“Aim high and serve nothing but aces”: (Re)-watching The Bionic Woman

[Mel O'Drama]

Deadly Ringer (Parts I and II)



(continued)​

Lisa becoming integrated into Jaime’s life, thinking that Jaime was in a prison graveyard somewhere was so much more than I thought it would be. Her winning over the children in the classroom, feeling moved by the love she felt from Jim and Helen (and it felt more meaningful because it was so darned good to see them both back). Along the way, she made choices to improve her life and choices based on what felt right: she stopped smoking; she turned Matt Devlin in to the police; she decided to stay in Ojai rather than taking the money and running. In acting as Jaime, she became more like Jaime, the lines became blurred and - thanks in part to her adrenalizine addiction affecting her mental state - she ended up thinking she was Jaime. For real.

I’d go so far as to say Lisa, in this story, is one of the most psychologically interesting characters to appear on the show, and it’s not surprising that she also got her own musical theme which was as fragile and beautiful as she is.

The episodes moved from horror to tragedy, because along the way I realised that in order for Jaime to get her life back, Lisa was going to have to pay a price. It was touching to watch Lisa - physically unwell from the adrenalizine - being held by Helen who by this time knew she wasn’t Jaime, but had grown to love her all the same. And I can relate.

Lindsay Wagner’s Emmy win was in large part of the back off these episodes, and it’s easy to see why. They’re beautifully written with so many nuances to the emotional journeys of both characters in these episodes. The scenes looked very emotionally draining to film, and she gives note-perfect readings whatever is required. It’s also worth noting that I also thought she was a standout in Doomsday Is Tomorrow which had its own emotional journey for her. At this stage in the series, I’d say she’s quite an accomplished actor, and it’s good that this was recognised.

It’s to Lindsay's credit that she could carry off an emotional confrontation between the two women, one confused, angry and lashing out; the other drained and supportive but driven to get her life back. And I love that the Jaime/Lisa story had a happy-ish ending with Jaime visiting Lisa in hospital and Lisa apologising and willingly agreeing to the plastic surgery. I’m pleasantly surprised that I can feel so joyous and conflicted and sad when watching a scene between two women played by the same actress. This is how Krystle and Rita should have been done.

I do worry about the treatment of animals on film in the Seventies, and Plato the little adrenalizine-fuelled rat is an example of this. There’s a scene where he’s shown to be adversely affected by the drug’s side effects and is limping round his cage in quite a poor state. I don’t know what went on behind the scenes in order to get this footage, and it’s probably for the best that I don’t.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Jaime And The King

The title, premise and plot all cry out a warning to the viewer that we’re back in run-of-the-mill country. The warning isn't wrong, but run-of-the-mill can still be enjoyable. And, as it turns out, there are still layers that make it worth the visit.

A vein of casual sexism runs through the episode from start to finish. Much of it is based on cultural differences. The characters Jaime is assigned to protect are from “the richest of the Persian Gulf oil countries”, where men can have up to four wives as well as concubines and whatnot, and women are veiled and expected to be subservient.

However, it’s not restricted to the Almain characters. When Jaime arrives to meet Oscar, she finds him thoroughly taking in the view of scantily clad women, and becoming distracted by them even during their conversation about his assignment.

Jaime’s response is mostly one of firm challenge. In Oscar’s case, when chastising him fails, she loudly tells the giggling girls that Oscar’s her father and is due to look after his college-aged grandchildren. And to further prove her point she bionically bends a huge parasol on their table to obstruct Oscar’s view of them (having a public conversation about a top secret assignment and displays of unnatural strength. I have to smile at their lack of confidence in Joe Public’s intelligence).

Incidentally, I loved Jaime’s initial reluctance to pose as the teacher for the young Crown Prince, Ishmael due to her desire to keep her teaching and her O.S.I. work separate. It spoke volumes about her integrity even if - as always - Oscar talked her round in the space of a sentence or two.

