BOMB GIRLS: “Jumping Tracks” (Season 1, Pilot Episode)

The Canadian series Bomb Girls, from co-creators Michael MacLennan and Adrienne Mitchell, debuted on ReelzChannel this past Tuesday.

The debut episode – “Jumping Tracks” – depicts a story about a group of women who work at a Toronto bomb-making factory during the early years of World War II, showing not only the plight of women during that time period but also issues of race, nationalism and class.

The opening shot, though, is on rich girl Gladys Witham (Jodi Balfour) making out with her fiancé James Dunn (Sebastian Pigott) before heading into a congratulatory party in their honor. It is quickly made clear that Gladys wants more out of life than just being the only daughter of a wealthy couple and the newly minted soon-to-be-bride of a “monied” American who is going to be furthered groomed by Gladys’ dad while he overlooks his wild child daughter.

With the war in Europe always looming over the horizon and the daily concerns that Hitler might hit their shoreline at any moment, Gladys wants to do more than just live a privileged life. With that thought in mind, she takes an office job at Victory Munitions, the bomb-making factory where women workers now far out-weigh men; but that doesn’t mean they are treated well at all despite the harsh rigors of the work they have to perform to keep up with the ever-growing demand for more and more bombs for the war.

Meanwhile, the women on the factory floor are all from diverse and different backgrounds. Take church mouse (literally) Kate Andrews (Charlotte Hegele), who is running from her abusive street preacher dad. She is a sheltered, insecure girl who is just beginning to see the “real” world. Then there is Betty McRae (Ali Liebert), the tough girl in the bunch, who was an early arrival to the factory, quickly working her way up to the on-floor trainer of the new workers. She takes Kate under her wing because she is inspired by the girl’s kinder, gentler persona.

Additionally, there is Edith McCallum (Lisa Norton), a devoted wife working the assembly line whose life is irrevocably changed when news comes in from the warfront that her husband was killed and Vera Burr (Anastasia Phillips), a fun-loving, guy-crazy factory worker, who sustains a horrible injury during an in-plant injury; which will be the catalyst that brings Gladys out of the office and onto the assembly line.

Leading all of these ladies at the munitions factory is Lorna Corbett (Meg Tilly), a dedicated wife and mother of three. She is fascinated by the blossoming lives of the women on the assembly line; but, at the same time, she is jealous of their happiness.

Sadly, Lorna is stuck in an unhappy marriage – that has lasted for 25 years – to Bob Corbett (Peter Outerbridge), who she married at the age of 18 after becoming pregnant and right before he shipped out for World War I. He returned shelf-shocked and paralyzed; and with that her happy life vanished.

At work, Lorna (as well as all of the women there) has to deal with gender bias from the plant manager as well as the few men who remained behind from the war; including immigrant Marco Moretti (Antonio Cupo), who is materials controller at the plant and the sold breadwinner for his family, which includes his mother, sister and nieces while his father is interned in a camp somewhere in Europe. Lorna and Marco clash greatly mainly because Lorna does not trust him especially since he is an Italian immigrant – remember this series is set in the early days of WWII and class structure was much different during that time – and she resents him for not serving in the war when her two sons are both in Europe and in harm’s way every single day.

Throughout the episode it is made clear that the women who work at Victory Munitions are there for a variety of reasons whether it is out of necessity, patriotism or the desire to be more than just a wife and mother. But they are still seen as second-rate workers regardless of the skills they have developed while working at the munitions plant; and regularly told they will be expected to return to their homes – or more to the point to the kitchen – once the war is over.

We also see Gladys make some rather drastic shift changes in her life; namely, despite having an adoring fiancée, taking a lover from a young soon-to-be-shifting out soldier who she leads to believe she will marry when he returns from the war. And, then there is Betty, who under the guise of her tough girl ways just might be hiding more than respect and admiration for newcomer Kate.

The next new episode of the debut season of Bomb Girls will air on Tuesday, September 18 at 10 PM on ReelzChannel.