''Painkiller Jane'' is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

action Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

based on the comic book character of the same name. Airing on the

Sci Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

in the US starting April 13, 2007 and

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in Canada, it starred Kristanna Loken as the title character. The show was canceled after one season of 22 episodes.

Plot

The series stars Loken as Jane Vasco. She begins as a DEA agent, where in the course of her work she encounters Andre McBride ( Rob Stewart), who is the leader of a team of agents working for an unspecified

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

agency. The team is based in a disused subway station named ''Deckard Street''. She is forced to join the team after she probes too far into their operations. It is then revealed that the team's mission is to identify and neutralize "neurological aberrants" ("neuros") – human

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

s with supernormal mental powers. Dialogue in the

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states there are dozens of variations, and the reasons neuros use their abilities vary. It is then theorized that the aberrations interfere with the

brain A brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It is located in the head, usually close to the sensory organs for senses such as vision. It is the most complex organ in a v ...

's ability to distinguish right from wrong. During the pilot episode, Vasco discovers that she has superhuman abilities – supernormal regenerative powers bordering on invulnerability. This is realized when she is pushed through a forty-story window and falls to her apparent death, only to later revive and recover completely. However, she still feels the ''pain'' of her injuries before they heal. The team's doctor, Seth Carpenter, identifies her abilities as not like those of the neuros they track, but "something else".

Cast

* Kristanna Loken as Jane Vasco – the show's protagonist. * Rob Stewart as Andre McBride – the leader of the special team. *

Stephen Lobo Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; ...

as Dr. Seth Carpenter – a doctor/scientist working with the team. *

Noah Danby Noah Dalton Danby (born April 24, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for portraying Connor King in the series ''Painkiller Jane''. Early life Danby was born in Guelph, Ontario, the son of painter Ken Danby. Personal life Danby became e ...

as Connor King – the "muscles" of the team; a field operative with a short fuse. * Sean Owen Roberts as Riley Jensen – a computer and communication technology specialist working for the team. * Nathaniel Deveaux as Joe Waterman – former subway caretaker working for the team. *

Alaina Huffman Alaina Kalanj (also known as Alaina Huffman) (born April 17, 1980), is a Canadian film and television actress, best known for the television series ''Painkiller Jane (TV series), Painkiller Jane'', where she played the character Maureen Bowers. ...

as Maureen Bowers – Jane's best friend and former DEA partner.

Episodes

Production

The TV series received a 22-episode production order after the 2005 ''Painkiller Jane'' TV-movie yielded positive results. The film differed significantly from the original comic's storyline; the TV series, in turn, discarded the film's

back-story A backstory, background story, back-story, or background is a set of events invented for a plot, presented as preceding and leading up to that plot. It is a literary device of a narrative history all chronologically earlier than the narrative of p ...

and started afresh. According to story creator

Jimmy Palmiotti James Palmiotti (born August 14, 1961) is an American writer and inker of comic books, who also does writing for games, television and film. Early life Palmiotti attended the High School of Art and Design in New York City. Career Palmiotti star ...

, the new series was "closer to the original concept we came up with in the comic". Executive producer Gil Grant has said the new series is "partly true" to the original comic, but will still differ to some extent. The series credits include several people in the role of producer. Most are credited only for a few episodes. This includes Loken (the star), who is credited as

co-executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

for several episodes. The TV series was filmed at Insight Film Studios in Maple Ridge,

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, Canada and various locations around the

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 Canadia ...

. The final four episodes were filmed and set in

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References

External links