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TERMINATOR: |
Sarah Connors - Lena Headey Cameron Phillips - Summer Glau John Connor - Thomas Dekker Agent Ellison - Richard T Jones Derek Reese - Brian Austin Green Cromartie - Garret Dillahunt Catherine Weaver - Shirley Manson Jesse - Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen Riley - Leven Rambin 
OTHER SARAH CONNOR SEASONS Season 1 OTHER TIME TRAVEL SHOWS Doctor Who Timecop Daybreak Journeyman 
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Samson and DelilahThe explosion in the jeep causes Cameron to revert to default settings and the original mission to terminate John Connor. Escaping from Sarkissian inside the house, Sarah and John go on the run from their former ally, a machine that knows them almost as well as they know themselves. If we had a reservation about Season 1 of THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES it was that the action sequences sometimes came up short. That is not a complaint that can be levelled at the opening episode of this second season. It is one continuous action sequence as Sarah and John are beaten up, pursued, crash, crash again and risk all against Cameron. It's unapologetically simple, but that streamlining works wonders. Some of the strengths of the show lie in the characterisations and the performances and it is nice to see that these have not been short-changed even with such an accent on the action. John faces off against his mother over the dormant body of the cyborg and it's a scene that is loaded with depth and meaning, all told through the faces of the actors. This is quality stuff. It's not perfect, of course. The fact that Cameron can be returned to her former allegiance by simply cleaning the electrodes on her chip is unbelievable and we're not sure about Shirley Manson as the new liquid metal terminator bent on creating skynet. Still, it's early days and that's just a niggle against one of the best starts to a season that we've seen in a long time. TopAutomatic for the PeopleA dying rebel from the future reaches the new Connor home with a cryptic message that indicates a man must be stopped at the local nuclear power station that is about to go online and which will be a major base for the humans in the future war. Sarah and Cameron get menial jobs and set about finding out whether they have to stop the reactor going into operation or stop any attempt to interfere with that. John, meanwhile, finds a new friend, but worries about the reception she will get. Once again THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES shows itself adept at combining an action plot with character development. The investigation into the plot at the power station carries with it a strong emotional charge for Sarah as Cameron informed her that she would one day die of cancer. The scene in which one of the plant managers forces her to go through a completely unnecessary scrub wash to assert his dominance over her is both cruel and chilling. At the same time, Cameron is showing signs of becoming more than her programming. At the end it's not clear whether they have hindered or helped Skynet in its march towards Judgement Day, but that's the only quibble with another strong episode on every other level. TopThe MousetrapCharlie's wife is taken captive by the terminator Cromarty. Charlie calls Sarah to ask for her help, help that will take her away from John. She goes anyway, leaving him in the care of Cameron whom he ditches to meet his new friend at the first opportunity. Sarah, Charlie and Derek crash Cromarty's hideout, but learn that the kidnapping was a diversion and the terminator now has John trapped on a pier. The impressive run of good episodes continues with a clever, streamlined plot that allows all of the character moments that we have come to appreciate in the show. The script is sharp and subtle, but allows for flashes of action. The mayhem is a bit rarer this time around and the climax with Cromarty on the pier is a bit of a let down, but that's a minor failing that we can live with considering the quality of just about every other facet of the show. The characters continue to be compelling, if less than likeable most of the time, and that is down to the sterling efforts of the cast, making the most of the scripts and the detailed, but unfussy direction. This is shaping up to be one of the best sci-fi shows since the re-imagined BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and that's praise indeed. TopAllison From PalmdaleCameron starts flashing back to a time when she was a human called Allison Young, a member of the resistance, captured by terminators who might or might not be on the side of the humans. This upsets her programming and leaves her without any real memory of who she is. She ends up in a halfway house with a new friend who doesn't have her best interests at heart. Character takes over from plotting and the show slows down dramatically in this episode. The story of the woman who became the template or Cameron is the only interesting strand. John's abortive attempts to get Cameron back and Sarah's time in the hospital with her pregnant neighbour are dull and border on the soap opera at times, as does the story of Cameron's new 'friend'. Agent Ellison's