks in the spindle! Luckily I've never had any not work but you have to be so delicate with them it's insane!!!
JB

Come to think, the original releases of Network’s Randall and Hopkirk Deceased on DVD had a packaging design that cracked the centre of the four odd-numbered discs if you dared to ever take them out or put them back!

ITC’s Ghost Squad was packaged well. It’s star, Michael Quinn, appears in the third season The Bionic Woman episode, Over The Hill Spy. Michael Quinn is easy to spot because he towers over his co-stars. He played the official on Dallas that Bobby Ewing got to delay Ames and Garr at the airport, in The Red File - part 2. Ghost Squad guest star, Ferdy Mayne, turned up in Dynasty season 1. William Hartnell, Honor Blackman, Anton Diffring, Alfred Burke, Samantha Eggar, Maurice Colbourne and Warren Mitchell were among many well-known guests on it.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Vega Influence

​

I love the idea of landing in the middle of a plot and having to put the pieces together while still reeling from the surrealism of the situation. The Vega Influence does just this to its lead characters and, in turn, the viewer. And it’s far more impactful and haunting than any amount of information we could be fed.

The first ominous hints come on board a military plane, where Jaime and fellow O.S.I. agent Michael Marchetti (yes.. him) are returning from a mission, and the ground crew at the Alaskan airbase communicating with the pilot and co-pilots begins acting strangely before contact is lost. But of course, with Alaska being the last stop there’s no choice but to land due to fuel. Once landed, there’s complete stillness.

The military setting, the eerie soundtrack, the enormous Seventies flashing computers and the general weirdness that feels very much of its era are all more than a little reminiscent of Jon Pertwee era Doctor Who. But as the episode went by I was reminded even more strongly of several John Carpenter films. The base setting, alien life form taking over minds and zombiefied people walking round in parkas and Ugg boots evokes The Thing. The zombies banging on doors and bursting through windows of buildings in which characters are trying to hide is pure The Fog (one shot of an arm crashing through a window to grab a screaming girl is almost identical to a shot that would later appear in that film). Meanwhile, Jaime runs about the place increasingly terrified wearing a blue blouse and jeans, which is as close as she’s come to being Laurie Strode.

The story plays out well. With the men mysteriously taken out one by one, Jaime is left alone. Except for one mysterious teenager, Laurie who has been unaffected by the force that’s taken everyone else. This raises questions: is she some kind of alien? Does she have powers? Is she behind it all? Is she in collusion? Any doubt is compounded by Laurie’s behaviour. While mostly transparent and evidently scared, she is helpful to Jaime at times, but also appears to avoid answering questions at times. When they make a race for the car and Jaime is grounded by the sonic force while zombified militia loom up behind her (a genuinely tense scene, and a little reminiscent of Laurie Strode outside the hospital in Halloween II), Laurie ignores Jaime’s cries for help and it’s up to Jaime to get herself out of it.

This is where the writing has played with expectation. The truth is far simpler and less sinister than we might believe: Laurie is deaf, which is why she’s been unaffected. And Jaime realises from this that she, too, has been less severely affected by the force because of her own partial hearing loss, with her bionic ear filtering the sonic force to a degree.

The “evil” meteorite is also plausibly written. The fact that it’s been discovered after a great length of time hidden beneath tundra, and becomes active when it’s brought into the open for experimentation all rings true. And it makes the final race to try to stop the zombified minions from flying off with the meteorite feel urgently compelling. Jaime being incapacitated by sound as she was on the verge of covering the meteorite with CO2 was enjoyably frustrating to watch. I found myself wanting to call out “just get on with it”. And all aboard a military plane on a runway preparing to take off. All of which made the inevitable success feel genuinely thrilling and hard earned.

continued...
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[Mel O'Drama]

The Vega Influence

(continued)


​

There’s an unusual - almost unwelcome - demureness to Jaime early on in the episode. From saying she’s glad she’s “a girl” because it means she can admit she’s scared; to warning her male allies she’ll scream if she sees something; to running about tremulously shrieking out the names of those who disappear. It seems most out of character. Part of me wondered if some of this was an act to cover up her capabilities to her colleagues. But why would she? They all know she’s an O.S.I. agent, so she’s doing herself a huge disservice.

