'PAINKILLER JANE' COULD BECOME A QUIRKY ADDICTION.

Byline: David Kronke

Television Critic

In "Heroes," the characters with special powers are largely the good guys, being hunted by a shadowy group with ostensibly sinister motives. In "Painkiller Jane," the shadowy group comprises the good guys and those with bizarre powers are neutralized.

Kristanna Loken, whose role in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" gives her plenty of experience playing unkillable hotties adept at kicking butt, stars as Jane Vasko. She's a rogue DEA agent recruited against her will to join a secret government unit hunting down "neuros," genetically enhanced people whose powers, alas, affect their ability to distinguish right and wrong.

But Jane herself has some pretty impressive powers, too: She's fairly tough to kill -- a fall from a skyscraper from 46 stories up isn't enough to do it, nor is being filled with enough bullets to stock an infantry. (Handguns in "Painkiller Jane" seem to hold 25, 30 bullets per clip.) Though she does feel the effects of her temporary injuries.

Jane is thoughtfully provided with two potential paramours -- her tough-guy boss Andre McBride (Rob Stewart) and the unit's tousle-haired, sensitive doctor Seth Carpenter (Stephen Lobo).

"Painkiller Jane" is based on a graphic novel; the Sci Fi Channel aired a teleflick with different cast members a couple of years back.

Though Jane spends a lot of time ruminating over life's big issues ("I'm not convinced that we're brought up to handle life's difficulties"), the show's clearly all about style over substance.

"How the hell is any of this possible?" Andre says in a future episode, absolving the screenwriters of having to make much sense.

Tonight, Jane and her colleagues go up against a neuro who can control the minds of fellow employees at a possibly corrupt pharmaceuticals company; next week, they battle reanimated corpses stealing from military ammo dumps, perhaps for a presidential assassination plot. (The reality is even stranger.) The series' low budget is made manifest most amusingly in the presidential motorcade sequence, which is laughably sparse given the cheering-crowd sound effects.

"Painkiller Jane's" thoughts on feminism seem awfully conflicted. Sure, female self-empowerment is a theme, but the show's creators also expend a suspicious lot of queasy energy capturing just the right shots of Loken suffering exquisitely, which viewers can take in relatively guilt-free, safe in the knowledge she'll always be OK in the end. Jane herself succinctly notes, "Pain is a bitch." There's little pain to be had watching "Painkiller Jane," but then, its pleasures are pretty minor, as well.

David Kronke, [phone]

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PAINKILLER JANE - Two and one half stars

What: Kristanna Loken plays a seemingly indestructible recruited by the government to help track down "neuros," genetically enhanced, amoral humans with bizarre powers.

Where: Sci Fi Channel.

When: 10 tonight.

In a nutshell: "Heroes" turned on its head, emphasizing style over substance.

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Photo:

Kristanna Loken is rogue DEA agent Jane Vasko in "Painkiller Jane," Sci Fi's new show about hunting down people with special powers. It's "Heroes" with a twist: Those with powers are the bad guys.