The Bionic Woman - Season 3, Episode 14

"Maybe it's time we pulled the plug on this whole Bionic Project."

"The Antidote"
Original airdate: 1/21/1978

Episode summary: Jaime is poisoned by terrorists who threaten to withhold the antidote until she reveals where Oscar is conducting treaty talks with unnamed Middle Eastern delegates.

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Recap: Oscar tells Jaime that this episode's mission is the most important mission he's ever foisted upon her, not least 'cause his very life depends on it. The mission: go to the Russian embassy in Washington D.C. and retrieve a letter from the Russian ambassador, Dmitri Zhukov. Sounds like a simple enough task.

An unseen man in a lab coat is examining a vial of poison that comes with a detailed label of all the toxins it contains. (This will be very helpful later on.) He says, "That'll take care of Jaime Sommers" then hands the vial to some other unseen person. Eeeeeek!

While an embassy party is in full swing, Jaime is in a private meeting with Ambassador Zhukov, who tells her that his government is very supportive of the treaty that Oscar is attempting to negotiate between two unnamed Middle Eastern powers. He hands her a letter marked top secret, which summarizes his government's position on the matter, and Jaime stares back at him with a surprised expression and says it's no secret that a faction of his party strongly opposes the treaty. Zhukov concurs, says he argued vigorously against handing over the top secret letter to an American cyborg, but in the end obeyed orders 'cause he's super loyal to his country...and would prefer to not end up in a Siberian gulag for being disobedient. He warns her that there are terrorists roaming about who would kill to learn the contents of the letter, along with the secret location where Oscar is conducting the treaty meetings. Sounds very State Department-ish...way to go, Oscar! Callahan suddenly bursts into the room, and after looking momentarily smitten with the perky blonde, Zhukov re-directs his attention back to Jaime and asks her if she has any idea of Oscar's location. She's like, "Well, d'yuh, but I can't tell you that 'cause it'll endanger Oscar's life" and he nods approvingly and says, "Veddy vise. Trust no one." And speaking of trust no one, two suspicious looking servers in not-so-subtle '70s spy disguises enter the room with champagne and a platter of caviar. Jaime and Zhukov detect no red flags with these two, and obliviously help themselves to the refreshments...while Callahan declines 'cause she wants to stick to her diet. Zhukov toasts to "true peace" and Jaime raises her glass before guzzling the champagne. 

After the party, Jaime is driving with Callahan, and the two are discussing how desperate the terrorists are to learn where Oscar and the Middle Eastern delegates are holed up. Callahan says that all the pressure of terrorists and secret locations is really getting to her - just as Jaime's vision starts to get blurry. Callahan cries out with alarm as Jaime weaves across the road, then smashes into a van before squealing to an abrupt stop on the roadside. After the two crawl out of the smashed up car, Jaime clutches her stomach and collapses to the ground.   

In the next scene, paramedics are rushing Jaime to the nearest hospital while Callahan wails, "Jaimmmmme!"

Chris Williams, Jaime's main squeeze, arrives at the hospital with Max. He tells Max to stay put in the car 'cause the hospital doesn't allow dog visitors. Max barks unhappily.

Callahan tells Chris that it seemed as though Jaime's vision suddenly got blurry while they were driving home from the embassy. Jaime's medical caretakers - Dr. Henderson, along with Rudy's medical assistant Sarah - assure Chris and Callahan that they [along with most of the Western world] are fully aware of Jaime's bionics. They reveal that Jaime has been poisoned by a mysterious combination of chemical compounds, and that they have no idea what kind of antidote to treat her with until they know exactly what kind of poison they're dealing with. Sarah adds that the poison was designed to kill Jaime in a progressive kind of way...meaning that each internal organ will shut down until she's left with zero functioning body parts. Yeesh. 

"Are you aware of Jaime's bionics?"

"Is there anyone in North America and parts of Europe who's still in the dark about that?"