To earn the young Crown Prince Ishmael’s respect, there’s a demonstration of strength, reminiscent of tearing the Yellow Pages in two back in Welcome Home Jaime. This time it’s breaking planks of wood in half. Ishmael can break two. His father does four. Jaime proves herself to Ishael by breaking six, leaving him stunned that a “girl” can do this. When, after being ordered to leave, she sneaks in undercover and is discovered by Ishmael, she again proves herself by removing some kind of artefact from the wall and putting her fist through it. There’s a whole lot of wanton and needless destruction of property in this series, with new ways to do so in almost every episode.

Ishmael’s father, Ali Ben Gazim - the Shah Jaime is secretly there to protect - is the biggest trigger to Jaime’s feminism. There’s a terrific moment where she asks to speak to him alone while he is seated at a table with a veiled woman. He replies “We are alone. This is only my wife, Ezelda”, before dismissing the silent woman. The conversation goes on:

A woman's place has been clearly defined by centuries of experience. And that's why women are so content in our country. They know their place. Just as we men know what is good for them. Western men have never known how to handle their women. But then your culture rarely produces real men any longer, isn't that true?

They still seem to get the job done, you know.

Obviously weakness approves of weakness.

There’s an interesting moment early-ish in the episode where Jaime is ordered to bow to the Shah as a guest in his home and looks most incredulous. I couldn’t help thinking of a more recent culture clash when Meghan Markle was shocked at being expected to curtsy when meeting her future grandmother-in-law Queen Elizabeth.

By episode’s end, Jaime has earned the respect of Ishmael and even Ali Ben Gazim, the reward for which is him granting her wish for his wives to be given more freedom and dignity.

But the route taken to get there is most certainly of the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” variety. Or at the very least, “the end justifies the means” . In order to gain access and protect the Shah - and especially the boy she feels is her responsibility having temporarily been assigned to be his teacher - Jaime dresses up as one of the dancing girls in the skimpiest of outfits, disguised with only a thin veil. What’s more, she performs a riff on the dance of the seven veils in a private performance for the Shah in order not to blow her cover. It’s a curious choice, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it. Fortunately, I didn’t have to think too deeply, as the whole scenario and presentation and even the dialogue and music conjured up images of Bernard Cribbins or Terry Scott going to similar lengths in Carry On Spying and Carry On Up The Khyber respectively (even Anita Harris was the furthest thing from my mind). And those are image that make it hard to take it quite as seriously as intended.

​

 

[johnnybear]

Well Bigfoot's Return was not the first filmed episode of The Six Million dollar Man's fourth season either. And as a big fan of episode guides I can say that the production code for Doomsday is Tomorrow on Bionic Woman is 45401 which indicates that was the first to be shot. Bigfoot was 45403 and the wrestling episode was 45416! Now I know the numbering can be haphazard and not always bona fide but they're supposed to be a guide to which order the shows were filmed in!
JB

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Beyond The Call / The DeJon Caper

In each of these episodes, Jaime finds herself reluctantly paired up with a dodgy bloke in a random place as instructed by Oscar. Beyond The Call sees her setting up camp in the wood with army bod and Vietnam vet Major John Cross, ostensibly for him to teach her survival techniques. DeJon’s odd couple pairing sees her in Paris with eccentric French art forger Pierre Lambert, someone the O.S. I. is blackmailing into helping capture the powerful and deadly art collector for whom Pierre is forging a DeJon intended to be switched with the original.

In both cases, the man in question wastes no time trying to make a break for it after setting Jaime up in the night’s accommodation. While John simply goes for a walk in the woods, Pierre sets up a more elaborate and comical affair by breaking into an apartment he claims to be his, insisting the lights are kept off, and exiting while Jaime is freshening up in the bathroom. By the time Jaime comes back into the room, the real apartment owner - a middle-aged Frenchman whose manner, accent and looks reminded me very much of Kenneth Connor in ‘Allo ‘Allo - has returned and is getting undressed. Things turn to farce when she mentions Pierre and he thinks she is his sister’s husband’s bit of crumpet and quickly gets on the phone to his sister who no doubt plans to give her knackered hubby hell. There’s some familiar scenery, including the Universal backlot’s version of Place Victor Hugo in Paris. This the exact same street corner with elevated café last seen as Eastern Europe in Biofeedback. But it all adds to the cosiness of this fictional world.

