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Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
SpiritOne
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Posts: 192
Location: Tyler TX
Joined: 18.07.06 |
| Posted on August 01 2007 00:23:23 |
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I posted this review over on my website, thought I would share it here as well:
As a way of building "excitement" about upcoming shows, studios are either leaking, or conveniently leaving dvd's lying around of new shows. The Sarah Connor Chronicals is one such new show. Its available on most of your torrent servers.
Now, its worth mentioning that I'm a fan of the Terminator franchise. I even enjoyed T3, I thought that it left the franchise in a position for a great television show concerning the building of power of the machines and John's resistance. So I wasn't surprised to hear about a Terminator based TV show, but learning of its time frame was surprising.
TSCC is set in 1999 between the events of movies 2 and 3 and is meant to serve as a wipe of events in T3. The Connors assume that Skynet has been destroyed, but continue to stay "off the grid". Sarah is after all wanted for the murder of Miles Dyson, the destruction of Cyberdine's building in Los Angeles and a whole host of other things, including escaping from a mental institution.
The show opens with Sarah marveling at the engagement ring she has been given by a guy she has apparently been dating. She freaks out and decides its time to go. Her and John take off for New Mexico to start over, again.
The jilted fiance tries to go to the cops, and her alias Sarah Reece (original, I know) pops up on the system and in comes an FBI agent to investigate. He follows her to New Mexico as does a Terminator unit sent to kill John. This is where I honestly started to get really upset regarding the writing.
Summer Glau (better knows as the ass kicking River Tam from Firefly/Serenity) shows up as the nosy girl sitting next to John in school. She is chatty and kinda of a boppy teenage kid. She is of course the Terminator sent back in time to protect John. I am assuming the resistance picked her up in the struggling Skynet Pleasurebot department at future Wallmart. My problem has to do with Terminators themselves. Lets face it, they don't blend well, they can learn but they still don't do that good a job at it.
So its the 2nd day of school and in walks the substitute who informs the class their teacher is ill, and he starts to take roll. This is the other problem regarding Terminator writing. Terminators aren't exactly skilled in the arts of subterfuge. This one walks in, talks to the class, and interacts with students, not well mind you, but the fact that he didn't walk in say John Connor and start shooting, kinda bothers me. (PT btw, has her name called before John, its Cameron, as in James Cameron)
So the T is calling roll, and gets to John's name, when John says here, it stands up and starts shooting. The protector T takes a few rounds, to let John get away and there is a bit of a chase sequence here. Its nothing really very flashy or exciting, but it does show John to be kind of an idiot. The chase culminates in PT hitting the Terminator with a truck, throwing the door open and using the "come with me if you want to live" line.
There is more chase and run from the Terminator as we learn a little bit of back story and get some info as to the direction the show is going to have. John, is tired of running, which is good since he sucks at it. He convinces Sarah to try again, try to take SKynet out before it even gets going. They inform the PT of their plan, and go to see an old friend, Miles Dyson's widow. She really can't help them though, she doesn't know anything, so she just gives them her land rover and they try to run over the Terminator with it.
PT has a plan though, so they go to the bank. PT knocks out the guard, grabs his gun, and gets let into the safety deposit box room, where she quick opens one box and produces several sets of keys. She informs John and Sarah to open the boxes the keys go to and place everything on the table and adds carefully.
At this point, I am kinda starting to get mad at the obviously future tech being put on the table, but PT goes into an exposition very quickly. As we all know, the Time Machine only sends living tissue. No guns, no clothes, only living tissue (I ALWAYS wondered why a race of MACHINES built a time machine that only allows living tissue to travel through it, but I digress), she explains that because nothing else can be sent through, they (and I honestly assume she meant a machine) sent an engineer back to 1963. He worked on the project to build the bank, and also the weapon and equipment inside it. I assume it was a machine simply because no matter how smart you are, how the fuck you going to be able to remember how to build everything that is in the bank?
Anyways... PT quickly assembles a very lethal looking rifle and hands it to Sarah with instructions, "when the isotope turns red, you can fire." This of course prompts the question, is this thing nuclear, the answer being "Not really". The T is outside the vault, slowing himself down by tearing the door apart instead of simply opening it. I mean, it did after all close from the outside. Maybe I missed something there, but it seemed slightly unnecessary.
During all of this, PT is producing equipment and controls from other lock boxes, which begs the question, is there room for anything else in this safety deposit area. She explains, she doesn't know who builds skynet now that Dyson is out of it, but she knows when. The bank's safety deposit box is also a working time machine. They shoot and presumably kill the other Terminator just before the time sphere opens and sends them to the future. They of course arrive buck nekkid and the clothes hunting operation begins. They come out on the road though and Sarah gets photographed and put on the television just long enough that the FBI agent and her ex fiance catch her on the evening news. It is however 8 years later (September 07) and the fiance is visibly stirred by seeing her.
This is where the show ends, setting up the episodes to follow. They will be searching for skynet, running from the FBI and I assume the fiance will play a part as well. I'm not sure that I am impressed, the writing is weak in places, but the acting is decent given the material. Summer Glau is very pretty but I have a hard time buying her as a Terminator when she smiles.
