Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Season 1

REVIEW CONTAINS SOME LIGHT SPOILERS OK, so this show really surprised me. It works incredibly well in spite of itself. On paper, TSCC had all the makings of a franchise-killing epic fail. I'm trying to imagine how they pitched it: "OK, so we're gonna take this big-budget chase movie that's pretty much been played out conceptually, and make it into a weekly TV series...But instead of Arnie, we're gonna put in this really hot robot chick! And the dead hero from this first movie, it turns out he has a BROTHER nobody knew about...yeah, and we got this guy from 90210 to play him! Can you believe it?! Oh, and the lead singer from a 90s rock band with no acting experience! It'll be great..." It's an idea so wonky that only Fox would try it, resulting a show of such surprisingly high quality that only Fox would cancel it after a mere 1 1/2 seasons. TSCC turned out to be smart, tense, disturbing, and surprisingly emotional in ways that reminded me more of genre classics like Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell than the litany of StarTrek and StarGate spin-offs. Briefly (and like I said, it looks wonky on paper) - John and Sarah Connor find themselves once again the target of the SkyNet program they had thought they had 'un-made' at the end of T2 (we'll ignore T3 and T4 here, as everyone should), which has <gasp> sent a terminator back in time to kill John Connor. They are saved by another reprogrammed terminator sent back by future John Connor to protect past John Connor, and subsequently time-travel forward to 2007 in order to go on the offensive and try to destroy SkyNet before it can be created (also conveniently skipping over the 3rd movie and setting up an 'alternative timeline'). They aren't the only ones with this idea though (ignore the time-travel paradox, really, please do) and rapidly discover that the war against the machines is being fought across time, with both the human resistance and SkyNet sending back teams in order to alter the past and gain a strategic advantage in the future. The result is a show that is part mystery, part action, part coming-of-age, and part character study. Oh, and part creepy psycho-sexual tension (i'm not giving any more away on that one). The real heart of the show is the characters, and the cast (and writers) of TSCC really do a superb job. Lena Headey has the biggest boots to fill as Sarah Connor, and manages to acquit herself well against the iconic Linda Hamilton. She takes full advantage of the TV format to flesh out Sarah Connor as a person, and seems to really enjoy asking the question "what is Sarah Connor like when nobody is shooting at her." Thomas Dekker takes over from Edward Furlong as a 15 year old John Connor, and despite my initial reservations he makes some very smart choices with the character. His angsty, guyliner victimized grungy teenage John Connor really gets under my skin a few times during the first season, but in the same way that an actual angsty, guyliner victimized grungy teenager would. This is a John Connor that needs to grow up, and the initial frustration I have with the character makes his maturation later in the series much more rewarding as a viewer. Derek Reese, brother of John Connor's deceased father Kyle, makes his way into the show in the middle of the first season portrayed by none other then Brian Austin Green. I really didn't think the guy had it in him, but he does an excellent job with a gritty and morally complicated character, so much so that I actually forget he was in 90210 most of the time I'm watching him. They are backed by a supporting cast including the fantastic Richard T Jones as an FBI agent struggling to reconcile his religious faith with the discovery that Sarah Connor might not be crazy after all, and Dean Winters as Sarah's paramedic fiance she left at the alter but whom John brings crashing back into their lives at a moment of crisis. The real stand-out though is the terminator Cameron, played by the much-loved geek princess Summer Glau. While it's perfectly reasonable to assume high praise for Glau is just collateral Whedon-worship from Firefly, I must object in this case and recommend actually watching the series to see why. Glau has the difficult task of stripping as much human texture and expression from Cameron as possible, then turning right back around and serving as the emotional flash-point for most of the major character drama in the series. Where most science fiction falls woefully short is by anthropomorphizing the 'other' (alien, robot, whatever) into a completely human character that just looks physically different. A prime example is the mega-hit Avatar, or as I like to call it "Dances with Wolves in Space." Where I think Glau (and the writers) really stand out in TSCC (and what I don't think the series gets nearly enough credit for) is never letting the characters or the audience forget that Cameron is not human, and never will be. She is simultaneously curious, naive, and lacking in malice, yet capable of shocking violence and the kind of sociopathic problem solving that values human life only as it relates to John Connor's survival. Glau's performance as Cameron is critical to most of the really interesting things that happen as the story unfolds, and she walks a very fine line with near perfect balance. I can't imagine the show working with anyone else. So having heaped praise on Glau, you might guess that the relationship between John and Cameron (and it's affect on everyone else) is the big character conflict in the story, and you would be correct. TSCC manages to eschew or outright mock just about every bad coming-of-age story cliche, and moreover they use Cameron to ask a lot of existential questions that fly under the radar if all you are doing is watching for the explosions. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of explosions, gunfights, and enough general mayhem to suit an action franchise, but that's only half the story, and the less interesting half at that. The show manages to weave carefully from touching and hopeful to disturbing and sinister with surprising agility, and thankfully never plays any of the character relationships for cheap gags or contrived attention-grabbing scenes. If anything, it's the really subtle moments between characters that have the most impact, which is a rare thing in sci fi TV. In terms of episode quality, I will warn you that the first season starts out a bit inconsistently. Every episode has at least a few scenes in it that really shine, but there is definitely an adjustment that goes on in the first half of the season before the writers and actors really settle into the characters in a way that feels completely consistent. After that though, there is a solid trajectory that propels the series straight through to the end, with only the occasional squabble between the producer and the network about including a few 'stand alone episodes' that seems to plague every serialized TV show. I'd highly recommend TSCC to just about anyone with even a passing interest in science fiction storytelling, though I suspect that your enjoyment of this series may have an inverse relationship to your enjoyment of T3/T4.

