Friday, December 5, 2008

Terminator 12-01-08

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
Fox
Mondays 8pm ET/PT
Episode 11 (spoilers): Self Made Man
Directed by Holly Dale
Air date: Dec. 1, 2008

All season, I’ve been complaining that the writers sidelined Cameron (Summer Glau), John’s cyborg protector, while focusing on Sarah, John and Derrick—and even Ellison and Weaver. This episode suggests the writers were reading my blog and taking notes. Sarah and John had small parts, and Derrick (Brian Austin Green—the BAG), Ellison or Weaver did not appear. To me, the episode’s time-shifting between the 1920’s and present day eerily recalled the Stephen King classic The Shining. Cameron was busy in a research library tracking down the fate of someone who suddenly showed up Dec. 31, 1920, made a fortune in real estate, and disappeared a few years later. She suspected this mystery man of being a Terminator. She correctly concluded his return date was incorrect—Dec. 31, 1920 rather than Dec. 31, 2010—and set out to determine why he was sent back from the future and how to stop him from completing his mission. Her research and interplay/flirtation with the night librarian was pretty amusing until she correctly diagnosed his cancer return. She flipped through microfilm and pulled the sheet she was looking for without using the magnifier—pretty funny.
One sticking point in my mind: last season Cameron didn’t bother protecting an informant from Romanian underworld assassins. Why was she so interested in being a heroine—protecting the next governor of California from certain assassination—if it didn’t serve her primary mission of protecting John?

No comments: