Terminator: Earthlings Welcome Here

In general, I’m a pretty snarky person, so during the opening scenes of the episode, when we were introduced to the Eileen character, I thought she totally sounded like a dude. I chided myself for being mean, and was going to let it go. Then, of course, it turned out that the character really was a dude. I need to learn to trust my instincts more, I guess. I do have to commend any actress who is brave and secure enough to play a man or a transexual. You have to be pretty comfortable with yourself to do that.

On to the episode….

Well, that was an interesting episode. There were some important things happening, not the least of which was Sarah hunting down the three dots of her nightmares. It turned out that they led her to a UFO convention where she teamed up with Eileen/Alan to hunt down one of the ships. Everything lead Sarah to a warehouse where, after letting her guard down and being shot, she saw the “three dot” UFO above her.

Now, this was all a little bizarre for me. I have to assume that this is some sort of machine contraption from the future, but … what the crap? I would think something that big would be garnering a lot more attention, or would be doing some more serious damage. If I were the machines I wouldn’t send back a giant evil flying machine to hang out in a warehouse. I’d be blowing shit up and causing havoc.

I got some more background on Riley in this episode, too, and I feel a lot better about her these days now that I know she has a purpose. I understand that teenagers need relationships, blahbitty blah blah. I just wasn’t feeling the Riley/John dynamic. Now that I know she’s from the future, I’m a little cooler with it. It was interesting seeing the dynamic between her and Jesse. Jesse was not so sympathetic toward her little ward, and clearly the girl needed a little help. I have the feeling that her wrist slashing isn’t going to stick though. I haven’t seen the last of her.

Some quick hit thoughts:

I’ve thought John was annoying for a little while, but he had to go and take a sarcastic swipe at bloggers. It is so on, Terminator boy!

Apparently John is being “home schooled” now by Sarah. Nice to know that the writers recognize John hasn’t been to school in months and addressed it for us. I know as a viewer I appreciate attention to detail.

Was there more to Cameron checking out Riley’s tattoo than just making conversation? My guess is Cameron might know her from the future.

There wasn’t enough Ellison and John Henry interaction this episode. I’m still curious about what’s going to happen with them.

My favorite part of the episode had to be the conversation between Eileen and Sarah after they got shot up at the storage unit. “Why don’t you feel it?” Eileen asks Sarah disgustedly about the fear and horror of being so close to death. Sarah was a bit horrified as well. It was a nice reminder that she is still a woman real close to the breaking point.

Sarah Connor Chronicles: Alpine Fields

Alpine Fields is the kind of episode Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles can do, and do well. They've pulled off some interested structural flourishes in the past, handles multiple characters in a tight timeframe, and moved from the past to the future and back again with ease. Unfortunately, that's not what occurs in this episode – as it's a mess in just about every way. It's clunky and awkward, slow and mostly boring, with revelations that left me wondering why they matter.

While it's always nice to see more Derek, he's mostly not working this season. Brian Austin Green is still quite good in the role, but the character has had precious little to do this season. His stuff with Jesse is lackluster, partly due to the fact that she doesn't seem right for the role. If it's not miscasting, it's that the writers themselves haven't quite figured out the character. At this point, it's a bit too late and it'd probably just be best to cut some losses.

First off, there's the confusing structure of the episode. It flashes back to "six months ago," in the series, presumably to a time that was fairly inconsequential to the story. It's unclear exactly how this works, but that's the starting point. Sarah and Cameron are working to protect a family that is targeted by a T888. Six months later, Derek is on the case and the father has been killed, and its just Lauren and her pregnant mother. Now I know that Derek meets the baby in the future, because she has immunity to a disease created by Skynet.

All of this works, on paper – but it's delivered in a meandering and pedantic way. There's some cringe-worthy dialogue about birdhouses and a sub-plot about the mother having an affair. Oh, and there's the red herring about the father doing some illegal work for a cybernetics company. Instead of any action sequences, the episode dwells on this family's internal conflicts – which are mostly annoying and trivial.

The plot dealing with Derek in the present is slow and plodding as I trudge towards the reveal in the future. It's always cool to see the future, and to get more details of what that's like. And here I get to see how Derek meets Jesse. If I cared more about her character or their relationship, this would prove somewhat meaningful – but neither of those are true, and this aspect of the episode is mostly useless.

As an episode, "Alpine Fields" seems to affect the series very little. It's mostly a stand alone episode, unless the introduction of Lauren and Sydney carries over into later parts of the series. It's an episode from which I gained almost nothing, but – thankfully – the series doesn't lose much either.

Sarah Connor Chronicles: Self Made Man

The network description, which featured the phrase "Cameron's secret is exposed," led me to believe that the Connors were finally going to find out about Allison Palmdale and Cameron's recent breakdown. Wrong. Instead, I got a rare glimpse into Cameron's world while the Connors are asleep. Sure, I would've love to have seen the Connors discover Cameron's dual identity, but this episode turned out to be a great and engaging character study disguised as a mystery.

I loved meeting the character Eric. I hope we see him again. Chandler was great in the role. Very sincere. I liked seeing Cameron interact with him, especially since she seemed to care about his condition. I'll see how far Cameron can really grow.

The action scene took me by surprise. After Cameron Cold Cases her way to the truth, she deduced that the T-888 would be hiding inside the wall, waiting for 2010 to assassinate the mayor. Still, why was the mayor marked for death? Will he aid the Connors down the line?

