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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 259035" data-attributes="member: 23">Winning Is Everything <img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EVQQdWNWkAA4nAO.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 451px" />This is the third Bionic Woman episode written by James D. Parriott. In common with the earlier two - Angel Of Mercy and Bionic Beauty - he presents us with something of a stock episodic TV story. Following the obligatory South American escapade and the obligatory beauty pageant, Winning Is Everything is the obligatory Wacky Races episode. As always, there’s a depth to the story that stops it from feeling too generic. Like Jack Starkey in Angel Of Mercy, racing driver Tim Sanders is cocky and blustery and not thrilled to have Jaime along for the ride at first. The chemistry between Jaime and Tim is almost as much fun as with Jack.Tim’s arc of getting back on the circuit after a previous accident on the track left him gun-shy is what gives this episode most appeal. It’s not gripping, but there are enough layers to make this feel worth the investment. It’s implied that his arrogance is a front to mask his fear and Jaime is able to recognise this and highlight it (in overused-to-the-point-of-meaninglessness twenty-first century parlance, she “calls him out”). It’s fitting to the series’ themes that she does this. Jaime is no stranger to trauma, after all. But what I enjoyed was that she did this as one sports competitor to another. She recognises his “self psyche out” as a tennis player, not as a bionic super heroine who has returned from the dead. All of which makes this feel more human and accessible. With Tim being younger than Jack Starkey, there’s also a hint of romance this time round. Whether this is an improvement is debatable. Personally, I don’t think it needed it. But John Elerick does have an attractive blend of rugged prettiness, so who can blame her. Tim also got in on the bionic secret, so Jaime’s true to her track record of blowing her secret identity left, right and centre. Here Tim clocks her keeping ahead of a car shown to be doing 100mph while being shot at. Is this a bionic record? I seem to remember something about 60mph being the top speed, but it seems Jaime’s broken that by a considerable margin. As far as other characters go, it possibly speaks volumes that most other competitors and figures with whom the couple come into contact aren’t given names, other than “Russian Woman”; “Bartender”; “Attendant” and so on. It could even be argued that there’s a thinly veiled hint of racism to the fact that the more foreign a person seems the greater the threat they present. However, such is the nature of such sporting events, and of espionage. And since this episode is based around both, it’s perhaps to be expected. It’s tough to know how to sum this one up. I thoroughly enjoyed it while watching, but even as I watched I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was disposable, has little bearing on series continuity and it wouldn’t make a difference if I’d skipped it. I still feel that way- and the same can probably be said for many episodes in a series without heavy serialisation. But it also had a certain special something that made it worth the pit stop. Sometimes a piece of TV is best enjoyed for what it is: a fun way to pass fifty minutes. Winning Is Everything falls into that category, and is no worse for it. </blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?