For
femslash_land's 11th challenge: a manifesto for the ship of your choice.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (or T:SCC for short) is based off James Cameron’s Terminator film franchise. Set between the second and third films, the show involves a different future than the one portrayed in the third and fourth movies. Sarah and John are on the run. While hiding from the authorities and terminators, Cameron, a machine sent back by the future John Connor, meets them. From there, they are sent into the future (2008) and the show kicks off from there.
During the second season, two new characters are introduced. Riley, a 16-year-old girl, befriends John. He connects with her and they become allies. The other is Jesse, a former flame of Derek (who is John’s uncle/Kyle’s brother). These two characters who are seemingly unrelated are soon revealed to be connected. They came back together, Jesse taking Riley under her wing and slowly manipulating her to get John’s trust, and causing him to lose trust in his machine companion, Cameron. The emotional entanglement between the two becomes heated, with eventually both of them losing their lives in the process.
Characters
Riley Dawson
Riley first appears in ‘Automatic for the People’. When we are first introduced to Riley, she is shown to be a little rebellious. She skips school with John, shows him a tattoo that allegedly got her kicked out of a previous school, and visits his new home with him. She stays the night and offers him a Lego robot companion to keep him safe in the night. This is a seemingly innocent remark, but as Riley’s history is revealed, the irony of the situation is as well. Their discussion of the future is also ironic- they both know what will eventually happen, but neither is willing to reveal it.
Their friendship grows throughout the next few episodes, including a breathless escape from Cromartie, a terminator after John, (‘Brothers of Nabulus’) and an impromptu trip down to Mexico (‘Mr. Ferguson is Ill Today’). After an attack by Cromartie, Riley’s mental state started to deteriorate, and John and Sarah slowly realise Riley isn’t what all she seems (‘Strange Things Happen at the One Two Point’). It’s at this point that it is revealed to the viewer that Riley and Jesse are working together. John remains oblivious to this, and the relationship progresses between the two of them. Riley and John become increasingly romantic and eventually share a kiss (‘Self Made Man’).
It’s at this point, Riley’s history catches up with her. She was a victim of the war with the terminators. A scavenger, she was rescued by Jesse who remarked that she was a ‘pretty girl’ (‘Earthlings Welcome Here’). Jesse brought Riley to the future, where Riley for the first time relishes the opportunity to take in aspects of, what the viewer would consider, modern life. Lamps, fresh flowers, cushions and clean linen, a soft bed and flannel towels! And then the most magical thing of all- clean water, right at her disposal. The viewer sees Riley shower for perhaps the first time in her memorable life. She’s tentative at first, perhaps a little nervous. She holds her hands up, as though not sure what she’s meant to do. Then she tilts her face up to the stream and lets the water run over her. The filth rushes away. Finally, we see Jesse combing her freshly cleaned hair and tucking her into bed.
After this touching, emotional scene, we cut to the present day. Riley’s bruised, and she’s closed about it, refusing to talk about it- who did it, how she got it. Overwhelmed by the pressures put on her by Jesse, Cameron and equally John and Sarah, she attempts to take her own life (‘Earthlings Welcome Here’). Jesse collects her from the hospital and takes her back to her hotel apartment.
Riley, desperate for some solid connection in her life and looking for a chance at happiness, finally realises the truth: she was meant to die. Fighting with Jesse, Riley screams that she loves her, but as fatefully shot (‘Ourselves Alone’). Her body is later dumped in a river (‘Today is the Day, Part 1’).
Jesse Flores
Jesse’s history is more available to the viewer from the start. A young woman, Jesse hails from Perth, Australia, and presumably has more memories of the time before the war than Riley. A Commander, she travels to North America via submarine to assist the human resistance. It is here she meets Derek Connor, and the two start a relationship (‘Alpine Fields’). She falls pregnant but miscarries.
