Terminator: TSCC / Season 2

[ShadowDog]

According to one website, this last episode did slightly better in the ratings. Is it going to be enough to get the back nine? I dunno. But in a way if this series HAS to air on Monday nights then I wish it'd been held over until Monday Night Football and Dancing With The Morons was over so it wouldn't have so much killer competition. That's a lot of opposition.

[ShadowDog]

No episode tonight. **** you Baseball playoffs. **** you very much!

[Iceman]

Some great news

 

From The Hollywood Reporter

 

Fox has picked up "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" for a full season.

 

The network has ordered the back nine episodes of the show's second season from Warner Bros., sources say.

 

The sci-fi series has garnered a relatively modest rating on Monday nights this fall. Its most recent episode was seen by 5.7 million viewers, garnering a 2.3 rating in adults 18-49 and a 6 share, tying NBC's "Chuck" in the 8 p.m. time period.

 

Fox's overall ratings tend to significantly increase after the first of the year, powered by "American Idol." Network executives may believe the drama's audience will grow once the overall Fox tide rises.

 

The network earlier picked up a full season order of "Fringe" and has "Dollhouse" planned for midseason, both fellow sci-fi shows.

[Tank]

wow! that's a shocker for Fox.

 

I think the strike cut into a backlog of secondary, mid season and replacement projects, so networks are more apprehensive about cutting.

 

Heroes has lost millions of viewers, but has a full season order as well because it's still NBCs highest rated show.

[ShadowDog]

YES!!! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!! YES YES YES! Thank you FOX you beautiful ****suckers! When I saw Tank's name here I figured the ax had fallen and he was here to deliver the bad news and as I was clicking on the thread I was already formulating some kind of "shoot the messenger" joke. I was that convinced it was getting whacked halfway through.

 

YES!

 

I mean, sure, it'll probably still be cancelled at the end of the year but I just wanted to see what they could do in one full season. Last season was brutally cut short and they had to make up a finale in about 15 minutes so if this had happened we'd have had two season enders but no true finale either time. That would have been disappointing. YES. This is great ****ing news! :drool:

[NumberSix]

Glad to hear the news!

 

Finally got around to watching the last episode online last night. Nice action piece, coupled with the awkward angst of Sarah's dual failures as a heartless kidnapper and a temp surrogate mom. The kid's sensibilities and lack of panicky overreactions were appreciated.

 

I do have to wonder where Skynet gets their targeting info, though. In the original film, the T-800 grabs a phone book and gets the addresses of all three Sarah Connors in the appropriate vicinity. Here, the T-888 knows where to find all three Martin Bedells, even though two are minors that couldn't possibly be listed in the phone book, and one of those wasn't even living at home.

 

I know, I'm overthinking. Still curious, though.

 

I'm also falling out of love with Shirley Manson. Does she have a second expression? Or an emotion she can play besides sinister bemusement?

[ShadowDog]

Ooooookay, I'll go first then!

 

Great episode! Loved seeing Moist Hawtness from BSG Razor and love that it looks like she's going to be recurring. I wonder why the hell she's back in time? Since the humans have been converting Terminators for their fight then it only stands to reason that sooner or later Skynet will convert humans for their fight. Either through brainwashing or through a chip in the head like we saw in the Terminator novel Infiltrator.

 

By the way, his conversations with her firmly established once and for all that THIS IS A DIFFERENT FUTURE than the one described in the first Terminator movie. Specifically, in this future the war is still going on while humans and Skynet send people back to the past. In the first two Terminator movies the war was over and Skynet's last gasp was to send back two Terminators. So we can finally put that to rest.

 

So it turns out the kid is real. That's horrific, and made for a chilling and fascinating episode. The thing with the kid being so scared she peed herself actually broke my heart. They just keep upping the stakes each week, which I love. Too bad John disabled the bug before they could hear that last conversation. But at least the two forces have met each other now, even if neither knows it yet.

[Tank]

For the most part, another great episode. Few things bugged me, but as usual, the rest of the show was good enough for me to not care.

 

The good:

 

1. The little girl storyline-- very well done

2. The psychologist angle was a good one. he was there to help John all along

3. The fact they didn't rush through John's kill-drama, but have played it out little by little

4. Hot lesbian BSG chick. a little to skinny for my tastes, but she' stunning so it's cool

 

The bad:

1. Again, I don't like the ease of time travel here. I can accept, like Dexter says, this is not the same timeline as the original films. I can justify that given that I am not a T2 fan anyway. That said, when people can just keep coming and coming it kind of destroys the tension. First it was people sent with objectives, then it became people on the run with a message, now it's become easy for a deserter (forgiven if she's a spy). What's next? People taking vacations? If they abuse it too much, it begs the question-- why doesn't the resistance just set up a line and send EVERYONE back? These people are actively trying to alter the timeline and escape a horrible future-- so why not just send everyone back?

 

2. Terminator of the week. Kind of an extension of the above problem, but it's a plot device that bores me and is too easy to abuse.

 

3. The easy coincidence that John and the T-1001 are going to the same shrink. At first I thought they were lead to the guy BECAUSE the T-1001 was going there. i thought that as going to be a moment of cool discovery-- but the arrival of the second Terminator to kill the doctor turned it all into a big coinky dink, and I hate that. All of LA and they end up at the same shrink?

 

4. Shirley Manson. Okay. I gave her a pass before cause in 1998 I was front row at a Garbage concert and i see up her skirt. But I can admit now that she hasn't aged well, and she can't act.

 

5. Dexter reads Terminator EU.... gross.

[ShadowDog]

I forgot to mention how ****ing cool it was that they explored John's PTSS! How many shows blow past a thing where a kid has to kill to survive and is cracking jokes five minutes later? (Buffy was really bad about this) I love that they actually dedicated an entire episode to this. And this also sheds new light on John's bitchiness in past episodes. He's not acting out, he's running. Running from his mind. The reveal at the end of the episode was ****ing awesome.

 

3. The easy coincidence that John and the T-1001 are going to the same shrink. At first I thought they were lead to the guy BECAUSE the T-1001 was going there. i thought that as going to be a moment of cool discovery-- but the arrival of the second Terminator to kill the doctor turned it all into a big coinky dink, and I hate that. All of LA and they end up at the same shrink?

 

Here's a question for you: What if Future John sent that reprogrammed Terminator back to kill the good doctor before he could help head shrink Skynet? What if they ****ed up by stopping this Terminator's mission? I actually think this is what was going on, and I'm not dissuaded by the chip self destructing. John could have as easily invented that as Skynet to make sure his Terminators don't fall back into computer hands.

 

4. Shirley Manson. Okay. I gave her a pass before cause in 1998 I was front row at a Garbage concert and i see up her skirt. But I can admit now that she hasn't aged well, and she can't act.

 

What about the video? I know it was short, but I saw enough life in there that I wonder if she's being directed to act wooden and out of it? I have to agree on her fugliness though.

 

5. Dexter reads Terminator EU.... gross.

 

It's a very odd novel. A lot of really cool ideas you'd only get from a novelist, but there's a 10,000 word subplot that has NOTHING to do with the main story. You could literally remove the entire subplot and not miss a thing ... which makes me think the editor demanded a longer novel and the author didn't want to rewrite the whole thing so he just added a bull**** subplot. I've read thousands of novels and never seen anything like it before or since.

[Tank]

Here's a question for you: What if Future John sent that reprogrammed Terminator back to kill the good doctor before he could help head shrink Skynet? What if they ****ed up by stopping this Terminator's mission? I actually think this is what was going on, and I'm not dissuaded by the chip self destructing. John could have as easily invented that as Skynet to make sure his Terminators don't fall back into computer hands.

 

That's an interesting twist-- so in the original timeline, the shrink just helps the T-1001; John send word to kill the shrink or at least watch him, and accidentally signs his younger self up for therapy?

 

That could work... but killing targets seems kind un-John like.

[ShadowDog]

I have a feeling that Future John is a very dark mother****er. You don't become the leader of a resistance fighting for the very existance of huminity without breaking some eggs. Any successful general even with less stakes would sacrifice hundreds of his own soldiers to achieve a crucial victory, and would order civilian deaths if there was no other way. So while the show runners might not go that direction, I can totally envision a Future John who would order an execution in the past.

[Tank]

If the timeline is always changing, and Judgement Day keeps getting pushed back-- how will they know when they have been successful? How long is John supposed to live like this?

[Sinister Lord Degiya'goh]

The easy coincidence that John and the T-1001 are going to the same shrink. At first I thought they were lead to the guy BECAUSE the T-1001 was going there. i thought that as going to be a moment of cool discovery-- but the arrival of the second Terminator to kill the doctor turned it all into a big coinky dink, and I hate that. All of LA and they end up at the same shrink?

 

It's not a coincidence... it seems to me that doctor was probably on the list because he helped Shirley Manson figure out the problems they were having with the Skynet computer, so that linked him to Skynet. I'm under the impression that the second Terminator showed up not to kill the doctor but to kill John Connor, who had become his patient.

[Jango Fett]

The good:

 

4. Hot lesbian BSG chick. a little to skinny for my tastes, but she' stunning so it's cool

 

The bad:

 

5. Dexter reads Terminator EU.... gross.

 

Who said she was a lesbian? I don't understand what you mean there.

 

What do you mean Derek reads Terminator EU? I didn't see him reading, what'd I miss?

[ShadowDog]

Mainly you missed that he said "Dexter" instead of "Derek" but this is another example of why I prefer people call me ShadowDog rather than my real name. This is a big board and there are always new people coming in and out and it's a little elitist to expect that everyone would know who you mean if you call me anything other than ShadowDog. This is also why I always make an effort to call people by their board names rather than any real names I happen to know. It's a hell of a lot more simple all around.

 

As far as the hawt lesbian, that's more a reference to the character she played on BSG than anything we saw in this show this week.

[Tank]

What he said!

[Ender]

By the time I get done watching this on the internet, everything I have thought has been said. I do want to second the ease on time travel really bothers me.

 

Just an idea, but what if the psychologist (whom I really like) works with the Shirley Manson Terminator and that terminator is the leader of the "resistance" terminators that want peace that Cameron alluded to a few episodes ago.

 

Another time traveling problem had to do with the chip that Skynet is "learning" (assuming it was Skynet and not Connor that sent back that one random Terminator) by creating a self-destruct piece. Time travel is time travel-why wouldn't a future SkyNet just send the more advanced Terminators back at an earlier point? I know-time travel is sticky and will have flaws--but if they wouldn't use it so often it wouldn't be a big deal.

[NumberSix]

With the time travel elements, for me it's not so much the age-old concept of willing suspension of disbelief. I find myself moving to the next level: willing suspension of attention span. If the show mentions time travel and I notice it for even a second, the nitpicking list begins to unspool from my mind at lightspeed. I just have to pretend I didn't hear it, that they didn't mention it, and I'm okay after that. it's a sad sort of defense mechanism.

 

On to this week's episode, then:

 

A killer cold open...but from there, I dunno. Lots of near-misses and almost-reveals, and almost zero FX. Detective Ellison is slowly becoming my favorite character (though it'd be nice to see the show's frequent Scripture references move from the Old Testament to the New for once, but that's just me), but Shirley Manson's wearing thinner. I hated Cromartie a little less after this episode's so-feeble-it's-funny failed search efforts (his attempt at smiling was an Office kind of calamity). And I wish John had been able to wipe the smugness off Sarah's face in their closing argument, but I hated that look on her face that said, "His teen angst is going all according to plan! Excellent!" GRRRRRR!

[Tank]

What Six said!

 

I have to say-- to anyone who's ever been robbed, there was a bit of gleeful satisfaction in watching thm hunt down the deadbeats that took their stuff. If only I had a Terminator on my side after my wallet was stolen from the gym.

[ShadowDog]

Good point on the robbery satisfaction. I don't condone murdering people who rob you in just such a cold blooded fashion ... but I'd understand if someone did. Heh heh heh.

 

This episode actually worked for me quite a bit. Loved the loser homeless chick hanging out with Cromartie (and LOVE how devious Cromartie is, saving Elison because he believes the agent is going to help him in the end). Basically all the Cormartie scenes were winners for me.

 

How about Derek's hypocrisy? (one of my many pet peeves are hypocrites) He bashes John for getting biz-ay with some tail ... and yet he's sneaking around getting biz-ay with his own shot of tail. A deserter no less, which should be anathema to him.

 

The cold opening was awesome, and I have to agree that I really love the Elison character. I think it's the actor. In another actor's hands this role would be tedious but this actor has so much charisma I could pretty much watch him reenacting scenes from Cloverfield and I'd STILL be riveted.

 

The humor was great this episode. I love how pissed Cameron was about her jacket getting ripped and also her line about nobody liking a nag. LMFAO!

[Ender]

I justr watched this online last night--what was trying to kill another Ellison? Another terminator? Sent by who and from where? The only dig is that a new fn terminator is sent back each week it seems. Other than that I like this episode. So is Derek banging a terminator? These terminators must be good to fool an ex-lover for so long.

[ShadowDog]

I suspect she's more of a human sympathizer or brainwash victim than a Terminator. Just to make sure, if it was me living in that universe, I'd always make my new female lover cowboy up and ride on top the first time. If her weight crushes my pelvis then she's a Terminator with that heavy assed chassis they've mentioned a couple times. If she doesn't crush my pelvis then she's human.

[NumberSix]

Or you could just take her swimming.

[ShadowDog]

You could have spared me a LOT of pelvis pain by telling me that sooner!

[Tank]

Tonight's episode was great for the most part. The framing device was gimmicky and didn't work past the second act-- but the story and character work was great.