Only someone who’s been in a coma for about a year wouldn’t know that I’ve been very much looking forward to the Bionic Woman remake.

I’ve never seen even five minutes of the original 1970s series starring Lindsay Wagner, but this remake was headed by David Eick, who is part of the team that so brilliantly remade Battlestar Galactica. Honestly, there are other executive producers, but I’ve kind of had tunnel vision on this one and as long as Eick was on board, so was I. I can be kind of loyal that way.

So I got ticked off when I read reviews of the pilot that were less than flattering. I can be kind of loyal that way.

And the first couple minutes of the pilot were utterly gripping. If it didn’t make you want to at least watch a little while longer, I’m not sure what you were looking for.

Anway, I was thinking about it this morning, and there were actually a few things about the pilot that did indeed annoy me, so I figured I’d break form and address those first:

• The whole Jaime-Becca dynamic. Unlike a lot of people, I have no problem with them changing the sister role from a deaf Sullen Youth to a hot hacker chick, played by Lucy Hale (click here for an interview with her). Whatever. But there seems to be no good reason that Becca is even living with her sister. In the original pilot, their parents were both dead. In the remade pilot, just their mom’s dead. Daddy’s an alcoholic hippie protestor so far as I could figure out. What? I know that opens the door for her father to come back into their life and something bionic-y to happen between them, but just let it be. It makes far more sense for Becca to be living with Jaime if both their parents are dead.
• The locks inside Becca’s bedroom door. Here’s an easy way to deal with that, Jaime: REMOVE THEM if you don’t want her locking you out and hiding her computer work from you.
• Um, aren’t you a bartender, Jaime? Then how, exactly, are you able to get up so freshly at some ungodly hour of the morning when your sister’s blasting hard rock/metal/whatever it’s called these days (gawd, that just made me feel old to say that)? Shouldn’t your hair be at least a little messy and you totally groggy because you got home at a horrible hour? I know you’re only 26 (or did she say 24?), but still. At least sleepy eyes would make me feel less inadequate.
• What’s with the babysitter? You can’t trust Becca to stay alone while you’re going out to dinner, but you can trust her to stay alone and fall asleep alone on the sofa while you’re out tending bar? Continuity, folks.
• The relationship between Jaime and Will doesn’t make any sense. In the original storyline (not the original pilot), Jaime worked in a lab, so she was in the medical field and their relationship made sense. I feel like her being remade as a bartender was so they would have an excuse to have lots of writhing, sexy bodies in at least one or two scenes every episode.

OK, so that said, I still liked it. I know a lot of sci-fi fans will disagree with me. It was too dark, too dull (even with the Bionic Women going at one another), too yawn.

But I like dark. And I think the pilot wanted to get so much stuff out of the way, and quickly, so they could get to more action starting in episode 2, titled “Birds.”

Many are saying Katee Sackhoff, better known as Starbuck from the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, stole the show from the more understated Ryan. In some ways, that’s true. Sackhoff is a revelation as a villain, but no one should be surprised by her acting chops given her work on BSG. (Side note: How excellent to see Aaron Douglas, the Galactica’s chief engineer, and Mark Sheppard, Gaius Baltar’s attorney Romo Lampkin showing up, with Sheppard definitely at least a recurring character.)

The fight scene between Sarah Corvis and Jaime Sommers was fun. Sarah, fully aware of all her capabilities is really just toying with Jaime, who is obviously learning what she can do. It appeared that Jaime, however, could heal faster than Sarah, and Sarah noticed that, too. It has been four years, though, and the technology has moved along, so why not?

Sarah seems to be somewhat sympathetic to and curious about Jaime. There are sure to be future clashes between them, but so long as Sarah doesn’t try to kill Will again (which she probably will — why?? Is Will’s dad in on it? The same guy who ordered Sarah to kill Will is the one who broke Will’s dad outta prison.), Jaime doesn’t really have any reason to go after Sarah. Even though she’ll probably be ordered to.

But Jaime also is exceptionally aware of what she’s capable of and made that very clear to her would-be handlers. It seems doubtful they’ll be able to really force her hand on much. Though it does seem to be that she decided to go all in because she recognizes Will’s life is at stake.

The premiere raised many questions, for sure:
• How did Sarah Corvis survive?
• Who was buried in Sarah’s grave?
• Why did Sarah really go nuts?
• How has Sarah been able to get her brain under control?
• Who was that Eurotrash man?
• What did Will’s dad do to get him put in maximum security?
• What exactly is this organization Will works for?
• What did Becca do to have a court order against her to not use a computer?

I know many don’t agree with me on this, but I hope Bionic survives. The show has a lot of promise and, like I said, I like dark, brooding shows.

All photos courtesy of NBC/Universal.