The series premise includes elements from "Six Million Dollar Man, The" (1974) and "Bionic Woman, The" (1976), such as Jamie Sommers being equipped with a bionic eye in addition to her ear. Furthermore, the trailer describes her as "Better, Stronger, Faster," the major catch phrase in the title sequence of The Six Million Dollar Man. Also, her middle name, "Wells," is the last name of the doctor in the aforementioned series.
At least 3 versions of the pilot episode were produced. The first version had Mae Whitman cast as Jaime's deaf sister, a character that sparked criticism from hearing-impaired rights groups when it was learned the actress wasn't deaf in real life. This version of the pilot was one of several widely circulated on the Internet during the summer of 2007; at the 2007 San Diego Comic Con, an edited-down, half-hour version of this pilot was shown to audience members as a preview of the new series. For broadcast, however, several scenes were filmed, and the cast changed with a new actress playing Jaime's sister, and the hearing-impaired subplot being eliminated.
"Berkut" means "golden eagle" in Russian. It is also the name of the Ukranian national police's SWAT team.