After searching for more clues about the three dots, John snuck out -- again -- to hag with Riley, the master manipulator. Watching John interact with "normal" kids was a lot of fun. The fight was telegraphed, but it had to happen. Poor John, he's learning more about himself, but he's falling right into Riley's trap. Maybe Cameron should spend more time hanging out at home with John instead of researching Native American weapons at the library.

Sarah Connor Chronicles: Strange Things happen at the One Two Point

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is really a great show. Week after week it proves that far from the Prison Break, this show lives in a category of its own, a category of awesome scripts where it’s not all about action, explosions and fights.

Doesn’t mean there won’t be some, as illustrated by Sarah when she kicked the ass of some CEO who conned her, but they favor introspection, complex characters and psychology of people as well as of machines, as odd as it may sound. This was another pretty awesome episode, and the complexity of everything that’s going on is really one that makes me love the show even more, even if I don’t understand everything, because it all feels right — and under control.

One thing I have know for a long time was that Jesse was up to no good, or at least that she was lying to Dereck. She’s had weird behaviors, memories of new timelines no one ever heard of before, and more importantly I knew she had been following John and Dereck for some time before they actually met. This episode, Dereck found out and asked her to explain. She did, by saying that she had been sent back in time - though I’m not quite sure by whom - to help John, because in the new future he’s losing it, influenced by Cameron — a machine.

After years of being close to one in our present, future John is letting her take over and that doesn’t seem to fly by the people willing to die for him, because he makes bad decision and get people killed for the wrong reasons. That’s what she said, but is that really the truth? It’s hard to tell, because it sounds very possible, and understandable, but it came with another big reveal : if I was wondering why Riley was sticking around so much, it’s because she’s on a mission, too.

Like the others she came from the future, alongside Jesse, working to get John to drop Cameron or something. But was it me, or did it sound for a moment like she had something else to do to John? “You can do this. You have to do this.” Those are the words Jesse said to Riley, talking about her mission with John, and I’m not exactly sure what it is Riley has to do. Was it just continue to pretend she’s an innocent happy teenage girl, or was there more to it ?

Her little breakdown was interesting though, it’ll be fun to watch how she manages to keep fooling everyone, and where she’s going with this. Somehow, since Jesse decided to keep lying to Dereck, I can’t see anything good coming up… Because Dereck continues to be fooled by his feelings for Jesse, and still trust her. But she isn’t being completely honest with him, and maybe the motivations she gave him for coming back in time weren’t the entire truth either. Either way, in the future we have two groups of human, and maybe two groups of machines as well.

One of them is Skynet, and every day it seems more and more to be growing up in Weaver’s basement. Dr Sherman was helping it grow, and he’s been killed as a reward. To take over is our friend Ellison, who also gave “John Henry” a new face, the one of Cromartie. So it’s more than just a face actually. And I always wondered whether Cromartie and Weaver were on the same side or not because at times they seemed to both have different and contradictory objectives.

Just look here : Weaver is using Ellison. He got her Cromatie’s body, and he’s now teaching “John Henry”, so she needs him. A few weeks back, Skyney (I assume) sent a Terminator to Ellison’s place to kill him and take over his life. That simply doesn’t make any sense, not if both are on the side team, working towards the same objective, does it?

Weaver has been known to use terms such as “faith”, much like Cromartie who said he “believed” Ellison would guide him to Sarah. Those sort of human emotions attached to machines just don’t sound very Skynet-like to me, but I might be dead wrong here. One thing for sure however is that Cameron continues to get more at ease with it, as she was seen this week laughing and making jokes about hair… how un-robotic of her.

Speaking of faith, Sarah has been having some issues on that area lately. She’s been obsessed with the three dots, and their possible meaning and connection to the future. She pushed things very too far, ending up on a wrong track and conned by some CEO who apparently had nothing to do with Skynet at all — unless he actually does, and, again, Weaver is on to something else completely.

Either way, Sarah is losing it, and her mention of her time locked up in a mental institution during the “fight” (well, she was beating him up, he was… taking it) wasn’t a coincidence, her mental state might not be so stable, as illustrated in the bathroom when she punched the mirror out of frustration. (I’m also thinking Riley’s earlier comment about mirrors might have a connection with this…)

This show is definitely one of the best thing around, and I’m glad Fox is sticking with it.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Complications

You'd think that eliminating Cromartie would end all the Connors' troubles, but apparently, Cromartie isn't necessarily gone (he's still appearing in dream sequences) and all the troubles continue.

I consider myself to have at least average intelligence, but this episode had me confused. What was the significance of Sarah touching the three dripping blood dots on the wall at the end? Is it just something to make Sarah and the audience cogitate further on the mystery behind them?

On a side note, I was very glad they tortured the real Charles Fisher and threw him in jail. I'm still pissed off at him for killing Tara back when he was Warren.

My first question is: why does Skynet even take human allies? I thought the goals of the machine were to exterminate all humans and set up a more organized and logical society (on a sad note, I know people who agree with at least one of those goals). Is the idea that humans know how to torture other humans better than machines do?

At first, I thought this episode would only be in pieces and not include Ellison and Catherine Weaver. Obviously, since Weaver has a Terminator, the stakes have risen. If anybody has the resources to repair his chip, she does.

