The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2 Review
It's not a secret that I seriously disliked the pilot episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I never understood, even to this day, why people have been so thrilled with how the series opened up. I've tried to rewatch the pilot several times and each time it gets worse and worse for me. I'm not going to go into details why because I don't want to waste time on the pilot since I'm going to talk about season 2 but I saw a lot of problems with the pilot. In short, I thought the first episode of TSCC was utterly awful and I honestly thought that was going to be the end of the series. Then Brian Austin Green showed up on the series and I thought it was going to solidify the end of Terminator. I admit, I wasn't a supporter of Green's casting. Now that I've gotten all of that out of the way; executive producer Josh Friedman and Brian Austin Green made me eat my words and look like an idiot because The Sarah Connor Chronicles has turned out to be one of my favorite television shows.
Normally I like to give new television shows that I am initially interested in a chance to prove themselves and let everything settle in before I stop watching. Although I can't stand the pilot episode, I still wanted to give it a chance for two reasons; one because it's the Terminator, second I really did feel like they tried to make a good pilot but just failed. So I stayed on to watch the second episode and to my surprise, I was very much into what was going on. The second episode had a lot of character developments and moments with a solid story and dialog to back it up, so at that point I said they might be onto something here. From there on each episode got better and better but to my dismay, Brian Austin Green showed up and I couldn't understand why someone would cast him in a Terminator television show, especially when his character is the brother of Michael Biehn's Kyle Reese. David Silver as a hardened soldier? I just didn't see it working. After about 30 second of Green being on screen portraying Derek Reese I was convinced that he was an awesome addition to the cast. I officially apologize to Green for being a hater at first and congratulate him on being a seriously cool character and actor. I also hate you for dating Megan Fox for obvious reasons. After seeing a couple of episodes of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I was glad that we had a good show on our hands but I think what locked me in was the character moment that John and Derek had at the end of the first season. The scene when Derek shows John his father when he was just a kid; that scene played out soo well.
As I said, each episode of TSCC has gotten better and better. They've been more exciting, more action packed and has some fantastic character moments and growth. It hasn't stopped yet because the first episode of Season 2 Samson & Delilah turned out to be better than all of season 1, if you can believe that. I even think it was better than the Derek Reese centric episode Dungeons & Dragons which is a fan favorite. To sum it all up, each episode so far has raised the bar for the next episode. So here we are at the start of the second season and if you can't tell yet, I absolutely loved how the season opener turned out.
Likes:
- I'm a firm believer in any action oriented television series that the season opener and finale should both enter and exit with a bang. From the moment it opened it ran all the way through to the end. Action, suspense, major drama and major changes; you can't ask for more in a season opener.
- The character development for John Connor played masterfully by Thomas Dekker was pretty incredible. Consider the fact that it all took place in one day. John woke up as a kid on his birthday, depressed and whiny in a sense; the way he was all season. At the end of the day, he cuts his hair and looks like a young Christian Bale ready to kick machine ass or become Batman. On that note, did anyone else get the impression that John killed Sarkissian and not Sarah, the person who they made it out to be?
- Some people might think it was lame that Summer Glau's Terminator character Cameron told John that she loves him but I really like that development. Why? Because she's a machine, how can she love anything? I really want to see where this goes. That scene was also kind of heartbreaking... but that's because Summer is hot and I'd be fooled by her hotness. So does Cameron love John or was she just using her female ways (programing) and her understanding of John's attraction and sense of responsiblity towards her to fool him. We already know that Cameron is different some how. Lets see what happens.
- S2E1 had a lot of Terminator 2: Judgement Day nods to it, probably for obvious reasons that I'll talk about next. For starters; Cameron telling Sarah to "call to John" and Sarah smiling. She had a look on her face that said "haven't I've been through this before". Also, when Cameron was walking through the streets damaged looking for the Connors, it had a very T2esque style of shooting. It reminded me of Robert Patrick's T-1000 in the mall. I loved how it looked.