introduction into the company of the liquid terminator couldn't be much slower if it tried. Fortunately, the future mythology is there to keep things together and provide some interest, combining with the continuing strong performances to make the episode better than it has any right to be. This is, however, easily the least effective episode of the show so far. TopGoodbye To All ThatA terminator has been sent back on a mission to kill one of John's loyal lieutenants from the future. Whilst John and Derek infiltrate a military academy to protect the target, Sarah has to take a child with the same name virtual hostage and is forced to come to terms with some of her more maternal feelings. Bouncing back from last week's mis-step, the show regains its balance of action and character story. The future depiction of a desperate battle against the machines in which Derek saw some of the younger members of his team die is well realised and exciting even if it does impact on the contemporary story with a total lack of subtlety. Better, from the character side, is Sarah's attempts to get through to her young ward. Again it's not incredibly subtle, but it is extremely well-acted by Lena Headey who manages to make more of it than is actually there. TopThe Tower is Tall, But the Fall is ShortThe Connor gang track down one of the names on the list that was scrawled on their basement wall by a dying resistance fighter and it turns out to be a therapist. Under the cover of being a dysfunctional family (well the best covers are the most real) they try to find out what Skynet's interest in the man is, but uncover more about their own internal relationships in the process. Derek discovers a lover from his past who has gone AWOL from the future war. This episode is a bit of a mess. It wants to talk about the inner workings of the characters and chooses to do so through the deeply unsubtle gimmick of making a therapist the centre of the plot. The problem is that it is difficult to turn people talking about their problems into compelling drama. It certainly doesn't help matters when one of the patients is a liquid terminator trying to bond with her human 'daughter'. What's that all about? If she wanted to take over the company and ensure Skynet's creation why did she keep the child around? The accident that killed the father could easily have killed the child as well. This makes no sense at all and the terminator is acting so strangely (thanks to the deeply unconvincing performance by Shirley Manson) that there ought to be nobody around her who thinks she's human. Even the computer destined to one day become Skynet appears to be in need of a shrink. And into the middle of all this angst, the need to provide action means that a terminator is sent back to kill the doc and has a battle with Cameron for no reason other than to have a fight in the episode. The moment in which both combatants stop when humans enter the lift and then begin again as soon as they are gone is certainly fun, but it again makes no sense. The killing machine sent for the doc wouldn't care whether humans saw her as long as she got to her target. Fortunately, the majority of the cast manage to make all this hang together (just) by the quality of their performances, the level of which remains high. They just need the scripts to do justice to them, which this one doesn't. TopBrothers of NablusWhen their house is burgled, the Connors lose all of the money and their fake IDs, all of which could create a trail back to their hideout. Sarah and Cameron go after the thieves, tracking back through a series of underworld characters. The Crowmarty terminator, however, manages to find another link that leads back to the Connors' house and Agent Ellison finds himself faced with the crimes that were committed by a terminator that looks exactly like him. Once again not up to the standard that we have come to expect from the show, the lack of focus dilutes the various stories that are taking place. Agent Ellison's trials and tribulations thanks to his doppelganger terminator are a sideshow that just distracts and shows no signs of going anywhere at all. His sparring with the liquid terminator is actually becoming rather annoying. Sarah and Cameron's search for the burglars makes for better stuff, taking in as it does their being fooled and manipulated and Cameron's usual efficient way of dealing with potential security breaches - something that Sarah takes exception to and ends up with her creating the biggest potential security breach of them all. Best of all is Crowmartie closing in on the Connors through Cameron's adventures in Allison From Palmdale. Had the episode stuck to this alone then it would have been much better. Unfortunately, this comes to a damp squib ending. How John can believe that the terminator would just walk away and never come back having not found his prey is unbelievable. Surely a simple probability estimate would show the house to be worthy of occasional surveillance in the absence of other leads. THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES is losing its way a little at present, but the performances remain strong and there is still enough interest to keep us coming back. TopMr Ferguson is Ill TodayJohn takes his new girlfriend on a