That Ellison. What a lying bastard. He deserved the ass-kicking. He doesn't know how deep the human race is in it by giving Cromartie to Weaver.

I was somewhat disappointed by the much-too-soon reveal of Paul Stewart. I think it would have been more interesting if they killed him not knowing whether or not he was a Skynet agent from the future. Mind you, if they did that, they would not have been able to move the plot along as they did (I now know why he was sent back), but it would have made for better drama and deal with the series' theme of the cost of war (much like Sarah's dreams).

I loved it when Cameron called it "rehydration fluid".

It's about time Sarah got some therapy. Like John before her, she's seen too much crap to not go to a psychologist. It must be tough when the future of the human race depends on not telling your shrink the whole truth.

The conversation between Jesse and Derek in the car after they buried Fisher/Stewart was interesting. Are we dealing with alternate futures here? Or rather, is Derek a sleeper agent for the machines whose memory was wiped? If it's the alternate future theory, I'm wondering when the sea otters will appear. This concept may unnecessarily over-complicate the series and I'm hoping the creators provide another explanation.

I wonder if the other Mr. Fisher (the one who ended up in jail) will appear again in the future? I certainly hope so.

Overall, I found the episode to be somewhat 'eh'. It's obviously part of a bigger story, but in order to survive in its imminent Friday night death slot, this series has to gain tremendous buzz. The series really excels when it uses flash forwards and hopefully, there will be more in future episodes (possibly even alternate future flash-forwards). That is, of course, assuming the show has a future. Here's hoping that Friday, February 13th, is not Judgment Day.

Sarah Connor Chronicles: Mr. Ferguson is Ill Today

Well, they promised me death, and… well, I got a death. Kind of… I guess. In any case, this was definitely a sweeps-worthy episode. Told in a quasi-Rashomon multiple perspective style, it was definitely different. I’m not sure the story telling technique was used as effectively as it could have been, but it was good for the most part.

Can I really qualify the destruction of the Cromartie terminator as a death, or at the very least a death worthy of all the hype? I feel like it’s stretching it a bit. I was hoping that perky little Riley would be getting a couple bullets to the head, but alas it was not to be. If Cromartie does end up prolonging his dirt nap, it will be interesting to see what direction the show goes in. Will he be replaced by another model from the future? Will Catherine Weaver take a larger and more active role as the uber-villain? Will the Connors get a little breathing room? Time will tell, I suppose.

My guess is that I will get some further exploration into Jesse’s story. If I recall, she’s Derek’s ex-girlfriend from the future who showed up a couple weeks ago. I’ve already seen that she is carrying some intel on the Connors. What I don’t know is what her hidden agenda is. With a gaping hole in the villain category, I’m guessing that she’s up to no good.

I also think that I will begin to see more Catherine Weaver. She was looking for Cromartie, right? Is Ellison going to come clean with her and tell her about Cromartie’s destruction, perhaps leading her to his Mexican grave? I wonder if she’s really interested in Cromartie at all, or was it all just a front to get to Ellison? There is still a lot I don’t know about the mysterious T-1001 and her motives.

This was definitely a suspenseful and action-packed episode. Well, the second half of the episode anyway. The first half was a little heavy on Riley, but I will forgive it. I think I’ve bashed her enough for one review. Between Sarah’s escapades in the trunk of Cromartie’s car, the panicked fleeing in the Mexican village, and the shootout at the chapel, there were a bunch of great scenes. Personally, I loved Sarah’s complete and utter freakout/breakdown as she beat the hell out of Cromartie’s chip. Ah… Catharsis!

Sarah Connor Chronicles: Brothers of Nablus

Well, there's definitely a split between the terminators in the future. Even though Cromartie is after the Connors, he destroyed the Ellison model that was sent to replace the original, explaining by saying that Skynet didn't have the faith in the real Ellison to deliver the Connors the way Cromartie did. I'm still not sure what he meant by that. But then later, Weaver seemed genuinely intrigued by this turn of events as well, even asking Ellison if he knows why the T-Ellison may have been sent.

Meanwhile, Cromartie draws closer and closer to deducing the current location of the Connors in his own quest to find them, even enlisting some help from a former "friend" of Allison's Cameron's. This episode was pretty light on the time travel elements, which helped minimize the potential headaches in watching it and trying to figure out how the hell it all connects, but pretty high on the entertainment.

When Jody, Cameron's "friend," asked Cromartie if he was going to hurt Cameron and he answered "Yes," I learned pretty quickly that she still holds something of a grudge against Cameron and John for the whole choking and almost killing her thing. She even tries to ride shotgun with Cromartie to witness the ass-whupping a-comin'. I was actually surprised she let him tag along for as long as she did, and that he got rid of her non-lethally.

I liked the idea of Ellison getting framed for the actions of a Terminator who impersonated him. That's actually a pretty effective way to go back in time and take care of certain problem individuals; get 'em thrown in the slammer. You'd think they would intentionally do that. I mean, in this case it was by accident as the terminator was supposed to have replaced Ellison. Just imagine how the arrest would have gone if it had been a T-Ellison.

Jesse brings an interesting element out of Derek. He's generally all business. And considering she and Derek used to work together, it really makes me wonder who she's working for now and how long it will be before he figures her out.

