Topic: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon

[Tom]

a episode selection menu is missing entirely

Not even a pop-up menu during the running of the episode, how they like to do with Blu-ray releases?

[Tom]

But, a new mystery came up for me already (missed something again ). Whose (empty) apartment did they visit to pick up the money? It appeared as if they knew the person, but somehow I must have missed them mentioning the name .

It's the apartment of the dead resistance fighters from the beginning of the episode.

while it became more obvious to me that Headey was playing Sarah a bit different then Linda Hamilton in T2.

When I remember correctly, Lena Headey said in the special features, that she never saw the Terminator movies and the performance of Linda Hamilton.

[Tom]

2. Gnothi Seauton (2008-01-14)
Writer: Josh Friedman (Created By), Josh Friedman (Writer), James Cameron (Original Characters By), Gale Anne Hurd (Original Characters By)
Director: David Nutter
Cast: Lena Headey (Sarah Connor), Thomas Dekker (John Connor), Summer Glau (Cameron), Richard T. Jones (Agent James Ellison), Sonya Walger (Michelle Dixon), Tony Amendola (Enrique Salceda), Jesse Garcia (Carlos), Omid Abtahi (Sumner), Sasha Roiz (Police Officer), Jonathan Sadowski (Sayles), Dean Winters (Charley Dixon), Brian Allen (Highway Guy), Ambrit Millhouse (Receptionist), Sabrina Perez (Chola), John Henry Whitaker (Chet), Lisa Wilhoit (Sales Assistant)

After the pilot episode, I had feared that they couldn't hold, what the pilot episode promised. Because it is hard to have as much action as in the pilot on a television budget and time constraints. Unlike in a pilot, where usually the budget is higher.
So I knew going in, that the action will be probably be toned down for the rest of the series, but I am glad to see, that they could still provide some action while keeping the story interesting.
But one peeve I have about this episode:
They made it perfectly clear in the movies, and even made a big point about it in the pilot episode, that only living tissue could travel through time. This is why they sent back guys from the future, to build weapons and a time machine to hide it in the bank vault, and why they arrive naked in the future. But why was the Terminator metalic skeleton sent through time?
And I also didn't like it, that the skeleton walked around without a head. For one thing, as far as remember, the CPU of the Terminators is in the head. And for another thing, I had always had the impression, that they had visual perception only through the eyes.
I found it ridiculous and unnecessary. They could have just kept his head and the body together. The reason for these obvious errors was, that they wanted to send the Terminator back in time for the series, but at the time of shooting the second episode, they had replaced the actor. So they couldn't send the Terminator back in one piece (living tissue intact) because they didn't have the original actor available and they had to find a way to have the Terminator looking for another human "suit".

Rating:

[Tom]

3. The Turk (2008-01-21)
Writer: Josh Friedman (Created By), John Wirth (Writer), James Cameron (Original Characters By), Gale Anne Hurd (Original Characters By)
Director: Paul Edwards
Cast: Lena Headey (Sarah Connor), Thomas Dekker (John Connor), Summer Glau (Cameron), Richard T. Jones (Agent James Ellison), Brendan Hines (Andy Goode), Jesse Garcia (Carlos), Adam Godley (The Scientist), Bernard White (Sarah's Doctor), Charlayne Woodard (Terissa Dyson), Kristina Apgar (Cheri Westin), Catherine Dent (Agent Greta Simpson), Alessandra Torresani (Jordan), Floriana Lima (Franny), David Ortiz (Guy #1), Sabrina Perez (Chola), Keith Pillow (Mr. Bianchi), Bashir Salahuddin (Security Guard - School), Tiya Sircar (Zoey), Cameron Van Hoy (Guy #2)

I like the school scenes. And that they did not heroicly save the girl from suicide. If they would have done that, the show would have probably become a "problem at school"-of-the-week kind of show.
But I still hate the storyline, where the Terminator is organizing his new skin: Give a scientist a formula and he will grow you a new body in a day.
Instead this ridiculous storyline, it would have been better to just let the change of the actor be unexplained. Changes in cast between the pilot and a series are not that uncommon and would have been tolerable to have this unexplained.

Rating:

[Achim]

Not even a pop-up menu during the running of the episode, how they like to do with Blu-ray releases?

I forgot, I may not have checked that but I will. However, it's at least not reachable through the Top Menu.

