Review catch-up: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Okay so I feel a little guilty that I've neglected the television reviews for so long. Hence, the catch-up. The problem, I feel, is that I spent far too much time that I didn't really have writing insanely lengthy analyses of every single episode of every show I watch. From now on, you're getting a paragraph and no more. But the perfectionist in me insists this has to be done.

216: 'Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep'

Wr: Natalie Chaidez & Denise The
Dr: Scott Lautanen

Synopsis: Sarah is forced to seek help from nightmares at a clinic. She tries to figure out Skynet's next move.

Review: Or, as the reviewer in this month's SFX puts it, 'those who watch will probably sleep'. The Sarah Connor Chronicles treads water again, taking seven steps back for every baby step forward. While the episode should be given a little credit for actually advancing the plot and not simply gazing at its apparently psychologically abundant navel, there's so much utterly unnecessary pseudo-analytical garbage in the mix that it's hard to derive much enjoyment. How many times must we all contemplate Sarah's 'fragile' nature before someone kicks her up the jacksy and forces her to do her friggin' job? And the 'mystery' element of the plot falls flat from the moment of conception, since it is obvious to anyone with even a cursory interest in the Terminatorverse that Ms Connor would never check herself into a sleep clinic. Another disappointment. 4.7

217: 'Ourselves, Alone'

Wr: Toni Graphia
Dr: Daniel T. Thomsen

Synopsis: Cameron creates danger for all with her flaws. Riley fears her secret is out.

Review: Look, I *know* we can't expect this show to be an action-packed thrill-seeking roller-coaster ride week in, week out but this is just getting ridiculous. The writing staff have been dancing around the same minuscule, uninteresting plot points for about half the season now and frankly, it's wearisome. If it weren't for the possibility that Thomas Dekker might get his kit off any second, I'd stop watching the bloody show. 'Ourselves, Alone' takes the psychoanalytical bent that's dominated every episode since 'Earthlings Welcome Here' and tries to inject some originality by aiming the microscope at Cameron instead of Sarah. Um, nice try guys, but you're not fooling anyone. She kills a pigeon, panics a bit about her motor-neuron reflexes and um, Riley dies. Oh wait, did something actually happen? Jesus. Get. The. Hell. On. With. It. 5.4

218: 'Today Is The Day' (1/2)

Wr: Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz
Dr: Guy Norman Bee

Synopsis: Jesse leaves Serrano Point in 2027 for a new mission aboard a nuclear submarine. Sarah and John suspect Cameron in the death of Riley. Ellison and Weaver must play a game with John Henry to find the missing Savannah.

Review: At last, The Sarah Connor Chronicles delivers a plot that actually engages its audience. While a regrettably large proportion of the contemporary plot is spent chin-stroking about what to do with the supposedly guilty Cameron (surely someone as combat-ready and impulsive as Sarah would JUST END HER?!), there's enough mystery, intrigue and believable, tension-filled conflict in the 2027 sequences to keep the episode afloat. It's nice to see Jesse's back story fleshed out a bit and there are some genuine surprises to be found onboard the USS Jimmy Carter. Oh and the hide and seek game between Savannah and John Henry, while pure filler, is at least mildly amusing. Nothing special, you understand, and still guilty of over-egging the 'arthouse' element (how many times do we need to see Jesse immersing herself in water and curling up into the foetal position? Really, WE GET THE ANALOGY), but a definite turn in the right direction. 7.5

219: 'Last Voyage of the Jimmy Carter' (2/2)

Wr: Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz
Dr: Guy Norman Bee

Synopsis: Jesse's mission takes a turn for the worst, which results in unexpected consequences for Sarah, John, and Derek. Meanwhile, Sarah deals with Cameron and John makes a very important decision.

Review: While the 'cliffhanger' at the end of 'Today Is The Day' was perhaps the most depressingly rubbish since Doctor Who's 'Dragonfire' (Jesse sits in her apartment and THINKS! Yeah! That'll bring viewers back next week!), the second part of this 'mini-movie' (as the 2guystalking folk prefer to call it) holds up against its predecessor and maintains the satisfying levels of tension and suspense that Miller and Stentz managed to deliver last week. Granted, once again, it's mostly in the 2027 scenes, but given that these make up a significant proportion of the episode, that'll do me. I'm not entirely sure that I buy John's awareness of Riley's deception; it smacks far too greatly of a retcon, given that we have had absolutely no hint of any suspicion in the previous instalments, but given that it leads to Dekker's best scene in the show's two years, I'll let it slide. Brian Austen Green is pretty damn good too as he gives his treacherous love interest the 'bon voyage' she truly deserves. Good stuff, showing promise for the season (and possibly the show)'s final run. 7.5

220: 'To the Lighthouse'

Wr: Natalie Chaidez
Dr: Guy Ferland

Synopsis: Sarah hides John with Charley Dixon, the only person she thinks she can trust. Meanwhile, Derek struggles to work together with Cameron, and someone compromises John Henry, putting Catherine Weaver's efforts at risk.