When Cromartie showed up at the Connor house, would-be girlfriend Riley showed some real balls getting him out of the house, even though she clearly had no idea what was going on. When it turned out she was responsible for leaving the house vulnerable to the break-in, I'll admit that I got suspicious of her and her motives. After all, Jesse came back into Derek's life with a motive. Maybe Riley has one, too. Or is it possible that there is one simple and innocent girl who just happened to get interested in John Connor? Does that kind of thing even happen in a show like this? It's a shame it can't last because their developing bond is pretty damned cute. In fact, she's got a great personality, so normal and teenager-like. Unlike anything he's used to anymore. It actually amplifies just how screwed up his life is.

Other Thoughts:

In case I might have been forgetting that Cameron is a cold-oiled killing machine, the bowling alley tonight served as a great reminder. "They knew where we lived," seemed a good enough explanation for her.

The switch from the interrogating detective to Catherine Weaver was ridiculously cheap. They'd have been better showing him walking toward the corner of the building, cut to a shot from around the corner and show Weaver rounding it. Do I have to do everything?

Do all terminators have the Bible memorized? What possible purpose could that serve? Do they have other books programmed? If that is the case, then I could understand it because it's giving them a cultural basis on which to emulate human behavior. Maybe they're supposed to get religious.

Damn, the landlord is pregnant! I wonder if they'll work the baby's birth into the storyline somehow, or if the Connors will even still be around by then.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The tower Is Tall but the Fall is Short

This episode felt a little slow, but there was a lot going on. I got to see what the story was with Katherine Weaver and her “daughter.” The poor kid is living with a Terminator. More specifically, the Terminator that killed her real mom, presumably. The episode drew interesting parallels between Katherine Weaver and Sarah Connor - both women (well, one woman, one Terminator), struggling to raise their emotionally-crippled children. My perverse sense of humor would really love to see a sitcom about a Terminator trying to raise a child.

This episode finds another mystery name from the bloody wall. This time it’s Dr. Sherman, a therapist who specializes in children. The Connor clan pose as patients in order to plant a bug and keep tabs on the good doctor, but it turns out that maybe they really could use a little therapy. John, in particular, seems desperate for someone to talk to. Seems that the future savior of mankind might have a little touch of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Trust me, Johnny, it’s only going to get worse from here. Poor Sarah tries to reach out to the bratty little teenager but is rebuffed. What more can this poor woman do? Hopefully John will be able to find the help he needs so that he can actually save mankind, and not just mope around with his pet robot.

Speaking of the pet robot, Cameron and Derek get seemingly pointless subplots this week. Well, that’s not entirely fair. Derek hooked up with an old flame who has come from the future for some unknown reason. She is, however, collecting pictures of the Connors. Looks like trouble. I hope she sticks around for more than just an episode or two. Cameron happens upon another lady Terminator at Dr. Sherman’s and a kick ass fight scene ensues. I’m all for the plot and character development, but I’m ready for a little more action. Hopefully with the sweeps coming up we’ll get to see some more Cameron doing what she does best (and I don’t mean ballet).

By the end of the episode, I see that Katherine Weaver learns a little bit about what it means to be human (aww, just like the Grinch), and Sarah realizes that maybe a little therapy would help her too. It’s just a shame that her therapist is helping Katherine Weaver “raise” Skynet. Oops!

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Goodbye to All That

The game of time-travel chess continues. It seems that whenever Sarah and the gang foil one Terminator plot, another two crop up in its place (or they fulfill some sort of objective from Skynet and bring things one step closer to Judgement Day).

Observations from this episode:

How did Reese get the credentials to teach at the military school? I know being from the future gives one access to certain information, but it seems a stretch.

Gotta love the foreshadowing of the "new automated system" for the power plant.

I dug the movie reference of Arnold's tracking of two other Sarah Connors before finding the correct one. Why didn't the T-888 (or "Triple 8") just use the Internet?

The other Martin Bedell (who read from the Wizard of Oz) acted somewhat as comic relief for the episode and continued the storyline in which Sarah connects with her own motherhood.

I still enjoy the future flashes.

So I guess they fulfill history in this episode as well. Once Martin knows the future, I doubt he'll drop out of the academy for any woman. I also liked how whenever he said "Baum" it sounded like "bum", as if he was denigrating John.

I guess we know that Catherine Weaver's ultimate goal is to help the machines win (I'm still not certain about why she picked up and killed that guy in the bar). Catheine doesn't know about Cameron? Interesting. A wild card in the game. It could be argued that Catherine has mastered sarcasm even more so than Cameron.

Okay, I know it's a television show, but why does Bedell look pretty much the same 20 or 30 years in the future? The difference between the ages of 16 and 36 or 46 is a pretty big one.

Sarah Connor Chronicles: Allison from Palmdale

This story focused more on the individual members of the Connor team, particularly Cameron. I think the flash forwards make for very good, interesting episodes.

At first, I was a little taken aback by Cameron's display of emotions. Since when can Terminators shed tears? I suppose it sort of makes sense given that she's an infiltration unit, but it seems kind of a stretch.

How did Catherine Weaver have a daughter? Is she another robot? I suspect we'll see more of her character in the future.

I admit I was a little fuzzy about the reason Ellison accepted the job with Zeira Corp. I know he's unaware that Weaver is a T-1001, but the company is suspicious at best.