Judging by some of the looks John Conner gives her, I get the feeling he would like to get all up and cozy with this Terminator unit. I assume the reason that both Terminator units are of the T800 series of battle chassis is because its cheaper than the weekly fx required by a T1000 model.
The show starts in Jan of 2025 but I don't give it a long run. Lets face it, unless the show is dirt cheap to produce and takes a major share in ratings, it won't survive.
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Sam Cogley
Member
Posts: 855
Location: Missouri
Joined: 13.06.06 |
| Posted on August 01 2007 02:14:29 |
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| Can't the time machine send technology back as long as it's within living tissue? After all, the T800s are made of a shitload of metal... |
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Tupperfan
Administrator
Posts: 641
Location: Montréal, Québec
Joined: 10.07.06 |
| Posted on August 01 2007 02:23:26 |
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They should just try to send Terminators earlier than the previous attempt, so it's possible to kill Sarah Connor without her being aware of any threat...
But hey, nobody ever asked the Terminator franchise to actually be logic...
tupperfan.blogspot.com
Edited by Tupperfan on August 01 2007 02:24:46
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Jeremy
Administrator
Posts: 1561
Location: Illinois
Joined: 26.05.06 |
| Posted on August 01 2007 03:18:00 |
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Summer Glau?
I'm so fucking there. 
The autumn days swung soft around me, like cotton on my
skin. But as the embers of the summer lost their breath
and disappeared, my heart went cold, and only hollow
rhythms resounded from within.
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Tupperfan
Administrator
Posts: 641
Location: Montréal, Québec
Joined: 10.07.06 |
| Posted on August 01 2007 03:31:15 |
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Summer Glau is a goddess.
One day I'll be arrested because I stalked her, but she would have had time to kick my ass before the police gets there.
And I'll be smiling!
tupperfan.blogspot.com
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Sam Cogley
Member
Posts: 855
Location: Missouri
Joined: 13.06.06 |
| Posted on August 01 2007 03:44:54 |
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Tupperfan wrote:
They should just try to send Terminators earlier than the previous attempt, so it's possible to kill Sarah Connor without her being aware of any threat...
But hey, nobody ever asked the Terminator franchise to actually be logic...
Someone made the same comment about Trek time travel over at TrekWeb.
I think the only series that handles time travel well is Dr. Who - and they just say "fuck it" and do whatever they want.
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Elim Garak
Member
Posts: 49
Joined: 13.06.06 |
| Posted on August 01 2007 07:32:22 |
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The Terminator franchise can explain their issues on the Connors fucking up the timeline.
Some other shows did Time Travel pretty good I thought. Quantum Leap (You know ... Scott Bakula given some decently written scripts ... go figure...) did time travel pretty good I thought. The three episodes of Babylon 5 that dealt with time travel were good. The problem with Trek was that they used it WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much. Well that is except DS9, Past Tense was a really good two parter. The Visitor which was arguably the best Star Trek episode produced (I am pretty sure its my favorite episode of all time, definatly top five.) could be concidered time travel ... or was it?
"Human memory is selective and linear. Simply put, a human remembers the best of times in progressive order, beginning with the earliest childhood. The rosy memories are only challenged by nightmares. A Cardassian remembers everything on every level all the time. For us, past and present are not neatly separated. We live with everything in the moment - including the nightmares.
And so do you."
-- Elim Garak, to Dr. Julian Bashir
A Stitch in Time
Edited by Elim Garak on August 01 2007 07:32:55
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Sam Cogley
Member
Posts: 855
Location: Missouri
Joined: 13.06.06 |
| Posted on August 01 2007 07:40:10 |
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| Good call on QL - completely slipped my mind. |
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Elim Garak
Member
Posts: 49
Joined: 13.06.06 |
| Posted on August 01 2007 08:02:57 |
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QL would be on my DVD shelf if I had more disposable income. It took a while to buy B5 and TOS on DVD and as soon as I got them all they of course went down in price right after ... but tis the way of things I suppose.
"Human memory is selective and linear. Simply put, a human remembers the best of times in progressive order, beginning with the earliest childhood. The rosy memories are only challenged by nightmares. A Cardassian remembers everything on every level all the time. For us, past and present are not neatly separated. We live with everything in the moment - including the nightmares.
And so do you."
-- Elim Garak, to Dr. Julian Bashir
A Stitch in Time
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Benedict Baltar
Member
Posts: 427
Joined: 23.12.06 |
| Posted on August 01 2007 15:01:26 |
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Sam Cogley wrote:
Tupperfan wrote:
They should just try to send Terminators earlier than the previous attempt, so it's possible to kill Sarah Connor without her being aware of any threat...
But hey, nobody ever asked the Terminator franchise to actually be logic...
Someone made the same comment about Trek time travel over at TrekWeb.
I think the only series that handles time travel well is Dr. Who - and they just say "fuck it" and do whatever they want.
Doctor Who has always been great at avoiding the tech side of how the Tardis works which is why I like the show so much. The Doctor is a total goof and always so vauge about his backround and his tools (i.e. Sonic Screwdriver) we have no idea how it works and even he can't explain it to anyone while the best he can do to explain the Tradis is that it's basically fueld by sentient living cells and somehow connected to the time line and he and the rest of the Time Lords share a simbiotic relationship with them much like a Clown Fish and an Anemone I suppose.
