T:SCC 2.22: "Born to Run"
So naturally, I wake up this morning and what am I thinking about? (Besides breakfast.)
First of all, how amusing is it that Cameron and John are in a seedy motel together? And have a scene that, er, totally redefines what might happen in a seedy motel? Really, as incredibly dividing as that moment is for Jameron fans and non-believers, as a fence-sitter (no, I don't ship them nor do I abhor the ship), I basically just find it a supremely well-acted scene that's been a long time coming. Isn't it amazing how, in any other hands, this entire relationship - and especially this scene - might've been laughable, cheap, and show-killing? I was certainly worried about that being the case when the show first started. But instead, it's complicated, frightening, and tragic. John's reactions are incredibly realistic (I mean HOLY crap, what's a John Connor supposed to DO) and Cameron is just... not your average femmebot. She's trying to prove a point. She knows how John feels and is trying to explain, in her own way, what's underneath the surface. To remind him. Of course, I would say that it backfires just a bit. But the point still stands.
Ha, when this was all happening, our viewing party was FLIPPING. OUT. with WHUUUT. And cries of "THE POOR KID."
Anyway. Onto other matters!
John and Sarah. Two lines. Ellison: "She'll never leave his side and he'll never leave hers." Sarah: "Leave this place. Do not think of me, do not come for me. ...You [Cameron] are to make sure that he does."
Ellison is proved wrong - I knew he would be when Weaver and John Henry deposit $0.04 to the tune of "we'll see" - that, and it was simply time for it to happen. Sarah, meanwhile, sees her last request to John fulfilled... though not in the way she expected, surely.
Why did she step back from the time-jump circle? I've been thinking about this a lot. No, she didn't know where (excuse me, when) the jump would go, but she knew a couple of things. She knew that Weaver had just protected them all from a FLYING EXPLODY HK DRONE, and that based on this recent event, a) John really couldn't have a better person going with him wherever he was going (Sarah's beginning to accept that a Terminator will always be a better protector for him, that she can't be what they are, and that this is okay), and b) Weaver's insistence that "your son may save the world, but he can't do it without mine" might hold a bit more weight.
All of that, along with one very important fact: he is John Connor. Probably above anyone else in the universe, Sarah believes in him - believes in his ability and capacity. Letting him go had to happen, or else all she was doing was undermining that belief. He can take care of himself. But that won't stop her from doing everything in her power to help him.
I think John finally voicing an "I love you" to his mother is so telling. In finally moving past his need for and dependence on her, that is what's left. The other bonds might've been broken, but that mother-son love remains and always will, and now it's felt more than ever, because there's nothing else in the way. I think Sarah's gradual release of John shows that she is beginning to trust him in ways she was previously afraid to - trusting him to make his own choices, and that they will be the right ones. And if you ask me, trust and love are two things that go hand-in-hand. The more trust you have in someone, the more you are freed to love them properly.
When Sarah says "we can't," I don't believe she is saying "we shouldn't go" - I think she is saying "we can't go together." John is staring at her in disbelief, wanting her to come, but she knows that this is his time to be alone. You can almost hear her conversation with Cameron a few episodes back echoing around in her head.
Anyway. Gah. See, show, what you do to me? Up too early on a Saturday morning and what am I doing?
As for the ending. I will not mention to anyone how many times I have (already) rewatched those last five minutes, becauuuuuse yeah. To all the people who've busted the writers' collective asses about Derek's death: THAT. IS WHY HE HAD TO DIE. And OMG you should've seen me during the opening credits, trying not to throw a fit when I saw Brian Austin Green AND Jonathan Jackson's names come up. Nobody else noticed, and I was trying so hard to stay quiet. JOHN YOU DESERVE THAT MOMENT SO MUCH but ugh, how heartbreaking that he just... he can't let them know. Not without compromising so much.
And Allison Young! Gaaah! And John totally knows, right then and there, why Cameron might've been built. And the smile starts fading from his face. OH, MY BOY.
Sarah's final words just sealed it for me. I had chills. That was just magic, pure and simple.
So, the ultimate question - sing along with me, Buffy-style! - is, where do we go from here? Answer: I have no frelling idea. But y'know what? I trust our team. They've brought us here brick by brick, piece by piece, and based on that I think they'd give us a pretty spectacular answer to the question of "how in the multiverse would a S3 work?" Because unlike most showrunners, I don't believe they'd do this without having an escape plan.
So here I am. Waiting till May, when the decision is made. Thinking Terminator Salvation has a helluva lot to live up to. But so, so happy to have this Terminator - the one I never thought I'd get. It does me proud. Good job, little dinosaur. You've proven there's life in you yet.
p.s. Luke and I are having a spirited discussion about the time loops and alternate futures right now. Completely disagreeing, of course. Oh, husband. You're so good to me. :D
ETA: One more thing. I have been seeing some talk around the 'Net that the "basic premise" of the franchise has been thrown out the window - that basic premise being, "Without John Connor, there is no Resistance." I would like to say: um, what? Kyle tells Sarah that John leads the Resistance to victory. "He turned it around... he brought us back from the brink." For him to have single-handedly formed the Resistance strikes me as a ridiculous notion. People will always group together and fight back; they don't have to be told to. But in order to win? They need to be led. Enter John.
If I'm not mistaken, Terminator Salvation is taking this self-same approach. John needs to work his way up, gain people's trust. But until then, he's just a soldier among the masses.