This means she’s genuinely scared. And with good reason. She’s alone, up against something big that nobody can understand or explain. It’s the unknown, which is genuinely frightening, bionic abilities or not.

I suspect it was written this way partially to make Jaime’s “final girl” moment more effective. If she seems too confident and capable at first, there’s little question of the outcome. While I have huge reservations about the way in which it’s done, the rest of the story is so well written that I’m willing to overlook - and even partially accept - Jaime’s meekness early in the episode.

With my love for the writing in this episode, it’s worth noting that despite doing the teleplay for such early greats as Jaime’s Mother and Fly Jaime, this is only the second episode completely written by Arthur Rowe. His previous credit as writer was on Black Magic, an episode for which I didn’t rate the writing at all. And so he’s redeemed himself. Well, mostly. Because there’s the question of Michael Marchetti.

I was very surprised to find that I was glad to see Michael back. The circumstances are very different here to last time we saw him. Jaime isn’t a confused amnesiac, dependent upon him. He’s not a doctor with questionable ethics, seducing the patient he knows to be engaged to another man. In fact, he’s not really much of anything when it comes to romantic imbroglios. He’s simply an affable colleague. Their history isn’t really touched upon, which seems bizarre considering how important he was in his initial episodes. I find it interesting that the audience is expected to recall him with very little reminder about who he is - or was - to Jaime.

With no explicit mention of their history, no Steve in the picture or engagement to break, far less vulnerability to Jaime and no real question of romance, Michael feels more generic here. The closest we get to tapping into the history is Jaime reminding him she’s his “friend” when trying to get through to zombie Michael.

On most levels, he could be any old one-off guest character. It didn’t really need to be Michael. All the same, the history added a little something. Really, he’s here to raise the emotional stakes. Jaime knowing him well presents an intriguing dilemma when it comes to fighting him off when he’s under alien influence (just as Laurie’s zombified father does for her). While writing, I’ve also found myself questioning if Michael’s presence somewhat explains Jaime’s slight personality change. Last time we saw Michael, Jaime was extremely needy and self-doubtful and reliant on Michael and the shift here is in that direction. Could Michael's presence have caused Jaime to regress back towards those qualities? After Michael disappears, for example, Jaime briefly seems to crumble. That said, she comes back from it and her facing him when he’s not himself is actually a complete role reversal to their dynamic in their previous arc. In other words, her growth pays off.

On this basis, while there’s no real closure to their story here (it feels very much like Michael would be expected to recur occasionally), it did implicitly put their relationship on a different plane. One that’s platonic at that. As he had no apparent agenda here, I experienced Michael to be far more likeable than before. Which perhaps retrospectively colours his motives in his earlier story. While he didn’t need to be here, it arguably enriched the psychological element to an already gripping story.

 

[johnnybear]

It's also sad to note that this was Rick Lenz as Michael Marchetti's last appearance on the show!
JB

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Jaime’s Shield (Parts I and II)

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Whether it’s immortalised in the Charlie’s Angels opening titles or satirised in the endless 1980s film series there’s something fascinating about the police academy. It’s somewhat otherworldly while being earthy and even gritty. For all its exotic inaccessibility, anyone who’s been to school can relate to the dynamics: the dull classes; the drab "uniform" of pale grey; the bullying tutors on the sports field; the banter and cliques among students. Then there’s the residential aspect which, in this case, feels very much like a sorority house. It’s an environment just bursting with possibilities.

Add to this a plot about Jaime enrolling to try and find a foreign spy who has also enrolled, and there’s a genuine frisson of excitement. The supporting cast aren’t just new friends. They’re also suspects.

In a way, the spy plot is secondary to the fun that’s gained from seeing Jaime in this new environment, and seeing the bonding that happens and how everyone copes with the various challenges. The guest cast for this two-parter feel like quality additions. There’s some great chemistry onscreen.

