Sarah Connor Chronicles 2x02-2x04

[oyceter]

I didn't write up 2x02 or 2x03 largely because I don't remember them and/or didn't have much to say at the time. The nuclear power plant arc largely baffled me until the end, and some of me wishes they wouldn't come up with such a dramatic way to give Sarah cancer (possibly). I suppose this way, she's less likely to pass it on to John? And the entire John-Riley subplot bored me. Show! Please do not use long blond-haired outcast girls as a means to get the viewer interested in John's school life! Especially when other plots involve, say, saving people from nuclear meltdown or averting the upcoming machine apocalypse.

While I liked the episode with Charley and Michelle, I am very sad they killed her. Partly I am sad because of the Woman in Refrigerator thing, but mostly I am sad because I actually grew to like her a lot in that episode. I also loved the scenes between her and Sarah. I was going to say that some evil part of me would be amused if Charley became Sarah's Man in Refrigerator, and then I remembered that she already has one in Kyle Reese.

And oh, Ellison. Do not be seduced by the dark side! It makes me worry a lot about your life expectancy!

This week's episode: made of win! Cameron character development, insofar as Cameron can develop. I love getting a look at her origin, and now I really want to know more about her reprogramming, if she has in fact been reprogrammed. And she has Allison Young's memories! How in the world did she get those? I mean, they could have been programmed into her, but the emotional reactions don't seem to be something that the terminators can be programmed to have. So...? Is she acting on Allison's emotions? Extrapolating? Can terminators have split personalities?

Plus, this week's one-off blonde girl was at least interesting.

Sadly, Sarah's plot this episode was largely filler, although it may prove to be very relevant to later episodes. And I did like getting the story of John's birth.

Also also, I like that the show has a lot of POC as extras. It'd just be nice if more of them were in the main cast...

Oh! And we get to see more of Ellison's personal life, which is always a plus.

Comments

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Also also, I like that the show has a lot of POC as extras. It'd just be nice if more of them were in the main cast...

Snort. No shit.

Re: John's birth. Well, we knew Sarah was tough, but DAMN, giving birth alone in the middle of the jungle and then hiking back with a newborn until you find a bus? Wow.

So I guess Catherine Weaver was a real person before the T-1000 killed her. Since I doubt Robo!Catherine could've given birth to little Savannah. Poor kid. I can see why Robo!Catherine kept her around, though (I'm acting on the assumption that she took over Catherine's life two years ago and promptly staged the husband's accident so she'd have a free hand). The kid's too young for anyone to think anything of it if she says Mommy's acting weird, and her presence makes a great cover. Ellison got markedly less suspicious towards her after he met the little girl. And even if Weaver comes onto Sarah & Co.'s radar, they won't leap to the assumption she's a Terminator, what with the child as cover.

[seraphcelene]

Catherine works really hard to make sure no one questions who or what she is. Staging the kid was like her trick with the water in the previous episode: nothing to see here, move along. Even the way that she talked about the helicopter crash that killed the husband. She paused at just the right moment to create the suggestion of emotion and then allowed Ellison to extrapolate her feelings. She never actually emoted anything. It was all him.

I wonder what life is like for wee Savannah with the robo-mom and all. That has got to suck major!

[seraphcelene]

I was digging Michelle also during that episode. It really surprised me that they killed her off, even though I was totally expecting it. My brother and I were both struck with how pre-T2 Sarah she was. How she evoked Hamilton's Sarah at the end of T1, weary but determined to survive, tougher than anyone could imagine.

Although the Sarah/Hippie Mom thing was way like filler, it also reminded me of how they're switching behaviors between John and Sarah. As John becomes "tougher", Sarah is shows as becoming "softer". I'm not sure why the sudden need to shift the gendered behaviors or incorporate ideas of more traditional models, but I don't care for it.

I'm completely fascinated by the Cameron memory thing. I thought for sure that Alison Young was some kind of super advanced, experimental model that didn't realize it was not human. Especially when she jumped off the ship and sank into the net. Of course, her getting her neck snapped eliminated that theory. :) Still, I am completely curious as to HOW they gave her memories. This show is totally pulling me in, and that's nice since Heroes has jumped the shark for me. At least I have something to replace it with.

[rheanna27.livejournal.com]

Show! Please do not use long blond-haired outcast girls as a means to get the viewer interested in John's school life! Especially when other plots involve, say, saving people from nuclear meltdown or averting the upcoming machine apocalypse.