Jaime’s response to being dumped is more or less the same in both instances. She uses her bionic hearing and legs to pursue the escapee, deduces where they’re heading and simply arrives there first. Pierre finds Jaime seated in his real apartment when he enters, she having leapt through the window seconds before he arrived. John, hitching at the roadside, walks into Jaime reclining on a grass verge. Both shocked men are cheerily greeted in the most casual manner.

Despite their criminal tendencies - John is intent on stealing a missile guidance control - both turn out to be good guys.

Pierre goes along with Jaime’s plans to escape their impending deaths, getting undressed at her command so she can leap from a window while pretending to be him so that he’d be believed dead. The image of him stripping to his vest and boxers under duress and complaining in a French accent put me in mind of Kenneth Williams in Carry On Emmanuelle. Things there are wrapped up with another of Jaime’s wacky schemes. This time she passes herself off as a millionaire’s wife with a hilariously wild Swedish accent. Incidentally, this is also the episode in which Pierre persuades Jaime to dress up as a tart before calling the police to have her carted away for soliciting. This is the second time she's been mistaken for a sex worker, if I'm not mistaken.

John, meanwhile is shown to be acting out of anger towards the armed forces for not protecting his Vietnamese wife who was killed during a mortar barrage, dying in the arms of his daughter who hasn’t spoken a word since. This is another of the episode’s journeys. Young Kim stays with the Elgins where she smashes heirlooms and scribbles on photographs (sadly, this is the last we’ll see of Martha Scott in the series). Naturally, Kim is reached by Jaime, and speaks her first words when she calls for her father. While the story veers towards mawkish, it stays the right side and manages to be endearing. The young actress playing Kim is great, which helps.

For all the heart and emotional moments in Beyond The Call, it's The DeJon Caper that feels up there with the most memorable episodes of the series for me. Both stories are interesting with some nice twists and turns. But DeJon throws in a healthy smattering of fun and farce which give it an abundance of multiple rewatch potential. It's worth it for Jaime's costume changes alone.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Night Demon

​

It’s another Scooby Doo caper, alas. As well as a creature akin to Black Magic’s, this also has a Native American burial ground which echoes that in Season One’s Canyon Of Death.

The episode opens with a further callback. As Jaime drives (it’s so good to see the return of the Datsun, even though she crashes it up pretty badly later in the episode), the song on the radio is Fly Like An Eagle, heard several times at key moments in Road To Nashville. Jaime smiles fondly and turns the volume up. It’s a lovely little detail - an easter egg for viewers paying attention.

Arriving at a petrol station in the middle of nowhere which conjures up images of Deliverance, Jaime is greeted by Hawkins: the most lecherous character in the series to date (best described as a taller Roy Kinnear, but less attractive and less subtle). Hawkins doesn’t even attempt to hide his drooling over Jaime and it’s just one sleazy line after another as he beckons her inside saying he isn’t going to bite her. While Jaime effortlessly handles the casual sexual harassment with a weary smile, I have my doubts this scene would be permitted to air today. Almost as if he can see cancel culture on the horizon, Hawkins goes for broke with the sexual innuendo:

I got me a big ole sidewinder. Wanna see it?

Jaime politely declines and continues on her way to visit her friend Thomas Bearclaw.

