215: 'Desert Cantos'
Wr: John Wirth & Ian Goldberg
Dr: J. Miller Tobin
Synopsis: Sarah, John, Cameron and Derek go in search of clues connected to a factory that has been torn down. Weaver sends a man to the same place to look for survivors.
Review: There are times when I ask myself why I continue to watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles; they usually occur just after the latest episode has finished downloading and I'm faced with having to make the decision of whether to press 'play' on it or the newest instalment of Battlestar Galactica, which airs the same night. Invariably, Battlestar always wins. I subsequently tend to spend a few days pontificating, putting off the inevitable and when I eventually do come around to sticking the ruddy thing on, it's usually when I have at least one other thing to distract me. So perhaps it's slightly unfair that I deign to review the thing when I'm probably not giving it the level of attention that it naturally deserves. But then, if it bothered to actually be good, solid entertainment week in, week out, I'd be less swayed by other things. Hell, I'd be less swayed if it could muster up a quality episode every couple of weeks or so. As it currently stands, the show has been unquestionably lacklustre for quite some time, with even then one above average episode that I can remember, 'Alpine Fields', still being a distraction from the overall season arc. If the writing staff would dust themselves down and get on with it, I'd question my resolve to work through the season a whole hell of a lot less.
To be fair to 'Desert Cantos', we do see a slight improvement in the quality of the writing this week, even if it is only because something actually happens. It's not much, granted, but at least it takes the show a couple of baby steps forward towards the inevitable climax of the previously disparate Connor and Weaver narratives. The family work together (which is incredibly refreshing to see) without any distractions from useless Jesse or even more useless Riley to acquire some additional information on the nature of the work going on at the mysterious warehouse that we first saw in 'Earthlings Welcome Here'. A mildly intriguing mystery ensues, in which it is determined that one of the supposedly dead fathers is actually alive, and the whole thing is paid off nicely with the sudden appearance of a drone from the bubbling waters beside a bunch of dead cows. There's also a welcome burst of tension imbued into proceedings when Sarah and John are wandering around the interconnected houses of the warehouse workers and particularly when Sarah uncovers the basement area with its unusual CCTV system and technology. Bear McCreary's music is perfectly pitched here and ensures that you're perched on the edge of your seat, unsure of both the fate of the character and the nature of what she will find.
It's a pity, then, that this is where the good stuff ends. There is still far, far too great an emphasis placed on exploring the psychological make-up of the characters involved in the narrative and in 'Desert Cantos'' case, it's made all the more frustrating by the fact that it's people that we've never met before, are poorly sketched out in the dialogue, and that we therefore don't care about one iota, who are given the episode's undivided attention. I mean Christ on a pedolo, look how long it takes to actually get to the point where something interesting happens! We spend the first twenty minutes dancing around the obvious issue - that the Connors need some sort of lead - by essentially musing about how horrible funerals are. Huh. Well, there's a highly poignant observation if ever I saw one. Oh wait, but it wouldn't be realistic if they got the answers they needed straight away, right? Well, no, it wouldn't. So why not cut the slow-moving procession through EVERY FACET OF THE FLAMING FUNERAL (the episode even predicates its structure on the stages of the thing for God's sake! It actually divides it up ON-SCREEN) and show us snippets of the thing? Dare to get us beyond the point of one minor plot development each episode and actually DO SOMETHING WORTHWHILE WITH THE STORY! And while you're at it, get a better casting director: the actresses playing the mother and child whose husband/father didn't die are truly abysmal. There are times in which they come across as if they're reading their lines off a Teleprompter; the most notable of which is probably the scene in the basement. Mind you, this is the show that cast Shirley Manson as its central villain so maybe that's too much to ask. She's cringe worthy again here actually, especially when she utters the ridiculous line "excuse me Mr. Ellison, I'm feeling emotional." You're telling me that any sane human being WHO WAS IN CONTACT WITH MACHINES THAT TALK EXACTLY LIKE THIS wouldn't cotton on to the fact that something was up? Pah!
While this is something of an improvement on the dire 'Earthlings Welcome Here' and 'The Good Wound', 'Desert Cantos' still showcases many of the problems that are currently inherent in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It's far too slow moving and focuses its attention on tropes and characters that it's difficult to muster any interest in. The show continues to stare blankly at its navel, only occasionally choosing to look up to give its viewers a tiny snippet of something relevant to that pesky little season-spanning narrative that the cast and crew seem to have forgotten about. Things need to pick up fast if there's going to be any interest left anywhere in this programme: sadly, the synopsis for next week's episode indicates that Sarah will be visiting a clinic for help when she starts having nightmares. Again. I despair, I really do. 5.3
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