A bit more on TSCC
The S2 pacing was weird. I mean, I suppose that's life, to some extent, but it feels like the writers had a theme and a destination and then realized they were going to have to vamp a bunch in between. I don't know; I just feel like the whole Riley/Jesse arc took longer than it needed to, given that it was really only oriented toward cutting John off even further, and I would rather have seen what's happening now happen a while back. Maybe I'm just feeling cheated because I doubt we'll get an S3 and I wish I could've seen more of the effect and less of the cause.
Other random thoughts:
-- I went back and read the story of Samson, and you know, it's kind of weird. He reminds me of Hercules' more jerkish brother; really strong, not very bright, and forever running around doing dumb and/or destructive things. At least Hercules occasionally felt bad about it afterward.
Anyway, it just feels off somehow to me, less Biblical and more mythological. Maybe it's just that Judges isn't a book I was ever very familiar with, and if I were introduced at this age to the story of Jacob I'd feel the same way. (Though having read much of Judges now, both Deborah and Yael are awesome, in considerably different ways. I kind of want to marry a Jewish guy so I can name a daughter Yael without feeling like a complete poseur. Okay, I wouldn't do that--"honey, you're named after a woman who killed a guy with a tent peg!"--but it's tempting.)
I also find it interesting that Delilah gets the secret out of Samson and then... well, presumably gets paid a significant sum of money and goes off to enjoy her life. Not a lick of Godly punishment for Delilah in Judges. I guess that'll show Samson for being an idiot.
-- So Catherine is the eel (as I saw pointed out elsewhere, there's even a visual reference in Today Is the Day Part 2 when the liquid metal that may or may not be Catherine leaves the Jimmy Carter). But the eel makes me remember the animals from Allison from Palmdale, too, which makes me wonder: How are Catherine and Cameron connected? On the one hand, Cameron has underlying programming that directs her to kill John Connor--programming that Catherine appears to lack, or at least not be particularly interested in. So I don't think Cameron is working for Catherine. But Cameron did tell Allison that not all of the machines wanted to destroy humanity, in a way that leads one to believe that she might be part of that contingent. So... I don't know. I wonder if they're connected in some way.
-- Was Sarah trying to get herself shot at the end there? I mean, she must have been--she can't possibly have thought she was going to make it through that gauntlet and escape on foot. Stop trying to leave your son, Sarah! He's crazy enough as it is, and at the moment his entire emotional support system consists of a robot and his wacky ex-neighbor Kacey, were he to stop by randomly and say Hi to her. And then get her killed, as he does.