trip to Mexico, so when terminator Crowmartie shows up at the house Sarah is unable to give away his location. When the kids end up in a Mexican jail, however, Agent Ellison is tipped off and heads down south to repay the debt he owes Sarah. John's one phone call is to Derek who takes Cameron with him in coming to rescue. All parties converge on the town and a shoot out becomes inevitable. This episode is shown in a RASHOMON-style jumbling of viewpoints, but it really doesn't need the gimmick. The story is strong enough to stand without it and combines the action and character drama in the balance that has become the trademark of the show. The threads come together to the big showdown and the action takes over, but never at the cost of the characters. With all that and the fine performances all present and correct, the messing around with linear time is just distracting. TopComplicationsSarah, John and Cameron head back to Mexico to destroy Crowmartie's chassis, but find that it is no longer where they buried it. Sarah is having disturbing dreams involving Cameron, John and tortoises. Derek, however, really finds his hands full as Jesse brings him to a secret location and shows him a man she claims collaborated with Skynet in the future, a man she is willing to torture into a confession. The central story her is the one of Derek and girlfriend Jesse faced with a man who might or might not be central to the success of Skynet. That he is played by Richard Schiff means that at least we get a convincing performance, although the dialogue in these scenes isn't the best that the show has ever produced. It is a measure of how the character of Derek Reese has changed that he doesn't just kill the man to be sure and it seems unlikely that Jesse would allow him to live at all. Sarah's dreams are the more bizarre aspect of the episode. Dreams aren't meant to make literal sense, but these are wierd to say the least. It is clear that the stuff about the tortoise is a direct allusion to BLADE RUNNER's question about tortoises evoking an emotional response. Wierd though they may be, they make more sense that Ellison handing over the body of Crowmartie to his new employer, even though he is not aware that she is a terminator herself. TopStrange Things Happen at the One Two PointSarah thinks that she has caught up with the firm that has taken control of the Turk computer she suspects will become Skynet. They are bargaining to get hold of a chip that will make their system run, but need a rich investor to make it happen. She takes all the survival money that they have and becomes that investor, but are things as they seem? Back after midseason break and the plot arcs begin to kick in again. Derek wants to know what Jesse is really up to and learns that she is back to prevent John from becoming influenced by Cameron in the far future. It also becomes clear, to the audience at least, that she is not working alone either. This is a nice development that is going to lead to tears somewhere along the line. Agent Ellison’s side story comes more into focus as he investigates the death of the doctor who was teaching the AI system that Catherine Weaver is developing and makes a surprising discovery about how it is powered. Finally there seems to be some sense about keeping him in the story. The main episode story is a little obvious, but it does allow Lena Headey and Summer Glau to glam up a bit as well as carry out the usual butt-kickings where necessary.
All in all, Sarah’s back and on track again. Self Made ManBeing a terminator, Cameron doesn't sleep. Instead, she goes down to the library and researches...anything. She finds a photograph of a terminator that was taken in 1920. Clearly he had a mission, a mission that he arrived a hundred years too early for. Cameron needs to find out what that mission was and where the terminator is now. There's a real sense of 'What the hell?' about this episode. It is bizarre to say the least and comes across as filler. The plot arc wasn't enough to get through the whole series, so someone came up with this idea of putting Summer Glau in a couple of rooms and have her talk to another character for 40 minutes before throwing in a terminator fight just before the end to try and justify the whole thing. Everyone else, it seems, got the week off. It wouldn't even matter if it bore any relationship to anything that was going on in the main story, but apart from the fact that Sarah's three dots are in fact stars rather than a company logo this doesn't connect with anything and throws away the drama of the last seconds of the previous episode by robbing the show of its dramatic momentum. TopAlpine FieldsSarah finds a link between a name on the wall of Skynet targets and a family living in a cabin. Six months later that same family comes under the protection of Derek and it turns out that the family has a much closer importance to him personally than any of them might guess. This episode plays out in three separate time frames; the present, six months ago and the post-Skynet future. The inherent problem with this is that if we know what happened today then we can guess a few things about what happened six months ago (who lived, who died etc) and so the tension is automatically undercut. Apart from