TSCC 2.11: Self Made Man

[parallactic]

This is the real episode 2.11. I'd previously misnumbered the ep commentaries.

This show tells stories in an elliptical way, instead of linearly. It covers the same ground, but it adds more. Although sometimes it makes it feel like it's not getting anywhere.

• Cameron:
  The show's still ambiguous over whether Cameron has empathy, emotions, or interact with people as people instead of in terms of the mission and blending in. I liked the second look at Cameron interacting with someone who doesn't know she's a machine. It does feel like the show's treading old ground, since it went there in Ep 2.04 Allison from Palmdale. Except this time Cameron didn't strangle her new friend, and was actually trying to be helpful and friendly. She still came off as weird and violent.
  
  Also, Eric the disabled librarian, has the patience of a saint to put up with her even if she does bring free donuts, excitement and mystery in his life. If the last scene hadn't happened, where Cameron gave the donuts to the new girl in the exact same manner as Eric, then I'd say that Cameron has developed compassion and can get attached to people who aren't related to her mission. I can see the donuts as a form of bribery, and the conversation as a way to blend in with humans. But she also did unnecessary things outside of the goal of getting information. She asked about whether he thought of dying, she told him about his cancer, she shared information about herself, she taught him how to shoot a gun, and she carried him up the stairs. All of those things point to enjoying his company. Unfortunately, a lot of her behavior freaks out normal people. She's like a small kid who hasn't learned the socialization rules: she doesn't know she can't blurt out serious things like how his cancer is back, or that public bathrooms are sex-segregated and not the place to bring up thoughts of suicide, or how to leave and arrive.
  
  Anyway, I hope that we see Cameron applying what Eric told her to her interactions with the Connors, and with the next friend she makes. That is, if she doesn't self-destruct. I read a comment that in one ep Cameron was researching suicide, and in this ep she talks about dying and how her damaged chip is like having a ticking time bomb. I'm pretty sure that she's borrowing Sarah's words in 2.02 (?), but it was also the same ep where she drew the comparison between Sarah's fear of cancer and her damaged chip.
  
• Flashbacks:
  I liked the way the flashbacks to the 1920s were interwoven with Cameron and Eric's speculations over what happened. Also, the Roaring 20s are one of my favorite eras, so I'm glad we got to see this. I don't quite see the point in this ep, since we already know that terminators are relentless and won't quit until they accomplish the job. I wonder if the mayor? governor? will show up in later eps, now that 1920s!Terminator didn't kill him.
  
• John and Riley:
  First off, I don't get the Riley hate. I thought she was pretty interesting now that we know she's a time traveler. I know she behaved badly in this ep what with tricking John into joining the party, and refusing to admit that she stole the guy's lighter. If she was a normal teenage girl then it would be exasperating, but she's a) a teenage girl who grew up during the robot apocalypse, b) freaking out that she's surrounded by soon to be dead people, c) has some mission involving the young version of the legendary John Connor who may lose his marbles in the future. I do not think she's taking too well to civilian life in the past. I can see how she thinks her actions don't have consequences, since 98% of the people she's surrounded by have already died in her timeline.
  
  I don't see how it's all that different from John having the weight of the world on his shoulders, and then acting out like a typical teenage delinquent. Although I think their delinquency and rebellious behavior is gendered. Riley steals, manipulates and lies, parties, and goes around with weird loner guys. John gets into fights, cuts classes and may have even dropped out, runs away, and sneaks girls into his room. (Although some delinquency I don't see as gendered, since both can cut classes, run away, and manipulate. But violence is usually gendered as male troubled behavior, and shoplifting and dating bad boys is usually gendered as female troubled behavior.)
  
• Also, John disturbed me in this ep. I think he went too far when he started beating up that guy in the party. It was fine when he pulled the guy away from Riley (who apparently doesn't have the fighting/defense skills to get away from someone), and I could understand a punch or two in the heat of the moment. But it was too much when John still punched the guy when he was down on the floor. It was also obvious that John outmatched the guy in fighting experience and skill, so it could never have been a fair fight. The context was all wrong; they're at a party, not a battlefield type of place like a dystopic future or a riot, and they're suburban teenagers not violent crooks or fighters.
  
  That disturbs me more than Cameron cavalierly carrying a gun around and fighting the terminator. Cameron doesn't know better, while John does. Cameron was fighting a terminator who matched her in skill and strength, so it's two combatants fighting each other.
  
  I think the big difference is that Cameron is in a combat zone (or that the terminator default views the world as a combat zone), while John's in a civilian zone. John's beating up of the party guy is another sign that he has PTSD, and might not know how to turn off all the things that make him ready for unexpected combat, but make him a violent weird loner guy in civilian life. I also thought the scene in the library where Cameron dropped the gun was a reminder of just how disturbing, and nonchalantly violent terminators are.
  
• I also think there are parallels to John failing to fit in with a group of teenagers, and Cameron being such a bad friend to Eric. Riley doesn't seem to fit in too well in her foster home, either.
  
• I hope the next ep has more Sarah in it to make up for only giving her a cameo in this one.