Diane Civita is great as Arleen, who comes with a nice little sub-plot about being there undercover to prove herself to her father who has forbidden her from enrolling, despite him being the Police Commissioner who has not only launched the recruitment drive for women but also helped Jaime go undercover. If this isn’t enough, Arleen’s staunch “I may be related but I’m here on my own merits” angle takes on yet more depth when one considers that Diane Civita is the writer’s wife. Diane’s very impressive body of work over many decades suggests that she has indeed proven herself. And I like to think Arleen’s continued to prove herself as well. Perhaps she ended up as Commissioner herself.

Archie Johnson does nice work as Commissioner Hart. He’s one of several gruff men who add to the gritty, rough round the edges tone of these episodes. There are also two captains - one with a dirty little secret.

And then there’s Sergeant Bob Welton. We first meet him giving Jaime a speeding ticket, establishing the tone of the relationship between the two of them. He has a terrifically brash take no prisoners attitude, and he spends a great deal of time making Jaime’s life miserable. George Maharis is perfect in the role, with an intense Ray Liottaesque scowl that’s enough to make anyone weak at the knees.

Naturally, there’s a journey there, and there’s more to Bob than meets the eye. By story’s end, he’s Jaime’s hero and there’s talk of a date. I really wish they’d followed up on this, as the chemistry was really good and George would have made a really nice recurring addition to the cast. And it hurt not that he was very easy on the eye.

Speaking of characters not being what they seem, there’s also Rebecca Balding as the hopeless Parker who didn’t make graduation. She was extremely likeable, which worked perfectly for the story. The twist, I fear, could be seen coming from miles away like a huge red van at the academy gates. But this is down to the less sophisticated storytelling of the era. Rebecca did a really nice job with a role that required different approaches for different scenes. It’s played a little broad, but that works here. It’s even more impressive when considering that this is Rebecca’s first screen role and she was barely twenty here.

There are some liberties taken - such as Jaime apparently abandoning her class long enough to enrol at, and graduate from, the police academy and begin work as an officer. But the characters and story are so engaging, these are easily overcome.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Biofeedback

Even more than politics, science fiction is the art of the possible. Good sci-fi is all about embracing potential based on information available at the time. Biofeedback encapsulates this perfectly.

At the time this was shot, biofeedback was a new technique, still hidden from mainstream view, that had the capability to change medical science. Much like bionics. Now, biofeedback is recognised as an effective treatment for numerous physical and emotional conditions.

Naturally, the method has been perfected onscreen by Darwin Jones who can perform death defying feats - quite literally - simply by closing his eyes and “ommmm”ing.

While he is shown to perform superhuman feats, I also appreciated that potential flaws were explored. Early on in the episode, we saw him almost drown due to having a busy mind during an experiment. Which means, thankfully, it’s not ridiculously effortless. This is a skill that’s been developed and takes great work to maintain. All of which grounds it in the reality of the series and adds to the believabiliy… and the sense of jeopardy. This is something that can go wrong at any time an intrusive thought occurs.

Casting was as good as ever. Granville Van Dusen and Peter Haskell were both familiar faces, though not attached to any specific role in my mind, which helped. While the episode’s big villain was the future Cecil Colby. Lloyd Bochner always brings on the crisp sinister perfectly. Here, his Ivan Kard is living in a mansion (a palazzo, perhaps?) in East Germany, out to gain a top secret decoder and planning to kill the man making it for him once it’s done. When one character is shot for breaching his property, Ivan orders him to be taken out and dumped in the huge lake just outside the windows of his property. I couldn’t help wondering how many others had taken the same journey.

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

It's also sad to note that this was Rick Lenz as Michael Marchetti's last appearance on the show!
JB

Never mind. There will be Chris Williams and some other guest gentlemen along to sort of occupy that slot.

I’ve found that because of this thread, I’ve been watching this show again. I’ve also noticed some bits that were absent from previous releases and syndicated versions I’ve seen.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I’ve found that because of this thread, I’ve been watching this show again. I’ve also noticed some bits that were absent from previous releases and syndicated versions I’ve seen.