The terrorist who posed as a waiter at the embassy party, an uggo named Carson, calls Callahan at the hospital. He tells her all ominous-like that Jaime has less than twenty hours to live, and whether or not she survives will be up to her. Callahan is all, "Wha-a-a-a?" and immediately relays the disturbing message to Chris. He steers Callahan to a private room and tells her to detail everything Jaime did that day...and she does and also tells him that the envelop Jaime received from Zhukov is being kept under guard in Rudy's safe. She wonders if Zhukov was the one responsible for Jaime's poisoning, so Chris offers to look into that by dropping in on the Russian embassy. He tells Callahan that - fingers crossed - he'll find out who's responsible for poisoning Jaime and return with an antidote. 

Chris and Max arrive at the embassy and are startled to learn that Zhukov too was poisoned and that he's expected to expire very soon.

Sarah tells Callahan that they're desperately trying to contact Rudy, who's using up some vacation time by camping out on the sprawling grounds of an OSI facility in Georgia. Sarah adds that Jaime is deteriorating so quickly that soon she'll need to be put on a ventilator. Callahan contorts her face concernedly and says she's going to sit by her friend's bedside and wring her hands worriedly.

Chris returns to the hospital and tells Callahan that Zhukov too was poisoned, and she widens her eyes with horror and is all, "Nooooo!" The Chief Inspector from the National Security Bureau appears out of nowhere and chides Chris for dropping in on the embassy without prior authorization and says he's not in the mood to deal with any pesky diplomatic incidents. After that bitch-slap, he informs Chris that two of the wait staff at the ambassador's party were last minute replacements, and that the couple they replaced were found bound and gagged inside their apartment.

Chris gets a call from a mysterious woman who informs him that Jaime has just fourteen hours to live, and that her doctors are not going to be able to find an antidote to save her in time. She offers to deliver an antidote if Jaime reveals Oscar's whereabouts, then abruptly hangs up. Chris barks at the Chief Inspector to trace the call...and the camera cuts to the woman caller, who turns out to be Jaime nurse [in a very snugly fitted white nurse's uniform]. ​Eeeeeek!

"Four hours from now, I'm going to call back and warn you that Jaime has only ten hours to live."

"Thanks for the update."

Chris implores Dr. Hamilton and Sarah to revive Jaime in case she's willing to reveal Oscar's location in exchange for the life-saving antidote. Dr. Hamilton shrugs and decides it's worth a shot.  

When Jaime regains consciousness, Chris tells her that they received calls from two mystery people who promise to deliver an antidote to the poison she ingested if she reveals Oscar's location. Jaime refuses, then points out the likeliest end result of that scenario: the terrorists will renege on the deal and let her die and also 'cause a bloody end to Oscar's critical-to-the-world treaty negotiations. Chris has to admit that, yep, that's probably how things would play out...and Jaime closes her eyes and drifts off. 

Chris says he's soooooo frustrated by how long it's taking the OSI to track Rudy down, then gets a call from the embassy, informing him that Ambassador Zhukov died a few minutes ago. Apparently, the dying man asked his flunkies to pass along a message to Jaime: dying for something you disapprove of is the final test of loyalty. Chris passes the news along to Callahan, who wrings her hands even more worriedly.

​Jaime is now being preserved inside a bubble, and Chris holds her hand through the Saran Wrap enclosure and urges her to hang on until Rudy comes. A few seconds later, the faux nurse enters the room and is instructed by Sarah to watch over Jaime and alert her if there are any changes. After Sarah exits the room, Jaime opens her eyes long enough to - ack! - notice that the nurse is staring daggers at her.  

Chris tells Callahan he needs a jet so that he and Max can fly to Georgia and look for Rudy. Callahan says she'll arrange it pronto.

In the next scene, Chris and Max arrive at the OSI facility in Georgia. Chris is told that his measly Grade 6 clearance isn't enough to give him unrestricted access to the facility's grounds - which, incidentally, are riddled with laser guns and landmines. Chris pretends that, yep, he's willing to go through the proper channels to obtain permission to enter Grade 8 territory...then shoves something with Rudy's scent under Max's nose, attaches a Help! Jaime is dying! note on his collar, and orders him to go fetch Rudy. Max solemnly promises to fulfill the mission, then bionically leaps through the window and scampers off into the wilderness. 