I just knew Cameron would end up killing Allison. I also liked how they inferred that Allison and John were, shall we say, more than friends in the future. It would make sense for the Terminators to try and copy her. Summer Glau puts on an excellent performance as both roles and as she progresses from human back to machine.

The ending was very ominous. Did Cameron learn how to lie? Has the shock reverted her back to her original programming and she's going to infiltrate and destroy the resistance? I would guess not, otherwise she would have snapped John's neck in the car. Unless her motives are more subtle, like Catherine Weaver.

Overall, a very good episode with good character development.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Mousetrap

Is it me, or have the Terminators gotten more sophisticated since Arnold's day? Arnold never would have set a trap. He would have just pursued until terminated.

The opening of this episode was reminiscent of the closing of the first Terminator movie when Linda Hamilton was driving in the desert.

It's funny how the actor whose life Cromartie stole ended up being (sort of) famous. Usually they try to keep a low profile. Also, despite being the future savior of humanity, John Connor is not above stealing cable. This is a lesson for the rest of us.

My favorite line from the episode came from Busy Philipps: "This town can screw you up." There's an irony there that I'm missing.

Catherine Weaver is easily becoming the most sophisticated Terminator ever. She can even drink water. Apparently, she's a T-1001. She acts like a T-1,000,000.

If Riley is a Terminator, then she IS Catherine Weaver. It's the only explanation.

How good are a Terminator's abilities if John is capable of losing Cameron? I got a chuckle from the scene when she's in front of that guy dressed in silver doing the robot.

The future leader of the human resistance has got to learn that if you're being chased by a killer robot, run AWAY from the pier, not towards it. Also, a hat and sunglasses can still fool the killer robots.

I recognize that this is television, but unless Terminators are getting more concerned with human life, I expected a bit more of a gunfight. The moment they both hit the water, I said to myself "Cromartie is going to sink like a stone". I was right, but he did stay afloat longer than I expected. It almost looked like he could swim for a moment. I did enjoy the "red eye" effect as he sank.

I enjoyed the episode but thought the ending was somewhat predictable, particularly considering that Dean Winters is still a regular for the season and his wife isn't. It's cute how they showed a fundamental difference between humans and machines: prayer.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Automatic for the People

The plot for the series has become convoluted very quickly. I take that as a good thing since it means the series can potentially last a few years. My favorite part remains the flash forward in this episode, brief as it was. The rest of it was good but not particularly memorable.

Time travel has certainly become a revolving door in this show. It used to be more difficul. Now people are falling through time-doors that are powered by jet engines - much more easily. Maybe they've improved the technology in the future. This is getting to be a bigger time war than the one in Doctor Who.

I wonder what other people Cameron means when she says people will get worried. Does she mean herself? Is that John/Cameron romance looking just a smidgen more likely? Or does she mean someone else entirely? On a side note, Thomas Dekker looks very different with the shorter hair.

Consider John Connor jumped from 1999 to 2007 in the premiere episode and can't seem to stay in the same school, it's no wonder he can't connect with any other students. Why even register him in school? What time-traveling truant officer is going after him? I suppose attending makes him talk to people and remember who he's actually fighting for in the future. I did like Riley's modern example of courting: "you got $20? I'm still hungry".

More on Riley: it wouldn't surprise me if I learned later on that Riley is none other than Catherine Weaver. The character acts more human-like than any other Terminator I've seen thus far. And she now knows the safe word to talk to John.

Random thoughts:

Notice that the show still takes place in 2007 due to the shortened season last year? The code was "16 November 2007".

John Connor has an awesome bedroom. I'm just saying. Here I figured he'd lose his virginity to Cameron. He still might.

Is it me or does Charley's wife look a little like Linda Hamilton? Truly he missed Sarah Connor a lot when she disappeared. That was quite a bitch slap that the wife got in.

And today's blatant product placement is the Dodge Ram.

Sarah and Cameron are hanging out with each other so much, they're starting to dress alike.

Cameron was acting pretty slow this episode. I wonder if something is wrong with her programming. She's certainly endured a lot of punishment and did turn evil once. I did like today's nugget of wisdom, "girls are complicated".

I like how they examined Sarah's fear of the cancer that would/will eventually kill her by having the story take place at a nuclear power plant.

That dying man from the future sure had a lot of blood. He practically wrote a novel on that wall.

The story continues. While I felt it was middle-of-the-road in quality I do realize that it's part of a larger narrative and am looking forward to future episodes.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Samson and Delilah

Last season ended with a bang. More specifically, Cameron in the middle of a bang when the SUV she was occupying exploded.

It's interesting how this episode juxtaposed the consequences of two attacks: the first of a human (Sarkissian) against a machine (Cameron) and the second by a machine (Cromartie) against some humans (Ellison and his FBI team).

I was wondering when Cameron would turn back to her original programming and try to kill John. I'm glad they wrapped up that story in this episode and didn't drag it out. However, it seems like one of those storylines that they could dig out anytime, like Angel turning evil in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. I wouldn't be surprised to see Cameron try to kill John again in the future (pun unintended).

