The Sarah Connor Chronicles

[selenak]

So now I have another Fox show with a renewal to fret about. Let's forget dangerous precedents for the moment, though, and celebrate a splendid first season. Unspoilery, I can say that what impressed me most and hit my narrative kinks is the ensembleness of it all. This show has a knack for a) giving its regulars interesting personalities and

Comments

[danel4d]

Also I loved that the way Sarah's ending monologues are outright subverted by the scenes they play over, such as the dancing Cameron bit you've already mentioned, and before that how Sarah quotes about the Machines being emotionless killers without pity, as we see Derek kill Andy without hesitation.

So who was the little girl, anyway? Sarkissian's daughter, or just a random someone's kid? If she was his kid, it adds something to his deliberately bombing Sarah's 'daughter'.

Apparently a few of the subplots from this season were cut out for lack of time - a lot of the school-based stuff was barely developed, but enough to be intriguing. I mean, what was going on with the graffiti? Was the counsellor having an affair with the suicide girl, and did Cameron realise this as she seemed to? What's going on with that Cheri girl? I just hope Morris' crush on Cameron doesn't end with him getting killed.

Oh, and I also liked how Cameron's chip just looked obviously more 'advanced' than VIck's chip

[selenak]

So who was the little girl, anyway? Sarkissian's daughter, or just a random someone's kid? If she was his kid, it adds something to his deliberately bombing Sarah's 'daughter'.

I think she has to be Sarkissian's daughter, given that she said her father works in the wi fi bar, plus she was waiting in his office. The question is, does he know Cameron is not human? He could have figured it out if security footage shows her destroying a wall with her fists. Otherwise he has to believe she's human and indeed Sarah's daughter, and yeah, that adds something.

High School subplots: presumably we'll find out in the next season (which has to come!)? Because yes, a lot of unanswered questions.

I just hope Morris' crush on Cameron doesn't end with him getting killed. Same here. Mind you, it's possible that the next season starts with all of them moving elsewhere and start anew under different names while John is repairing Cameron, in which case Morris will be spared but we also won't see him again. Derek and Sarah made a pretty good case

[ticketsonmyself]

So who was the little girl, anyway? Sarkissian's daughter, or just a random someone's kid? If she was his kid, it adds something to his deliberately bombing Sarah's 'daughter'.Sarkissian's daughter. She says her daddy's in the cafe when Sarah asks post-shooting, and Sarkissian turns out to be the guy who stopped Sarah and Cameron in the first netcafe scene so Sarah could pay him the admission fee. The man whose head Sarah slammed into the counter and who hit the button under the counter so fake-Sarkissian in the back of the cafe knew she was coming. Although I think Sarkissian couldn't know just who was going to be in the jeep when the ignition would be turned on (thereby setting off the bomb, I thought) - it was happenstance that it was Cameron and not John and Sarah, who were talking about going out for dinner

[cofax7]

it's extremely unlikely a live minefield in the U.S. wouldn't be under some heavy fencing and protection in the first place.

Yup. They don't, in fact, have live minefields in the US, so far as I know. There's no training-related reason to do it. There are former live-fire training ranges with unexploded ordnance on them, and those are either cleaned up or under serious security to prevent anyone coming onto them. (Although there is an urban legend about some guy and his new 4WD and an open range in South Carolina...) My suspenders-of-disbelief broke at that scene: such a field doesn't exist, and if it did, you certainly couldn't just drive right up to it.

And the only way it even remotely makes sense in terms of character is if Sarah figured the open field was already clear and left him there to make him sweatWhich is still a fairly awful fate, if the guy honestly thinks he's going to die with every step he takes. And it's supposed to be a closed military base, so presumably nobody's coming by to rescue him anytime soon

[wee_warrior]

Guy in the minefield: I was hoping they went back for him and got him out of there after busting the Brian Bloom Termniator, but yeah, strange and overtly cruel, and if they actually left him there, certainly not making Sarah a better person for not killing him outright.

I'm still getting used to Garrett Dillahunt as a Terminator, given that the last time I've seen him he played Jesus (he always seems to oscillate between very saintly and completely sociopathic.).

And I've still haven't seen Episodes 5-9 yet, so it was a bit risky reading this, but I'm glad Ellison made it! *g*

[selenak]

Episodes 5-9 are excellent, so you've got a treat ahead of you.*g*

Thomas Dekker aside, I haven't seen any of the actors before, so I don't have any moments of dissociation myself...

[wee_warrior]

Didn't you watch Deadwood? Garrett Dillahunt even played two roles on that - the guy who killed Buffalo Bill in the first season, and Francis Wolcott in the second. And he played that Keyser Soze clone Roman on Life. You also know Charley's wife, she plays Penny on Lost. And Derek used to be on Beverly Hills 90210, but admittedly, he changed quite a bit. ;)

[selenak]

Never saw Beverly Hills 90210, but yes, I watched Deadwood. Huh. That was him? And, err, Roman was bathed in shining light all the time, so that's my alibi?