Oh brilliant That's a double reason to celebrate.

 

[J. R.'s Piece]

Road To Nashville

With the opening scenes of this episode my biggest outstanding quibble at the end of the last episode has been addressed. We’ve returned to Ventura Air Force Base School and Jaime has been seen teaching. It seems she’s got a completely different class of students, which rings true since this is presumably a different school year from Season One.

The scenes set at Buck’s home with its recording studio in the ground felt eerily familiar to me. I have no idea why, since I last watched it along with the rest of the first two seasons a decade or so ago, and (apart from my oft-watched-when-younger Bionic Woman two-parter from Season Two of SMDM) all the other episodes up to this point have felt brand new to me.

The guest-stars seemed very impressive. The only one I knew of beforehand was Hoyt Axton, and even then I must confess I mostly know him as the dad in Gremlins, and knew little to nothing of his extensive folk music background.

Another “Lindsay sings” episode, though I can find no comments indicating how many tens of takes it took this time to cobble together an acceptable vocal.

The writing and performances elevated this from the simple “lead goes undercover as a singer to investigate” plot device it appears on the surface. I found myself particularly struck with the sadness that hung in the air on the day of Tammy’s hearing with its looming inevitable prison sentence. Even though we didn’t attend the hearing (nor did Jaime and Oscar) or have its outcome confirmed, Jaime’s melancholy brought out the greys in what could have been something very black and white, and made it a very human story.

Lindsay Wagner says on the commentary for Road to Nashville that she worked very hard to hit those notes. And says that she had wanted to be a singer, before she started acting. She also mentions that the episodes of the series were shot in six days and they working up to 17 hours in a day. She says she was nervous singing around the professional singers and professional musicians. But she says that soon afterwards, she was at a fundraiser and Hoyt Acton called her in stage to sing with him. She mentions that for a time, they lived close to each other.

Fionnula Flanagan did a movie with Maggie Smith and Sandra Bullock. Sandra Bullock will become bionic in a reunion movie.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Doomsday Is Tomorrow (Parts I and II)

With both episodes produced, written and directed by series creator Kenneth Johnson, there’s a clear sense of cohesion. There’s also no mistaking Johnson as an auteur. And the project is certainly an ambitious one.

As with some previous multi-parters - not least the Johnson-penned Welcome Home, Jaime - this is a story with two distinct halves. The first part introduces the threat and gets Jaime into the middle of things, before shifting focus - and raising its game - at the very end, leaving Jaime to face things head on.

The threat in question is as big as it gets: the destruction of the entire world. This sounds very cliché, and almost too big to invest in, but it’s credibly presented, and Kenneth wisely makes it a story that’s about very human dreams. The idea of a doomsday device created to prevent nuclear arms from being used is a truthful one, and various arguments - pro and con - are floated out as characters’ very real views.

I enjoyed that, despite the unprecedented threat level, Part I felt almost like a standard episode, with Jaime going undercover as a French scientist who has been summoned to the complex in question to confirm the threat is real.

There are lots of lovely small touches in this episode.

When Elijah Cooper hijacks every TV broadcast in the world like a true Bond villain, naturally, Jaime happens to have her TV set on and her show interrupted. But I thoroughly enjoyed the scene leading up to it, with Jaime following along with a programme featuring a British female cook. Who is it, I wonder? Zena Skinner? Fanny Craddock? Delia Smith, even? Whoever it is, Jaime has a hard time keeping up, even with bionics, and her frustration is reminiscent of Ria Parkinson.

Later in the episode, Jaime - under the guise of Dr Marguerite Perry - is having a conversation with Elijah who is keen to discuss the research he’s read written by the real Dr Perry. And thanks to a handy intercom we get the bionic equivalent of a sitcom trope where one character puts words into the mouth of another to enable them to thrive in a certain situation. Because Rudy is one of the four eminent scientists who’s been summoned to the complex, he is able to stand outside the room and down a corridor, hear what Elijah is asking and tell Jaime how to respond. It’s very watchable.

continued...​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Doomsday Is Tomorrow (Parts I and II)



(continued)

​

Lew Ayres - whose filmography is as long as your bionic arm - is terrific as Elijah Cooper. On paper he’s your classic mad scientist, but it’s clear that he’s a person whose intentions are good and who does what he’s done in the belief that it will help make the world a better place. As most people no doubt do. When he irrevocably sets the doomsday device it feels like a decision that’s been grimly made for the good of the world rather than an evil act of control and dominance.