The plot about scaring someone into selling their property by faking hauntings is comfortingly familiar. It’s the stuff Nancy Drew mysteries are made of. 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Gary Lockwood is in on it with Hawkins. Probably the less said the better about some of the turns the plot takes. Though improving on Black Magic’s werewolf, there’s at least a little science behind the mysterious creature’s appearance this time.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Iron Ships And Dead Men

​

Incorporating real life tragedies into fiction can go either way, and in this case it was successful for this viewer because of my recent exploration of a related event. Just the night before watching this episode I’d watched a documentary about the USS Indianapolis, with references to Pearl Harbor, accounts of people who died locked in the hold of a sinking ship which is filling with water, and an ending that took a relative of one of the survivors back to the scene to give them a burial at sea, with a gun salute and the last post. All of which brought a strange kind of authenticity to this episode as the same scenes were shown and the lines between fact and fiction blurred.

At this point, Oscar is still an enigma. It’s part of his charm. This means a mystery centred around his presumed dead brother Sam is a little thrilling, even though Oscar himself is kept out of sight for most of the episode, with Jaime assigned to investigate and hopefully clear his brother’s name, since the military unofficially believe Sam stole a large sum of money and disappeared under cover of the Pearl Harbor attack.

It struck me that Oscar asking Jaime to investigate this most personal of cases is telling of how close he feels to her. Based on their interactions in the episodes that introduced us to Jaime, I’ve generally assumed Oscar has a closer relationship with Steve than Jaime (even though he doesn’t kiss Steve and call him “babe” as he does Jaime). This suggests that’s changed and he trusts Jaime at least as much as he does Steve. But there’s also the small matter of Steve having been mysteriously taken off the air for a couple of months between the final two episodes of his TV season (investigating The Mystery Of The Missing Moustache, I like to think).

The black and white flashbacks to Sam’s disappearance during the attack on Pearl Harbor were a nice touch and made the story feel expansive and important. For part of the episode, I’d half expected Sam to show up alive, but was pleasantly surprised when he didn’t. Less is more, after all.

Jaime goes undercover using her own name and while, as ever, there's not a glimmer of recognition for this renowned tennis pro who'd been on the circuit just a couple of years earlier, this episode is noteworthy for finally addressing the unusual spelling of Jaime's forename (even if it does so in a roundabout way). When she first shows up for the job, Zanetos is shocked as he'd been expecting a bulky Mexican man whose name is pronounced "Hymie". I'm surprised this doesn't happen more often.

All this and a litter of cute kitties too.

 

[DallasFanForever]

@Mel O'Drama I really enjoy reading ur recaps of these episodes. I haven’t watched this show in years and it’s bringing back some really good childhood memories.

 

[johnnybear]

Agreed.
JB

 

[Mel O'Drama]

I really enjoy reading ur recaps of these episodes. I haven’t watched this show in years and it’s bringing back some really good childhood memories.

Agreed.

Oh, thanks both. I'm having great fun watching, and it's even more fun to be able to share the experience. I'm glad you're both enjoying the thread.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Once A Thief​

​

“Offbeat” is the word that springs to mind in summing up this one.

The plot is rich and layered, bringing together enough fun concepts for several stories’ worth: someone makes the mistake of trying to burgle the Elgins’ place; Jaime is filmed using her bionics; Jaime is blackmailed into criminal activity, plans a double-cross with the O.S.I. which makes her feel conflicted; they in turn are triple-crossed by associates of her unknowing partner in crime.

While it has its moments, the emphasis is mostly on the (offbeat) fun, perhaps best explained by pointing out that Inky, the loveable-but-cheeky burglar in question, has a loveable-but-cheeky pet chimp named Ralph (animals being dressed up and forced to perform for the camera rarely sits well with me, which meant I could fully empathise with Jaime’s conflicted feelings).

While perfectly watchable, some fifteen hours after watchingI find that I’ve already forgotten much of the episode. Overall it feels unimportant and disposable, which it really shouldn’t considering (a) the high stakes involving discovery off Jaime’s bionics and more importantly (b) had it not been for the revival on a new network this would have been the very final episode of The Bionic Woman. I’m glad it got an unexpected third season simply because it means there’s potential for the series to have a less ignominious ending. "Offbeat" is perfectly fine for mid-season, but for this series, I expect far more from a curtain call.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Bionic Woman - Season Three

The Bionic Dog (Parts I and II)​

​

It’s quite a feat that, despite the network change and all the complications that come with that, there’s a reassuring sameness to much of the series. I was a little suprised, for example, that the opening titles remain identical without so much as a new season refresh. Even Jaime’s age has stayed the same this year, unlike the jump between Seasons One and Two.

