Sunday, February 10, 2008
Why Does Hollywood Kill the Good Ones
I just finished watching the 1st season of "Painkiller Jane". It sounds dark, but its about this woman who suddenly develops the ability to heal. She's never had this ability before, she cannot explain it - she's falling out a sky rise window and wakes up in the morgue. The healing is almost instantaneous but she still feels pain like we do so she needs lots of asprin (yes she's addicted to painkillers, but duh wouldn't you?). Jane is dark and looking for understanding in the world around her as she brings people to justice. Honestly I think this is what NBC intended when they created the cheerleader Claire Bennet on Heroes who seems almost too teenaged jaded.
Jane Vasko (Painkiller Jane) is a woman in her late 20's to early 30's who is a DEA agent turned government agent trying to find out why she heals while at the same time fearlessly jumping into situations her mortal teammates cannot. What hooked me was the end dialogs where Jane explains what she is feeling while commenting on the vary aspects of life we cannot address either through our political correctness or lack of vocabulary on the issues. I enjoyed the other characters around her: Riley, the computer nerd who is always trying to be more than just the computer guy; Connor, the tough guy ex-cop, ex-con hiding his emotions kind of guy who is in love with BOTH of his female teammates; Andre, the leader who seems like military, but anti-authority all at once; Maureen, the tough woman act, yet soft side Jane doesn't appear to have; Brian, her journalist boyfriend who seems to know Jane has a secret but then loses his train of thought.
It was creatively done in a character discovery sort of way and I am saddened by the announcement the first season is the last. What surprised me the most was a comment on the Scifi discussion groups classifying Eureka as "good" programing and Painkiller Jane as not. Well in an effort to find if there is any hope for other shows I'll be checking out the Bionic Woman next... (not as hopeful on this series)
Jane Vasko (Painkiller Jane) is a woman in her late 20's to early 30's who is a DEA agent turned government agent trying to find out why she heals while at the same time fearlessly jumping into situations her mortal teammates cannot. What hooked me was the end dialogs where Jane explains what she is feeling while commenting on the vary aspects of life we cannot address either through our political correctness or lack of vocabulary on the issues. I enjoyed the other characters around her: Riley, the computer nerd who is always trying to be more than just the computer guy; Connor, the tough guy ex-cop, ex-con hiding his emotions kind of guy who is in love with BOTH of his female teammates; Andre, the leader who seems like military, but anti-authority all at once; Maureen, the tough woman act, yet soft side Jane doesn't appear to have; Brian, her journalist boyfriend who seems to know Jane has a secret but then loses his train of thought.
It was creatively done in a character discovery sort of way and I am saddened by the announcement the first season is the last. What surprised me the most was a comment on the Scifi discussion groups classifying Eureka as "good" programing and Painkiller Jane as not. Well in an effort to find if there is any hope for other shows I'll be checking out the Bionic Woman next... (not as hopeful on this series)
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