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RSS'Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' brings back Charley
Sarah and company left their home tonight on "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." She and John went to spend the night in a lighthouse. Lighthouses are of course your basic nondescript abode, the kind of place in which you can lay low and not be noticed. A lighthouse naturally is the exact right place to stay if you're hiding from the world.
Okay, so Sarah didn't bring John there because it was subtle, she apparently has had it as a safe house for a while. Plus, Charley was there. Sarah, I think, still kinda liked Charley, but her meeting up with him again on purpose further destroyed any attempt on her part to hide. Charley may not want to give up intel on Sarah, but when a Terminator asks a question, people tend to answer. Were Charley to ever have been captured after seeing Sarah it could have been an issue.
Ridiculous Sarah, she didn't bother telling Derek that she and John were heading to the lighthouse, because she didn't "trust him anymore." Did Derek screw up? Definitely. Did he annoy me? Certainly. Should he be punished? Unquestionably. Can he still do a better job protecting Sarah and John and keeping their secrets than Charley? Without a shadow of a doubt. Shutting him out only hurts her and John.
Who knows, maybe Sarah really stayed at the lighthouse because it was near her doctor's. Sarah had the lump in her breast examined tonight. Guess what? Not cancer, it was a cystic mass that formed around a piece of metal with a tiny wire -- a transmitter. People were not only following her but the rest of the gang too.
So, you're right, having a nice subtle house wouldn't have made much of a difference, but that still doesn't excuse Sarah's choice of hidey-hole. And, just because John used a boat to escape, a boat that they wouldn't have been able to use if they weren't at a lighthouse (or somewhere else with a dock) still didn't make it a good place to hide. Maybe if Sarah hadn't chosen that place, Charley wouldn't have died defending John.
Enough of that though, Savannah gave John Henry a bad idea tonight, a very bad idea. Savannah suggested to John Henry that he "change the rules" of the game he was playing. I guess that thought never struck John Henry before, because once he did change the rules the lights went dark and John Henry started acting all crazy, talking in a different voice, asking "what is this all about," and hurting Savannah. I instantly thought that John Henry somehow woke up Cromartie.
I was wrong, it turned out John Henry's daemons were going wonky and the rule changing was just a coincidence. Some intelligence from the outside apparently hacked the computer system and toyed with the Terminator. That definitely suggested a certain amount of knowledge from someone on the outside, but I still wasn't convinced that John Henry didn't initiate the whole thing by somehow changing the rules of his life.
They turned John Henry off, but I think that only gave him a Jesus-complex, because when they turned him back on he wrote on a computer screen "My God, why hast thou forsaken me." If you're biblically inclined you know that is something Jesus said on the cross (quoting, I think, Psalms 22). John Henry, was clearly biblically inclined, because he referenced being brought back to life once they hooked him back up to the net.
As it turned out, John Henry was not the sole son of God though, the worm that got him was a kindred spirit, born of the same base code. That would be base code written by some dude over at Cyberdyne Systems... Miles Dyson. How's that for a name we haven't heard in a long time? I love it when they reference stuff like that.
Bits and pieces:
- Last week I wondered if Jesse knew she was pregnant before Cameron told her. That was still up in the air tonight, but it was very clear that Derek had no idea about it until Cameron told him.
- There was also a moment tonight where Derek got captured and Cameron almost did, but it blew over very quickly. It was almost as though that was supposed to be a far larger part of the storyline but got cut to a couple of quick scenes.
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This is a very good show. It is well written. Well cast. Well acted. Well produced. Really.
Unfortunately, it's just not a broadcast television show that will attract a huge audience. And that's just sad. Because it is a high quality series that deserves to be shown on TV.
If it were on another network on a different night at a different airtime, it would have a small-to-medium size viewership and a very loyal following.
Essentially, it is a character drama with a m***ively interesting overarching plot. But the slow pacing and intricate storylines would be a better fit on a cable network. One could say it's similar to Battlestar Galactica in many respects.
