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Title / Air Date: Face-Off / 17th October
2007
Writer: Robert Rovner & Jon Cowan
Director: Paul Shapiro
Summary: Jaime and Antonio are sent on
a mission to rescue an American doctor working
in Paraguay, who has been taken hostage after
he de-codes a top seceret Flash drive which has
information on about Jaime's expected lifespan.
Meanwhile Sarah Corvus is re-captured by Jae and
taken to Wolf Creek in the hope she will lead
them to rogue Bionic surgeon Anthros.
  
Guest stars:
Scott Lyster: Some Guy
Travis Milne: Martini Guy
Reese Alexander: Berkut Assault Member
Edson T. Ribeiro: Terrorist #1
Aaron Dudley: Sexy Poker Guy
Andrew Fallows: Another Sexy Poker Guy
Kris Pope: Other Sexy Poker Guy
Raahul Singh: Stunt Lab Tech
Karen Van Blankenstein: Doctor
Lara Gilchrist: Carly
Michael Benyaer: Raul
Tim Paul Perez: Beto Ruiz
Brian Hallisay: Dr. Mark Stevens
Kevin Rankin: Nathan
Christopher Gauthier: Geek #2
Re-occurring characters/plot points: Sarah
Corvus is captured and brought to Wolf Creek,
but subsequently escapes again. Jaime learns her
anthrocytes have a five-year lifespan. Jaime and
'Becca have various scenes/discussions around
'trust'.
Best Quotes..... Jaime to Nathan as he
fixes her foot: You're giving me the creeps keep
staring at it. Do you have a foot fetish? Nathan:
No, Jaime, I do not. I'm pretty much just a simple
boob man. Pope to Jonas as he explains to mission:
So why's this our problem?, Jaime: You mean beside
the fact he's an American who's gonna get his
head chopped off? Ruth as she works with Sarah:
You're caught between a rock and a hard place...
Sarah: Now you're just trying to be funny.
Misc facts: This episode was originally
billed as 5# and is Antonio Pope's first story.
In the first draft Will is still alive and being
held at Anthros' camp.
Reviews:
By SEAN ELLIOTT, Senior Editor / IFMagazine.com
If you’ve been watching NBC for any length
of time for the past month or so, you’ve
seen the trailers to try and draw viewers into
THE BIONIC WOMAN (not that it needs them) well
now with this week’s episode ‘Face Off’
audiences get to see a lot of the footage used
for those trailers with Jaime running across a
series of pipes while being shot at.
This is pretty much a straight up action episode
of the series. The episode revolves around a rescue
mission where Jaime (Michelle Ryan) and Antonio
(Isaiah Washington) have to go in and save a CIA
undercover operative before he gets killed and
more importantly before he cracks the code on
a flash drive that contains all of the plans for
Jamie and Sara (Katee Sackhoff) and their bionic
implants. Of course things go awry and Antonio
wants to kill of the guy they came to save and
Jaime kicks the crap out of him. In the end she
was being too naïve and the CIA operative
escapes with the flash drive and the material
on her bionics in now out in the open.
This episode had a lot more action, which I’ve
been waiting to see. Jaime did a lot of interesting
and spectacular things with her bionic body parts
that she hadn’t down before and this was well
worth the wait.
Plus, one of the more interesting items that we
learned, is that not only are both Jaime and Sara
dying because of the bionic implants, but anything
foreign that is introduced into their bodies the
bionic technologies within them try to incorporate
the foreign matter into their bodies.
Of course, it was extremely satisfying to see Michelle
Ryan kick the s**t out of Isaiah Washington. I make
no bones about not liking this actor as a person,
and if NBC really wanted to promote this show, maybe
they can create a moving BIONIC WOMAN exhibit with
a fake Washington dummy that you can use your ‘bionic’
powers to kick around in something like a play ball
pen.
I’m also glad to see that Katee Sackhoff is
sticking around, even if it is only for bits and
pieces of the story. She adds to the series, and
having her take off for too long will only hurt
this series.
B+
FAN REVIEW
At the start of this episode we see Jaime running
through a dark alley at night, she leaps a chain
mail fence and approaches a stationary car, pulls
opens the back door…but this is no covert
mission for Jonas, it's not even one of Antonio
Pope's training sessions. Rather this is Jaime
Sommers: big sister and surrogate mother, looking
out for her younger sister who's been sneaking
out to see a boy. It's an amusing punch line and
a sharp reminder to the viewer that there is more
to this young woman than mere Bionic super spy.
The episode proper sees Jaime and Pope sent to
Paraguay to rescue a doctor who is being held
by terrorists, and while the story isn't as strong
as those that have preceded it, it does hold up
well thanks to some strong performances, not least
from Michelle Ryan who now seems nicely settled
in the lead.
At the start of the mission Jaime believes her
biggest moral dilemma lies in not being able to
tell Becca where she's really going but that's
as nothing to the problem she faces when she realises
the real purpose of the mission and just how far
Pope is prepared to go to protect the Bionics
programme. The assignment serves as a wake up
call to Jamie as she comes to terms with some
devastating home truths, not just about her new
job but her whole new lease of life.
Meanwhile Katee Sachoff gets to act alongside
the rest of the regular cast as Sarah Corvus is
finally arrested and bought in for questioning.
But who's playing who here? Sachoff again gives
a mesmerising performance as the laconic and increasingly
sarcastic Corvus in a subplot which not only compliments
the main story but also throws up a few new questions
of it's own
Ryan is superb as Jamie, and this is finally
beginning to feel like her show rather than an
ensemble drama. Whether confronting her fear of
flying or defying orders and refusing to let Pope
complete his mission her subtle portrayal helps
bring home the emotional impact of dialogue that
doesn't always fit comfortably into the mouths
of the actors delivering it. The revelations here
will have repercussions in the weeks, and hopefully
years to come.
And it looks like the writers have finally hit
the right note with Becca, she's precocious and
high spirited but at the same time it's clear
how close the Sommers sisters really are, and
how much Jaime's double life is threatening that
relationship. Despite only appearing in a handful
of scenes Lucy Hale gives her most likeable performance
to date, showing a Becca who is both hurt and
scared by her sister's deception.
The highlight of the episode though comes near
the end - a beautiful little scene where Jaime
confronts Jonas with what she has learned. Although
he tries to hide it, he's clearly as upset as
she is. It seems he does have a heart after all
and that he's come to care for his reluctant Bionic
agent.
The special effects are improving, with the fight
scenes proving particularly impressive but the
scenes of Jaime running could still use a little
work.
3.5/5
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