I am shocked that in the many ...
Question: I am shocked that in the many comments made about
Bionic Woman, no one has mentioned the completely flat and robotic acting of lead
Michelle Ryan. When I tuned in to the show to give it a try, I was completely turned off by Ryan's dismal performance. What could the producers and NBC have been thinking with that casting choice? One of the reasons
Alias was such a critical and cult favorite was because of the fantastic lead performance of
Jennifer Garner, who not only kicked butt, but also infused character Sydney Bristow with warmth, depth, intelligence and angst. Her multilayered performance "garnered" her several richly deserved Emmy and Golden Globe nominations, and even a Globe win. Sadly, I would not predict the same for Ryan. Do you agree that her lack of both acting skills and charisma will contribute to the failure of
Bionic Woman?
Answer: I hardly thought this was a big secret. Seems to me lots of the negative commentary about this show has focused on the dour, charisma-free central character and who's playing it. As I've said before, the new
Bionic Woman feels like what
Alias would have been if there had been no talent involved on either side of the camera, or in the writing room. With one possible exception, as this comment from Robert points out:
"I've been quite surprised at how much I have liked
Bionic Woman so far. Given the reports about constant tinkering with the producers, directors and writers, I was afraid that the show was going to be an unenjoyable mess for a while. Maybe they cleaned up a lot of that in the editing process, but the third episode for me was a delight. A great deal of the success seems to stem from
Katee Sackhoff's turn as Sarah Corvus. The more Sarah Corvus, the better each episode of the series seems to be. It seems she brings a lot to
two series. It is hard to outshine the likes of
Edward James Olmos,
Mary McDonnell and
Michael Hogan as Starbuck on
Battlestar Galactica, but she just dominates her every scene on
Bionic Woman as well. Has any performer ever brought so much to two different shows at the same time?"
I guess I'd agree that at the very least, Sackhoff deserves her own show. She's certainly stealing this one.