this flaw, matters play out in satisfying fashion as the stories loop around each other until Reece's final revelation. It's also a stand alone episode, another distraction from the series plot arcs, but a much more entertaining one than last week's oddity. The majority of the action takes place off screen and the effects fall upon the new characters of the Fields family rather than on the major characters, but we do witness the first meeting of Derek and Jesse and the scene where he walks through a bunker of dead bodies is especially well done. TopEarthlings Welcome HereFollowing up a lead on the three dots symbol that has been obssessing her, Sarah visits a UFO convention and learns of a blogger who may have information regarding alien probes that bear a similar symbol. Hooking up with strange symbol, she tracks down the blogger and finds here way to a remote warehouse that might have more physical links to the symbol than she could have thought. We are at least back to the main thrust of the plot, the search for Skynet. Lena Headey gets a chance to be the focus of the episode, something that hasn't happened for a while, and she carries it off with aplomb. She is easily believable as the scarred warrior of a battle as yet unfought. Less believable is Agent Ellison's coming to be the moral compass of the AI system now being called John Henry. Considering he knows what the machine is capable of it is at the very least unlikely that he would agree to this and not let Sarah know where her errant terminator is. The flash forwards show how Riley is recruited and how she is losing her desire for the task at hand. Whilst her trembling discovery of the pleasures of modern living (beds, showers, clean sheets) is genuinely touching, her abrupt action in the bathroom smacks of plot advancement not character development. TopThe Good WoundSarah needs help with the wound in her leg and so kidnaps a doctor at gunpoint. John tries to deal with his girlfriend's suicide attempt whilst Ellison has even more doubts about the direction that John Henry's training is going in. Sarah is visited by visions of John's dead father, guiding her through this rough patch. Since he looks nothing like the Kyle Reese of the movies, this is a bit of a jolt for anyone who has been following the franchise since the beginning, but for everyone else it works well enough. The rest of the plot is fairly disparate and diffuse, taking in the cops who are chasing Sarah, agent Ellison looking worried, Reese looking for the warehouse, and the liquid terminator laying waste to everyone in the warehouse for reasons that remain muddied in an intercepted phone call. Perhaps all will become clear in time. TopDesert CantosFollowing the annihilation of the heating and refridgeration warehouse, Sarah and the family crash the funeral in search of a few answers, but they are not the only ones looking. Back on story, this episode does what the show does best by having a sharp story that allows for some action whilst taking a long, hard look at the characters. This time around, Sarah is faced with talking to the woman whose husband she killed out at the plant and John meets a girl who seems less unaffected by the death of a loved one that most of the other members of the town. This is well-acted by the cast, especially Lena Headey, but by the end of it the plot has taken one step forward and fifteen steps back. The exception to this remains Shirley Manson as Catherine Weaver, whose performance wouldn't fool the characters in the show let alone the audience watching it. Good and frustrating all at the same time, there needs to be some progress before interest starts to wane. TopSome Must Watch Whilst Some Must SleepSarah finds herself in a sleep clinic where she hopes to find a way to get a good night's sleep, but something sinister might be going on behind the scenes. It might also all be a hallucination as she is also stuck in the back of a truck being tortured by a man she thought she killed. Or is that the hallucination? Say what? This is muddled storytelling of the highest muddledom. The idea of reality not being reality, or two competing versions of reality in a person's head at one time, is a staple of television science fiction and it is no surprise that it shows up here, and it usually provides for some of the more interesting episodes, but that is most certainly not the case here. The conflict between the two simultaneous stories ought to provide mystery and tension, but it mainly provides confusion, even right up to the end. And what the heck it has to do with the main plot is beyond us. Filler anyone? TopOurselves AloneCameron is having control issues in her hand, although this may be more than than functional issue. Riley comes back after her suicide attempt. Sarah is visited by by a guidance counsellor who seems to know all about her family and Jesse's plan to turn John against Cameron is revealed. Back on topic and back on song, this is the best episode for a while, concentrating on the various plots that are orbiting around John. Cameron's twitchy programming, Riley's uncertainty about her mission, Sarah's fears of being exposed, Jesse's machinations and Derek not having a clue what's going on. There's a real tension about the episode, a real