- Of course the biggest surprise of the episode turned out to be Shirley Manson's character Catherine Weaver. I didn't see it coming at all. I'll be honest, I didn't like her character at first and it's not because she plays a bitch of a woman. I just thought she was wasting good Sarah, John, Derek and Cameron time. Well I was wrong because she's a T-1000 or from what I've been reading a T-1001. The best thing about the reveal was that she had a Robert Patrick way about her. I don't know if that was her intention but it looked great.
- Last is the overall fact that everybody looks very comfortable in there roles. Lena Headey is a fantastic Sarah, Thomas Dekker is excellent as John, Brian Austin Green kicks major ass as a Reese and Summer Glau has done an amazing and a tremendous improvement as the Terminator from the pilot to the current episodes. I also can't forget Richard T. Jones excellent performance as James Ellison, Dean Winters as Charlie Dixon, Garret Dillahunt as Cromartie (the Terminator), and Shirley Manson as the T-1001.
Dislikes:
- The episode clearly lacked Ellison, Dixon and Reese even if they had some kind of a presence. HOWEVER I understand there is only so much you can do in a television episode, so realistically this dislike doesn't even belong here. So other than that, I don't have anything really to add to dislikes.
Obviously I hated the season premiere.....
Seriously, Samson & Delilah turned out to be a fantastic premiere overall not just for the series itself but as a television show in general. It will never get the recognition it deserves because it's science fiction and you all know how that fits in with award season but we as fans should be blown away by the opener and I'm sure as hell pleased. The biggest fear of course is the ratings. Thankfully it came out second in its time slot for the premiere, so with luck it will stay solid and FOX will continue the series and give us more seasons. It would also be a great double promotion for Terminator Salvation due out this summer.
Do the series a favor and start telling your friends about it. It's a fantastic show and I'm thrilled I stuck with it past the pilot. I'm looking very forward to the second episode and the third, fourth, fifth and so on. I doubt the next episode is going to be more action oriented but it doesn't matter when the it's a character based series. I also want to give kudos to the new opening. On to episode two....
Automatic for the People: This is going to be quick. The second episode followed Sarah, Cameron and Derek at a nuclear power-plant undercover trying to stop a plot which isn't all that clear that Skynet is trying to accomplish. In short, it's a good episode but it isn't as big as the premiere, as expected, but a lot does happen.
In the episode, the new series regular Leven Rambin was introduced playing Riley. She's obviously a potential girlfriend for John. John since the pilot is definitely become different and more independent. He also looks more alone than ever especially knowing what he knows and who he's going to be. Both Dekker and Rambin have a nice chemistry together and because of this you can see John pulling away from his mother and everyone else for that matter. He's becoming who he's meant to be it seems like. That was shown when he told Cameron he doesn't have to answer to anyone and it was also shown when he basically told his mother he's going to live out his life the way he wants, but not in so many words. I think this relationship is going to lead to an interesting season and I'm willing to be she's the character that's going to get killed in the end. It just makes sense to me and would add more drama to the John character.
Well that's all I really wanted to say about episode two. On to episode three... and when the series finale comes, I'll make sure to post my thoughts on that.
-Phil
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I wasn’t a real big fan of the show, but since Leven is in it now I’ll be watching!
I thought the 2nd season opener had enough cool Summer Glau moments to overcome the corners the writers had painted themselves in. The second episode of the season was a lot better.
Having outed Manson as a T1000 style from the get go, to my mind, puts her to the top of the list of who gets wacked by the end of the season.
Seems clear to me, given John freed himself first and the way Sarah behaved later in the episode, that John did kill Sarkissian. And it was a rite of passage. I think the writers didn’t lay that out explicitly because it’s not politically correct that killing a man would be a boy’s path to adulthood and the responsibility of power. (Though, anthropologically speaking, a common right of passage in tribal human societies.)
I suspect that John’s new girlfriend hails from the future. What makes me say this is her use of the anachronistic phrase `You’re all carrots and apples’ and explaining that as meaning `happy things.’ A strong hint she’s from a war-riven future. And she’s very vague about her parents and personal life. The question is then, what faction does she represent? If she’s a resistance fighter like Derek why not reveal herself? What agenda is she hiding? Could it even be that she’s somehow in league with the machines?
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