Considering the two bionic series now exist on different networks and crossovers are apparently verboten, it’s all the more surprising that both stories so far have included a number of flashbacks not only to Jaime’s adventures on her old network, but also to her pre-spinoff history on The Six Million Dollar Man.

Naturally, this all makes me very curious about the details of the network change. It seems NBC have been given access not only to the character of Jaime and her supporting cast (even those appearing weekly as the same characters on ABC), but apparently this deal extends to footage of previous episodes shot for another network, and scenes shot for another series which is still airing on the rival network.

How did this work with sets, I wonder? The locations are reassuringly familiar. Oscar’s office looks like it may have been tweaked again, and I don’t think we’ve yet visited Jaime’s coach house this season, but everything flows nicely from last season to this in terms of feeling right.

If anything, Season Three so far feels a little more surefooted. People seem relaxed, and these episodes have serviced Rudy and Oscar well. The Bionic Dog in particular has given Martin E. Brooks a great deal of screen-time and a fairly meaty story where we see a tougher, less affable side to his character. It’s great to see this layer of coldness to him as Rudy refuses to admit that he may be wrong and grimly sets on with his decision to kill Maximillian the dog, snubbing Jaime as she tries to plead with him. It’s not an easy thing for a character to come back from, but the writing and performances pull it off admirably.

As for Max himself, I’m on the fence. Despite not really watching the series, I remember being aware of and intrigued by Max the bionic dog when I was young. But now I’m no longer a juvenile I expected to find it a bit of an endurance test. It did veer towards the syrupy at times, but overall it was much more watchable than I’d been expecting. The episodes even cheekily recreate the iconic side-by-side bionic buddy run, with Max taking over from Steve. And it was a joy to see.

I loved the character of Roger Grette - an old flame of Jaime’s - who was introduced in The Bionic Dog Part II. He was engaging and likeable, and the chemistry was good. I also loved the way pieces of information were introduced about their history, with Jaime feeling bad about the way she’d just left apparently without telling him. With them rekindling the flame and looking very cosy by the end, I was looking forward to seeing more of him throughout the season. But it looks like this was a one-off, which is disappointing. Roger made perfect male romantic lead material for this show.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Fembots In Las Vegas (Parts I and II)

​

The Fembots’ return was great fun. It helped that I hadn’t expected to see them this early in the season. It lacked the impact of their original story, mostly because much of it had already been done, so it was a case of necessarily hitting some of the same notes - and even changing continuity. How did the Callahan-bot end up at O.S.I., for example? Shouldn’t it be Lynda-bot? Lynda herself was missed this time round, but it was great to see Callahan back.

Rod Kyler’s mysterious ailment felt decidedly timely. He was trapped in isolation. Then he got fed up and left the safety of his confinement, only to get panicky when he met someone who was sneezing. And sure enough he ended up becoming seriously ill and needing to be hospitalised while experimental cures were tried. In these Covid-stricken times, I couldn’t help relating to the situation.

It’s fun to look for parallels with Jaime’s superheroine peer, Wonder Woman. Both had their series unceremoniously dropped by ABC by the end of the 76/77 season. Both were picked up by new networks (BW by NBC; WW by CBS). And both debuted in their new homes within a week of one another in September 1977.

It’s also worth noting that both series aired a very similar scene one day apart: the heroine in question dangling from a helicopter high in the air. Wonder Woman’s take on the scene became legendary for Lynda Carter gamely doing some of her own stunt work for close-up shots under the chopper and apparently sending execs into panic when they heard about it afterwards (not that it stopped them incorporating those very scenes into the opening titles very soon after).