She starts losing faith in the resistance due to a mission that goes badly and falls into a depression over the death of her fellow soldiers and her unborn child (‘Today is the Day, Part 1’). It’s during this time she starts to consider a mission of her own. Fearing John Connor’s faith in some of the ‘good’ machines (that is, Cameron) is affecting him and effecting his decisions, she plots to put a stop to this. Knowing that he had sent soldiers and machines back previously, she comes up with a plan to separate Cameron and John in the past, and thus hopefully turn the war around. She just needs a tool- a young pretty girl to catch John’s eye. Then, when John had fallen for her, she would be killed- preferably by Cameron, if possible. This girl becomes Riley (‘Earthlings Welcome Here’). Using Riley’s hunger, pain and naivety, she transports the two of them with the help of a technician back to 2009.
After spying on the Connors (‘The Tower is Tall But the Fall is Short’), she meets up with Derek and the two rekindl their relationship. They takes turns torturing a traitor from the future (‘Complications’), which reveals the violent, perhaps mildly sadistic streak that Jesse has. Eventually Jesse admits that she come back from the future to stop John having a relationship of any kind with Cameron.
At this point, Riley approaches Jesse and asks if they could potentially live together. Jesse, in a moment of anger, hits Riley, causing a bruise to form that John later sees (‘Earthlings Welcome Here’). After Riley attempts suicide in the Connor household, Jesse breaks her out of the hospital. The two share a tender, albeit brief moment after Jesse kicks her out of the apartment. Jesse believes Riley was destroying their mission. Acting as her foster agent, she approaches Sarah and the two talk about Riley (‘Ourselves Alone’). Jesse implies that perhaps Derek was involved in indiscrete ways, and also suggests John had told Riley about the future. Jesse also causes a Child Services representative to come by the Connor household.
By now, Riley has figured out Jesse’s plan. The two fight and Jesse shoots Riley. Having fulfilled her mission, Jesse starts to ponder her future (‘Today is the Day, Part 1’). She goes through a period that reminisces mourning. She’s lost, and her future is empty. John finally confronts her, and after he says he would have chosen Cameron over Riley, Jesse realises her mission was for nothing. After a confrontation with Derek, Jesse’s future seems muddled- Derek pulls the trigger, but whether he shoots her or misses is up to the viewer to decide (‘Today is the Day, Part 2’).
The Ship
Jesse: Pretty girl. What’s your name? I can hear you already, don’t worry- ‘Jesse shot Riley! Jesse was planning Riley’s death the whole time! How can you ship these two?!’ Don’t worry, I agree with you. Jesse’s plan from the start was for John to fall for a girl, then yank the carpet unceremoniously from under her and have her die, all the while pinning the blame on Cameron. And Riley, for all intents and purposes, was that from the start. But she became more than that. Jesse’s tender nature to Riley after they arrived fresh from the time bubble says that. She could have been cool to her, remained and cold and calculated. Instead, she let Riley take it all in- the sights, smells, the touch of fresh linen and a mattress.
She combed her hair and tucked her into bed. She didn’t need to do that.
Some might argue Jesse did this to get Riley onto her side, and to manipulate her. Nobody will walk freely into their own death. This is a fair call, but there’s a difference between being kind to someone for the sake of being kind, and then there’s being tender and loving towards someone. This is what Jesse is. When Riley starts to show signs of being uncomfortable about manipulating John, Jesse reassures her and kisses her on the forehead (‘Strange Things Happen at the One Two Point’).
Riley: I don’t think I can do this anymore.
Jesse: I’m sorry. It’s not easy, I understand. Maybe you even have some real feelings for him. Who wouldn't? He's John Connor. There's a reason people follow him all over hell.
Riley: But what if I want out?
Jesse: How would you do that? Where would you go? There is no out. You can do this.
Riley leans into this kiss, her eyes shut, reflecting the complete trust she holds in Jesse. It’s possible that Jesse is one of the few, or even the only, people that have shown her kindness and tenderness. It’s easy to see then why Riley fell completely for Jesse and therefore was manipulated easily. Even as Jesse grows progressively colder- perhaps out of stress from her mission being revealed by the Connors- Riley continues to go to her for approval (‘Earthlings Welcome Here’).
Jesse: What are you doing here?
Riley: Sorry, Jesse. No one's following me. I doubled-back like you taught me. Jesse, I'm really sorry. Don't get mad at me, please.
Jesse: Phones. That's why we have phones.
Riley: I...I just didn't know where else to go.
Jesse: Yeah, well...not here, sweetie. Any place, but here.
However, after Riley attempts suicide in the same episode, Jesse later picks her up from the hospital and takes her home, albeit only for an hour (‘The Good Wound’). She dresses her wound and is concerned over her wellbeing. Some may read this into Jesse being concerned over the mission, but this needn’t be the case. Suicide is not something to be taken lightly, and Jesse seems to be concerned in Riley herself. She changes the dressing of her wound and talks about the difference between the future/their past and the present day- the modern world should be paradise, and Jesse can’t seem to understand why Riley would want to take her own life. Furthermore, Jesse had no reason to pick Riley up. All the authorities would have found out would be that she was an orphan, and that she had been kicked out of her foster home. Jesse picked Riley up of her own accord. She could have let the situation pan out on its own, and then seen where it had gone from there.
Then we reach the apex. Riley discovers Jesse’s betrayal (‘Ourselves Alone’). After being rescued from the tunnels of the future, she realises she has reached a more hellish Earth, one that she was brought to for her own death like a lamb to the slaughter.
Riley: [Cameron]’s supposed to kill me, right? That’s it, that’s the real plan.
Jesse: That’s absurd.
Riley: No, it’s not. You know I was the only thing that would turn John against her. She’s supposed to kill me. You killed the DCFS, you called my foster parents, you called my school. How could you do that to me?! I trusted you.
I loved you! Riley confronts Jesse. She explains how she knows, and yells at Jesse that she loves her. This could be read as either being a love of friendship, or a love of admiration, but it can also just as easily be read as a romantic love. Or it could be read as all three. They started a friendship, with Riley admiring and looking up to Jesse. Here is a woman who has broken free of the tunnels and is fighting back, both against the machines but against the leadership. Jesse wants more from life, as does Riley. She’s a strong and powerful woman, and she has brought Riley to the world that was and what could still be. Riley has fallen in love with this world, and this love has transferred over to the one who has brought it to her. And now everything is going to be taken away from Riley.
The fight that ensues is a brutal one, and Jesse holds back at first from fighting back. She lets Riley yell and scream. But it seems to be the last remark that breaks her. Riley loves her- or loved her, anyway. It’s not the remark about her death, or Jesse’s betrayal that snaps her into action. It’s Riley’s remarks about losing her trust and love in Jesse. Jesse seems to want to win this back and she yells back.
Jesse: I rescued you! From hell! [...] You could have been beautiful.
This fight is no mere catfight. Punches are thrown, eyes are gouged, and then Riley picks up a broken leg from a table and starts to club Jesse with it. It’s hard and heavy, and, if she had been able, she could have easily killed her. Riley’s not just fighting for her life here- she’s fighting in anguish over the love she has lost. Then Jesse pulls the fatal blow. Kicking open the broken table, she pulls out a gun and shoots Riley in the chest.
Riley barely has a moment to react. She looks down, and she looks equal parts shocked, but also equally relieved that the fight is over. And Jesse? Jesse looks equally shocked. She looks at Riley and falls back on the floor. Later, she is seen sitting in the same apartment, constantly readjusting the lamp that had been knocked over during the fight. She’s lost and confused. Her reason for being- because Riley is essentially her reason for being in the present in the first place- has gone. She has no one to guide, and no one to turn to, to check up on. She goes through the motions until confronted by both John and Derek. After it’s revealed that John would have still sided with Cameron over Riley in the event of the latter’s death, Jesse accepts she has no reason direction for her life anymore. Her fate, however, is left ambiguous. While Derek shoots at her, her fallen body is never seen.
John: If I have to live with this, so do you.
The Fandom
There isn’t much in terms to fandom creations for this pair, but try some of these on and see how they fit.
Fanfic
aelysian -
Could’ve Been Beautiful, PG:13
aelysian -
Delilah, PG:13
aelysian -
Iterations, PG
alixtii -
Some Thing To Watch Over Me, not work safe/no particular rating
Fanmix
finding_jay/me -
A Tattoo On Her Wrist, fic rated PG
Video
SchmackProductions -
Jesse’s Girl