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

[Achim]

16. Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep
Night terrors at the sleep clinic:  Sarah’s disrupted sleep patterns lead to a shocking discovery.

My Comments:
I had to think about the below rating for quite a while. I did not enjoy as much it while watching, only in retrospect do I see the possibility for this episode to redeem itself in the future I was originally going to rate this episode low for the stupidity of putting Sarah by this oh-so-big coincidence into the sleep clinic where she discovers that it's all a Skynet scheme.

So, yeah, I guess there are clues regarding the twist at the end, we just willingly ignore them and go for the obvious. I suppose Dana going up in flames should have given me the wake up call, but still, how could we discover the truth here when the guard was so clearly set up to be dead during the two previous episodes. It feels like a cheat to me. Look he's dead; no he's not. Doh.

I guess seeing this on a second viewing in the future may have the redeeming features fully unfold, but for now it feels like a lazy filler. I may be missing it through the disappointment right now, but what did we gain with this episode? Only that Weaver is now aware of Sarah getting close and wants her dead...? Too little.

[Achim]

With this view, I'm in the minority. Tom and DJ Doena have already expressed their dislike of this particular arc on this forum, although I'm glad that Achim has enjoyed the first half of it. I'm curious whether that enjoyment continues or if he joins the rank of the naysayers.

I hadn't read your post until after I wrote mine. So, now it's clear that I am a naysayer (I might want to look up Karsten's thread and add his ratings to the first post.) At least to the last part of this arc; as opposed to at least Tom, who apparently didn't like this triple set of episodes about Sarah at all.

I do however, like you hint at in your review, the potential for this episode to be much better on a second viewing. I already laid out that I felt cheated in my comments.

For an action show about killer robots from the future, continuing the Sarah psychogram after a two-month break certainly was a risky thing to do. IIRC, the show lost a lot of viewers at that time, but I'm certainly thankful they sticked with it, even if it meant cancellation. Don't get me wrong, I like the robot action as much as the next guy and I enjoy a good scifi-arc, but ultimately that's all secondary to me.

I can clearly see why they might have lost viewers after this episode. This episode does clearly not work as the opener after a break. maybe somewhere in the middle of the second run it may have been received better, but I would guess may viewer felt just like me.

[goodguy]

This episode does clearly not work as the opener after a break.

Just to clarify: The mid-season finale was 2x13 Earthlings Welcome Here. The opener after the 2-month break was 2x14 The Good Wound.

... but what did we gain with this episode?

I think I answered that a little in my comments on the episode.

Only that Weaver is now aware of Sarah getting close and wants her dead...?

Not really a spoiler, just pointing out some things established so far:

(click to show/hide)

We only know that Weaver blew up the warehouse, not if she owned it. Also, the investigator that Weaver sent into the desert town was killed. Those trying to kill Sarah could very well be a third party.

EDIT
Found another error in the ratings table: My rating for 2x08 was

[Achim]

Just to clarify: The mid-season finale was 2x13 Earthlings Welcome Here. The opener after the 2-month break was 2x14 The Good Wound.

Lost track...

I think I answered that a little in my comments on the episode.

Well, yeah, of course we gain lots of insights into Sarah's mind, but the plot is not forwarded in any shape or form. I missed Ellison, Weaver,...

Only that Weaver is now aware of Sarah getting close and wants her dead...?

Not really a spoiler, just pointing out some things established so far:

(click to show/hide)

We only know that Weaver blew up the warehouse, not if she owned it. Also, the investigator that Weaver sent into the desert town was killed. Those trying to kill Sarah could very well be a third party.

The guard said something about "her" (the person giving him commands) wanting "her" (Sarah) dead. I assumed at the time that it would be too much of a coincidence if another group would have a female leader as well.

On the other hand you are right. The guy Weaver sent was shot by that second guard (the one whose fake wake we've seen). Would indeed be weird if Weaver would command all of them.

[Achim]

17. Ourselves Alone
Riley’s mission is in jeopardy when she fears Cameron has discovered her secret.  Cameron confesses to John that her glitch has returned.

My comments:
While Derek is out trying to get close (kill...? didn't quite catch whether he just wanted to talk or if he was out to kill) to a guy related to the previous episodes lead towards Skynet the Connor household is shaken up. john Sarah and Cameron find out that something is up with Riley. That something is giving them trouble real quick and the three seem to have a "battle of the minds" how to deal with it. I found the way the episode inched forwards towards it's actual reveal (Jesse's actual plans for Riley) very exciting and there were several nice scenes between various characters; both quiet (John and Cameron) as well as confrontational (John and Sarah) moments.

