The Bionic Woman - Season 1, Episode 1

Recap: Oscar Goldman is in his office at the fictional OSI (Office of Scientific Investigation), dictating a memo about Jaime Sommers to a Secretary (dunno of which department). He says he's well aware of the millions of dollars the government has squandered making Jaime, a random U.S. citizen, bionic - then wonders if it's fair to count on her services after everything she's been through. Probably not, since she never actually signed on to become a bionic government spy. Oscar briefly recaps all the stuff that happened in the crossover episodes and reminds the Secretary of Whatever that it all started when Jaime had a skydiving accident...then became bionic at Steve Austin's behest, died when her body rejected the bionics, and was cryogenically frozen and brought back to life. When she was unable to recall memories of Steve without her brain imploding, she was shipped off to Rudy's complex in Colorado Springs. As Oscar dictates the memo, we see that Jaime is being operated on in a last ditch effort to fully restore her memory...and back in DC, Oscar stares concernedly into space as the opening credits for the official pilot of The Bionic Woman begin to roll.

The OSI doctors have been working overtime trying to regenerate Jaime's brain cells...and when she regains consciousness after her latest surgery, she buzzes for Rudy and Michael. They test her brain function by asking her some basic questions...but when they ask about her connection to Steve Austin, she scrunches her face in confusion and says she can only remember that they're "bionic friends", and she has no recollection of the skydiving accident that led to this spin-off. Rudy solemnly says they'll have to do more testing to determine exactly what she's able to remember, and then he and Michael exit the room.

Later, Jaime is shown a series of slides and is easily able to identify the places and people she visited and knew while growing up. She recognizes Steve's parents (her former guardians) from a photo...then has a flashback of the rainy night when her brain suddenly went all haywire. Michael and Rudy ask her if the flashback caused her any brain pain just now, and she's happy to report that it did not. They decide to be prudent and proceed cautiously by putting a pin in anything Steve-related, then tell her they'd like to test her bionics...which can only mean another gratuitous, slow motion jog.

In the next scene, Jaime is - yep - out jogging when her bionic ear receives an incoming message from Michael: "Jaime, if you can hear me, come on in." She grins and increases her pace, bionically leaping over fences and bushes to quickly get to where Michael is waiting for her. She confirms to him that she was able to hear his voice from half a mile away, and says she's thrilled that her memory appears to be returning with no residual brain pain.

Rudy peppers Jaime with more questions about her past, and she tells him she can remember everything about her childhood and later things like when she became a tennis player...but she can't recall anything around the time of her skydiving accident. Michael deduces that her memory seems to get fuzzier the closer it gets to the time when she was romantically involved with Steve - and Jaime just kind of shrugs indifferently and says she's just happy to not have any more headaches. She notices that Rudy has a folder marked classified and asks if it's information about her. He nods, so she tells him she'd like to read it, and reminds him that she's entitled to learn about who she is. Rudy hands it over...and once she's out of earshot (which seems to no longer be possible, but whatever), Rudy tells Michael that the folder doesn't include potential brain-busters like her engagement announcement to Steve.

We get a lot of superfluous footage of Jaime lounging around as she reads the contents of the classified folder. After that, she heads over to the nearest tennis court and is batting the ball around when Oscar drops by. They greet each other with a lip kiss (!) and he remarks on the fact that she's been reading her file, then asks her what she's planning to do with her life. She tells him that while she'd love to resume her tennis career, her bionic advantage probably wouldn't be fair to the other players. She then says that since she has a degree in education, she was thinking about returning to Ojai and getting a job teaching. Oscar says that that sounds wonderful, but Jaime acknowledges that she's still beholden to him 'cause of all the money the OSI shelled out for her bionics. Oscar jokes that bionic lady parts are a lot smaller and therefore cheaper than the six million dollars they'd spend on a man, and Jaime rolls her eyes at Oscar's rare attempt at a joke and assures him she'd like to help OSI whenever they need her to carry out missions. He takes her up on the offer and says they'll talk more about it once she gets settled in Ojai.

Papa Austin offers to ferry Jaime to Ojai in his little plane...and Jaime says goodbye to Rudy and Oscar (gives him another lip kiss...hmm), and abruptly ends her fling with Michael by breezily telling him he'll always be in her heart. As the little plane taxis down the runway, a shady looking man in a nearby phone booth calls to inform his boss - Carlton Harris from the final crossover episode - that Jaime Sommers' plane has just taken off and is headed for Ojai. Harris replies, "You know what to do", then hangs up the phone and grins evilly. Eeeek!

Jaime arrives at the Austin ranch and is warmly welcomed by Mama Austin. During a stroll, Jaime tells her ex-future-mother-in-law that she'll have to start looking for a place to live - and Mama Austin points up at a second story window above the stables and explains that inside is an apartment that needs fixing, but it's hers if she wants it. Jaime decides she likes the idea of living atop a stable on her ex-fiance's family's property and eagerly says, "I'll take it!"

The apartment is filled with junk and cobwebs, so Jaime employs her bionic skills to quickly empty it out, and then vacuums, paints the walls, and scrubs the floors at super high speed.