There’s an avuncular, Geppetto-like quality to him and this shines through in his scenes with Jaime. While we meet him in a time of crisis and pressure, he is courteous and willing to share his dreams with people. The situation he has engineered is an attempt to engage with people and allow them to see his point of view, albeit an extreme attempt. He is the little man who has been unheard for years given the chance to make a change he feels is positive.

Elijah’s death, towards the end of Part I is a game-changer. But it’s also incredibly poignant. He doesn’t fall on his sword or die by his own hand. His time simply runs out and he drifts away secure in the knowledge that he’s done what needs to be done. Yes, it’s about the mess that Jaime is left to deal with alone. But it’s also acknowledged as the end of a human life which feels almost confusing to invest in given that all human life may be about to end. It’s unusual to see an onscreen death, particularly one that “takes” and is permanent, with all the consequences that come with it.

By the closing scenes of Part I, the real threat is revealed to come from Elijah’s creation: ALEX 7000, taking us into a battle royale between human with robot parts and machine with a human brain.

It’s impossible to see ALEX 7000 without thinking of 2001: A Space Odyssey’s HAL 9000. It’s clearly the inspiration, but it proves to be no bad thing. There’s the same postmodern, dystopian threat, based on a very real fear that smart technology has the potential to become too smart.

​

Taking a further leaf out of Kubrik and Clarke’s book, most of Jaime's scenes in Part II prove to be mainly a one-to-one. Or even, arguably, a virtual one-hander. Most of Jaime’s scenes this episode are essentially her facing escalating challenges alone, speaking only to the voice of ALEX, as she descends into various subterranean levels of the complex in an attempt to reach ALEX’s brain and disable it. This “Jaime alone” setup also reminds me very much of those early-Eighties solo Kitty Pryde X-Men issues (Demon and, most famously, Professor Xavier Is A Jerk) where she’s forced into facing a threat by herself, relying mostly on her ingenuity to work out how to take it out.

continued...
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[Mel O'Drama]

Doomsday Is Tomorrow (Parts I and II)



(continued)
​

It’s fascinating to see the “relationship” between Jaime and ALEX as they work to learn more about the other - almost working together at times - in order to destroy them. Both prove incredibly intelligent and able and are fast learners. ALEX has to adjust for Jaime’s bionics, for which he’d not originally accounted. Jaime uses ALEX’s own tech against him and manages to get computer assistance to repair her damaged bionic leg.

ALEX’s two biggest weapons are his lack of empathy and his capacity to jam communication to his own ends (ironically, empathy and communication are the very two things Jaime has been attempting to employ to reach him). He can take ruthless measures, like deploying fire fighting foam to remove all Jaime’s oxygen while in the tunnels, because he doesn’t know how breathing feels. After that comes electrocution and flooding.

The escalating threat feels genuinely terrifying as the story goes on. The Middle East do not believe the doomsday device to exist and carry on with their nuclear tests as planned. This results in the doomsday device being triggered, the American military sending planes to destroy the complex - with Jaime inside. And ALEX ensuring this happens by jamming a failsafe signal even after Jaime has disabled the initial threat and found that there is (dramatic pause)...no doomsday device. Scenes of the planes getting closer, and the procedural insight into their preparations really make this feel like an impossible situation far more so than an episodic show should have the right.

Lindsay Wagner is absolutely wonderful. As the levels of threat and terror are raised, she is in that moment. I assume scenes weren't shot in order, but it's clear she knows exactly where Jaime is in the story in terms of the emotional rollercoaster. She brings gritty determination and adrenaline-fuelled focus and peppers scenes with an occasional grim humour as she spars with ALEX. As I said, many of the scenes are basically Jaime speaking to a disembodied voice, but she makes these scenes crackle with energy.

