A Farewell to Terminator
We take a look back at what made The Sarah Connor Chronicles great.
May 29, 2009 - This was never a feature I wanted to write. It's an all too familiar feeling, lamenting the loss of a television series you were just starting to love. Terminator was a very good series on the verge of becoming a great series - and it's another in the long line of shows that have been cancelled before their time. I'm not going to jump on the FOX bashing bandwagon, as they certainly gave the show a shot even with steeply declining ratings (I will join in the chorus that questions the wisdom of renewing Dollhouse instead, which had lower ratings by the end and was poorly received...Whedon or not...).
The worst part of the cancellation is where we were left off. This was not a season finale that was shot like a series finale "just in case." Showrunner Josh Friedman almost seemed to be daring FOX to cancel the show, knowing the loose threads and cliffhanger ending would lead to a clamor from the small but dedicated group of fans. That clamor wasn't enough to earn a reprieve and Terminator is now officially cancelled.
But all is not lost. Before it got the axe, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles produced 31 episodes of complex storytelling, solid character development and brought a level of depth and substance that the films in the franchise only suggested. Over the course of those episodes a number of elements emerged that distinguished the series not only from its competition on television, but also from its bigger and louder theatrical siblings.
A lot has already been written about B.A.G. as Derek Reese, but he is the biggest surprise of the series. A young actor who played the largely thankless role of David Silver on the original Beverly Hills, 90210, Brian Austin Green was way, way down on the list of people you'd consider for the role of a badass resistance fighter from the future. His agent must have incriminating photos of someone, or kidnapped a casting director. Whatever happened, it was likely frightening for all involved.
Nonetheless, it's now hard to imagine someone else in this role. Green was a focused and scary presence when he wanted to be - but did just as well in the earnest and warmer moments. Green has two of the best moments in the series. When he introduces John to the little boy version of his father in Season 1, and when he tells Jesse how she was "never his Jesse" in Season 2. If you're going to introduce complicated time travel ideas, this is how you do it - through emotionally charged material delivered by a terrific actor.
Derek's departure was sudden and tragic - making his eventual return in the finale that much more surprising and satisfying. The idea of a Green-less season of the show wasn't all that appealing, but we learned in those final moments that this was never the plan. Alas, we'll never get to see what that real plan truly was.
- FOX John & Derek
The Evolution of John Connor
In the early going Thomas Dekker got a lot of flak for his portrayal of John Connor. He was too pretty, too whiny, too "emo." Suddenly, people were treating Edward Furlong's uneven and shrill performance in T2 as sacred canon. There was even a camp complaining that Dekker was treading on the ground covered by Nick Stahl in a movie almost nobody really cares about. I agree, there was some uneven development of John in the first season - but that can't all be Dekker's fault. And where the show ended up taking the character was clearly worth the effort.
In the movies, Connor had always been little more than an idea. In the second and third movies, he wasn't the man he'll become - just a punk kid or young adult who has talents with machines. In the show, we started to see John take charge. We saw him start to pull away from his mother because he knew that, eventually, she wouldn't be there to bail him out. Towards the end of Season 2, in the episode "Last Voyage of the Jimmy Carter" we learn that John is far more aware of events than we thought.
This is also the moment that he explains to Jesse why he uses machines in the fight - because people are irreplaceable. It's a fascinating insight into a young man who has spent an awful lot of time contemplating the apocalypse and how he'll save what's left of the human race. This is great writing - and Dekker was terrific in this scene. It's a shame we'll not get to see where they would have taken the character in further seasons.
Click above to watch our interview with creator Josh Friedman from WonderCon '09
The Time Travel
Sarah Connor put time travel at the core of its premise right in the pilot. It's not just those from the future who were coming back - but this time Sarah and John themselves move through time. It creates something of a fish-out-of-water scenario and also helps get Sarah off the hook from those pursuing her - at least for a little while.
In a larger sense, the time travel in the show served to underscore the sense of dread that Judgment Day was simply the fate of the human race. Jesse captures a man who tortured Derek in her future, but Derek in the present never had those experiences. It established that the future was changing - but Skynet still destroys the world and resistance fighters keep being sent back.
Even the date of Judgment Day differed. It gave us the idea that - at least so far - John and Sarah were having an impact on Skynet, but were unable to stop it. Very few shows have really delved this far into the mind-bending implications of time travel or used it for such ingenious storytelling purposes. The series also used their time travel device for the episode "Self Made Man," which - while not a perfect episode - gave us a terminator with a tommy-gun, and that's really all you should ask for.
[This was never a feature I wanted to write. It's an all too familiar feeling, lamenting the loss of a television series you were just starting to love. Terminator was a very good series on the verge of becoming a great series - and it's another in the long line of shows that have been cancelled before their time.
The worst part of the cancellation is where we were left off. This was not a season finale that was shot like a series finale "just in case." Showrunner Josh Friedman almost seemed to be daring FOX to cancel the show, knowing the loose threads and cliffhanger ending would lead to a clamor from the small but dedicated group of fans. That clamor wasn't enough to earn a reprieve and Terminator is now officially cancelled.
But all is not lost. Before it got the axe, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles produced 31 episodes of complex storytelling, solid character development and brought a level of depth and substance that the films in the franchise only suggested. Over the course of those episodes a number of elements emerged that distinguished the series not only from its competition on television, but also from its bigger and louder theatrical siblings.] 