sense of impending danger and when the violence comes it is from an unexpected, though not surprising, source and grittily real and messy. And it's still all about the characters and the performances, which remain top notch. TopToday is the Day Part 1Having killed Riley, Jesse has to cover up what she's done and how she got so banged up in the process. When the word breaks that Riley is dead, both John and Sarah suspect Cameron as being responsible. Somewhere in the future (and her past) Jesse takes on a secret mission aboard a submarine. The fallout over the death of Riley is just beginning to land, but it masks the fact that nothing else is going on at all. The computer AI John Henry continues to be creepy, but to no more effect than it has been so far, leaving Ellison as a character without a plot, just a recurring scene. There is a plot arc here, but it is moving so slowly that it's almost stationary and anyone joining at this point would be forgiven for changing channel in confusion and even boredom early on. TopToday is the Day Part 2John discovers the truth about Riley's death and confronts Jesse with the facts. In the future, her submarine mission goes awry when the box she is picking up turns out to be a liquid terminator with a message for John. The character drama at the heart of the show is what really makes it work, when it works. It gives a focus and depth to the action. In this episode there is a bit more action thanks to the future segments on the submarine, but it is the emotional dimension that impresses. The story gives all the background as to why Jesse took her mission, why she hates Cameron so much and what her own tragic losses were. This is the kind of character depth that most science fiction shows would kill for. The liquid terminator effects vary from good to poor and the Ellison/John Henry sequences are becoming repetitive to the edge of pointlessness. TopTo the LighthouseSarah is left not knowing whether she can trust either Derek or Cameron with John's welfare. Instead, she takes him to a safe house being used by her ex-lover Charlie. John Henry, Catherine Weaver's AI system using the Cromartie terminator body, comes under attack from another AI system and armed men attack Reese and Cameron at the same time as John's safe house. At last the main plotlines of the show start to make some forward movement again. Not much, but some. Derek's character comes in for some personal shocks as he learns that he was almost a father and both John and Sarah are faced with some hard truths about their lives and how it impacts on others. The first time Charlie met Sarah he fell in love with her and she ran away. The second time it cost him his wife. The third time, well that has to be a charm, right? All of this is its slow, methodical self with fine performances from the leads, but then the action kicks in towards the end and things get interesting for a short time. Hopefully this is a sign that there is a bit of urgency as the tail end of the season heads our way. TopAdam Raised a CainCatherine Weaver's daughter is targeted by a terminator, but the Connor's are there to rescue her. They learn of John Henry's existence and assume that he is the beginning of Skynet, but Weaver has other ideas about John Henry's purpose. She agrees to a meeting with Sarah. The penultimate episode is probably the best of the season to date and one of the best of the show altogether. It's a shame that it's taken such a meandering road to get here. There is action and action with abrupt, brutal consequences. There are some very nice plot twists that are surprising and hint at developments to come should the show get to season 3. And, as always, there is a quality cast at the centre of it all holding it all together with fine performances. We don't even mind Shirley Manson at this point. It's the finale next, but this episode sets it up very nicely indeed. TopBorn To RunJohn is determined to break his mother out of prison, despite her strict instructions and against the wishes of Cameron. Catherine Weaver wants to meet them all and Sarah wants to destroy the AI that is sitting in the basement of Weaver's building. It's the finale and rather than going out in a welter of hi-octane action, the show continues to value character over plot and action. This means sequences with Sarah and a new cop in her cell that go nowhere and add nothing new. The time spent in a motel with John and Cameron is more rewarding because of a bizarrely intimate sequence in which she gets naked and he checks out her nuclear power source (no, really). Then, belatedly, the action kicks in as Cameron stages a prison break that ought to have been spectacular, but is more of a damp squib and the the hover drone previously chased for a while smashes into Weaver's building to no real effect. Only the final set up for any (seemingly unlikely) future seasons packs any punch as Cameron is left deactivated and John leaps forward to the start of the resistance, joining up with the future incarnations of Cameron, Derek and his father, Reese, leaving Sarah alone back in the present. That's intriguing, though not necessarily enough to save the show. The future is not written and now it may not be. Top |
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