The character of John Connor took a major turn this episode and started acting a little less like the whiny kid I saw in season one and more like the hero he's eventually going to be (starting with a self-haircut). That being said, putting the chip back in Cameron's head was a pretty gutsy move which took a lot of faith. It was also pretty stupid (as confirmed by Cameron herself) and the sort of thing that could only succeed on a sci-fi television drama. I think John Connor is going to have a serious cyborg fetish in the future.

The action did get a little unbelievable as the Connors were running from Cameron. They got into two auto accidents within one day (possibly even within one hour).

Agent Ellison, Uncle Derek and ex-fiancé Charley have smaller but important roles in this episode in which Ellison confronts Cromartie and Derek and Charley help patch up the Connors. It looks like they're sticking around.

In the end, it is revealed that Shirley Manson is a T-1000, or some derivative thereof. This sort of explained her out-of-place, Jetsons-like attire. She's either the most sophisticated Terminator ever built or this is yet another Hollywood anti-business theme about how large corporations are inhuman. Or quite possibly a little of both.

I enjoyed the first season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It didn't really gel for me until the fifth or sixth episode, but then I started liking it. The first episode of the second season is a step in the right direction and continues to be exciting to watch. However, this time there is no strike and the series is facing the full onslaught of the other networks. I question its survival. It's sci-fi on Fox, and not the subtle sci-fi of The X-Files. The odds are against it, but my fingers are crossed.

Sarah Connor Chronicles: Vick's Chip/What He Beheld

The writers' strike has almost totally altered the landscape of this season (and perhaps some of next season) of television. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a case in point. There's the fact that the series was unable to finish its 13 episode order, so instead the "finale" comes here – at episode nine. It's a bit of a mystery why FOX decided to burn off their remaining two episodes in one final two hour block. Whether it was to make the evening more of an event, or to simply put the show to rest early – I can't know for sure.

The two hour finale does indeed consist of two separate episodes – "Vick's Chip" and "What He Beheld." They are quite different episodes, and their stories don't actually tie in to one another all that much. There is definitely that strike-era jury rigging going on here. "Vick's Chip" feels a lot like a regular episode, even though it has some important movement story wise. "What He Beheld" does have more of a "finale" feel to it – but that seems to be more due to style (and effective style at that) than crucial story developments.

The first hour is marked by some of the best performances from the cast so far. Summer Glau is proving that you can give a complex, nuanced performance even when portraying a robot. At any given moment it's hard to figure out what Cameron is "thinking" – and she seems to be gaining more depth with each passing day. It's this greater level of humanity that makes her all the creepier. It's hard to argue with Derek Reese that you shouldn't trust her.

Cromarite is suitably creepy and unsettling and seems to just be getting warmed up in what is the last episode for who knows how long. While the mother-son chemistry between Sarah and John deepens here, Derek Reese is probably the biggest surprise of the season with one excellent moment after another. Whether he's using a little girl as bait or introducing John to his five year old father. There is a very good argument to be made for Derek to become a regular on this show, as it feels as though the core dynamic between the characters solidified once he arrived.

There are a lot of fun ideas at play in these two hours. In "Vick's Chip" I learned of another possible component of Skynet – the LA traffic grid it uses as its early eyes and ears. John's exploration of the T-888's brain is effective both stylistically as well as being just downright creepy and ultimately tragic. The fact that the Terminator can reset itself, and adapt to using whatever technology is available – is an interesting twist. It also seems that John's affection for Cameron is growing; which does kind of raise comparisons to a highly advanced and lethal "real doll."

The major sequence at the end of "What He Beheld" is Agent Ellison's ill fated raid on Cromartie. Set to Johnny Cash's "When the Man Comes Around," this is a fairly gripping scene. SWAT members fall, bleeding into a swimming pool while Charley races to the scene in his ambulance upon hearing the name 'Kester' come over the radio. The episode ends with the death of Agent Simpson and leaves Ellison and Charley with indisputable knowledge of the existence of the Terminators – and an awareness of each other's knowledge. How this will change the dynamic in the future is uncertain, but it's fair to say nothing will be the same for them after this.

The final moments certainly work as a cliffhanger – with the man who owns "The Turk" still at large, and Cameron blowing up in the jeep. Although this was not intended as a finale – it leaves me wondering what happens next. Now, the question for FOX is, will I get to find out what happens next? And if so, when?

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Demon Hand

"Demon Hand" strikes an uneven balance between being powerfully dramatic and somewhat needlessly ponderous. As is becoming the norm, the show once again delves into the Terminator mythology with great success, this time even bringing back Dr. Silberman.

There are distinct spheres of action happening in this episode, with no single solid through line. I had Agent Ellison looking into Sarah's past, which takes him to see Dr. Silberman. Then I had Cameron searching for the missing Terminator hand, which takes her to Andy Goode's chess playing colleague and his sister. Finally there's some stuff here between Derek Reese and John Connor. John knows that he's talking to his uncle, and even though Derek is unaware of this – he does seem to sense a connection.

There are some great unexpected moments here. Silberman drugging Ellison was a tough one to see coming. Cameron may be learning some of the behavior of human beings in order to fit in, but I got a nice reminder here that she has no compassion.

When John finds the tape of Sarah giving up her rights as a parent – John is understandably crushed. It's also interesting to revisit one of the more famous sequences of the second movie and understand some of her motives behind what she was doing.