I don’t know if there was any such behind-the-scenes drama over the helicopter scenes in The Bionic Woman, though there are indeed some close-up shots where Lindsay can be seen beneath a helicopter, just as Lynda was. Whatever the case, it has to be said that the long shots of the BW version look far more impressive than the WW long shots. Not only is the helicopter flying over the breathtaking Las Vegas cityscape, but the stunt double can be seen way above the tower blocks wriggling around and at times clearly holding on with just one hand.

 

[thomaswak]

I bought the DVD a few years ago. I really enjoyed them, especially seasons 1 & 2
For some reasons I did not enjoyed season 3 as much.

 

[johnnybear]

I loved Max the Dog and thought he was a great addition to season three! Steve Austin was only mentioned the once and no other references that I can recall! I mean American networks are as clear to me as walking in the dark but if they're anything like BBC and ITV were in the sixties to eighties then what a cold war that was on television where they both really tried to hook and draw viewers in unlike the last two decades where it's watch it if you want to or just switch off, up to you!
JB

 

[Mel O'Drama]

American networks are as clear to me as walking in the dark but if they're anything like BBC and ITV were in the sixties to eighties then what a cold war that was on television where they both really tried to hook and draw viewers in unlike the last two decades where it's watch it if you want to or just switch off, up to you!

Yes, the competition was huge and I think was taken very seriously. Whereas nowadays you have head-to-head rivals Pointless and The Chase filmed in adjoining studios, with lots of good natured ribbing.

Other than a few sitcoms, such as The Rag Trade or Birds Of A Feather, I can't think of many shows here that have changed channels the way BW and Wonder Woman did. Australia famously has Neighbours of course, with the legend of The Seven Network furiously destroying its existing sets to make life difficult for Channel Ten. I suppose the closest we had to that in the UK was the war that broke out when ITV poached Dallas from the BBC.

The politics behind these things fascinates me, but all signs seem to point to The Bionic Woman's network change being an amicable one. It's interesting that it wasn't cancelled because it performed poorly, but simply because the head of ABC wanted to shift away from the demographic BW and WW were attracting. To me it seems like poor business, but perhaps that's why I'm not head of a studio.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Rodeo

Two full years before Sue Ellen Ewing bonded with her cowboy in Dallas’s first Rodeo episode, Jaime Sommers did that very same thing in hers.

Billy Cole may not look like Dusty Farlow (in point of fact he physically resembles a combination of the two Gary Ewings and Joe Cooper. Which, it turns out, looks very much like Christopher Walken). Nor does he eat as many eggs. But he could certainly give him a run for his money in the cowboy stakes.


Rodeo is a decent enough episode. Watchable and with a tone that’s nicely rugged and outdoorsy (dusty, you might even say).

Max the bionic dog makes a return in this episode, but there’s no sign of Roger Grette. However Billy has a similar fondness for both Max and Jaime and Billy and things end up with Billy and Jaime kissing with an agreement to see each other again as he moves away. Could this episode have been intended at some point to feature Roger as the romantic lead? Or is it simply a perk of being a Bionic O.S.I. agent to have a man in every port?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

African Connection

​

With its jungle setting, African Connection has much in common with Angel Of Mercy. Once again, Jaime is teamed up with a grumpy old man for her expedition. This time though, he’s even more mercenary, as Harry Walker keeps negotiating his price with Jaime at crucial times.

Keeping on with the Dallas parallels, Harry is kind of a precursor to Digger Barnes (in fact, for a moment I thought it was David Wayne in the Digger appearance that @J.R.’s Piece hinted about). Like Digger, we first meet him in a bar the worse for wear and his alcohol dependence strains his relationship with the young woman he feels protective towards as she tries to keep him on the straight and narrow.

This episode presents drinking and driving with little consequence or moral preaching. It’s here to tell us more about Harry’s character than to give us any lessons. While Jaime doesn’t approve, neither does she show any qualms about hopping into a vehicle driven by Harry even as he keeps topping up. But then if you’re in an armoured beast of a car in the jungle I’m sure priorities might be different.

