Alright, full disclosure, this could be a longer article than usual. Probably not by much, but there is quite a bit to say about this particular subject as I happen to be a huge fan of the Terminator franchise. There are a lot of controversial opinions that come with that statement, but let’s just try and keep things civil for the time being, shall we? We’ve been here before, looking at science fiction shows that dies before they really had a chance to get off the ground, and there’s really nothing different about this show, except that it’s a different show. So why look at all of these fondly remembered shows when it’s just the same dance to a different song? The short answer: Each of them offers something unique, and for me at least, it’s fun to analyze what made these shows great, if a little underappreciated. To that end, let’s take a look at Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles! Heretofore referred to as TSCC.
When we start talking about the Terminator franchise, there’s a big pile of poo that we have to dive into in order to really get at the heart of the franchise on the whole. There have been five movies, and a TV show in the past 30 plus years. The franchise has also changed ownership a number of times in that span. Each project, with the exception of the first two, have been helmed and driven under the inspiration of numerous different individuals, and as such, there isn’t really a unified voice behind the bulk of the material. Rise of the Machines was muddled, cheap and formulaic. Salvation was a rather huge departure from what we’re used to seeing, and while it had potential, audiences weren’t ready to divorce the Terminator brand from its time travelling roots. And what can really be said about Genesys? I like the music, and Emilia Clarke is pretty easy on the eyes, but I have no idea what story that film is trying to tell. Let’s just forget for the time being that that one even exists. You’ll see why.
TSCC is an intriguing concept because coming into the show, it seems like series creator Josh Friedman wanted to try to unify the stories that existed up to that point and take the franchise in a workable direction. To that end, some really good decisions were made at the beginning of the show that put the whole affair in a great frame. In fact, due to these decisions, it’s pretty fair to call TSCC a kind of sequel to Judgement Day. See, in the very first episode, we’re about four years removed from the events of Judgement Day, and Sarah, and a 15 year old John are trying to lay low after the events that turned them into fugitives of the law. One of a handful of antagonists in the show is FBI Agent James Ellison. He’s determined to find Sarah and bring her to justice. However, he doesn’t know, or understand the mire he’s inadvertently thrown himself into as he’ll get as tangled up in the death defying drama that ensues as Sarah, John, and their posse. As such, in the pilot episode, Ellison tracks down an alias for Sarah, and runs a search over the Internet. This tips off the T-800 series model that had been trying to track them in that time period, and an intense, and exciting, not to mention bloody game of cat and mouse ensues. The Terminator tracks Sarah and John to a podunk town in New Mexico, and tries to murder John while he’s at school. It’s at that point that we’re introduced to Cameron, a newer model Terminator sent back to protect John, and played by the lovely Summer Glau. Sarah, John, and Cameron manage to escape the T-800 by using a time travel machine that was built into a bank back in the 60s. They leap ahead to the year 2007, and this is one of the major decisions that fundamentally changes the lay of the mythology. By jumping that far, the show essentially writes Rise of the Machines out of the story altogether. I’m not saying it was a bad idea. I think that that film creates more problems than it solves. I do enjoy aspects of it, and I enjoy watching it, but it mucks things up quite a bit.
In the year 2007, Sarah and crew don’t have much down time because as they arrive, an idiot teen with a camera on his phone takes video of the group and that video makes its way to local news stations. This puts Agent Ellison back on their trail much more quickly, and it also alerts the T-800 in 2007 to their presence as well, thus setting the stage for what would really drive the rest of the show. The overall premise is pretty much the same as the older films. The group is attempting to track down where Skynet is created, and stop it from going online. It’s cliched perhaps, but it’s simple, tried, and true. It’s really a formula that works well in the Terminator universe when it’s well executed, and oh boy is TSCC well executed!
