Painkiller Jane

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.

The main critique against this show seems to be that it's too much like 'Heroes', which is a fair enough critique --- but also ignores the fact that 'Heroes' is an incredibly standard formula show (albeit a really good one). I would not base my review of 'Lost' off of Gilligan's Island. And so, Painkiller Jane should be seen in it's own right, and when this is done, it's a pretty satisfying show.

I never read the comic book is based on, and had almost no expectations going into it. But the show definitely builds on itself, and despite a fair number of gratuitous 'Jane getting shot up' scenes, it's a good way to waste a weekend. The show feels truncated, since it didn't get picked up for another season, and that's a disappointment. But some of the writing is impressively good, and the dynamics of the team (and their dialogue) tends to get better and better as the show goes along. There are weak episodes in the mix, but altogether, if you're looking for some series to quickly digest, this works.

Given the low budget and the miniscule fan base this show received, this show is a little gem amid the static.

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.

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!

It is a shame because I wanted to. The premise, while not necessarily great, did intrigue me, and oddly enough there were some interesting ideas that if explored well would've come off very nicely. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like it and saw all the episodes to give it a chance, I couldn't get into it. The idea was intriguing, I did like the strong leader character that Rob Stewart played and he played it well and for a show that would end after 22 or so episodes it did end on a good note rather than on an abrupt or cliffhanger one. However, I found myself not caring much from the filming, even within the genre the settings were colourless and drab and the photography lacked focus all too often. The music was generic and didn't add all that much to the show or to any exciting moments, while the writing constantly feels rushed through and trite. The story lines didn't compel me much, there were weaker episodes than others agreed(though that is true of a lot of shows), but for what promise the pilot did have nothing really takes off from it. There were some good ideas here, but sadly they are not expanded upon enough. The pacing was often dull for me. The characters, even with the clichés, did seem as though they did have potential if given a chance, however I never found myself properly caring for them and their motivations and they did feel like props. Apart from Stewart, the actors never looked as though they were connecting with their characters and came across as bland. I am including the lead Kristiana Loken here too, a gorgeous woman playing a grittier sort of character but an actress that would work better in a (softer) supporting role than a lead. Overall, I gave Painkiller Jane a chance and never found myself involved with it. Although the 2005 TV movie had a lot of problems I did find myself preferring it over the series. 3/10 Bethany Cox