[violaswamp]

Do you have to be familiar with the Terminator movies to watch the show? Because I don't want to watch the movies, but the show sounds like fun.

[selenak]

No, you can watch without the movies (though I think it couldn't hurt to look up the summaries of the first two at Wikipedia); the background info which you absolutely do need is given in the show itself. (And they usually do it in a clever way, i.e. the scenes have another purpose, not just info dumping - for example, in the pilot an FBI agent is interrogating Sarah's ex, and the scene has the dual purpose of telling the not-movie-knowing viewers something about Sarah's previous life and showing the knowing audience what both the agent and the ex - new characters - are like.)

[danel4d]

Not at all - I've never seen the movies before either, and I love the show. From comments on some forums, having seen the movies may almost be a disadvantage - some the more... ah, less-complicated... fans of the movies appear to be continually disappointed and surprised that a tv series is unable to match the budget of fights and explosions that a blockbuster movie could.

[kskitten]

Grr, comment got deleted...
So, what tried to say: very clever points you made there. IMHO, this show is the best thing currently on TV. Who'd have thunk we'd get these kind of strong female leads without Joss involved? Liked how Derek commented on that during the last ep: Why are the girls inside and the boys stay outside? Sarah always had to step up to take care of her son but now she has become a true leader also in battle which is acknowldged by the others even though they omit certain things from her. She is really becoming what future John saw in her.
Here's hoping for very many future seasons!

[ticketsonmyself]

Now that Simpson is dead, I want him to be partnered with Audrey in a Heroes crossover. Pretty please? (Also, if a Terminator kills Sylar during said crossover, I would not mind at all.)

I was sad that Greta Simpson died, but very glad that Ellison got to stare into the eyes of the Dillahuntinator and live - if Ellison had died, I would really have had to rethink my opinion of the show. I'm looking forward to finding out why Ellison wasn't killed, should the series be renewed; people have already come up with some interesting theories.

Re: Heroes crossover with Audrey Hanson & James Ellison partnership - if anyone writes this, I will give you cupcakes. Or at least promote the fic far and wide to all applicable communities! I am so serious. I love Audrey endlessly; there's a fantastic Audrey vid here which deserves as much love as it can get. And I second the death-to-Sylar-by-Terminator request!

Since there is no way they're going to let go of Summer Glau, I expect moral dilemma and John and Sarah arguing about the use of just the

[selenak]

I'm looking forward to finding out why Ellison wasn't killed, should the series be renewed; people have already come up with some interesting theories.

I'm very curious myself. The sinister explanation would be that this Terminator knows Ellison will in some way contribute (unwillingly, of course) to the rise of Skynet and therefore has to remain alive for the time being. I've seen people state that maybe he just ran out of ammunition, but really - he could have broken Ellison's neck, ripped his guts out, etc. That was a very deliberate action. Very dark horse theory: since this is the first time we see one of the Skynet-controlled Terminators spare a human life, and Sarah's voice-overs made a point about the lack of hesitation or pity in a Terminator, could it be that a Terminator other than Cameron is also making tiny steps to developing Skynet-independent awareness?

Re: Heroes crossover with Audrey Hanson & James Ellison partnership - if anyone writes this, I will give you cupcakesHere's hoping. I love Audrey to bits, too, and

[ticketsonmyself]

The sinister explanation would be that this Terminator knows Ellison will in some way contribute (unwillingly, of course) to the rise of Skynet and therefore has to remain alive for the time being. I've seen people state that maybe he just ran out of ammunition, but really - he could have broken Ellison's neck, ripped his guts out, etc. That was a very deliberate action. Very dark horse theory: since this is the first time we see one of the Skynet-controlled Terminators spare a human life, and Sarah's voice-overs made a point about the lack of hesitation or pity in a Terminator, could it be that a Terminator other than Cameron is also making tiny steps to developing Skynet-independent awareness?Yeah, I'm willing to subscribe to the sinister theory. Although - since the timeline has probably already changed, it's possible Ellison would have contributed to the development of Skynet in the timeline this Terminator came from, but things have already changed enough / will continue to change enough that Ellison won't in this timeline. But

[ticketsonmyself]

I love Audrey to bits, too, and if no one else writes it within the next six months, I just might. (I have alas a full time table before that.)

That would be amazing. *anticipates*

The thing is, if you have a time machine, you can go back and give yourself the time to build and create.

True.

Incidentally, Sarkissian's daughter made me briefly wonder whether she wouldn't grow up and provide the physical model for Cameron. After all, we've seen a male Terminator model himself after a living human now (well, not living much longer human, but you know what I mean).

Yes, I've seen someone else making that connection, too.

Another thing: if Skynet ceated Cameron, then Cameron helping Sarah and Present!John means she's preventing her own creation. Now if she is reprogrammed with the equivalent of Asimov's rules that's not so relevant since obedience comes before self preservation, but there is also a paradox - if she is never created, she can't travel back in time to help the Connors, either. Which I think is why Cameron keeps remains