Throughout the run of the show, the overall tone is pretty fatalistic. The idea that time is marching unchangingly toward a single end point is examined more than a little as Sarah and her gang try to affect major changes to the future of humanity. There’s an intriguing psychological and philosophical approach to the show that really makes it a treat to watch as well. Lena Headey plays Sarah Connor in this iteration and she does an amazing job. Her performance is layered, and complex as she tries to balance knowing what the future could hold, and preparing her son to fight that future with just wanting to be a mother. Headey brings these elements to life in an incredibly effective way. Also, she makes for a seriously bad-A Sarah Connor! Thomas Dekker plays John, and once again, he gives a great performance. I think his might be the weakest of the performances given in the show, but that’s like saying that Neptune is the smallest outer planet in the solar system. It’s still huge! And likewise, Dekker’s performance is still great, but when held up to the rest of the cast, it does lack just a little. But once again, he does a fine job balancing the angst and naivete of adolescence with the ever impending dread of having to grow into the savior of the mankind. Summer Glau’s Cameron character is given much more leeway emotionally than any of her predecessors had been given, and she uses that emotional freedom to great effect. Her interpretation of a cyborg trying awkwardly to blend into human culture is always poignant, and at times, just outright hilarious! Lastly, I’d like to mention that Bear McCreary puts up a great score for this show. If you’ve watched Battlestar Galactica reimagined, then you’re probably familiar with his work. His score for this show is foreboding, and visceral in a way that really suits the tone. It’s a lot of fun to listen to, and it complements the show quite nicely.
The first season only ran for nine episodes as it started up halfway through the 2007-2008 season, but in those nine episodes, it did a phenomenal job laying all of the necessary groundwork for what was to follow. By the end of the first season, Garret Dillahunt’s Cromartie character is hot on Sarah’s trail, and every episode becomes a struggle for survival. This is where the show really gets the Terminator identity right. At their cores, Terminator and Judgement Day were horror driven action films. Where everything went off the rails for most of the other films is those who were helming saw the franchise as a sci-fi franchise. But in reality, Terminator was simply using sci-fi elements as a vehicle for a horror action film, and TSCC really gets that. The good guys spend all of their time looking over their shoulders, the bad guys are creepy, and overpowered enough that they leave you wondering how the heroes could possibly triumph, the storylines are dark and seem futile. It’s all the makings of a great horror story with enough action to embarrass your average Fast and Furious movie, and enough sci-fi to hearken back to the franchise’s humble beginnings. One particularly interesting thing that TSCC brings to the table that the movies can’t is the filler between combat encounters, for lack of a better way to put things. Where the films have to focus on the immediate build up to a major battle between heroes and villains, and then maybe show just a little of the aftermath, TSCC has time to explore what happens ‘off screen’ in those movies. We get to see some of the day-to-day living as Sarah and crew try to hide from, well everyone, and as they attempt to put in motion plans that would ultimately lead to Skynet’s demise. There’s a lot of sleuthing, and a ton of intrigue, and it makes the whole thing so much fun to watch!
There are a couple of really memorable moments that I’d like to take a moment to point out. First, ‘What We Beheld’, the season finale of season one, and the season premiere of season two, ‘Samson and Delilah’ are probably two of the best episodes of the entire series. In them we see the heroes get so close to finally achieving their goals only to have success ripped from their hands suddenly, and violently. There’s a great shoot out at the end of ‘What We Beheld’ that doesn’t actually show anyone shooting, or getting shot. Instead, a pool at a motel is shown as bodies fall into it, the bodies bleeding profusely. The kill count is pretty staggering for a TV show, 20 in all. It’s simultaneously brutal, but not overtly violent, and I really like that aspect of the show. The producers knew that they would only be able to get away with so much on network television so they left a lot to the ultimate storytelling tool, the human imagination. All of the best filmmaking techniques, and all of the most powerful CGI supercomputers in the world can’t match the awesome power of the imagination, and the producers understood that. The less is more approach works exceptionally well for this show. Anyway, at the end of ‘Beheld’ our beloved Cameron suffers catastrophic brain damage, setting us up for her to revert to her termination programming. ‘Samson and Delilah’ is spent with Cameron attempting to hunt down and kill John. Also, we’re introduced to Catherine Weaver, played by Shirley Manson of Garbage fame. She’s one of the most perplexing villains I’ve ever seen in a TV show as you never do quite get a handle on her real motivations. Most of that has to do with the untimely cancellation of the show, but it’s also largely due to the fact that Manson gives such an amazing, and cryptic performance that you’re just left guessing the entire time. Finally, I do want to discuss the ‘series finale’ a bit. Like most of the shows that you’ll see in this series, the show got cancelled before the production team had a chance to wrap things up. Cancellation came unexpectedly, and late in the season for them. As such, our show takes some surprising twists, and leaves on a heck of a cliffhanger. This leaves unresolved plot points, and unanswered questions that we’ll just have to learn to live with, but believe me when I tell you that it’s worth the ride.
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