"Trust Issues"

• Nov 15, 2007 02:31 PM ET
• by TV Guide News

I had high hopes that Bionic Woman would continue its recent wave of success, but "Trust Issues" brought this reinvigoration to a grinding halt. The show's quality depreciated to the same substandard levels of its debut episodes.

A large contributor to the show's creative woes came from the inconsistency of its storylines and cast. Whatever happened to Katee Sackhoff as Sarah Corvus? Despite being among the most poorly conceived rogues in television history, it was a shame that she was seemingly abandoned. Sarah Corvus was a principle player that would have assisted in supplying answers about the mysterious origins of bionics. There were so many different ways that Sarah's personality could have been developed. Flashbacks to Sarah's past would have provided motivation for her present actions and would also have made her more relatable to the audience.

This ambivalence to creative development separates Bionic Woman from classic shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In Buffy's third season, the villainous Mayor Wilkins was introduced as Buffy's new archenemy. The mayor was stiff in his early appearances, only acting as a plot devise to move the storyline forward. But Joss Whedon and his writing team continued to turn the mayor into a heinously hilarious villain. It turns out that the actor playing Mayor Wilkins, Harry Groener, had great comedic delivery and the scribes were able to use this to their advantage.

Not only did Bionic Woman ignore its failed storylines, but they also felt obligated to destroy any success that the show had achieved. I credited the character of Tom with contribution to the previous creative turnaround, so it was a shame to see Tom become just as serious and miserable as the rest of his cast mates. Tom's concerns for Jaime's well-being in the field were starting to interfere with their relationship. He also stopped doing what he did so well in the last two episodes, which was to bring the show some much-needed levity. Jaime and Tom's relationship should have been given the chance to blossom before any conflict was introduced. The Bionic writers should have recognized Tom's burgeoning importance and taken advantage of it.

Another success story of character development occurred during the first season of Heroes. Jack Coleman had a small role in the show's pilot episode, with only a few lines of dialogue. But Jack's performance was so strong that the producers promoted him to a series regular as HRG.

"Curtis from 24 is back from the dead!" That's what was going through my mind when I saw Roger R. Cross in tonight's episode. After I recovered from the sudden shock, I was baffled that I got so excited about an actor that I thought was at best average. Unfortunately, this all-too-brief moment was the most enjoyment I was able to reap from "Trust Issues." With Bionic Woman hemorrhaging viewers every week, the writers are running out of time to make this show work.