I do hope that FOX picks it up for a third season as the first two have not been able to fully capitalize on the strengths of the show. The first was affected by the WGA strike. The second has been an experiment to find its footing and focus.
Learning from works and doesn't, I can only imagine how awesome a potential third season the series would be.
You didn't mention that the worm/John Henry considered themselves brothers, and when Cameron was fried the lackey that tried to get her chip out was being given how-to instructions, when asked how the instructor knew about the chip he said he got the info from his brother - indicating the voice was John Henrys "brother" (the Cyberdyne code)...also when Derek asked Cameron why she rescued him she said so he wouldn't give up John's location and indicated that Derek had done so before (been broken by torture and given up John)...
I agree with Gina, I was about to comment on all of the important elements that were left out of this recap. Last weeks recap was good, this one seemed phone in, almost like you watched the Cliff Notes version of the show this week. It's very important, almost to the shows basic mythology that we realize that "there is a change a coming". The lump Sarah found was a tracker implanted when she was captured a couple of weeks back. It's important to note that her abduction, as well as this weeks attacks were all implemented by this unseen, "brother". It is also now evident that something that has been hinted at for several episodes now seems to be apparent. Weaver has competition. This competition has been hotter on John and Sarah's coattails than Weaver can even begin to claim. John Henry's "brother" has orchestrated many of the plot elements for a large portion of this season. He/it has lurked in the shadows, but it appears he/it may have a great deal to do with the season, hopefully not series, finale. Further, I think you focused a little too much on the lighthouse, who cares where they were, it was completely superfluous to anything involving the plot. I don't think Sara's distrust is ridiculous at all. It has kept her and John alive long before Derek arrived on the scene. That statement about her trust seems all the more off base when you consider what Cameron said to Derek after she rescued him. She strongly hinted that he had given John up before. Sorry for the criticism, I just felt that if I had not seen the show and had only read your recap, I would have missed out on elements that may possibly alter the entire course of the show as we know it.
One last thing to add to my comments above. Considering the "brother" wanted to separate Cameron's chip from her body leads me to wonder what he wanted. Did he need the chip to study or the body to insert himself into. I guess it could be either or it could be both. It does prove how incredibly dangerous it is to have terminators walking around. They can be captured and reprogramed or even swapped out. John has done it many times in the future. I'm sure they've all but given up on stopping the coming apocolypse, but if they haven't, any terminator in the past is a potential threat and could also birth Skynet. The unfortunate lesson is that it is too dangerous to have them around at all.
I always read these recaps after watching terminator, normally getting some sort of insight into something I may have thought differently about.
This weeks recap.... was just that, a recap of what happened, rushed through and with a few key points blotted out. Not good.
Looks like I'm gathering all data from the commenters this week round.
Gina, I got that too about the information coming from 'the brother'... so John Henry gave information before being shut down?
And I'm glad we're getting to know a bit more about Cameron and the future, like her hint about Derek being broken and giving up John's saftey in the future. I definitely think that's what she was getting at. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out, with the rumours going round about Derek dying.
cgreen, thank you for your recap and pov :) The fact that this was the episode that started tying up past season events was a huge point glossed over in the official recap.
Sorry, Josh L***er.
Yes, thank you cgreen. I missed tonight's episode, and your comments were most appreciated. =)
Why the fixation on the lighthouse? And the silly poll about it?
Having watched most of the ep, I felt like it was a slow, boring filler with a few interesting bits sprinkled here and there, until it picked up towards the end. cgreen's commentary however, added more layers in the narrative that I had missed, so thanks for that.
Nevertheless, the flow of the episode could have been improved through faster pacing and less moodiness and unnecessary flashbacks. The show needs to not only keep its audience, but attract new viewers.
yeah, this episode was a bit disjointed---but i like the show and look forward to new episodes each week.
i live out here in So Cal, pretty close to LA, and i don't know of any lighthouses in this area.