They made it perfectly clear in the movies, and even made a big point about it in the pilot episode, that only living tissue could travel through time. This is why they sent back guys from the future, to build weapons and a time machine to hide it in the bank vault, and why they arrive naked in the future. But why was the Terminator metalic skeleton sent through time?

That is a problem already inherent in the movies. I always understood that if living tissue covered the metal skeleton then it would be fine. Of course then you could still argue about the T-1000... Anyway, this is something I just went with for the sake of the story and at least they arrived naked in the future despite departing fully clothed from the vault.

And I also didn't like it, that the skeleton walked around without a head. For one thing, as far as remember, the CPU of the Terminators is in the head. And for another thing, I had always had the impression, that they had visual perception only through the eyes.

I actually didn't think about this... Anyway, good call, that was indeed rather ridiculous.

I found it ridiculous and unnecessary. They could have just kept his head and the body together. The reason for these obvious errors was, that they wanted to send the Terminator back in time for the series, but at the time of shooting the second episode, they had replaced the actor. So they couldn't send the Terminator back in one piece (living tissue intact) because they didn't have the original actor available and they had to find a way to have the Terminator looking for another human "suit".

I was under the impression there was already two terminators at this point. The one who almost caught them in the appartment (that was cool how Sarah simply threw Summer Glau's terminator out the window ) and then the one without head, in search for a new skin. So, as it had already been established that they had different models (otherwise Arnie would have been there ) why even bother with the broken one?

[Tom]

They bothered with the broken one, because he is the one from the past who knew they are Sarah and John Connor. No other Terminator knows how those two look like.

[Achim]

They bothered with the broken one, because he is the one from the past who knew they are Sarah and John Connor. No other Terminator knows how those two look like.

...and they actually hinted at that.

[DJ Doena]

Disc 1

Pilot

Synopsis: It's the year 1999 and Judgement Day hasn't happened - yet. Sarah and John are constantly switching aliases and living placaes. But one day two cyborgs have still found them: One comes in the form of a young girl called Cameron and she was sent to protect John. And the other is a classical terminator. They try to escape him but in the end there's no place they can hide, just another time.

My Opinion: To fully enjoy the show one has to put it in a parallel universe to the movies. It's similar to the Highlander movie (There can be only one!) and the series. While I liked the general general idea of the show I had a problem with some story elements. For example: Cameron took the other cyborg out with a power surge. In my unprofessional opinion two minutes should have been enough to somehow destroy him or at least to damage him severely - he can't resist after all. And some of the stuff in the vault seemed unlikely, too. Even if I knew how to build a microchip in 1965 there wouldn't be the the technology (wafers etc.) to actually do it. But they had to find a way to push the series forward to today and it was fairly ok.
So I like the story but one mustn't think to much about the logic.

Gnothi Seauton

Synopsis: They jumped eight years into the future, into 2007. And now all three of them need new identities to blend in. Cameron leads Sarah to a group of resistance fighters who were send back by John to destroy Skynet before it goes operational. But when that fails they have to visit an old friend. Meanwhile John explores the technological differences between 1999 and 2007.

My Opinion: The writers are obviously not very burdened with the complex issues that go with time-travel. It seems that whenever they need it they will send people back and forth through time as if nothing could disrupt the timeline. But if that were so then we would be back on the concept of a time-loop as the movie Terminator had present it (It has always happened that way and always will be, there's nothing we can do about it). But Terminator 2 had thrown that overboard and declared that the timeline can be changed and (as Doc Brown explained it in Back to the Future 2) that will result in another timeline. I also had a problem with that "Zombie Terminator" who can obviously walk without its head attached - I thought the "eyes" were its optical sensors?
Another thing I noticed: I don't know how far ahead the pilot was shot and what they thought would happen after it, but I didn't have the feeling to see a Mrs. Dyson or a detective who was eight years older than in the pilot. They should have used a better mask to make them look younger in the pilot (Look at Bruce Boxleitner in Babylon 5: In the Beginning!)
Too bad Enrique had to die, I would have liked it to see Tony Amendola (Master Bra'tac in Stargate SG-1) more often.

The Turk

Synopsis: Sarah is looking for former employees of Cyberdyne Systems to check whether they are continuing the Skynet project or doing something else dangerous. Connor and Cameron pose as siblings in their new school and try to blend in.

