Bionic

So there's a new Bionic Woman series on NBC, and since it's got many of the folks who run Battlestar Galactica on staff we've watched the first two episodes. The presence of the lovely Michelle Ryan doesn't hurt, nor does that of Katee Sackhoff, who proves once again that women named "Katee" should not be messed with.

The show's not awful, but there are some really dumb tropes whose presence annoys me, most of which center around the mysterious, possibly sinister group who bionicized (is that a word? It is now.) Jamie Sommers, the new bionic woman. The group, personified by Miguel Ferrer, acts dumb when it comes to handling and recruiting Jamie.

For instance: She complains to Ferrer that they've turned her into a freak. He says the dumb thing: Something along the lines of, we built you and we own you. Wouldn't the smart thing to say be something closer to, "You were in a car accident that cost you three limbs, an eye, and an ear, and thanks to our technology you're all superhuman and fully functional. Would you rather be hobbling around on normal prosthetics?"

Ferrer also takes a hard line in his initial attempts to recruit her. Wouldn't the smart thing to do be to offer her a job with a large salary, health coverage, and the promise of a desk job if and when she retires from field work?

Problem is, none of those things read "sinister" really quickly. And writing dumb is easier than writing smart.