Jaime has a flashback of the waitress who served her caviar at the embassy party and realizes that she and the nurse are the same person.

Max manages to bionically evade getting blown up by laser guns and landmines, then reaches a hilltop and carefully surveys the area for any sign of Rudy.

Jaime opens her eyes to the sight of the nurse staring at her hatefully. She advances on Jaime and says, "You know me, don't you?", then says she's getting tired of waiting around for the poison to kick in. She's about to rip open the bubble when Callahan suddenly enters the room, senses nothing amiss, and tells the nurse she's going to sit at Jaime's bedside some more. Jaime struggles to tell Callahan that the nurse was the poisoner, but can't seem to squeeze the words out.

"I know what you did...poisoner."

"You're definitely going to need killing now."

Rudy is hiking on the grounds of the OSI facility, clearly enjoying vacationing on a government owned landmine testing site. LOL. Next time try a luxury spa, Rudy. Max continues to dodge the laser bombs...and eventually finds Rudy and delivers the Help! Jaime is dying! note. Phew..

The nurse calls Carson to inform him that Jaime just recognized her, and Carson says he has a sinister plan in mind to torture Jaime into revealing Oscar's location...and after that they'll finish her off. Eeeeeek!

When Carson arrives at the hospital, the nurse tells him that Jaime's room is down the hall. She then pulls the vial of poison out of her pocket and suggests they shove it down Jaime's throat when no one's looking. Carson says he has a far stupider idea, then shows her a square device that's tuned for bionic frequencies and gives off ultrasonic buzzing. The buzzing will cause Jaime's heart to speed up and therefore make the poison work faster. He presses the on switch and places the device inside a drawer in a supply room.

Chris, Rudy, and Max return to the hospital...and Max is immediately distressed by the ultrasonic buzzing. Chris notes that he's in obvious pain, but decides to put a pin in that situation to rush upstairs with Rudy and see how Jaime's doing.  

Rudy finds Jamie crying and writhing with pain...and tells the hospital staff that something within her bionic hearing range is killing her. Chris remarks that Max seemed to be suffering from something similar and rushes back down to the parking garage. He orders Max to locate the source of his discomfort, and Max is all, "I'm on the case!" and races upstairs.

Max is quickly able to locate the ultrasonic device, extracts it from the drawer, and bionically chews it to pieces. When the buzzing stops, Jaime gets instant relief...and the dismayed nurse slinks out of the room to warn Carson that they should probably hightail it outa there. 

Jaime is able to weakly communicate that the nurse is the same woman who served her caviar at the embassy. Chris immediately springs into action and races down to the parking garage with Max.

Chris and Max catch Carson and the nurse as they try to flee the hospital. Max corners them and gives off a few warning barks, and the two cower in fear and beg him to not rip them to pieces. Chris searches their pockets and finds the poison vial with its helpful content label, then rushes it upstairs to Rudy. 

"Nice doggie. Please don't maul us to death."

"I'll decide if and when I will maul you two to death. Woof."

Sarah shows Rudy the list of compounds that make up the poison Jaime ingested, and he happily tells her he can work out the antidote and save Jaime's life before the end credits roll! Hurray!

After being successfully antidoted, Jaime recovers in her hospital bed, happily sniffing a pretty purple flower. Rudy gives her a cheek kiss and tells her she's doing very well...then opens the door to let in Callahan, Chris, and a delighted Max. Oscar calls to report that the peace conference is going swimmingly, and Jaime decides that the agony of nearly being poisoned to death by unrepentant terrorists was worth keeping a lid on the secret of the conference's location. She decrees that, from this point forward, she shall enjoy every moment of her life...assuming that Oscar refrains from saddling her with idiotic OSI missions at the most inopportune times. Chris tells her she's getting discharged from the hospital tomorrow, and she shrieks with delight and gives him a happy, somewhat intense smooch.

Eat your heart out, Oscar. You too, Steve.

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