My Opinion: Is it my imagination or did the metall skeleton of that terminator look a bit too shiny? He had been blasted to peaces and has lain in the garbage. Which brings up another question: How did he get there in the first place? He wasn't within the time bubble and thus hasn't travelled with the others. What happend to that bank building in the last eight years and why has no one ever found the skeleton or the head - which lay quite open on the side of the street?
And when Sarah burned down Andy's house the fires looked digital - and fake. Don't they have the money anymore to burn down a real, wooden facade?

Disc 1 - My Opinion: The show is enjoyable, the characters are fine. But as you can see the show opens a can of questions for me and they bother me because that makes me thinking that either the writers didn't see this problems or they thought the viewers wouldn't notice or that the viewers wouldn't care. None of which is really an acceptable answer in my opinion. But I will continue to watch and see how it unfolds.


And now I can read your comments (This is my first time watching of T:SCC) and can add myself to the list of reviewers.

[Tom]

How did he get there in the first place? He wasn't within the time bubble and thus hasn't travelled with the others. What happend to that bank building in the last nine years and why has no one ever found the skeleton or the head - which lay quite open on the side of the street?

I had assumed, that he was thrown through the time bubble (and thus a big plot hole). But maybe you are correct, and he wasn't. But then it is quite a coincident, that he started working again, eight years later at the same time, the others arrived in the present time.

[DJ Doena]

How did he get there in the first place? He wasn't within the time bubble and thus hasn't travelled with the others. What happend to that bank building in the last nine years and why has no one ever found the skeleton or the head - which lay quite open on the side of the street?

I had assumed, that he was thrown through the time bubble (and thus a big plot hole). But maybe you are correct, and he wasn't. But then it is quite a coincident, that he started working again, eight years later at the same time, the others arrived in the present time.

It would be the logical explanation why has no one ever seen him: That he has travelled with the others. But I also thought the pilot made it clear that Sarah had blasted him away from the bubble. And his skin was quite damaged, his metal parts opely visible. The (somewhoat weak but nonetheless an) explanation the movies gave was that only flesh could travel through time and I always thought that the metal had to be covered with flesh for this to work.

[Achim]

My Opinion: The writers are obviously not very burdened with the complex issues that go with time-travel. It seems that whenever they need it they will send people back and forth through time as if nothing could disrupt the timeline. But if that were so then we would be back on the concept of a time-loop as the movie Terminator had present it (It has always happened that way and always will be, there's nothing we can do about it). But Terminator 2 had thrown that overboard and declared that the timeline can be changed and (as Doc Brown explained it in Back to the Future 2) that will result in another timeline.

While it actually means that the Special Edition of T2 doesn't work (as they show the Skynet-free future), but I think it must be the way that Judgement Day is in fact inevitable. That concept also goes along with the story told in T3. Since John Connor is the son of a person who travelled back from the future that future must happen. It is, however, a valid point that all that time travel going in is ultimately bound to change history in some way, which could be a fun toopic to explore.

All your other points are well taken. Apparently I turn off my brain just enough to ignore them while watching the show

[Dragonfire]

1. Pilot
No one is ever safe, least of all Sarah Connor and her son, John. Tired of running from the machines, Sarah decides to stand and fight.

My Thoughts

I thought this was a good start to the series.  Certain things were like the first two movies, but I thought that still worked.  It made sense to me that Sarah and John would still basically be living on the run even though they thought they had stopped Skynet and Judgment Day in the second movie.  Sarah was tied to the explosion at Cyberdine and Dyson's death, so it was believable to me that the police and even FBI would be looking for her.  It didn't seem as...believable that Sarah would have gotten in the situation she was at the beginning of the episode though.  And I thought something else just didn't work right either.

(click to show/hide)

It just seemed really ..odd to me that she would have gotten so involved with a man that she agreed to marry him even though she still was thinking that she was being hunted and that another Terminator from the future might show up.  I would have believed that more if she'd know the guy longer and had actually told him more and gotten him to believe her about Skynet and everything.  But from what was said after she left, he had no clue about any of that.  That makes me think she didn't fully trust him, and if she didn't fully trust him, why in the world did she accept his proposal??

Also, I had issues with Sarah using the same last name once she and John had moved to the place where Cameron and the Terminator ultimately found them.  Sarah is not a stupid woman and she'd been avoiding being found for a few years at that point.  Given how she left things and that she was engaged to the one guy - I forgot his name - I would have thought that she would have realized that he'd probably try to do something to find her.  It wasn't like she faked a fight with him..she just vanished, so it was logical that he would try to find her despite what she said in her note.  So it was very stupid for her to still use the last name Reese after that point.  I get that she may have used the name to begin with as a way to stay connected to Kyle, but once she ...abandoned that life, she should have abandoned the name too.  And then she got ticked when Cameron pointed that out to her later.  Ok..that's all my issues.  I think.