Cameron
Summer Glau brought over a lot of Firefly and Serenity fans when she was cast as the beautiful-but-deadly terminator named "Cameron." Glau managed to create a fascinating character that went far beyond being simply "emotionless." Cameron may not have felt the way we understand it, but she "cared" for John in the sense that she was dedicated to the mission for which she was programmed.
We got to watch her learn, to try and understand the impact she had on others when she acted inappropriately. Fitting in as a human was better for the mission, and so it was a constant effort for Cameron to adapt and mimic those around her. This made for some fun - and funny - moments throughout the series, and allowed Glau to do a whole lot more than just fire guns with a blank expression. Although, it has to be said, when Cameron had to kick ass, she could do that quite well too.
Throughout the show - from the moment John met Cameron, and not knowing she was a machine, he checked her out - there has been an underlying current of sexual tension between the two. You could almost seen the teenage boy thinking "I wonder if I ordered her to if I could... nah... maybe?...nah..." These moments were deliberate, with reaction shots lingering on John watching Cameron in her underwear or Cameron leaning in a bit too close hoping that her appearance will have the desired effect.
All of this tension and forbidden sexuality reached the pinnacle moment in the finale. If you didn't see this moment, then my describing it will do it no justice. It involved John climbing up on top of a naked Cameron and then literally penetrating her - with his hands - after cutting her open, no less - to check her nuclear core. Her machine heart, as it were. It's a moment that's incredibly sexy but kind of icky and introduces all kinds of complicated questions about what is human and what is real.
Is it possible to have a tender moment with a machine? Dekker and Glau are so good in this moment, and they manage to create a unique moment that could serve to underscore the central premise of the series. It's also a painful moment - weird and surprising and oddly thrilling - all while you knew it was occurring in what was likely the final episode.
Click above to watch our interview with Summer Glau from WonderCon '09
Lena Headey had the most thankless role in the show. Linda Hamilton WAS Sarah Connor. She had the enviable fortune of taking the soft and naïve character from the first movie and transforming her into the hardened guardian in the superior sequel. Not even Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley traveled this much emotional terrain between films. Headey may not have cut as imposing a physical figure, but she had the hard edge - it was just at the core of a very different persona.
Much has been made about the "Sarah Connor triptych" (as Josh Friedman once called it). This is a term given the three episodes that were first to air in the show's new Friday night timeslot. The episodes were the most complex, subtle and morose of the entire series, focusing on Sarah's fraying hold on reality. These were not the slam-bang action episodes that FOX was promising in the Grind House-style advertising; and that may be what helped turn away any viewers checking the show out for the first time.
However, in these episodes, Lena Headey truly grabbed hold of the character and made it her own. There is a level of menace to Headey's Sarah, and we get the sense that she could come unglued at any moment - and certainly if you threaten her son. These episodes focus on a man that Sarah killed - whom we learn was actually her first.
This was a bit surprising, considering what we know about Sarah. And yet, becoming a killer of a human being seemed to be one of her greatest fears. So it seemed a cop-out when the deed was undone. Sarah seemed relieved to discover she wasn't a killer after all, but then the guy had to go and threaten John. So what does Sarah Connor do? She kills the guy all over again. Here we learn that Sarah's conscience, her own righteous sense of self and even her core humanity - have nothing on her will to protect John.
Garret Dillahunt is a damn fine actor. He's all over television, though you wouldn't know it because he tends to be unrecognizable from one role to the next. He actually played three roles on Sarah Connor, if you include George Laszlo, the B-movie actor whose face Cromartie stole. Laszlo has one of the best death scenes in the series - starting at himself in the mirror in complete terror and confusion before having the life smashed from him. It's a great moment, and Dillahunt is playing both parts.
Cromartie was a fearsome and seemingly psychotic terminator. Something happened to him on his trip into the future, and he seemed unbalanced... for a machine. Dillahunt was able to infuse his performance with the feel of a sociopath while still feeling like a terminator.
John Henry was a major departure from Cromartie. The innocent, child-like prototype for the artificial intelligence that would become (or defeat?) Skynet, Henry was an unsettling presence. Dillahunt has this way of smiling while using unfamiliar muscles in his face - it has the exact effect of someone pretending to be human. We never got a chance to find out what Henry was truly up to - but it likely would have been fascinating to watch.
- FOX John Henry
The Future
Of course, what we'll all miss most about this series are the episodes that will never be made. Because of the writers' strike, Sarah Connor's first season was only 9 episodes long. So the start of season 2 was truly the end of what was meant to be the first season. Which means that the series effectively never had a full, proper season to maximize its potential. And what makes it all the more painful is that the show really started to get its stride in the final few episodes - which were some of the best of the entire run.
There are so many questions left unanswered. What is John Connor - future John Connor - planning? What was his relationship with Cameron and why does he seem to trust her implicitly? Was the liquid metal terminator on Jesse's submarine Catherine Weaver or a different terminator entirely? Who is trying to kill Weaver in the present - is it Skynet, and if so - how? If John is in the future and it's still post-apocalyptic - what became of Sarah? If John Henry puts Cameron's chip in his head, will he and John have weird sexual tension?
It would be great to somehow get these answers. Maybe there will be a comic book, or a web series, or something that at least fills in the gaps. Or maybe it's better to just let Sarah Connor's future remain uncertain and unwritten. That seems fitting somehow, even if it doesn't make the loss of the show much better. At least we'll have the DVDs...