Speaking of Angel Of Mercy, there’s a nice callback to a trope established in that episode: Jaime hates snakes. There’s a scene where she starts to storm into the jungle, annoyed at Harry. Harry points his gun in her direction and fires. Jaime is as shocked at least as much as the audience, and as she turns and asks him what he’s doing, a large, dead snake drops from the tree above her. It’s a funny moment, perfectly executed.

In common with most series of the era, The Bionic Woman is a very white show. With that in mind, it’s interesting to see Jaime being perceived as a white saviour when she tells a black friend Leora she is better equipped to resolve the situation than Leora and her friends:

Why? Because you are white? Blacks are tired of depending on whites to solve our problems. We have been betrayed too many times. We don't need outside help anymore.

Jaime is horrified and clarifies by demonstrating her bionics (destroying some of Leora’s property in the process, as she is wont to do). And the situation is smoothed over.

All the same, it’s a little awkward. On the one hand we have Leora, an educated, intelligent woman who has been a schoolteacher, beautifully played by Joan Pringle who has great chemistry with Linsday. But then there’s Jaime and Harry being pursued for much of the episode by African characters wielding blowdarts. And Jaime - by virtue of her assignment and also by the nature of the series - is obliged to leap to the rescue. When actions speak louder than words I’m not sure how convincingly the series has rebutted Leora’s concerns.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Motorcycle Boogie

​

Stunt casting has never been more literal than in Motorcycle Boogie which features Evel Knievel as himself.

It’s often a bad sign when a series builds an episode around their big name guest-star. It’s appropriate, then, that this move involves the very man who jumped the shark (again, literally) nine months before Fonzie. Meaning that phrase can be traced directly to Mr Knievel. And it appears to be perfectly placed in the series itself which has indeed taken a turn for the sillier this season.

While this appearance was fun enough, it did all but have Evel wearing a sandwich board to remind us who he is in every scene. There was a running gag about Jaime not believing Evel is who he claims to be which was fine up to a point. But after almost an entire episode of dismissing him, Jaime seemed incredibly slow on the uptake, diminishing her own character at the expense of the guest. And all to give the episode the moment where he makes a jump with Jaime riding pillion, which anyone would know is going to happen anyway.

Unlike the typical “big name playing themselves” character, Evel isn’t wheeled on to say a few lines and perform a stunt at the end. He has a lot of screen-time and a lot of dialogue. While it’s apparent he hasn’t studied with Lee Strasberg, I have to say his work is passable. Not effortlessly natural, but he’s game enough and doesn’t appear ridiculously self-conscious

With this being another German-set episode (Jaime and Evel dart from West to East, with the big jump being in order to cross the border to return), there’s a nice bit of business where Jaime - as she bike-jacks him to demand his help - starts off thinking Evel is German. Which gives us Jaime trying to make herself understood by speaking German to the confused Evel. And a nice moment where she asks Evel the German for “you’re cute” and coquettishly repeats the phrase to an officer checking their I.D.s in order to distract him.

If I’m paying attention, this is the second consecutive episode in which Oscar doesn’t appear. I probably wouldn’t have noticed but for the fact that Rudy takes over Oscar’s role as Jaime’s contact. It felt very much like the writers giving Richard Anderson a breather with him being stretched across two series. But it also worked because, after all, why would he be permanently at his desk when he’s got so many responsibilities.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Brain Wash

​

There’s lots to love about this episode. For a start there’s return of Callahan. And in a plot where she’s heard spilling O.S.I. secrets by Jaime, leading to a massive fallout with everyone shaken and feeling betrayed - not least Callahan herself who is as confused as anyone. This gives us some soapy angry confrontational scenes between Jaime and Callahan where unpleasant truths are voiced, with Callahan being angry that Jaime is tall and beautiful and has a glamorous job as an agent and yet is still trying to spoil her happiness with a new boyfriend.

In close-ups I also noticed that Jennifer Darling has the most beautiful turquoise colour irises. She’s terrific as Callahan in this episode, playing for truth even when events get wild.

