Painkiller Jane

Unlike another user who said the pilot was bad but the series "just keeps getting better", I found the pilot to be pretty good for a Scifi Channel pilot, but the series failed to build upon that base and instead churned out the same formula week after week. The multi-episode arc involving Jane's investigation of the source of her abilities was introduced about three episodes too late and was really the only thing that could have saved this. But by that point in the run, people had already given up on the show. And you have to admit that, following on the heels of the success of Heroes -- which also features a hot blonde with amazing healing ability -- PKJ really needed to hit the ground running, rather than stumbling and jogging in place. A competent show with interesting locations, decent acting, but only average scripts and thin characters, it really didn't have much of a chance.

Frankly, I'm surprised by the number of negative reviews of Painkiller Jane. It seems to me a competent, if not exceptional, sci-fi series with considerable entertainment value, interesting characters, and sometimes engaging plot lines. Some episodes are derivative but none are truly bad, except perhaps for the pointless clip show in episode 16.

It certainly focuses more on the emotional than the cerebral, but that's not really a criteria for judging a show, not even a sci-fi show.

The writing is solid and the main characters are competent actors. Kristiana Lokken is definitely more than just eye candy -- although the eye candy part does add to the watch-ability -- and she creates a sympathetic and occasionally complex character. (She is credited as a co-executive producer of the series, whatever that means in Hollywoodese). The other main characters are equally competent, although some of the supporting actors are 2nd tier.

It is a bit loose at times but it starts to tighten up toward the end of the season when the focus shifts toward following a story arc rather than the neuro of the week, episodic format.

I suspect many of the negative reviews arise from two things. The first would be viewers who might be comparing it to the comic book, which I have not read, and which should be irrelevant. The second would be production values which are generally based on budgets. There are no mind-blowing special effects in Painkiller Jane, nor should there be. It's not a space opera.

Overall, I think this show got a bad rap, and I would definitely recommend it to sci-fi fans for it's entertainment value.

After a very good and exciting pilot episode this series took a very deep dive! I don't know what happened but the pilot episode somehow doesn't connect with the later episodes I have seen! The fact that Painkiller Jane can heal quickly and even recover from death is an interesting subject! But to my regret this ability isn't used to my satisfaction! I haven't read the comics but surely the comics have more interesting stories than the ones they have shown! From what I have read on wikipedia Painkiller Jane (from the comics) is a skilled fighter,master of undefined martial arts and a master marksman! Combined with her special ability she is virtually indestructible! Apart from the pilot episode nothing of this is shown! In the show Painkiller Jane is more of an detective solving crimes! Another detective show,give me a break! The show is so boring that it becomes unbearable to watch! Kristina Loken is a beautiful woman and certainly is an important reason to watch the show! But that isn't enough to keep me interested! If the stories would be more exciting and if she would use her special ability more than for me it would be more interesting to watch the show!

I won't go into plot and story details. Others are more capable. I'll just give you my opinions as a life long Si-Fi fan. I sat through the first two episodes with mixed feelings. I thought it contained some interesting ideas, but I thought the writing, plots and especially the dialog were like a bad low budget action movie. I thought maybe I'll come back to it some time when I'm really bored.

Well, there came an evening when I was ill and confined to bed so I decided to watch the next couple of episodes. It improved a bit, and the storyline started pulling me in. It seemed to get better with every episode, the characters began to grow on me and the show was genuinely entertaining.

I never read the comic series or saw the made for TV movie, so I can't make any comparisons, but this is way better than my first impressions led me to believe. The directing, scripts, acting etc. are all quite good once everything gets rolling, and to me, worth the wait. The cast all fit their parts.I really came to enjoy Painkiller Jane and I'm sorry it wasn't picked up for a second season.

It took me about 5 episodes to realize what was wrong with painkiller jane: nothing matters, nobody cares. every episode is just 40 minutes of watching a beautiful but somewhat dull kristanna loken solve a case involving -of course- some kind of a neuro. and the action isn't all that great either. what makes it bad is that there is almost no character building. there is no emotional depth. none of the team members matter to us. even jane won't really reveal much of herself, so why should we care? as an example: in one episode janes partner gets shot. there is of course a funeral (because there has to be) but one episode later its like she never even existed. nobody seemed to miss her, nobody mentiones her. thats just how shallow painkiller jane is. and its too bad, because there are some good episodes that show us how P.J. could have been.