This last Sunday should have been the day I watched evil Soul Patch Tony take on Jack in the 24 season premiere, but of course thanks to the greedy studios we’ll have to wait for months on that one. Instead FOX gave us their most prized possession other than American Idol and that’s their new hour long drama based on the mega successful Terminator movies. I’m a big fan of the first two Terminators and I think the third film was actually pretty good but when the word came down about a TV show I was skeptical.
After two episode of Terminator- The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I can say that while I remain skeptical about its long term possibilities I’m certainly pleased with the short term. Heavy on action the pilot was a bit of a mess but still entertaining, especially in the last few minutes when they really did a nice job of setting up the future eps and explaining how the third movie fits or more accurately doesn’t fit in with mythology anymore. Instead of pretending the third movie didn’t exist the writer’s send Sarah and her messiah to be son John into the future by leaping from 1999 ( post T2: Judgement Day) to 2007 thus skipping the events of #3 and making them irrelevant which was future John’s (and probably the studio’s) idea. The second episode picking up after our heroes arrive in the future was a much tighter hour of TV. Summer Glau is a vision as the “good” Terminator. The former ballet dancer’s movements allow her to strike the perfect balance between machine and human. The mystery surrounding just what kind of model of terminator she is seems a bit transparent (I’m guessing she’s a human/machine hybrid) but its just one of many seeds the writers have planted that COULD make for an interesting mythology. There’s the fact that Sarah’s cancer mentioned in T3 is still a threat, not to mention the eventual judgement day that Skynet is working on. The post 9/11 world also seems tailor made for finally introducing a law enforcement aspect to these types of stories that isn’t simply a comedic foil or casualty. The problem of the show is it spends so much time blowing things up that sometimes logic and character take a back seat. In episode two, John disobeys his mom and goes out on his own to visit his old step dad. I get that they’re trying to show that the kid is having a hard time being the savior of mankind to be, but this is fundamentally stupid you kind of wish he gets killed. Of course it makes for a decent tension filled action scene. The biggest problem lies with Lena Headey who plays the title character. Her Sarah Connor is often too timid from the one played by Linda Hamilton as she seems she’d prefer to run than to fight. Right now it seems like the machines are pushing the story forward and I think for the show to succeed the humans will have to take that on.
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