The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Television, Movies Games and Books Terminator
#81

OK, I finally watched it last night. Some thoughts:

Shirley Manson is scary looking–in a is-her-face-made-of-plastic-covered-with-putty kind of way.

I saw that Shirley Manson’s character was a Terminator (hadn’t been previously spoiled on it) when she started yammering about “they” and “them” while looking down to the street and talking about how the people look orderly from a distance but close-up they aren’t. The fact that she was a T-1000 was a holy shit moment for me and probably was the best moment of the episode.

The episode felt like a series of really contrived vignettes. Too many too convenient things. I think that the writers and producers knew where they wanted to go with the series and they chose to get the storyline to the starting line in a really, really clumsy way, rather than using several episodes to do it. If that is the case, then hopefully the rest of the episodes will be stronger and less clumsy and contrived. If the show continues to stretch my limits of plausibility, then I’m going to have to chuck it. I really enjoyed it a few episodes into the first season and I think it has real potential.

I was disappointed by the Cameron being “bad” storyline. I don’t think it was necessary, frankly. Because of the clumsy way it was resolved it didn’t add anything to the storyline. Even if they go back to it at a later date, there’s no reason they couldn’t have skipped it in this episode. It was a bad choice to include it. It could have been a holy shit storyline if it had continued…but it was resolved too quickly, too implausibly.

I agree that the episode was meh as a whole. I hope that I’m right and it was just a clumsy way to get the show where they want it to be for the storylines that they want to pursue this season.

#82

It was a decent episode. But i gotta say i loved when Sarah was driving the car and gonna try and hit Cameron. Then Cameron stepped aside and pretty much threw the car. I was expecting her to take it head on like the usually do in other movies. Also i thought it was kinda disturbing to see Cameron’s head sticking up between the two trucks.

#83

Oh craaap I missed that part. I was in the kitchen getting dinner. I’ve gotta watch that again.

#84

Its okay, i’m a little tired of the stalking action, but it is terminator, i hope they pull back on action some put more into the characters.

the end of the episode was really what saved it.

i did really like the whole “promise me” thing. , and chro-marties “we’ll see.” after “i’ll never do the devils work.” at the end was a great touch the terminators not just using there muscle to kill, but working a plan. adding some interesting references to faith;

[spoiler]and of coarse the coolest of all the terminators, are back liquid metal, please don’t decapitate me terminator[/spoiler]

Still not sure about Shirley Manson but i haven’t gotten a fair chance to see her act yet. still would be awesome if she does some new music for the show

overall i’m looking forward to the season ahead so i guess the episode did its job.

#85

I don’t know, the story kind of made sense to me. The show has been developing the John/Cameron relationship as John caring for Cameron and then you have her go haywire and see how that relationship could end up biting John in the ass. The part I found most interesting was when Cameron said “I love you”. Was that the haywire Terminator trying to trick John or did she mean what she said? It’ll be interesting to see where they go with that plot line.

I wasn’t expecting the T-1000 and now I’m really hyped to see what happens next.

#86

I wouldn’t say it was a clumsy episode. . .

A great deal of the episode focused on the emotional reactions of the characters. John’s reaction was kindof the primary thread in that story, but all the other characters had their moments as well. It definitely seemed to me as if this was an attempt to add more realism to the story, or maybe to make the characters more real themselves. Though I admit it didn’t seem as well done as it could have been.

The Cameron substory I thought was well done–except for the end. It should have been a multy-episode arc; they just didn’t have enough time to properly end it in one episode. I did understand John’s reactions though. Mostly because, if it were me and a hot terminator had saved my life that many times before (both conditions would have to be met) I wouldn’t be able to resist that last little speech either :slight_smile:

The parts with Shirley were somewhat more cheesy I thought. They didn’t fit the episode at all. . .I suspect they were mostly to setup that this is an emotionally unstable Terminator, which sounds like an oxymoron to me (I admit I’ve not seen all the movies though, maybe that is possible).

Joe

#87

Well. . .I think it was supposed to be a “Bitch!” moment. Specifically, a “OMG! A Bitch Terminator! Is that even possible?!” sort of thing.