Edited by Benedict Baltar on August 01 2007 15:22:16
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Brikar
Member
Posts: 756
Joined: 01.06.06 |
| Posted on August 03 2007 19:50:38 |
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I'm pretty "meh" on this Terminator series. I'd like it to be cool and do well, but nothing I've seen of it really seems all that interesting. I'm not one that will get bogged down in the minor details of it all regarding continuity with the movies or anything, so I don't mind that. It's just that nothing about it strikes me as a great series waiting to explode with awesome.
I'll give it a go, of course, because I'm a big fan of the movies and I think the potential is there for a good series if they try a bit harder than "John and his mom run from the Terminator... EVERY WEEK."
"The proliferation of Christianity from an Asian point of view: it was huge, cuz they're so short."
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Benedict Baltar
Member
Posts: 427
Joined: 23.12.06 |
| Posted on January 16 2025 18:56:10 |
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Well I saw the first 2 episodes and I have to say I was a little skeptical at first but overall I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised for a show going from the big screen to television. At the very least it's much easier to watch than the new "Bionic Woman" series. Sure I have noticed a few things are out of place most notably the Terminators completely meatal head making it through the time vortex when all along this is something that was not suposed to be possible in the Terminator Universe and hopefully some sort of explaination will come. I do like the idea of now having the Connors on the run from 2 terminators this should make for some interesting television as I am curious to see if the 2 will team up.
Edited by Benedict Baltar on January 16 2025 18:56:58
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Brikar
Member
Posts: 756
Joined: 01.06.06 |
| Posted on January 16 2025 19:14:51 |
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I was just about to post on this.
I'd say my initial skepticism has been assuaged, somewhat. I still worry about the show turning into a "Terminator of the week" scenario, a problem that has plagued other shows like "Smallville". The movies themselves got pretty repetitive, with all three essentially the same plot over and over with the details mixed about to give the illusion of being fresh.
A few of the things in this show don't make a whole lot of sense. Regarding the Terminator's head, the only thing I can think of is that there was enough flesh on it as it was passing through before it was all destroyed. What bugs me more, however, is Summer Glau's character.
I never found Glau all that attractive on "Firefly". Indeed, it seemed like they were trying their best to make sure that River was never sexy (which serves its own purpose). Here, though, it turns out that she's, well, smokin'. That's not my point, however... What is my point is that when we first meet her, she seems very natural and fits in with the high school setting very easily. Later, when John tells her she seems different, she says, "I am different," and eats a chip. In the second episode, however, she's seen having issues with blending into human society. She doesn't know how to lie to that cop, she can't even stand out by the car and wait like a normal human. This just doesnt' seem to fit with how she was presented in the first episode.
I've seen others on the internet saying that she's not a very good Terminator. Well, my response is that's true. But I also don't want to call her a Terminator at all. There was a great trilogy of Terminator novels a few years back that introduced the concept of the Infiltrator - and that's what I want to peg Glau's Cameron character as. In the pilot, she's smaller, quicker, physically weaker than the other Terminator, but also much more capable of blending into human society. That's the way I'd prefer her character to be presented, honestly.
Other than that, I'd say the most interesting development for this series is that the war between humans and Skynet has turned into a full-on (forgive the expression) Temporal Cold War. With multiple Terminators and resistance fighters from the future existing at points in the past, trying to outwit and outlast, I think the series has the potential to really explode in later seasons. I just hope they don't fuck it up like "Enterprise" did.
I wasn't blown away by these two episodes. I was entertained well enough to keep watching; I dig the Terminator universe, and they've presented some intriguing new aspects to it, as well as some very well-done (for TV) action sequences. But my fear continues that the show will get rather repetitive before long. I haven't yet entirely bought into Lena Headey or Thomas Dekker in their respective characters. But it's early yet.
"The proliferation of Christianity from an Asian point of view: it was huge, cuz they're so short."
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Benedict Baltar
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Posts: 427
Joined: 23.12.06 |
| Posted on January 17 2025 15:02:03 |
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I have to say now that you bring it up it really does make for an akward character when one minute your a well adjusted high school junior capable of blending in, then show all the idosyncratic characteristics of the Terminator we all know and love completely incapable of blending in.
Edited by Benedict Baltar on January 17 2025 15:03:02
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RE: Terminator 2.5 The Sarah Connor Chronicals (spoilers) |
Brikar
Member
Posts: 756
Joined: 01.06.06 |
| Posted on January 18 2025 18:29:31 |
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It's understandable, I guess, that things change from pilot to series, but that was a BIG change, at least for me. I can definitely sign on with her having trouble with everything the world might throw at her, but initially I thought it was a great idea that she was so good at blending in. John clearly understood that something wasn't quite "right" with her, but I don't think he pegged her at all for a Terminator and that's the thing I found so interesting.
"The proliferation of Christianity from an Asian point of view: it was huge, cuz they're so short."
Edited by Brikar on January 18 2025 18:31:02
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