Painkiller Jane: Why no discussion, or "How bad is it"? (No untagged spoilers)

[drew2k]

When "Painkiller Jane" was reborn as a series on SciFi, I set a Season Pass for it and watched the first episode. I didn't "love it", but decided to keep the SP and haven't watched any of the remaining episodes - they're all still there though.

I notice there are never any discussion threads for Painkiller Jane. In fact, I don't think there's been one since the premiere, so I'm wondering ... Is it worth watching past the premiere? Does it improve? Or not worthy my time?

[IndyJones1023]

No one's talking about it because no one's watching it. I think I made it thru the third episode, then deleted the season pass.

[Rob Helmerichs]

For my part, it's one of those shows that I find mildly--very mildly--enjoyable, but when it used to get discussed here, everybody just slagged it, so there was no point in participating.

There has been a little improvement since it started, but not much--it's pretty much the same show, so if you didn't like it to begin with, chances are you won't like it now. If this were the regular season, I wouldn't be watching myself, but in the summer desert, it's a tiny oasis.

[ElJay]

I stopped watching after the third episode as well. It simply didn't keep my attention.

[JimSpence]

The latest show was episode 8. With all of the regular shows ending for the season, why not watch this one?

There seems to be something else happening besides just the search for neuros. Episode 8 was quite a bit different from the prvious one. Give it another try.

[Crrink]

Episode 3 or 4 had about 5 minutes of wrestling at the front of it for me, meaning I missed the last few minutes of the show. That was irritating!
Haven't bothered to watch one since.
Nice job, scheduling masters of Sci Fi.

[classicX]

I also stopped watching.

[spciesla]

Two episodes and I was done.

[drew2k]

Thanks for the feedback ... I'm thinking that there are enough new and returning series* I'll be watching that I may put Painkiller Jane out to pasture ...

* Entourage, John from Cincinnati, Deadwood Movie (hopefully), The 4400, Kyle XY - just to name a few.

[astrohip]

Should we start a poll, "After how many eps did you cancel your SP?"

I made it three.

[JimSpence]

Personally, I keep the SPs because you never know when a good ep is going to show up. Heck you can FF through the slow/uninteresting spots.

[bicker]

I'm still watching. It's pretty good, though not great.

[Ladd Morse]

I still watch it, although only when there is nothing else on the TiVo I'm interested in.

One thing that makes one realize how the "4400" has a bit more nuance (which ain't sayin' much) is that on Painkiller Jane, all the people with special powers are bad guys.

[phox_mulder]

I've watched the first 4 or so.

It's one of those I keep around for when I just don't feel like watching anything that requires brain processes.

It's watchable, but not worth wasting breath talking about.


phox

[lordargent]

Is it worth watching past the premiere?

I didn't even make it through the premiere.

It felt like someone took one of sci-fi's campy straight to TV movies, and expanded it into a television series.

[newsposter]

i know zip about this show, havent searched for it, but have seen teasers when i FF thru stargate. However based on the name alone i pass. Just some names i cant understand. So tell me, does she kill pain with advil or something?

it's like how i met your mother, never watched it because I dont know how many times they can tell you that story ;)

[JimSpence]

...So tell me, does she kill pain with advil or something?...Think Clare of Heroes crossed with Dark Angel.

[tivooop]

We've been letting them build up on our Tivo so we could watch them in order. Episode 103 just aired about a week ago. Not knowing anything about the comic books, I thought it might help to watch them in the order they were meant to be seen.

[cheesesteak]

It's not great but I'll probably watch through the end, just to see what the season finale looks like.

[Rob Helmerichs]

We've been letting them build up on our Tivo so we could watch them in order. Episode 103 just aired about a week ago. Not knowing anything about the comic books, I thought it might help to watch them in the order they were meant to be seen.
Bear in mind that "in order" doesn't always mean the order they were made--it is not unusual for episodes to be shot out of order for various reasons. It is entirely possible that they were meant to be seen in the order in which they were broadcast.

The series also has only a little to do with the comic book in concept, and nothing whatsoever in story.

[Royster]

For some reason, my wife is still watching. I tend to zone out when we decide to put one on. I don;t find any of the characters compelling. I'm not even very interested to see how they manage to cause Jane pain (the Squick of the Week?) this week.

The last episode I remember watching she grabbed and snapped her pinky finger to impress someone that she was on the level. It healed and *popped* back into position after a second or two.

[Jonathan_S]

For some reason, my wife is still watching. I tend to zone out when we decide to put one on. I don;t find any of the characters compelling. I'm not even very interested to see how they manage to cause Jane pain (the Squick of the Week?) this week.

The last episode I remember watching she grabbed and snapped her pinky finger to impress someone that she was on the level. It healed and *popped* back into position after a second or two.
Ah, so you didn't see the one where she was trying to convince someone she wasn't real, so she stuck a pistol into the palm of her left hand and pulled the trigger just so he (and we) could see the bones regrow and the hole fill in. Ick :eek:

[TAsunder]

I've got my SP set to retain 5 and have only watched the first 3 eps. Just haven't been bored enough to watch it yet.

[jerobi]

Anyone want to compare it to Blade: The TV Series? That will probably be the last thing I need to hear before I decide to watch this or delete it.

[danterner]

I loved Blade and was very sorry to see it go. Well-developed characters, great pacing, interesting mythology, decent acting, occasional surprising plot twists. PKJ, in my opinion, falls short in all of these same areas. I still miss Blade and regret it wasn't picked up for a second season. If any new show deserved more of a chance, it'd be Blade. I made it through the first 5 episodes of PKJ before giving up on it.

[IndyJones1023]

I made it thru Blade okay. But PKJ was just too painful.

[FilmCritic3000]

Two episodes and I was done.

:up: :up: :up:

SCI FI seems to have spent $3 on the production budget of this series, and it shows. Then again, SCI FI and "quality" are mutually exclusive ideas these days.

[jerobi]

Thanks for the Blade comparisons - I kinda dug that show as well. Sounds like PKJ gets the axe on my TiVo.

[TAsunder]

Much preferred blade as well.

[ZeoTiVo]

I loved Blade and was very sorry to see it go. Well-developed characters, great pacing, interesting mythology, decent acting, occasional surprising plot twists. PKJ, in my opinion, falls short in all of these same areas. I still miss Blade and regret it wasn't picked up for a second season. If any new show deserved more of a chance, it'd be Blade. I made it through the first 5 episodes of PKJ before giving up on it.
that is the thing about PKJ - it was designed up front to not be a serial show and you could just watch each show on its own without some overriding story arc. Blade had the compelling story arc that made it interesting to keep tuning in, at least to some people though it seems not enough.

maybe I will start up again at the 8th episode of PKJ and see if they have figured out they need some kind of overall story arc to keep people watching each episode.

[TAsunder]

The lack of an arc wasn't the problem. It was that the show was derivative and uninteresting.

[danterner]

I think PKJ has an arc, they just have been too slow to develop it. The arc is "what is Jane? Is she is neuro, or somehow different? And how did the neuros come to be?" It wasn't a compelling enough question to keep me interested, ultimately.

[Vendikarr]

We've been letting them build up on our Tivo so we could watch them in order. Episode 103 just aired about a week ago. Not knowing anything about the comic books, I thought it might help to watch them in the order they were meant to be seen.

it's completely episodic. there's nothing that ties one episode to another, so order doesn't matter. it's a network schedulers dream. they can air it in any order they choose, and it doesn't matter.