What this episode lacks is any kind of action, at least action of the sort I've come to expect from the series. That does make this episode feel a bit slower than normal, but at the same time it seems the show is maturing. Watching Cameron walk away from the two Russians, or seeing Silberman crack up in the rain – and Reese's face as he watches the machine practice ballet. All of these moments are effective, and serve their purpose well. While it would have been nice to have some action thrown in as well, as it nears its two-hour finale, Terminator is proving to already be a good show in what is a sadly shortened season.

Sarah Connor Chronicles: Dungeons & Dragons

The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been fully immersed in the world the Terminator films have created since it began. However, the connections to those films were more directly prevalent than ever on this installment, which took a big move and involved the show's first real look at the post-Apocalyptic future glimpsed in the film series.

In the present, Derek Reese was fighting to survive his bullet wound from the last episode. John had brought Sarah's ex-fiancé Charley to save Derek, and Charley finally got a long time in the coming -- but rather quickly told -- crash course in Terminators and future apocalypses from Sarah. On one hand, Charley reacted to all of this news perhaps a bit too easily, seemingly not needing much time to process something most people would probably be absolutely stunned by.

After the last very plot driven episode, on the surface, this one slowed down a bit, as most of the drama centered on saving Derek, who it seemed fairly obvious would make it. But the show continues to get a lot of mileage out of the character drama, here represented by the fact that John and Sarah have a big secret – That Kyle Reese is John's father. John, who's never known his dad, felt an understandable urge to save his uncle's life, going so far as to insist he be tested for the Derek's rare blood type, which ultimately was the key to saving him.

Charley knew enough to finally piece together everything and figure out who John's dad was, but that still left Derek and Cameron out of the loop. When John wanted to tell Derek, Sarah made an excellent point: John himself, or his future self at least, felt it was necessary to keep the fact that Kyle was his father a secret, and must have had a good reason for doing so.

Notable information was revealed by the end of the episode about Derek, including his time in captivity, held prisoner with several other resistance fighters. A big mystery was introduced via the fact that one by one, Derek and the others were taken downstairs where something happened to them, complete with some creepy music playing in the background. The fact that they were all just let go after can't simply be a good thing, and makes one wary of what's been done to Derek that is lurking to show itself at some point.

Meanwhile, some major new questions arose about Cameron. As it turned out, Derek was familiar with both an evil version of Cameron's model (though I didn't learn the circumstances – something in the mysterious room perchance?) and Cameron herself. The discovery that when it comes to reprogrammed Terminators "sometimes they go bad" certainly adds discomfort to Cameron's presence, made more so when she hid and kept part of the Terminator they defeated from the last episode. Lest I forget, she also kept some of the metal used to create Terminators on an earlier episode, and the show continues to make me wonder just what she's up to.

Essentially "Dungeons & Dragons" worked like an episode of Lost, using the flash-forwards to give me the backstory on Derek Reese, and explaining how it made him the man he is today. In this respect, it was very successful, with plenty of good motivation given to Derek, including the anger he has towards John for not explaining to him where/when Kyle was sent. Most importantly, I saw Derek meet an older version of Andy, who revealed to him that he was one of 10-15 others most likely responsible for Skynet… and that Derek had used this knowledge to begin a quest -- along with the other three men sent back -- to kill these people, without John's sanctioning.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Queen's Gambit

Andy Goode is back with another chess computer, the Turk II. This is relevant because John Connor played chess in his youth in South America and apparently knows a lot about chess history as a result. And people say this series is unrealistic.

Of course, chess is being used as a war metaphor in this episode (rather blatantly if you listen to Sarah Connor's commentary at the beginning and end of the episode). This could be ironic because apparently Skynet is being developed from a chess program. Perhaps in the future, Skynet loses a game of chess to a human and annihilates the species as a result.

The most blatant cliff-hanger mystery is: Who killed Andy Goode? If it wasn't Derek Reese, was it a Terminator? That seems likely since their mission is to insure Skynet's creation and without a military contract, that didn't seem likely.

The whole Derek Reese phenomenon seemed to come out of nowhere. In the original movie, Kyle Reese never mentioned a brother. Of course, that doesn't mean the brother didn't exist but in that future it didn't seem likely that coincidentally the two brothers would survive. But maybe that's just me futilely looking for realism.

The entire Jordan suicide storyline has been dragged on long enough. Either get to the point or stop having these characters mourn a supplementary character who has become more a plot device than a person.

I liked how the Terminator reacted strangely when the cell phone rang, as if he never saw one before (which he probably hasn't). Modern cell phones didn't exist when the original movie came out. Maybe he's a leftover from 1984.

I've commented on Cameron's dress sense before, but in this episode she's going Goth slut. Not that there's anything wrong with that. She is, however, attracting more attention to herself and I think that goes against the mission of laying low. I thought it was funny when she was presented with the Westworld style robot and reacted quizzically. Then the robot canine (perhaps a tribute to Doctor Who) showed up and totally mystified her. Her best line of the episode was "I'm done with grief counseling. I'm feeling much better."

During the final battle scene, when the other Terminator got its hand knocked off, I thought, "Great. Now there's ANOTHER piece lying around the city." Didn't the fact that a Terminator hand was left around the first movie lead to the second one?

The episode helped a lot of plotlines move forward. The big revelation was the existence of Derek Reese who is John Connor's uncle. I wonder if he's going to end up being a future love interest for Sarah. If so, then it's just like television to immediately introduce him to Sarah's ex.

