Official Synopsis:
Join one of TV's most stunning breakout heroines as the action-packed series Bionic Woman leaps onto DVD! From executive producer David Eick (Battlestar Galactica) comes this gripping re-imagining of the university beloved character. Jamie Sommers is a hard-working woman struggling to take care of her younger sister. But after a serious, life-threatening accident, Jamie is saved by a top-secret procedure that makes her much more than just an ordinary woman... it makes her superhumanly bionic. Starring hot newcomer Michelle Ryan, as well as Miguel Ferrer (Crossing Jordan), Molly Price (Third Watch), Will Yun Lee (Witchblade), Lucy Kate Hale (How I Met Your Mother), and guest stars Isaiah Washington (Grey's Anatomy) and Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), it's a non-stop thrill ride unlike anything you've seen before!

  
Our Take:
It seems a little optimistic to be labeling this DVD as Bionic Woman: Volume One, since we don’t know yet if there will ever be a Volume Two, but I guess that’s beside the point.

I started out like most people: excited about a new Bionic Woman television show. I was a huge fan of the original series and its predecessor, The Six Million Dollar Man, when I was a kid and I thought the concepts were ripe for a remake. And like a lot of people, I was also completely underwhelmed by the first couple of episodes and stopped watching it, hence the ratings decline that leaves a Volume Two in question. Part of my issue with the show is Michelle Ryan in the lead role; while she’s a capable actress, she just doesn’t have that charisma that’s needed to anchor a show this big. I think a different actress in the lead might have seen the show take a very different ratings path.

However, sometime after I stopped watching, the show started to find its rhythm, which is where the DVD comes in handy. By the eighth episode, I must admit that I was starting to become wrapped up in the characters and the storylines. I do think the show is way too dour for my tastes, and I’d like to see it lighten up some. Just because it was developed by David Eick, who successfully turned Battlestar Galactica into one of the best (yet most serious) shows on television, doesn’t mean that Bionic Woman needs to be equally as humorless. It seems as if the showrunners realized that, as the last show in the set definitely sees a slightly lighter tone that I enjoyed.

As for extra features, here’s what’s included:

* Pilot Commentary - With executive producer David Eick..
* Promo Featurettes (6 minutes total) - Four featurettes that ran to get viewers pumped about the show: The Making of the Car Crash, Real-Life Bionics, The Stunts, and Profiles.

Bionic Woman is not a perfect show, and I wish they had spent a little more time making it less Alias and more of its own entity, but it definitely shows potential.

Overall Picture:
Movie: B-
DVD: B-

- Mike Spring

Editor