*laughs* Nicely put.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

how pre-T2 Sarah she was

I know, right? Facially, she is a lot more like Linda Hamilton. And their gas stop looked a lot like the one at the end of T1. I half expected another kid to take her picture.

super advanced, experimental model that didn't realize it was not human

Me, too! Blade Runner might have helped prime me to wonder about that possibility. And how interesting that Cameron ended up naming Alison (Allison?).

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

Michelle: I also liked her development in the episode, and was sad that she died. But, the fact that they did develop her so well helped make her death less fridge-y for me. She wasn't just a plot device for angsting up other characters, she had agency and played the central role in her own story.

Sarah's fridge: I have been expecting Charlie to be fridged since Episode 1.01. I really don't want to see that happen, because I like how they have a male character in the traditionally-female "healer" role. I would say that Michelle is a WiR for Sarah (and for John), as well as for Charlie--the final scenes of that episode indicated to me that they were all upset about failing to save her.

This week: I think the points of the Sarah-landlady plot were (1) to show Sarah making a human connection with somebody other than John, and (2) to emphasize for especially-dense viewers the parenthood metaphor which forms the thematic basis for Sarah's story.

POC: I read somewhere that a multi-racial actress will be coming on as a recurring character pretty soon. I don't remember her name, but she was in the Battlestar Galactica Razor movie. She's going to be another time-displaced Future Resistance fighter.

[oyceter]

Fic fodder! Fic fodder!

[oyceter]

Sarah = awesome.

Also, I feel so bad for Savannah! And I wanted to shake Ellison when he was extrapolating from Catherine's story of her husband's death and the official version. But I do not blame him for being distracted by the kid.

[oyceter]

Yes! She totally reminded me of Sarah around T1 as well! And I love that she pulls herself to her feet and tells everyone that she can walk as well.

Yeah, I am still a little iffy about the emphasis of Sarah as mother. I mean, I love that she is a gun-toting kickass mom who gave birth in the jungle alone, and the show has been very good about not doing the whole Holy Mother thing. I am just wary.

[oyceter]

I was like, "Maybe the show producers are trying to go for contrast like in Buffy. But it so does not work!"

[oyceter]

I am really glad that the show ended up giving Michelle a lot of character before she died, especially because it could have so easily gone the romantic rival way.

I'm also less annoyed about the WiR aspect because Charley's so clearly not the protag of the show. His angst just serves to amp up Sarah's!

And yaaaay actress news!

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

I couldn't really be mad at Ellison for falling for it. As soon as he saw the cute little munchkin, he was predisposed to see Weaver as the courageous grieving widow. Plus, it may have reassured him that she'd actually listen to him if he tells her it's getting too dangerous. She's got something to lose, after all.

I mean, yeah, he should be more suspicious, but on the other hands, Robo!Weaver is far from stupid. She made sure to present all the right trappings to lessen his suspicions.

You know, if it turns out Riley is Robo!Catherine's sullen, neglected older child, that's really the only way the blonde outcast girl plot could be redeemed for me. Granted, that'd be a really big age difference, but we already know Riley's family don't seem ot give a damn, and it looks like the Connors are hiding out in a wealthy area. Could be Savannah is parked with a well-paid nanny until she's needed as a prop, while Riley, being too old for nannies, just runs wild.

I'd have a lot more interest in/sympathy for the Riley situation if she was all Outcast Rebel Girl because her dad was dead and her mom had been replaced by a Terminator. Plus, you know, there might be some actual POINT to John's stupid teen angst storyline. That, of course, means there'll be no connection.

[raincitygirl.livejournal.com]

Poor wee Savannah! Not only does she have a hideous name, her daddy fell out of a helicopter, her mommy's buried in the backyard, a liquid metal serial killer is wandering around pretending to be her mommy, and if she acts out about her home life having gone nuts, everyone assumes it's just grief. This kid may actually have a tougher row to hoe than John Connor, which is saying something. On the other hand, John's pretty much guaranteed to survive, while I have a feeling Friedman may sacrifice the little strawberry blonde Shirley Manson clone to the angst gods in sweeps week.

Now I want Ellison to find out what she was drawing with her crayons. I bet it's all DARK and ANGSTY like the pop tart on Battlestar Galactica with her colouring book.