Terminator - the Sarah Connor Chronicles

Amongst the other movies, anime, series, etc, that I have been watching over the last 5 days, I've been chipping away at seasons 1 and 2 of Terminator - the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Interestingly, season 1 is in 9 episodes, while season 2 is some 22 episodes - so considering I paid about $24 for each season, and season 2 is 920 minutes in length, its a pretty good deal! Plus, being a bit of a Terminator fan, it seemed like a good plan!

My main whinge about the entire Terminator series, is the 're-inventing' of people - like John Connor in particular. The series John Connor doesn't really look much like the John Connor's we see in the various movies (Edward Furlong, Nick Stahl, Christian Bale, etc) - and the series Sarah Connor doesn't have the same 'feel' as the Terminator 2 Sarah Connor (ie, Sarah is RIPPED in T2 - not in this tho!).

(and is it just me, or does Christian Bale look like a bad 1980's porn star in this photo? What is going on with that?)

Next issue - 'Cameron'... What happens to her personality? In the first episode, when she first meets John, she is basically 'normal'; there is no inkling of her later 'terminatoresque-social-awkwardness'. Plus, what is going on with that girl's eyes? The more you look at them, the weirder and creepier they get. Maybe thats why she got the part - she has messed up eyes that make her look 'not quite right'?

So, Season 1 - yeah, I dug it... Twas a bit short however. But what I want to know is, how is the T-888, different to the T-800? Is it simply a more 'human' chassis (remembering the T-800 is 'Arnie-sized')? And what model is Cameron? She isn't a T-X; according to Cromartie, she is an 'unknown cyborg'... OK, it doesnt impact at all on the story, but I just want to know; we see a T-600 infiltrator in season 2, we all know 'Arnie' is the classic T-800/-850 from the movies, 'Cromartie' is the first T-888 we see, the 'liquid metal' T-1000 from T2 and T-1001 in series 2, and finally the rather hot T-X from Rise of the Machines. Lets not forget the 'Infiltration Prototype' Sam Worthington thing from Salvation! Does he count tho?

As you'd expect, lots of gun-play, lots of Terminators fighting in the 'Terminators fighting' style - again, quite interesting how these super efficient killing machines have so much trouble killing a handful of under-armed humans with the last name Connor (and Reese), but everyone else doesnt stand a chance!

For me, stuff got more interesting with Season 2 - Shirley Manson shows up! Now I didn't know this was coming, and being a long time Garbage fan, this was cool! OK, Shirley is starting to show her age, but suits the part brilliantly! She's always had a slightly 'devious' streak...

Season 2 is, over all, a better story. We get to know Derek Reese better, see more about the future war and generally discover more about the whole 'Terminator Universe' - we see more and more glimpses of the 'Metal Resistance' (which personally, I wanted to see more of). And the season ends in a fairly unique way - John Connor and 'Shirley' jumping forward to a future where either John Connor has not yet become or never does become 'the legend' - and you get the impression 'Shirley' is a big part of the 'Metal Resistance' (remembering that even Skynet wasn't convinced that the T-1000 and subsequent T-1001 models were 'safe').

Oh and lets not forget, Danny Dyson (Miles Dyson's son, from T2) has been 'missing' for 3 months in the last few episodes - what has become of him and where will he pop up?

Alas, a quick bit of internet research suggests Season 3 was cancelled - so as usual I will not get answers to this stuff. The only hope seems to be a 'TV Movie'; maybe that will wrap a few of these things up.


So, Terminator - the Sarah Connor Chronicles; definately worth a look if you're a Terminator fan: I liked it!... For those who are not, I can't see you getting much out of it!