I watched the first two episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles last night. I am a big fan of T-2 and I actually enjoyed T-3 quite a bit. The original film used to be high on my list too, but an old friend of mine ruined that for me. He pointed out a fatal flaw in the film’s main premise and I just can’t look past it now.
The new show, which airs Monday Nights on Fox, eliminates the third film altogether. The pilot actually picks up right after T-2 ended. The story follows Sarah and John as they try to lay low after destroying the SkyNet system at the end of the second movie. A refresher: SkyNet is the satellite network, created in the future, that serves as the catalyst for the end of the world.
Well, as always seems to be the case in television, SkyNet wasn’t completely destroyed, it was just slowed down for a while. Someone in 2011 actually manages to get the SkyNet system launched and that event will still manage to lead the machines to turn on humanity after all. The who, what, where, when, and why of this new SkyNet launch is the hook for the show. Sarah and John must stop the system from being put into place.
Sarah Connor, one of the most kick ass mothers in the history of film, is portrayed here by Lena Heady of 300 fame. She is every bit as hardcore as Linda Hamilton and slides beautifully into the role. Thomas Dekker, of brief Heroes stardom, takes on the John Connor roll. John is still a headstrong, angst ridden teenager who has a long ways to go before he can become the man that leads the fight against the machines. The main new character is played by Summer Glau (Firefly, The 4400). She is the “good” machine sent back by John to help protect him and his mother.
The show is an action packed, fly by the seat of your pants thrill ride. But that’s where the good news ends. While the action is brisk and brings back memories of the glory days of 24, it lacks the brains that 24 had. You don’t have to invest a whole lot of your intelligence into Terminator and I consider that a bad thing.
I will say this; the show runs circles around The Bionic Woman, which I am sure it will be compared to. I enjoyed Terminator ten times more than that show. However, I can’t get my mind around this one dilemma. In an early scene in the series Summer Glau’s character takes John and Sarah to a bank. Inside some of the safety deposit boxes are parts to build a kick as futuristic gun that fries the machines. John asks, “Did someone bring this gun back from the future?” The machine explains to him that you can’t send items, including clothes, through time. She says future John sent someone back to 1963 when the bank was built to collect the parts to make the gun and he hid them inside the bank. That’s fine and good. But here is a more fundamental question; why haven’t the bad guys sent someone back even further in time and just killed Sarah Connor’s parents and ended this waaaayyyyy back when?
I can’t stand shows that leave holes in the story that big. This has to be explained or I won’t be able to continue watching the show. Maybe I’m being too hard on it. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve taken a show to task. I am going to keep watching because I WAS entertained. But I hope they manage to make the show as much about a mother protecting her son at all cost and about solving a mystery as it is about being a special effects showcase during a cat and mouse chase. That’s basically what 24 has become and I quit watching that show a long time ago.
2 comments:
I don't want to compare Terminator to Bionic Woman. But, that does sums up nicely what I find to be the obvious difference between the TV show and the movies. The series so far has all but removed all the masculine dominate lines of the movie version and replaced it with a watery touchy feel kind of story. Linda Hamilton was lean and cut and great fit for the character. I'm not impressed with the "new" Sara who seems to play the victim of her ex boyfriend with way to much crying drama. It is entertaining but does not seem at all like the original movies in terms of the adrenaline that Arnold brings to the story.
I've been meaning to post about this but better late than never I guess. That friend of yours that ruined T1 for you did the same for me. The thing is, anytime you're dealing with time travel shows, hardly anything makes sense if you use your common sense. That power is too great to make a legitimate problem scenario where we as an audience buy it. I have the same issue with Heroes. You almost have to watch those shows with a few brain cells shut off.
Paymon
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