[goodguy]

The guard said something about "her" (the person giving him commands) wanting "her" (Sarah) dead. I assumed at the time that it would be too much of a coincidence if another group would have a female leader as well.

The gender of the person the guard (Winston) talks to is never revealed. All the "her" and "she" only refer to Sarah. Winston also assumes that Sarah blew up the facility.

WINSTON (Talking on cell phone):
It's her son. He's the one who helped her blow up the facility. He's the one we want. (Pause)
We'll give him a few more hours to show up. (Pause)
I don't know. Maybe three. (Pause)
She gave me a few problems. Nothing I couldn't handle. (Pause)
Yeah. I guess we don't need her anymore. (Pause)
No. He can trace her cell phone to this location even without her alive. Makes no difference to me. (Pause)
It's not a problem. I'll take care of it right now. (Ends the phone call)
Hell, it's what she wants.

... but the plot is not forwarded in any shape or form.

All that obsession over the plot makes you overlook not only the exciting stuff that happens, but also the clues that are actually related to the plot.

[Achim]

WINSTON (Talking on cell phone):
It's her son. He's the one who helped her blow up the facility. He's the one we want. (Pause)
We'll give him a few more hours to show up. (Pause)
I don't know. Maybe three. (Pause)
She gave me a few problems. Nothing I couldn't handle. (Pause)
Yeah. I guess we don't need her anymore. (Pause)
No. He can trace her cell phone to this location even without her alive. Makes no difference to me. (Pause)
It's not a problem. I'll take care of it right now. (Ends the phone call)
Hell, it's what she wants.

Thanks for posting that, don't have to find it myself I had assumed that the last line referred to the person giving the command to kill Sarah. Reading it out now it could as well mean that he thinks Sarah is suicidal in a way and wants to die anyway...

[goodguy]

Reading it out now it could as well mean that he thinks Sarah is suicidal in a way and wants to die anyway...

That's the point (which I also tried to address in my episode comments). There is an almost identical exchange with both Winston in the van and the T-Doctor (Hobson) in the clinic.

SARAH: I won't call him. I'll die first.
WINSTON: Oh, you'd like that. To die. But it's never that easy, is it?

HOBSON: Call to him.
SARAH: I'd die first.
HOBSON: I'm sure you'd like that. To die. It's never that easy.

[Achim]

Wow, I had only noticed that subconsciously... Not so sure if I find Sarah suicidal; agreed, that was my words. O.k., I think I got that now. I hope the last three episodes will explore that a little more (the third party, I mean).


Unrelated, but since I am typing. Today I looked at both sides of the Keep Case cover of this and noticed at first that Cameron can be seen on front and back. Then I realized that she can be seen with Team Connor on the front but with Team Metal on the back 

[Achim]

18. Today Is The Day (Part 1)
Jesse flashes back to a life-altering mission aboard her submarine, the Jimmy Carter.  Sarah and John decide it’s time to move.

19. Today Is The Day (Part 2)
Will you join us?  Jesse’s sub mission in the future takes a fatal turn that has unforeseen effects on John, Sarah and Derek in the present.

My comments:
Closing Jesse's story arc takes a little longer, so they pack it into a two-parter... Deservedly so, beats having two episodes connected such as these with different tiles. Anyway, after taking some time in the previous episodes to explore the mind and feelings of Sarah the show gets back on track to give us plot. And with only five episodes to wrap things (did they know at this point?) they hit us hard. While we are basically looking at Jesse's story we also get lots of bits with team Connor, not loosing focus of what the show is about.

One plotline is about future Jesse, ultimately explaining her motivation for her present day actions to us. A T-1000 makes an exciting appearance and a nice nod goes to Robert Patrick's performance in T-2. A nice detail about present day Jesse is the way she always sits still in her comfy chair and ever so slightly corrects the standing position of the side-table lamp; this is not explained any further, but maybe there is actually no deeper purpose in this.

Then of course we get the Connors, dealing with Riley's disappearance/death. Suspicions go flying and so John pieces the story together by himself to find the truth. ...and so he does. There is several marvelous moments in this too, such as Sarah's desperate but failing attempt to get close with John (discussion about the hippie town they used to stay at) or John's conversation with Jesse. Sarah has a conversation with Cameron where I got the feeling she was trying to separate Cameron from John (something that wouldn't be without risk) when she puts out there that Future John sent Cameron away from him (when in fact he sent her to himself...).

However, the best bits come once again from the story with Ellison. In Part 1 John Henry helps Savannah to play hide and seek with her mother, but as he adds his own little game to the mix he makes Ellison angry for keeping Savannah's location a secret (thinking she might be in danger). Highly interesting to see Weaver be fascinated (from machine to machine) rather than angry (as a mother) in contrast to Ellison. In Part 2 Ellisons wants to go home for the night and turn John Henry off, who persuades him to stay so he can continue painting little figurines. When Ellison agrees John Henry shocks him by asking "Does this make us friends?"

In overall this was two great episodes with an excellent mixture of character interaction, suspense and excitement.



P.S.: Once again I find the cover synopsis to be irritating. Part 2 gives us the background of Jesse's story, her motivation, but the cover makes it sound like there are changes from her original intent and the something new

[goodguy]

My schedule is still an ever changing mess and I really don't know if I will be able to catch up before the weekend. So, Achim, if you want to go ahead and finish the series before your vacation feel free to do so.

[Achim]

 

Usually, once I start the last disc I can't stop... I am three episodes in the lead right now.

Since I enjoy our discussions about smaller plot points or the lack of them I am going to wait and watch it after my trip. By that time you should be caught up (a week from today). That way I won't remember too much about the three I am ahead now, but at least we can discuss the last three better.

I have some other stuff I can watch instead...

[goodguy]

2x17 Ourselves Alone
Synopsis: Riley's mission is in jeopardy when she fears Cameron has discovered her secret. Cameron confesses to John that her glitch has returned.
My Rating:

What am I going to do with you? Cameron and the bird go way back to 2x03 The Mousetrap. The maybe-later of then is now, although Cameron's intentions have changed. She no longer wants to kill the bird; she does so by accident, an involuntary movement of her hand, a glitch.

What am I going to do with you? The bird is a fire hazard and Riley is a threat to John. Yet Cameron doesn't know what she's going to do. She has a glitch that causes her hand to twitch. She has a glitch that causes her not to kill Riley.

Sarah on the other hand. Sarah gets her gun, and for a moment she is ready to go out and kill Riley herself. Are Sarah and Cameron switching places? Sarah doesn't trust John anymore, but Cameron puts her life in John's hand.

Riley did cut her wrist to kill herself. Sarah bit into her wrist to become a killer. Cameron cuts her wrist to avoid killing.

Today is the day. Today is the day where they trust each other or not. Back in S1, Charlie and Ellison were at this point. They almost talked with each other, but then they didn't. Now it's John and Riley.

Once upon a time, Derek and his brother Kyle ate fruit from an apple tree. But the garden was lost, burnt away on Judgment Day. Now Derek is here with Jesse, shooting at apples. The sight is off, they say when they miss. A glitch. Do they consider that it might be there view that is off instead?

"I rescued you from hell and I took you to paradise," Jesse says to Riley for the second time. "I gave you a purpose. I made you matter." It sounds like she believes it, it sounds almost like envy. The fight is brutal. Riley, scared Riley, Riley who almost killed herself, now fights as if it matters. And almost wins. But the sight isn't off this time.

Derek sits alone at the roadside as his target passes by. John leaves the shed and finds another dead bird.

It is hard to pick one, but this is probably my favorite episode. It is less high-concept than some others, it is almost deceptively simple. Every scene (with the exception of the CFS woman visit) is a two-person conversation, slowly moving towards the climax.

The dialogue-writing is outstanding and the episode is a key example of what makes TSCC so special. The characters talk in clipped sentences, language reduced to the bare minimum, to the simplest of phrases. The silence in-between is as important as the spoken words. It is essential to the tone, to the atmosphere of the series. There is a lot of repetition with slight variations, creating an almost poetic rhythm. But these style elements also appear on a structural level. Since the core story of Terminator is exactly that, a time loop of repetition and variation, that stylistic choice is quite brilliant.

Considering that the episode is essentially a series of conversations and a big fight, it is once again noteworthy how gorgeous and cinematic it looks. That hallway, where Riley left the bleach box for Sarah. That talk between John and Riley, with Sarah and Cameron on the sidelines (btw, remember that similar sequence of shots in 2x05 Goodbye to All That?), that final low-angle shot as John leaves the shed, etc.

Oh, and a few words about the plot. Upon first viewing, I didn't guess Jesse's endgame until she turned up the heat on Riley and the Connors in this episode. I was never really convinced that her idea of setting John up with a girlfriend would estrange him from Cameron, but it didn't occur to me what the logical consequence was. Looking back, the Riley storyline was really well developed. Great stuff. And more to come in the final Jesse chapters.

[Achim]

I always enjoy reading your reviews, unraveling all those links to other episodes (which mostly stays hidden from me because my memory just doesn't work that way ).

I agree that is definitely one of the best episodes.

[goodguy]

Well, I'm watching it for the second time, so I have an advantage. I don't think you always have to consciously identify them. It isn't so much a puzzle you have to figure out, it is a tapestry of associations, themes and motifs that create the rich texture of the show.