This story contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the pilot of "Bionic Woman."

I never thought I would be a fan of "Bionic Woman," especially after remembering the original series as a young kid, and not really liking it. It's not that I had anything against a major female character. In fact, that was the only thing I liked. But the rest? It was cheesy for me, even by 1980s standards. (Well, I watched it in the 1980s, since I was way too young in the 1970s.)

Jaime Sommers is back, and this time she is being played with a vengeance by Michelle Ryan. And I have to admit, she looks pretty darn good.

Yes, I have to agree with some other critics that Katee Sackhoff, our favorite Starbuck from "Battlestar Galactica," definitely had more screentime than Ryan, and at times seemed to upstage her. But don't the bad guys always upstage the heroes? I mean, ask anyone on the street to name a character from "Heroes," and I bet the first name you hear is Sylar.

In any event, gone is the skiing accident or whatever that set up the 1970s series, and in its place comes a much more plausible accident -- at least from a story standpoint -- where Sarah Corvis is for whatever reasons seeking revenge on the doctor who created her, going as far as smashing into his car with a semi.

Of course, the pregnant Jaime is in the car with her, and ends up almost dying, until her doctor of a boyfriend saves her life with bionic implants.

Creating a character at odds with the people who made her who she was is always much more interesting than the "them vs. us" attitude we used to get in many dramas, where it was clear that the good guys wore white, and the bad guys wore black.

The pilot is a typical pilot, doing nothing more than introducing us to characters, and advancing a small bit of story at the same time. We find out that Jaime's sister (who was deaf originally) is actually a computer hacker. And her boyfriend has secrets -- like a father he never talks about (an aged Mark A. Sheppard, moving on from BSG's Romo Lampkin to play Anthony Anthros).

It doesn't take very long for Sommers to adjust to her new life as a bionic woman without the corny synthesizer sound effects, and she puts her foot down to the agency run by Jonas Bledsoe (Miguel Ferrer), and there you have NBC's newest hit series. That is, if everyone comes back next week.

What worked

I'm definitely all for the change of Becca Sommers to actress Lucy Hale. I mean, it was neat that "Bionic Woman" was trying to take the "Jericho" route by adding a deaf character, but what exactly would this character have done in this new environment? Nothing more than the occasional victim, in my opinion. Having a trouble-making computer hacker is much better, and Hale at least looks like Ryan.

I also love the dynamic of having a real bitch to be the KARR of Ryan's KITT. Sackhoff was absolutely amazing in the role, and it didn't take very long at all to forget all about Starbuck.

What didn't work

The story seemed to be put together rather raggedly, but you can't complain too much. I mean, it is a pilot, and it's very rare that pilots are very good. I think that's why networks work so hard to retool them before airing. I am hoping that transitions are much smoother in Episode 2, and that viewers will be back to see more.

Giving credit where credit is due

The pilot episode of "Bionic Woman" was written by Laeta Kalogridis and directed by Michael Dinner. It stars Michelle Ryan, Miguel Ferrer, Molly Price, Mark A. Sheppard and Will Yun Lee.

"Bionic Woman" airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

Michael Hinman is the site coordinator and founder of Airlock Alpha, writing out of Tampa, Fla. He can be reached at mhinman@airlockalpha.com.