This show is excellent. Many of us, I'm sure, were hesitant to see an Arnold-less Terminator TV show, with a new actress filling the shoes of the iconic Sarah Connor, after being immortalized by Linda Hamilton. Well, as both a long time Terminator fan, and someone who is very picky about which TV shows they watch, I can safely say that this show delivers the goods in ways I couldn't have imagined. The cast for this show is excellent. The producers wisely opted not to simply cast Sarah Connor based on how well the actress resembled Hamilton, but by how well she portrayed the character. Lena Headey is friggin' close to perfect for the role, and that was something that I was not expecting at all when I first found out they were making the show. Thomas Dekker as John Connor bears a stronger resemblance to his Terminator 2 counterpart, but more importantly he fills the role very well. Given that the Connors are the only Terminator 2 veterans who appear regularly in the series, it was fundamental to the show's success that they cast them properly, and thankfully they did. The real show stealer though, is Summer Glau as the new character "Cameron." She's John's new cyborg protector from the future, and it's no surprise that she is rapidly becoming a fan favorite. The role of Cameron is much more complicated than simply an emotionless robot, because she's more than a regular Terminator, as the series slowly reveals. She's a machine that is slowly becoming more human-like, and Summer Glau is the perfect actress to convey both aspects of Cameron's personality. She's definitely one of my favorite aspects of the show, and I can't wait to see how she develops in future episodes. The writing in the show is well done too. There are a few continuity errors in some episodes that you may or may not pick up on depending on how closely you pay attention, but those aren't really what's important. What is important is that the story actually makes you care about the characters, and eager to find out what happens next. Sometimes I would literally throw things at my TV when a commercial break started just because I was so hooked. They did an excellent job selling that these are the same John and Sarah Connor from Terminator 2, but the writers now have the opportunity to expand their characters a lot further than was possible in a 2.5 hour long movie. If you are a Terminator fan, you owe it to youself to buy this set. The visual quality for the Blue-Ray is amazing, and it even comes with a slightly extended cut of the pilot, and a greatly extended cut of one of the later episodes that sheds even more light on Sarah Connor's character. I am addicted to this show.

This is one of the very good shows out there. Also a very good example of how an actor change should be made when you have no other choice. Each members of the cast is an absolute homage to the first portrayal of their characters, not only as concepts, but as developing ones. And while many will tell you this does not take in account the events of T3 and T4, in a certain way it does. I strongly recommend you listen to the 4 previous movies before going back in time with Cameron to this one. All will make more sense then. And if it doesn't, then listen carefully to the Chronicles and Gynesis for time travel explanations. Carefully. And then it will make more sense. I was half expecting a complicated show with lots of time travel... this was not it. It's a decent follow-up on the "Judgment Day" era. Meaning that it concentrate itself with "how do you live your life when you know you must save a world that does not care and acts hostile towards your efforts?". No fan service either. Cameron and John having a love interested would have been too easy... And this shows plays with that rather well. Terminator : SCC is the utmost tentative to tell the story of the humans in the franchise. It's the tale of a broken family which in many ways is saner than society wants them to be. But it also is tech savvy with it's apocalyptic theories, pulling on real-world computer science for it's debates while proposing believable post singularity cyborgs. A few inconsistencies in this first season, but not much. And certainly far less than many shows of the first decade of the 2000s. (Terminator parts surviving time travel without skin and cosmetic surgery done perfectly in a few hours to go from 3rd degree burns like to perfect fit for a known actor.) It does also good to expand the universe to a point where a good RPG campaign guide could have been created. And does it while serving a decent amount of action scenes, nice close-combat fights, well thought out sci-fi and naked time-travellers.

Muy buena serie, aunque las historia se desvia un poco de la trilogia original de terminator. Pero esta muy bien lograda. Ya espero conseguir la segunda temporada.

Aucun acteur / actrice n'est apparu dans un film de la franchise. Néanmoins leur jeu à l'écran, soutenu par de très bons effets spéciaux, collent le spectateur (dont moi) devant la TV. Tu "hésitais".... ben plus maintenant, vas-y !!