And get wild they do. What else could be expected of a plot in which a hairdresser elicits secrets from influential women using a combination of truth serum shampoo and hairdryers through which he can speak instructions while they’re under hypnosis. It’s straight out of Adam West Batman.

I’m not always sure exactly what camp is. On paper this is as close as the series has got to it (with the possible exception of the Fembots. Perhaps it’s a Jennifer Darling thing). Though there are two key arguments against it: Firstly, the daftness of the plot in the hairdressing scenes is so badly concealed as to be seen as deliberate, and perhaps it’s not camp if there’s intent. Secondly it forms just one part of a more substantial plot in which someone the O.S.I. is trying to protect is under threat as the information they glean from first Callahan then Jaime relates to Oscar’s meetings with him. I really enjoyed that the theme of trust being perceived to be broken continued into this thread as well, with the man feeling that Oscar had set him up and bolting.

Callahan seems to have terrible taste in men with these evil boyfriends. The plot is apparently uncannily similar to a SMDM episode that aired the same week this spin-off began. In that episode Callahan was thought to be leaking O.S.I. secrets due to her evil dentist boyfriend.

Special mention to the almost NSFW top Jaime wore to get hypnotised. There must have been some sort of tape arrangement going on underneath to ensure it remained suitable for a family audience.

Two things (well, two other things) came to mind for me when I saw this top: the first is that episode of Corrie where Bet accidentally wore Annie Walker’s dress back to front.

The second is a line from Will & Grace when the latter wore a similar neckline:

What are you dressed for: open heart surgery?

 

[Mel O'Drama]

Escape To Love / Max​

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Young men making life tricky for all the wrong reasons are the order of the day in these episodes.

In Escape To Love, Jaime is forced to call off a date with Raymond - one of her many boyfriends - in order to pursue Sandor Kelso who has been abducted by none other than Andrew Laird. Max’s twink is Bobby who is minding Max with his aunt Valerie who happens to be a scientist with the O.S.I.

Both young men are shown to frustrate and escalate key situations.

Sandor is escaping across the German border with his father (yes - it’s another Iron Curtain episode) when Peter Richman and his troops appear with guns. While everyone else runs, Sandor freezes and makes Zoolander faces. His father Arlo calls him repeatedly, but Sandor stands still and continues pouting until his father is forced to return to him, getting shot and taken in the process.

Meanwhile, Bobby takes Max out for a walk around their suburban neighbourhood(!) His aunt instructs him there’s to be no running or jumping, and we pretty much cut to Bobby and Max running along the street. When Max is dognapped, Bobby is easily duped, having a long conversation with the phony dog warden while Max is out of sight. It takes him several minutes to even notice Max is missing.

Sandor is evidently suffering some kind of stress trauma from the situation, though I’m unclear if he also has some other kind of low level special need which seems to be implied at times. Bobby’s behaviour is more cut and dried. He’s a teenager who can’t resist having fun with a bionic dog.

One does have to question the wisdom of Max living in a built-up neighbourhood with a woman and her young nephew without any kind of provision for his needs. It’s a far cry from the dog Rudy was afraid to let out of his cage out of fear he’d cause destruction. What happened to Max staying with Roger Grette the forest ranger so that he could roam and let off steam unseen?

Max (the episode) is notable for being an episode in which Jaime hardly appears. In fact it feels very much like a backdoor pilot for a Bionic Dog series. We meet Max and his guardians. Max has an adventure in which he saves the day with the help of Val and Bobby. He chews through bonds, chain linked gates and even guns and barks out orders to follow him.

Lassie may spring to mind for some, but with Max being a German Shepherd and apparently having different guardians every time we see him, the entire episode felt very much like The Littlest Hobo - a series that would be revived to great popularity two years after this episode. Proving that there may indeed have been a market for a Max spinoff. And while that’s a mildly interesting idea, I can’t say I’ll be losing sleep that Max never got his own series.

continued...​