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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – Episode 2-6 Review

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After a brief hiatus, sadly Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles failed to get us pumped up with this week’s slow paced and dramatic episode.  Whether the writers wanted to steer clear of being labeled an action show, or whether they just wanted to compete with shows like Grey’s Anatomy, episode six was full of emotions and almost operatic, with only a smidgeon of sweet Terminator stunts.

The Connor gang decides to focus their attentions on Dr. Sherman, a man who will somehow be connected with Skynet, so they can discover if he is friend or foe.  As it turns out he’s a family counselor specializing in children.  Signal the emotional floodgates to open!  Suddenly we learn that John is apparently suffering from PTSD.  The strain of being a soldier fighting a not-yet-existing battle is too much for our 16 year old hero.  While this does make sense, it also seems inconsistent with his behavior of late.  John’s character wavers between efficient fighter and moody teen.  Hopefully, as the series continues this fluctuation will cease, because right now it’s downright annoying!

In addition to John’s problem, the good doctor diagnoses Cameron with a social disorder (nice catch, Doc!).  This brings us to another mildly irritating inconsistency.  Why is it that the Terminators can act so human sometimes and then seem to lose that ability other times?  When we first met Cameron, she was charming and flirtatious; everything a normal teenage girl should be.  So why is it that now her movements are jerky, her face is constantly passive, and her tone is emotionless?  This change only serves to single her out from the crowd.  The same goes for Catherine Weaver, who managed to alluringly seduce a man in one episode, but who can’t seem to get smiling right in this episode.  Either the Terminators can be convincing as humans or they can’t.  It’s nonsensical to have them switch back and forth, as it singles them out and is detrimental to their purposes.

Another apparent non-human, Derek Reese, finally comes out of with some emotions of his own for newcomer Jesse.  Jesse is a soldier from the future who has gone AWOL to be with Derek.  He doesn’t seem to mind this at all and before long they’re in bed.  Whoa!  What happened to the gravelly-voiced Derek whose sole purpose seemed to be to utter dire phrases and only turn up in time to shoot stuff?  It appears the writers decided to flesh him out, but they went from 0 to 60 in the process!  We applaud Derek for getting some (maybe now he won’t be so tense) but let’s not evolve into one of the more sex-oriented shows here, okay Fox?

The Connor Crew aren’t the only ones with emotional problems this week.  Even the program that Weaver has been developing is having issues.  The program has been showing nonsensical pictures and losing efficiency, baffling the programmers working on it.  Meanwhile, in an attempt to make her acquired daughter like her (after scaring the child into wetting her pants) Weaver has encountered Dr. Sherman.  Intrigued by his success with her “daughter,” Weaver brings him to visit the computer program.  He quickly identifies the pictures as a riddle and diagnoses the problem: the growing pains of a bored child.  Impressed, Weaver hires him as a consultant, thereby answering the question of his Skynet connection for the audience.

Finally, even Sarah is dealing with matters of the psyche.  Although she has always seemed in control and fully competent before, this week she is fragile and unsure.  The idea that John could be suffering mentally had somehow eluded her mind until this point and now she can’t accept the possibility.  In the end, after listening to a conversation between John and Dr. Sherman (recorded by the bug Cameron placed in his office) Sarah finally breaks down and accepts that she and John are both flawed, and visits the doctor herself.

In the midst of this soap-opera of feelings revealed and explored, there was one moment of pretty cool action as Cameron faced off with a Terminator sent to Dr. Sherman’s office.  Clued in to her presence by her similarly inhuman behavior (again, what happened to the ability to blend in?), Cameron takes on the new machine in the elevator.  The best part: after defeating the Terminator, Cameron twists her into a little Terminator pretzel.  Unfortunately, they learn nothing from the robot’s chip as it somehow self-destructs.  Still, the fight was a welcome break from the intense emotional drama going on elsewhere.

While it’s nice to see relatable characters and be reminded that they are imperfect too, those reminders should come at intervals.  To have this show go from edge-of-the-seat Terminator action to an hour of histrionics (waah waah, we get it already) is a sure buzz kill.  Elvis put it best when he said, “A little less conversation, a little more action please.”

Susan Kearl is a university student with too much time on her hands who loves to watch TV.  She’s happy to contribute her opinions to the world of television viewers like you.

 


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