映画もよいですが、ドラマは映画の何倍もの時間をかけて、人物像をつくっていけるので、各登場人物になんかしたしみわいちゃいます。大人に囲まれた息子君は、何だかんだいってamenable to suggestionsですねぇ。自我をとおすようなリーダーにならずに、人の言うことを聞くリーダーになりそう、母君は、キャメロンよりロボットっぽいとか・・・ いろいろな意味で新鮮でした。見てよかったでーす。

AMAZING!! I have to admit..it's a blast! I'm really hooked to this series, now I'm so looking forward to watch the entire 2nd series (even if, to whet the apetite, I've already searched for pieces of the new episodes & more on the net, of course...)because it's just getting better and better! (someone,on an internet blog, once said it was close to the awesomeness of Battlestar Galactica series,but I can't compare because I don't know this other one). Mainly I'm a fan of fantasy & sci-fiction stories, from Dark Angel and Star Wars to darker ones like Hex or Supernatural, so I'm glad to follow this new one, that has a link to the Terminator movies of my childhood too. Plus I'm bored to watch series all set in closed space-ships with people with funny costumes (sorry Star Trekkers..it's not my cup of tea!)I prefer something more challenging,so to speak,like TSCC. Unfortunately, due to its cleverness and peculiarity, Fox network probably won't order another season (the 3rd) of it: SO IS REALLY VERY IMPORTANT THAT THE FANS CONTRIBUTE TO INCREASE THE SUCCESS OF IT EVERYWHERE, BUYING THE DVDS OUT NOW; WE CAN MAKE IT, THIS SERIES HAS TO CONTINUE BECAUSE IS SO FULL OF POTENTIAL, AND AT THE TOP OF ITS CREATIVITY CLIMAX!! Plus Terminator 4 movie is coming out on theatres in this period, starring Christian Bale, let's hope this could bring a larger base of fans to our fav show too! (I really hope that, fingers crossed, if, no matter what, it didn't make to come out of its tv viewers crisis, not critics'! Due to the tv-schedule problems and stuff like that, it could at least move on another more specific american network: like Sci-fi or the other cable ones...'cause I desperately want to see a proper ending to this fabulous series!! :'( ) Ok, back to the specific story now: let me just tell you that this plot begins few years after Termiator 2 movie ended, (then the events of the film T3, which I didn't like, are supposed to be happened in another timeline, so no problem to understand it) the heroine is as usual the tough mummy Sarah Connor and the wannabe "emo"hero is John, her son. Soon they are reached by a teenage cyborg, Cameron (a tribute to director James Cameron, of course, by Friedman, the writer of TSCC ;-P): she claimed to come from a not-so-distant future, where the war of the machines against humanity, guided by the most advanced A.I.,called Skynet, is burst. She will be the good terminator, bodygard protector of young John, sent directly from the future John, to stop the creation of Skynet and prevent the next fatal war: therefore Cameron forces mother and son to jump over another couple of years to save them and succeed in doing the mission, so we find our story settled in the present time.... But is she really all-goody? Because she seems to be ambiguous about more than one thing. Is she "more"than an average cyborg indeed: she said at one point of the story,'cause she is different, perhaps so unique to have developed the ability to have/simulate feelings...John is almost in love with her, even if it sounds crazy, but could her be fully trusted?! I leave you with the doubt... And she's not the only one to have secrets and problems of course! ;-) Naturally there will be other characters and flashbacks / forwards, to show the development of the story: like for example the bad terminator, whose mission is to kill John, and his uncle Derek, brother of Kylie Reeves (John's father come from the future in Terminator1, initially to save Sarah). Actors are perfect for their roles,(british Lena Headey alias Sarah, was in 300, Summer Glau who plays Cameron, was in Firefly series and Serenity, Thomas Dekker/ John in Heroes series) plus the story in general is smart, sensitive, deeper in meaning compared to the films: it gives the room "to breathe", to develop the franchising of the Terminator world. The special effects are of course linked to the budget of a tv-show, but a very good one indeed! Of course if you're just looking for the special effects go directly to see a major action film, but even here you won't be disappointed. It is a funny bumpy ride, full of questions ( some still unanswered in the finale of the 2nd season) and new directions to folllow; there's mistery, philosopy even religion in it! You can easily read the plot on multiple levels, there's something for everyone, and even rewatching it, you will find something you've missed out the first time. Besides there's a nice selection of evocative music in the background, the last episode of the (unluckily too short ) 1st season for example, has a great song from the epic Johnny Cash, and in the 2nd season even the Garbage music, represented in the person of the singer herself, who plays the part of a shady liquid antagonist terminator...but is she really what she looks like? To answer this you will have to watch the next season... Until then, just purchase this first season of TSCC and really enjoy it!! Bye-bye (NB_european format of the box set has just deleted scenes for extra, too bad! Instead the american version has got a lot more, commentaries, interviews, etc..what a pity).