Review: Unfortunately, the most interesting part of 'To The Lighthouse' is unquestionably John Henry's story and it's given about 7% of the episode's total screen time. While Shirley Manson continues to be something of a chore to watch, the concept of the AI being infiltrated by his 'brother' gives some weight and possibility to this storyline and ties in well with some of the loose ends that have been dangling since the season premiere. Of course, we can't spend too much time thinking about the show's mythology because that just wouldn't be plot-worthy... no, we'd better throw some, ahem, 'character development' and 'psychological introspection' in there just to balance it all out. Meh. The first two thirds of 'To The Lighthouse' are just plain boring. No one gives a tinker's cuss about Sarah's relationship with Charley Dixon, John's relationship with Charley Dixon or, frankly, anything to do with Charley frigging Dixon at all. GET ON WITH STOPPING SKYNET. The last third picks up the pace somewhat as, you know, people get shot and stuff but I was so catatonic after the umpteenth discussion about the hazardous nature of the Connors' lives that I could barely register that things were actually, you know, happening. Another mis-step in a season chock-a-block full of them. 5.6

221: 'Adam Raised A Cain'

Wr: Toni Graphia
Dr: Charles Beeson

Synopsis: John is one step closer to catching Weaver while on his mission to rescue Skynet's latest target. Sarah and Ellison's reunion causes a change in their plan. Weaver discovers Ellison's secret.

Review: Christ in a hand basket, things actually happened this week. And a lot of things, come to that. In fact, 'Adam Raised A Cain' packs so much story development into its 45 minutes that it's almost too much and you begin to wonder why the bloody production crew couldn't just have spread things out a little more so that they might actually have acquired a viewing audience. Still, no matter. This is the best episode of The Sarah Connor Chronicles since the top notch season premiere, from the interweaving (hah, see what I did there) of the John Henry story with the Connors', to the highly dramatic and well-executed sequences involving Savannah (never thought I'd say that) to the completely shocking and brilliantly executed death of poor, poor Derek. For once, an American television series kills a likeable main character in a completely off-hand, utterly callous way, making it the most realistic murder I've seen in years. In most shows, Derek would've been given a hero's send-off, dying as he's pumping bullet after bullet into an army of bad guys and saving everyone in the process. Not so here. He's a casual victim of events and as such, it's frighteningly believable. Never thought I'd say it, but The Sarah Connor Chronicles just gave us one of the best moments of the televisual year. Wonders never cease. Unfortunately, they counterpoint it fifteen minutes later with one of the absolute WORST moments of the televisual year in the excrutiating 'Donald, Where's Your Trousers?' montage that's so bad, and so desperately clawing for 'artsy significance', that I'm taking two whole points off the final score for the episode because of it. Really, Google it if you don't watch the show. It has to be seen to be believed. 6.6 (8.6 without 'Donald...')

222: 'Born To Run'

Wr: Josh Friedman
Dr: Jeffrey Hunt

Synopsis: The Connors and Weaver face an epic battle that will change everyone's fortunes.

Review: Well... Josh Friedman achieved pretty much what he set out to do with 'Born To Run' and gave us an episode that is satisfactory as a season finale and also as a series one, tying up a number of loose ends and bringing things full circle (if you can really call time travel that) in a way that doesn't leave everyone clawing for more, demanding that the network revive the show in the case of cancellation simply because they 'didn't answer' this or that. There's some definite good here, as the Weaver-Connor sequences are all excellently done with some nice special effects and move at a pleasing enough pace to maintain interest. Problem is, they constitute 1/3 of the episode. The rest is spent indulging in build-up that works in some instances (certain scenes between Sarah and her priest) and fails spectacularly in others (Cameron and John's heaving-bosom moment being the worst candidate... next to last week's 'Donald, Where's Your Trousers?' calamity, this is the worst thing The Sarah Connor Chronicles has ever done). There are moments where the viewer's interest sags, particularly as stunning moments like Weaver's electrocution of the Terminator (a bit of a throwaway character, incidentally) are counterpointed with mind-numbing ponderings about life from John and Cameron. The drone ambush is also somewhat problematic as nothing is explained after all the build up in earlier episodes, and you'd be forgiven for being a little baffled when the plot is amped up to 'faster than light' just before Weaver and John travel through time, with all the mentions of Turks and red dots and things. Still, this is fairly successful on the whole and at least we get to see Thomas Dekker in the buff again. Yay for male torso hotness! 7.8

In fact, so taken am I with Thomas Dekker's nude form that I'm going to let you all salivate over it here. Yummy yum.