Despite the few..issues I had with the episode, I still really enjoyed it.  I loved seeing Summer Glau again.  Some of her expressions did remind me a bit of River, but it was still a different character.

2. Gnothi Seauton
New future, new identity. Cromartie, the battered but relentless Terminator programmed to kill John Connor, resurfaces.

My Thoughts

I enjoyed this episode as well.  It worked well to follow what was set up in the first episode with them getting settled in a different time and everything.
I would have liked if there had been a bit more explanation for a few things though.

(click to show/hide)

When Sarah used that special gun before they jumped into the future, I didn't know if that just hurt the Terminator or if it caused the bank to be destroyed too.  I think there was something said later that claimed that Sarah and John had been killed in an explosion in a bank.  If that gun caused an explosion, I could see it severely damaging the bank..and even knocking the head off of the Terminator.  However, I have other issues.  I thought that when people traveled through time that way, they would end up in the same spot they left from, just in a different time.  When they went to 2007, they were in the middle of a road.  Which I could accept if the bank had been demolished or whatever.  Then the head of the Terminator was just laying sort of near the road, out in the open.  Why would it still be there like 8 years later?  And how in the world could the body of the Terminator start working without the head where the CPU thingy was?  If the rubble that it came up out of when it some how was reactivated was from the bank vault, then why hadn't that been cleaned up earlier  and the body found before then?  It just seemed like that could have been handled getter in a way that made more sense without leaving all these..plot holes.

I still liked the episode, but the few things I mentioned in the spoiler did bug me..and the more I think about them the more they bug me.  Hopefully those sort of things won't be happening all the time..if they do, I see myself getting really irritated at times.

3. The Turk
He's just a geek with a hobby. But is the computer chess program Andy Goode developed the beginning of the end?

My Thoughts

I did enjoy this episode as well.  It was interesting to see John and Cameron going to school and the explanation they came up with to explain why she was setting off the metal detector.  I also liked how this episode set up a new potential way for Skynet to possible start.  I didn't notice any issues that irked me in this one.

I think the cast is doing well.  I think I like Sarah from the movies a little better..but that doesn't mean this version of the character is bad..just different.   

So far, even though I was irked by a few things, I still really enjoyed these episodes and am ready to watch the next disc.

[DJ Doena]

Regarding the head: I read on another board that the head has alos done the time travel. The skin was burning because of the gun but it protected it long enough to make it to 2007.

As far as I understood it that is an offical statement from someone connected to the show.

But that still doesn't explain how the body could work or why no one has bothered with it.

And the bank couldn't have been destroyed by the gun, because they fired it and then needed about 20 seconds to finally disappear. How was the weapon supposed to cause this delay?

[Dragonfire]

Regarding the head: I read on another board that the head has alos done the time travel. The skin was burning because of the gun but it protected it long enough to make it to 2007.

As far as I understood it that is an offical statement from someone connected to the show.

But that still doesn't explain how the body could work or why no one has bothered with it.

And the bank couldn't have been destroyed by the gun, because they fired it and then needed about 20 seconds to finally disappear. How was the weapon supposed to cause this delay?

Hmmm...Ok.  I can accept that.  But like you said it doesn't explain what was going on with the body.  How could the head make the body work when they were no where near each other?  And if the bank wasn't destroyed, what rubble was the Terminator body buried in? 
Oh..with the gun, I thought she fired it just before they vanished. 

[Achim]

I am not really sure what to make of episode 3... I watched it after reading Karsten's little rant and so I was particular watching out for the tissue growing scene. Fortunately I actually thought it worked out o.k.-ish in the context. Other than that I thought nothing overly special happened in this episode, just the three trying to set up an everyday life of themselves. Thankfully everything rolled along nicely, supported by solid acting, that it was still interesting to watch. After all, this is a TV series, not a movie...

(click to show/hide)

I do get a little irritated by that African-American FBI agent (I enjoy the role and the actor's acting...). In the first episode he was somewhat outed as a cyborg. Now, why would he bother setting up and maintaining a cover-up for years on end...?

The more guys you discuss the plot holes the more glad I am that I am slowing down / turnign off my brain while watching