Joe

#88

EDIT: THIS IS ABOUT SEASON 2, EPISODE 2. Coffee hasn’'t kicked in yet.

First reaction: Boo.

The thing at the end, the hand-written message: That’s emblematic of what’s wrong with the whole series: Some kind of crazy, flashy stuff that’s done for dramatic value, with little practical value.

And again, to quote Ain’t It Cool: The TV Connors remain 90 IQ points lower than the movie ones. T2 Sarah Connor would never keep dropping John back into high school like that.

Yet I’m still watching.

#89

lastnights ep was def. slower than the 1st ep. of the season… but i wouldnt say it was horrible… i love linda hamilton, but leana just embodies sarah connor to me… ill keep watchn, i has to be a great show… if it fails with all the great stories they could hit, i just dont know what ill do…

#90

Does anyone else think that the lady playing Sarah Conner is really, really bad at this acting thing? She sounds so wooden, practically bored even. River is playing a robot, and she sounds more animated than Sarah Conner! I can’t put my finger on exactly why, but she is just so unconvincing in her delivery.

#91

Interesting feedback. I’m personally enjoying the hell out of it. I wouldn’t change anything so far. Maybe my expectations were just lower to begin with. That’s a blessing I carry to many films and shows which makes my enjoyment factor so much higher than some. Then again, maybe it’s the prozac.

#92

Everything looks better after T3.

#93

have to agree with that comment… everything does l;ook better after T3

#94

Now i only caught the second half of episode 2 im gonna watch the first half today and it might change some things for me, but i think Cameron was acting really weird. The whole taking along time to respond to Sarah’s questioning. I know its probably for dramatic effect but this time it all seemed really lazy. Ill keep watching it cause it looks like some cool things might be happening in the next episode but i hope the writing gets a little better.

#95

This doesn’t add up, but…

I just watched Ocean’s 13 for the first time this week. Somehow, I found all of the impossibly elaborate scheming in Ocean’s 13 more plausible than all the quick maneuvering in this week’s Sarah Chronnoricles. “Let’s get temp jobs in the nuclear plant, fast!!!”

#96

I’m rewatching ep 2 (for the beginning which i missed last night) on Hulu and am surprised to see a very preggers Busy Philips. That makes me happy. I love Busy Philips.

#97

Yeah- how the hell did they get security clearances in one day?! I know that government is slower than the private sector, but gov’t security clearances take MONTHS. And, even using fake IDs and documents, there is no way that they could have been cleared so fast.

#98

I caught the episode on Hulu today. Pretty fair episode. It seemed to me be a set up episode. Sarah with cancer, John Cameron relation, and the T-1000 setting the machines on the pather to take over. One thing I enjoyed in the episode was the music. There was one theme in there that really reminded me of Bear’s work on BSG.

#99

I was a bit disappointed with the T-1000 effects in episode 2. It didn’t look as good as T2.

#100

What really annoyed me was that they never explained how they repaired her chip. Even “modern” microchips would be extremely difficult to repair without specialized equipment; advanced tech from the future? No way. I mean, they didn’t even have the right screwdriver! Are we supposed to assume that they have access to an electron microscope and an array of delicate, complex tools, not to mention the technical skill to repair what’s essentially a tiny supercomputer?

Maybe she could have his baby! And the baby’s blood cures cancer (but only temporarily). And then the kid gets more and more unsettlingly creepy as she grows up.

hmm, that sounds familiar… :stuck_out_tongue:

I wasn’t expecting the T-1000 and now I’m really hyped to see what happens next.

My only issue with the introduction of a T-1000 is that it really highlights the difference in budget between TV and movies. The most recent episode had probably the worst morphing I’ve seen since the mid-'80s.

Yeah, what’s up with that? Is learning algebra and conversational French really going to help him become the savior of humanity?

Agreed. I think she’s trying so hard to affect an American accent that she forgets to act…

I noticed that as well. I almost was thinking that I missed something to explain why she was acting like that. To me it seemed like there was a delay; my original theory was that she was under some sort of remote control (possibly by the T-1000?), thereby causing a delay in her reaction times. But now I’m not so sure…

Unless, of course, they knew someone with a supercomputer in her head. :rolleyes: