"TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread - Page 12

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

While we're in a forgiving mood, I guess I should forgive that we've been shown terminators can run quite fast. I bring it up not because I want to nitpick the episode or the show, but because it really stands out to me over the course of several episodes. They keep having these terminators move slowly even when a target is in sight and running away. Anyone who has tried to drive a car backwards with any degree of speed knows it can be difficult if you haven't practiced. That terminator should have been able to keep up with them at least until they turned around and headed off in forward gear. But this isn't the only time this has occurred. I'd estimate Terminators can run at least 30-35 mph from what we saw in the movies.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

Apparently skynet really needs to outsource their targeting engineers as well.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

It's cool that this crew is determined to play with the way stories are told. The Rashomon viewpoint thing was really cool, especially how we heard the exact gunfire from three different perspectives. Some of it, like the Mexican music during the church shootout, is an attempt to recapture what was so cool about the Man Comes Around segment last year, but I like what they're trying to do. Mondays are awesome right now.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

Wow!

That ep had a kinda' "Pulp Fictionesque" narrative ... And I *loved* all the original Terminator movie homages ... From shooting up the jail to the "Come with me ..." (Did I miss a variation of "I'll be Back!" somewhere?)

I still think that the series is "too good for television" ... So I'm just going to enjoy it for as long as I can!

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

Partial transcript of last night's chat over at TVGuide:
Terminator Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Big Death, the Friday Move, and More - Today's News: Our Take | TVGuide.com

Update: Here's a better transcript:
http://terminatorwiki.fox.com/page/E...+Cast+Memb er

Sounds like Cromartie is really and truly gone, as the actor Garret Dillahunt says goodbye in the chat.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

You would think instead of driving away allies and telling them "Sorry you lost your job, you should go home now", shouldn't Sarah be building a network of trusted people in positions of authority? Instead she's just being a smothering force on john she's supposed to be helping build him into a leader instead she's grounding him and getting on his case all the time. What happened to the Sarah that showed him how to combat strip a rifle, etc, etc? Apparently in this universe, they hung out on a beach cabana . . . and repaired hot tubs

And so why did Sexbot strip to talk to John in his bedroom? The hell!

Oh, and if Sexbot is this big security expert, why did it not think of - oh, you know, watching the teenager climbing out the bedroom window? Or hear him grabbing stuff in his room as she was walking down the hall?

And are people incapable of writing new lines? What's next? "I'll be back!"? Christ, between this and the craptacuilar Clone Wars, I might as well just put the old movies on.

So the guy who recognized John in the bar. John was there as a very young kid, so how did the guy recognize an older John? and add in the 9 year gap in what John's age would be.

And how the hell did a terminator miss shooting at a convertible with exposed driver from all of 15-20 feet away? Or for that matter, how the hell does it miss shooting at a stationary target through a window TEN feet away?

Oh, and didn't Cromatie go down way too easy for a terminator? Hell, they blew up the first one with a pipe bomb - stuck INSIDE it, mind you - and the damn thing kept on coming. It must be the same Skynet budget cutbacks that affected the weapons targeting sub-routines.

That and Terminators should run WAY faster, shouldn't they? Every time we see one run in the movies, they haul ass - but here, hell, I could run faster than that.

And can they lay on the religious imagery ANY thicker?

So this whole incident could have been avoided if John had just mentioned. "Oh, hey - by the way, a terminator showed up here yesterday looking for me." And this guy is suppose to save the world?

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

She's stimulation of the future. She "talks" to John in the future about how he's "lonely" Read between the lines.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

Ok, before this thread goes all meta, the original note about how last night's ep was very good was dead on. It was a good episode and I really like the direction it was going.

I too, really like Summer Glau as a actress. I think she's very effective in her role and she does an incredible job delivering it. Her character is well done, and has a lot of layers to it that makes the audience wonder about the truthfulness about what she says.. and what does she really mean to John in the future.

However, I don't see why there is such opposition to the term "sexbot". I mean, many shows openly advertise characters as "sexpots" - hell, some of them openly refer to characters that way (see: Desperate Housewives).

While I get that there could be some thought otherwise, the writers have gone out of their way to flaunt and promote the sexuality of Glau's character and to give implication at several points that her relationship with John in the future may be a sexual one.

So, it's kind of dismissive to play it any other way. This last episode was especially forward with that - someone is right - with her curling up in bed with him.

But the character is written as though she's designed to be the one that attracts the young male demographic to the show.

The entire bit about "it's lonely for you in the future" and so on while she laid there tended to at least give the audience some dropped hints that there was some sort of intimate relationship between these two in the future.

Is "Sexbot" offensive? Or is it that we're prudish enough that we don't want to accept thats one of the roles that the writers seem to having her fulfill in the future.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

I thought last night's episode was excellent, too. It's one of my favorites, so far. I don't have a problem with Termnator being a "terrible shot". If he were actually as bad-ass as he is "supposed to be" then our heroes would have been dead long ago. John and Sara aren't going to get killed and we all want some great gun battles, so in the end we're going to have to accept that the Terminator can't shoot worth $hit.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

They are becoming the equivelent of "Droids" (Star Wars Clone Wars)

Will B - point taken, we will agree to disagree. But I think a big part of this will be determined with how the roles are played out. In the end, you're assigning a lot of human values / compassion to a robot - who while played by an actress - is meant to be dehumanized. So, your example of dehumanizing a human character doesn't strike me as a comparison. But it does mean that maybe the writers are being a lot more effective then I thought they were at raising questions about whether or not the audience is meant to see a compassionate character in "Cameron".

That's really interesting. I'll have to see how they play that one out, because if they go too far in making her human/etc. where dehumanizing her seems "wrong" then it hurts the idea of her being a robot who has the sadistic ability to kill on command while accepting her as anything else.

That's really BSG-like.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

Star Wars is an example of the same thing. If the Stormtroopers were actually as good as they were made out to be, Luke & Co. would have never gotten as far as they did. Would be a pretty short movie.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

At least Clone Wars expains it by telling you, in regards to the war and need for soldiers the Troopers are dispatched without the full combat training. That practice most likely continues into the future with Stormtroopers. Now, these terminators should be kickin' ass and takin' names left and right. I feel last night's episode was excellent, but, some stuff can really smack you in the face. Bottom line, at least in this series, John Connor doe's stupid shit and I'm amazed every week when he doesn't die. I guess you just have to turn a blind eye and be entertained.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

Just a head's up that Bear McCreary's soundtrack to T:SCC, including the song with Shirley Manson from "Sampson & Delilah" should be released next Tuesday (though I wouldn't be surprised if it may be delayed a week).
Amazon link:
Amazon.com: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Bear McCreary, Shirley Manson: Music

I loved his work on Battlestar Galactica. And while it has taken awhile for Terminator to get a variety of cues, apparently they have enough for one CD now!

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

That's pretty much what I do. Although I can sympathize with those who can't as I'm the same way when it comes to Star Wars.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

Moderator note: The "meta" discussion has been removed. Please feel free to continue with on-topic discussion. Thanks!

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

I have always thought in terms of logic and having majored in Computer Science when it comes to fiction like this. What you have and would have in real life is evolution. The Terminators are HIGHLY advanced machines which include robotics and A.I. to replicate and advance their design. In essence, the machines learn and build better versions of themselves with increasing generations. We had the T-500, T-800, T-1000, T1001, etc.

Now, the underlying theme is they want to rid humanity and take over the world leaving nothing but them. OK, but now you have to take the human factor into account. They have met resistance in the future with John Conner and the remaining human factions. The area they don't understand is humans because they are machines, logical, methodical, etc. Humans on the other hand are not, which means they can improvise on a level the Terminator machines can't. As any computer would do, you would advance with each generation, eventually designing A.I. so good that it would give free will, randomness, emotions, etc. to the new model. In so doing, that could very well be the ultimate downfall of the Terminator war because once the A.I. is that advanced, some of your robot army will have freedom of choice. That means some will have REAL emotions, not want to fight, or even join the humans in the resistance war. It would only be a matter of time before civil war broke out among the Terminators as well.

That leads me to where or how the story may go. A machine could have feelings (Cameron) and become independent of their programming. She could be the first of her kind and not only be John's protector but also the one person he truly loves in the future. Everything that makes a human, human would in essence be replicated. I believe the show even said something about this in Season 1 when Sarah said something to the effect that if the machines did obtain feelings and emotions they wouldn't have to kill us to replace us, they would simply be us and the line would be blurred.

I think this may also be the direction it is heading where John and Cameron finally open up to each other. She may even be 'evil' somehow on her mission but since being so advanced in terms of A.I. can change her original intent. I'm still not sure about the whole is Cameron 'evil' part some are picking up on but if she has true feelings and can change her programming like was seen in the episode at the beginning of this season when her chip was damaged (terminate to protect John Conner was clearly displayed) then this could be the start of the end of the war. I don't know if they will attempt to follow the movies that much or not, because if they do then they may not push it that far. But logically, an machine that advances that much in A.I. will have freedom of choice, feelings, etc. which will end the war in several different ways.

Looking forward to see where or if the writers do any of this and I'm hoping they do.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

Count me in as one who still really wants to love this show. I think the acting is great as well as the casting. The story is...well...trying to be good. Like others have said, there are just so many "huh?" moments that take me out of the show. It seems like the directors and crew of the show need to have someone on set to keep reminding them, "Pssst...don't forget that these things are highly advanced combat weapons!"
So many little things that bug me. I know, I know...don't worry about it. But I mean, these are things that would cost the production nothing and keep the fantasy alive. One nitpicky thing was when they were burying Cromartie. Cameron was shovelling like a little girl. It was funny once I noticed it. Super-powerful advanced combat cyborg...cant shovel worth a damn! Haha. Plus, as I have mentioned before, the weight of the Terminators should be reflected or at least clarified. Either they are so heavy they cannot swim or they weigh the same as a normal human and therefore do not cause beds to collapse when they lay on them etc.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

I still WANT to love it. It was a better episode than most. And, I liked it quite a bit despite the Rashoman element much like Adam.

But, the show still has a ways to go.

One element I really liked was Sarah. Her brush off to Ellison and subsequent breakdown was really well done. This woman has such huge walls up it is incredible. I really felt the weight of what she is saddled with. I was also glad to see John hold her. He's been acting out lately, but maybe that will change a bit.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

Probably one of my least favorite episodes tonight. Not sure why. Maybe I need to watch it a second time.

Why did John give up so quickly when he and Cameron confronted Ellison?

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

By quickly, you mean within a few seconds of Ellison dying, right? He's a boy learning to be a man. He believed Ellison. Surely Ellison would have told the truth before gasping his last dying breath, right? And do you really want to torture someone who may not be guilty of any thing? Even Derek was cautious about doing so. The difference is, the more battle hardened Derek looked at both sides and while he didn't want to torture the wrong guy, he also didn't want to let a guilty party slip through his fingers. He took time, used his head, and got it (mostly) right.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

I guess by "quickly" I meant without really searching his house/car/etc. But I get your points.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

I think the most significant thing that we learned from that episode was that the future is definitely being changed and that some of the entities that are showing up in the "present" are from different, divergent, time lines!

Of course, this makes sense, if you prescribe to Doc's lecture to Marty in "Back to the Future, Part II":

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

What supports that conclusion?

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

dupe

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

The torture Reese's girlfriend describes never happened to Reese, unless you subscribe to the theory that he repressed it, and he doesn't seem to be the repressing type.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

Looks like I nodded off a bit during the episode, but yes, I did buy that he repressed it. I went back and watched that portion again, and they offer maybe it didn't happen in his future. The other option, of course, is that his girlfriend is simply lying. I've no idea why she'd be lying, but that doesn't disprove that theory. We already have reason to suspect she's not completely on the level. So that said, I buy the repressed theory, but I won't be shaken if it proves to be something else.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

I assume when a show like this has a character state that the future is being changed, it is meant to be taken as the truth. That doesn't have to be the case, but I think the future has been changed. Maybe this guy will go to prison and decide he'd rather die than become a collaborator. Or, maybe he'll somehow convince the government that he didn't do the break-in. My thought is that he should have used his injuries to make up a little white lie: "Look, this guy ripped off my fingernails and made me use my retinal scan to get him into the building. I've never seen him in my life!" Of course, then the question is, "Why are you just showing up for work like nothing happened? Why didn't you report it?"

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

She *wasn't* lying. At least, not about the torture of Reese by "future Fischer". The future iteration of Fischer stated "I wondered when you would recognize me" to Reese just before he was shot.

Re: "TERMINATOR: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Season 2 Thread

I was going to mention that, but it was proof only that Reese once knew Fischer, not that Reese was the torture subject. I decided that I'd simply explain my take on the episode (I thought Reese suppressed things) and let it lay at that since I can't be sure one way or the other about what actually happened -- especially given the sneaky nature of the g/f.