That evening, Jaime is hanging with the Austins when Papa Austin says they received a postcard from Steve, who's currently in Rome. As Mama Austin reads it over, she tells Jaime that Steve knows she's now living on their property and that he sends his love. Jaime asks Mama Austin if she could look through her old scrapbook...and the two sit on the couch together and browse the photographs together. They come upon a newspaper clipping about hers/Steve's engagement announcement, and Jaime assures the worried looking Austins that she no longer experiences brain pain whenever memories of Steve are invoked. She then looks down at the engagement photo and remarks how hard it is for her to believe she was ever engaged to a block of wood like Steve.  
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As Jaime continues to get settled into her new place, Papa Austin brings her a used stove he picked up at the dump (or maybe a garage sale). Jaime looks delighted by the used piece of junk and picks it up with her bionic arms...and Papa Austin shakes his head in disbelief and says, "It really knocks me out to see you do stuff like that." Later, Jaime gets a phone call from Oscar, who tells her he has a lead on a teaching job, then hands the phone over to Steve. The former lovebirds awkwardly exchange pleasantries, and Jaime politely tells him it would be lovely to see him again sometime. Steve tells her he'll probably stop by his parents' ranch before he jets off to Thailand for OSI...and after he hangs up, he stares contemplatively into space.

Jaime arrives at the US Air Force base and meets with with Lieutenant Colonel Tom Holloway to interview for the available job: teaching sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. The colonel warns her that they're a pretty rough group 'cause of all the new schools they've had to adjust to, but Jaime assures him she's looking forward to the challenge.

Mama Austin drops by Jaime's apartment with some more old photographs to bore her with. As Jaime looks over the photos of Steve, she says she "just doesn't feel it" where he's concerned and isn't sure where her heart is. Mama Austin looks sad, but assures her she understands her confusion, and says she'll always love her like a daughter. Aww..

On Jaime's first day of school, she writes up a detailed class routine on the blackboard, then steps into the hall to chat with another teacher...and while she's doing that, the kids start to arrive. Within minutes, they're throwing paper wads at each other, and have erased everything she just wrote on the blackboard. When Jaime re-enters the classroom and sees that the blackboard is blank, she wheels it around and bionically re-writes her class routine. When she wheels it back around to display to the students, one of them flings a rubber band at her. She angrily demands to know who did it, and when no one 'fesses up, she picks up a telephone book and snarks at them about the horrible reputation they have as "a rough and rowdy bunch".  She tells them that some teachers think a good way to earn respect is by threatening students, then glares at them as she rips the massive phone book in half with her bionic hands. The kids are all, "Wha-a??" and look suitably wigged out when she sternly tells them she expects them to behave respectfully towards her.

After school,  Lieutenant Colonel Tom Holloway asks Jaime how her day went, and she tells him it went fine. He informs her that Steve's plane is scheduled to land in a little while, then asks her if the two of them are an item and looks hopeful that her answer is no. She tells him she doesn't really know, chirps, "Bye!" and drives off. LOL.

While driving home, Jaime witnesses a fiery car crash. She leaps out of her car and runs over to rescue the man who's trapped in his burning car - while, unbeknownst to her, a camera has been strategically placed to capture her heroic actions on film. She uses her bionic powers to rip the car door off, pull the man out, and drag him to safety seconds before the car explodes. She tells the man she's going to get help, then races off...and he stares after her with an evil looking smirk on his face.

Jaime returns to the scene of the accident with an ambulance and two paramedics, but the "injured" man is nowhwere to be found. She stares around in bewilderment and tells the paramedics she has no idea where he could have disappeared to.   

Carlton Harris is watching a replay of Jaime using her bionic powers to carry out the faux rescue, and remarks to his henchman (who is also the man she just rescued), "She's quite a unique woman." Harris announces he's headed to Ojai, and that he has quite a few surprises in store for Miss Jaime Sommers. 

Jaime phones Oscar from the Air Force base and tells him about the accident she witnessed on her way home from work, and he furrows his brows concernedly and promises to look into it. She hangs up as Steve's plane arrives, and when he deplanes, she gives him a platonic hug hello. In the next scene, the two stroll around Ojai and come upon the tree that has Jaime + Steve carved on it. She now realizes he hid it from her during the previous episode, and he explains that he was afraid it would bring back bad memories and cause her brain to get all whacked out again. She assures him her brain no longer hurts when recalling her past...and that it's probably 'cause she no longer gives a hoot about him and can't imagine how in the hell they ever got engaged. A sad looking Steve mutters, "I understand", and she suggests that maybe in time they can be close again. She half-heartedly asks him if this could be a new beginning for them, and he despondently nods.

Steve bids Jaime and his family adieu before heading off to Thailand on an OSI mission. After he drives off, Oscar pulls Jaime aside and tells her he's concerned about the accident she witnessed, and thinks it might be a sign that a nefarious villain is trying to kill her. He suggests that for her safety she move far away from Ojai, but she insists she's ready to face whatever dangers come her way and is determined to set down roots in Ojai. Oscar nods in agreement, but continues to furrow his brows worriedly.

Carlton Harris, meanwhile, is on his way to Ojai to carry out whatever nefarious plot he has in store for Jaime. Eeeek!