Sarah Connor Chronicles: Heavy Metal

The writers have clearly spent a lot of time thinking about terminators. This gives rise to the show asking questions such as "If they were badly damaged and lost their skin (as we've seen in the movies) – how would they continue their mission?" There's also "If a terminator completed its mission, would it just go into standby?" And in this episode I saw answers to both of these questions and the mythology of the terminator expands and deepens.

Meanwhile, John Connor runs into something of a "catch-22" situation. He's supposed to stay alive to become some great hero and leader in the future war against the machines. However, if Sarah is going to shelter him and keep him close at all times to keep him safe – how will he ever learn and achieve the things he needs to do in order to become that leader? It seems possible that they'll keep him alive, but he simply won't be ready to face Skynet. As Cameron puts it, when Sarah says it's too soon to let him go, "Is it? The world ends in 4 years." Sarah is facing the frightening prospect of having to fight her instincts so that John can finally do what he was meant to do.

Lena Heady also shows some of her action chops in this episode. When she ties up a man who is (though unwittingly) collaborating with a terminator – she really doesn't mess around. There's a ferocity that comes out as she wails on the guy and is perfectly prepared to torture him. However, she decides instead to use Cameron as her ace in the hole. The show continues to find new and interesting ways for Sarah and Cameron to work together as a team.

Agent Ellison continues his seemingly foolish pursuit of Sarah's case, much to the amusement of his colleagues. While it does seem that these events are far removed from the rest of the show (because they are), it does do a good job of providing exposition for the audience that John and Sarah simply aren't privy to. It's making the prospect of his finally meeting up with Sarah and the others all the more interesting.

The show closes on the great moment of Cameron sending the truck full of terminator alloy into the sea. It's a terrific shot, with Summer Glau climbing through the windshield and riding on top of the truck just before leaping to safety before it goes over. The show really isn't cutting corners on its effects budget, which is appropriate since the Terminator films have always been about spectacle. This show is much different, more cerebral and deliberately paced. As the show progresses, it's getting tighter, smoothing out the edges, while better defining its characters and mythology.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Turk

"The Turk" of the episode title is a reference to a chess-paying machine built in the 18th century also represents quite possibly the beginning of Skynet (or perhaps a predecessor). It was built by a former intern at Cyberdyne named Andy Goode.

To set the mood at the beginning of the episode, Sarah has a dream of murdering the scientists of the Manhattan Project before they build the atomic bomb. The obvious analogy is there, but I note that the good that occurred as a result, such as the surrender of the Japanese or the rise of nuclear energy as a power source. Also, many technological innovations started with military use, including the Internet. Of course, mentioning all that would have just killed the mood.

Cameron's behavior is becoming inconsistent, perhaps intentionally. She could pass herself off as human (both in appearance and behavior) in the pilot but is having problems understanding humans now. The whole "robots not understanding humans" theme is getting more prevalent in the show and when she began rattling off synonyms while approaching the school I was thinking of Data from Star Trek.

I do enjoy the conflict between Sarah and Cameron. In her own way, Sarah is becoming more inhuman as time progresses and she practices self-justification. I'm glad that she holds on to her humanity somewhat by destroying Andy Goode's property rather than killing him.Frankly, I think Sarah was chasing the wrong lead to begin with. I think the British scientist guy who was helping the Terminator had more to do with the future than "The Turk". The writers did go with the ages-old plot device of someone from the future teaching future science to someone from the present.

I admit that I found the ending somewhat confusing and it probably would have been less so if they played the final two scenes in the correct chronological order. At least I know why the Terminator took the scientist's eyes. What I don't get is why the British scientist guy helped him out in the first place. Did I miss something?

Overall, I would say the episode was fair. The writing was weak and some of the characters seemed to be acting inconsistently or unrealistically under the circumstances. However, the opening was powerful and saved the show.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Gnothi Seauton

"Gnothi Seauton" is Greek for "Know Yourself". I suppose it is similar to the personal growth going on with each of the characters at this stage.Projected into their own future, Sarah and Cameron go to one of Sarah's old friends named Enrique while attempting to get new fake id's, in case Sarah wants to get beer later.Meanwhile, John leaves their safe house in an expression of his teenage, rebellious nature. Where did he go? The mall, of course. I suppose he was interested in the technological advancements in malls between 1999 and 2007.

The show is really starting to kick off its two major sci-fi cliche's. The first being time-travel and the resulting contradictions. The second is the Pinocchio syndrome of the robot trying to be human. I was particularly amused when Summer Glau was trying to imitate the woman leaning against the car.I like how the action of the series is getting tongue-in-cheek silly, much like Buffy did when that show was in its prime. An example of this is when the headless Terminator ripped off a construction worker's head to walk around inconspicuously.I also found it amusing how Sarah Connor was unaware of what 9/11 was. Isn't it standard operating procedure when waking up in the future to do historical research?

I don't get John Connor as a character. Why search for Charley Dixon, his mother's ex? It really doesn't make sense given the situation they're in. I recognize that this entire show is a fantasy, but in my opinion good television involves people giving realistic reactions to unusual situations.

The new family pseudonym for the Connor family is Baum. As in L. Frank Baum, the writer of The Wizard of Oz and creator of the Tin Man, the mechanical man with no heart.