The writing and presentation are gripping, genuinely suspenseful and claustrophobic, and so well-written it really holds up and transcends eras. If anything, it’s even more relevant today when smart technology is part of our everyday lives.

In among this, Jaime also bonds with a Russian agent, from whom Jaime keeps her bionics secret for approximately thirty seconds after Oscar asks her to be extra careful to conceal them (well, it wouldn’t be a Bionic Woman episode if she didn’t needlessly out herself to at least one person). But any shortcomings are more than made up for in the final act, where the two of them share a moment of reflection about Elijah’s message of peace. This image is a message in itself.

These episodes are essential Bionic Woman, with a story the scope of which feels far more epic and important than the genre and medium would have you think.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Lindsay Wagner says on the commentary for Road to Nashville that she worked very hard to hit those notes. And says that she had wanted to be a singer, before she started acting.

Thanks for this titbit. I'm really looking forward to watching all the commentaries and bonus material. I'm saving them for after I finish the series and films.

She also mentions that the episodes of the series were shot in six days and they working up to 17 hours in a day.

I can imagine it was a gruelling schedule, especially for Lindsay who is in practically every scene.

he says she was nervous singing around the professional singers and professional musicians. But she says that soon afterwards, she was at a fundraiser and Hoyt Acton called her in stage to sing with him. She mentions that for a time, they lived close to each other.

Oh, that's lovely. It's nice to hear about connections like this, which adds layers to the show.

I remember as I watched the scenes with Jaime singing in the studio thinking how nerve-racking it must be for Lindsay to be doing it in front of all those professionals. But that worked for the character, who was in the same situation as Jaime: a non-professional singer performing in front of seasoned musicians.

 

[johnnybear]

Doomsday is Tomorrow, weren't they the first filmed episodes of the second season of The Bionic Woman?
JB

 

[DallasFanForever]

@johnnybear I think The Return of Bigfoot opened season two. Doomsday is Tomorrow started with episode 15 of the same season if I’m remembering this correctly. @Mel O'Drama might be able to confirm that for us.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Doomsday is Tomorrow, weren't they the first filmed episodes of the second season of The Bionic Woman?

@johnnybear I think The Return of Bigfoot opened season two. Doomsday is Tomorrow started with episode 15 of the same season if I’m remembering this correctly. @Mel O'Drama might be able to confirm that for us.

I'm not sure of the filming order, but I suspect you're right, @DallasFanForever, as Doomsday... was quite some way into the season and Bigfoot had indeed been the first to air that season.

I may know more about the filming order when I watch the Doomsday... audio commentary (which won't be until after I've finished all three seasons), but @J. R.'s Piece is a font of knowledge on all things bionic, so perhaps they can enlighten us in the meantime.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Deadly Ringer (Parts I and II)

​

Firstly, a couple of immediate general thoughts about the series at this point:

1. The series is completely spoiling me with these multi-parters, meaning a longer story with room for exploration and the exciting “To be continued…” text that makes it feel more serialised and grown up.
2. With the possible exception of Biofeedback (which is still pretty blooming great), the run of episodes from The Vega Influence to Deadly Ringer Part II is in my eyes the most consistently outstanding and has produced some gripping and compelling stuff. It seems to be getting better and better.

Deadly Ringer, in many ways, is a sequel not only to Season One’s Mirror Image, but also to the story which came an episode earlier: The Jailing Of Jaime. Once again, Jaime finds herself behind bars with officials who doubt her every word and, after an escape, a fugitive from justice. This two-parter takes the best ingredients from those two episodes and raises the stakes considerably.

If you’d told me I needed to watch a sequel to a one-and-done story about Jaime’s evil double Lisa Galloway that spent a great deal of time exploring Lisa’s psyche I’d have been extremely sceptical. But it turns out it’s exactly what I needed.