First of all, how amusing is it that Cameron and John are in a seedy motel together? And have a scene that, er, totally redefines what might happen in a seedy motel? Really, as incredibly dividing as that moment is for Jameron fans and non-believers, as a fence-sitter (no, I don't ship them nor do I abhor the ship), I basically just find it a supremely well-acted scene that's been a long time coming. Isn't it amazing how, in any other hands, this entire relationship - and especially this scene - might've been laughable, cheap, and show-killing? I was certainly worried about that being the case when the show first started. But instead, it's complicated, frightening, and tragic. John's reactions are incredibly realistic (I mean HOLY crap, what's a John Connor supposed to DO) and Cameron is just... not your average femmebot. She's trying to prove a point. She knows how John feels and is trying to explain, in her own way, what's underneath the surface. To remind him. Of course, I would say that it backfires just a bit. But the point still stands.
Ha, when this was all happening, our viewing party was FLIPPING. OUT. with WHUUUT. And cries of "THE POOR KID."
Anyway. Onto other matters!
John and Sarah. Two lines. Ellison: "She'll never leave his side and he'll never leave hers." Sarah: "Leave this place. Do not think of me, do not come for me. ...You [Cameron] are to make sure that he does."
Ellison is proved wrong - I knew he would be when Weaver and John Henry deposit $0.04 to the tune of "we'll see" - that, and it was simply time for it to happen. Sarah, meanwhile, sees her last request to John fulfilled... though not in the way she expected, surely.
Why did she step back from the time-jump circle? I've been thinking about this a lot. No, she didn't know where (excuse me, when) the jump would go, but she knew a couple of things. She knew that Weaver had just protected them all from a FLYING EXPLODY HK DRONE, and that based on this recent event, a) John really couldn't have a better person going with him wherever he was going (Sarah's beginning to accept that a Terminator will always be a better protector for him, that she can't be what they are, and that this is okay), and b) Weaver's insistence that "your son may save the world, but he can't do it without mine" might hold a bit more weight.
All of that, along with one very important fact: he is John Connor. Probably above anyone else in the universe, Sarah believes in him - believes in his ability and capacity. Letting him go had to happen, or else all she was doing was undermining that belief. He can take care of himself. But that won't stop her from doing everything in her power to help him.
I think John finally voicing an "I love you" to his mother is so telling. In finally moving past his need for and dependence on her, that is what's left. The other bonds might've been broken, but that mother-son love remains and always will, and now it's felt more than ever, because there's nothing else in the way. I think Sarah's gradual release of John shows that she is beginning to trust him in ways she was previously afraid to - trusting him to make his own choices, and that they will be the right ones. And if you ask me, trust and love are two things that go hand-in-hand. The more trust you have in someone, the more you are freed to love them properly.
When Sarah says "we can't," I don't believe she is saying "we shouldn't go" - I think she is saying "we can't go together." John is staring at her in disbelief, wanting her to come, but she knows that this is his time to be alone. You can almost hear her conversation with Cameron a few episodes back echoing around in her head.
Anyway. Gah. See, show, what you do to me? Up too early on a Saturday morning and what am I doing?
As for the ending. I will not mention to anyone how many times I have (already) rewatched those last five minutes, becauuuuuse yeah. To all the people who've busted the writers' collective asses about Derek's death: THAT. IS WHY HE HAD TO DIE. And OMG you should've seen me during the opening credits, trying not to throw a fit when I saw Brian Austin Green AND Jonathan Jackson's names come up. Nobody else noticed, and I was trying so hard to stay quiet. JOHN YOU DESERVE THAT MOMENT SO MUCH but ugh, how heartbreaking that he just... he can't let them know. Not without compromising so much.
And Allison Young! Gaaah! And John totally knows, right then and there, why Cameron might've been built. And the smile starts fading from his face. OH, MY BOY.
Sarah's final words just sealed it for me. I had chills. That was just magic, pure and simple.
So, the ultimate question - sing along with me, Buffy-style! - is, where do we go from here? Answer: I have no frelling idea. But y'know what? I trust our team. They've brought us here brick by brick, piece by piece, and based on that I think they'd give us a pretty spectacular answer to the question of "how in the multiverse would a S3 work?" Because unlike most showrunners, I don't believe they'd do this without having an escape plan.
So here I am. Waiting till May, when the decision is made. Thinking Terminator Salvation has a helluva lot to live up to. But so, so happy to have this Terminator - the one I never thought I'd get. It does me proud. Good job, little dinosaur. You've proven there's life in you yet.
p.s. Luke and I are having a spirited discussion about the time loops and alternate futures right now. Completely disagreeing, of course. Oh, husband. You're so good to me. :D
ETA: One more thing. I have been seeing some talk around the 'Net that the "basic premise" of the franchise has been thrown out the window - that basic premise being, "Without John Connor, there is no Resistance." I would like to say: um, what? Kyle tells Sarah that John leads the Resistance to victory. "He turned it around... he brought us back from the brink." For him to have single-handedly formed the Resistance strikes me as a ridiculous notion. People will always group together and fight back; they don't have to be told to. But in order to win? They need to be led. Enter John.
If I'm not mistaken, Terminator Salvation is taking this self-same approach. John needs to work his way up, gain people's trust. But until then, he's just a soldier among the masses.