We start off with Jaime’s abduction, and here’s probably my only little nit-pick: Jaime is in her coachhouse doing embroidery, when two men pipe some kind of gas through the front door. They use a pipe about the width of a catheter, which somehow takes effect on Jaime in less than a minute. Then they just stroll in and pick her up, without using any kind of mask or even holding their breath. It’s a minor quibble, which I quickly forgave and forgot once the rest of the story got underway.

Once Lisa is freed from prison, and Jaime put in the cell in her place, there’s a great bit of exposition about the stories we’ve missed. Some is verbal, as Lisa tells creepy old Matt Devlin how she’s been paving the way for the substitution by feigning mental illness and insisting that she is, in fact, Jaime Sommers to anyone who’ll listen. A really nice touch that reinforces how trapped Jaime really will be.

But there’s also an exciting flashback to Matt’s discovery of adrenalizine, a “plastic compound” that simulates adrenaline and gives the person who chews it superhuman strength. And he escapes from prison using his temporary super strength. It feels very much like watching a Marvel supervillain origin story.

This taps into the secrecy of Jaime and Steve’s bionics. Because the O.S.I. are behind adrenalizine, Matt naturally deduces that this is the secret to the bionic duo’s strength. This thread is great, because it leaves Lisa somewhat in the dark about Jaime’s abilities and limitations, and so there’s a scene in which she’s being put through her paces by Rudy (having taken adrenalizine) and she goes to use her left hand for a strength test until Rudy corrects her, thinking she’s joking. There are also a couple of times when the word bionic is used in relation to her abilities and you can see the confusion on her face since the word means nothing to her.

continued...​

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Deadly Ringer (Parts I and II)



(continued)​

Meanwhile, Jaime, having failed to convince people that she’s really Jaime Sommers, is told she’s to see the governor, but is taken to the prison infirmary where she is loaded with sedatives (in her left arm, of all the lousy luck), told she is going to get her “old” face back the next day and then locked in a padded cell by the crooked Dr Harkens played by none other than Jessica Tate. It’s interesting to see Katherine Helmond in a straight role, and she’s effectively unsettling.

The padded cell/too weak to move/impending surgery scenario is the stuff of horror, and the scenes around it some of the grimmest this series has produced. There are definite shades of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, the film version of which was less than a year old at this point. Here, as there, some of the staff are less than ethical. A prison guard, Dr Harkens and a couple of her minions are all well aware of the switch that’s happened. Harkens even plans Jaime’s death due to a combination of heavy general anaesthesia and the drugs with which they’re keeping her sedated, and she orders Jaime’s food to be drugged to ensure she’s too out of it to fight back. It’s pretty dark.

Things get almost psychedelically surreal as Jaime becomes disorientated and hears Harkens’ voice echoing round the padded cell, calling Lisa’s name over and over. She attempts to move to break out, but can’t muster the strength. By the time she’s wheeled in to prepare for surgery, it looks like the writing’s on the wall. But once alone she reveals the uneaten sandwich, and makes a break for it. In a brilliant bit of symmetry, scenes of Jaime breaking door handles and locks are interspersed with images of Lisa using her new powers under Rudy’s supervision.

I just love how the net kept closing in and Jaime wasn’t cut a break. Once escaped, she faced being pursued by dogs and armed guards; getting stuck in quicksand. The lot. There’s a great scene where, exhausted, she reaches a fenced compound with an emergency call box inside. She’s trying to muster the strength to leap the fence when she sees a gap in the fence on the other side. She kind of throws her arms up in defeat, makes a little “meh” sound and shuffles slowly round to the gap.

Even finally reaching Oscar by phone wasn’t the end of the ordeal. Having been told that Lisa had escaped and was under the delusion that she was Jaime, Oscar told her to stay put but then arranged for her to be collected. It’s a predicament all right. Jaime’s response to this played against all my expectations. Bumping into a man who was terrified of her, she convinced him to tell the authorities she had a gun and insisted that Oscar came to speak to her. Even once he’d arrived, Oscar didn’t believe her until she asked him ask her a question without the bullhorn: a request that was meaningful only to him. I could well and truly feel Jaime’s relief once the penny dropped with him.

continued...​