Sarah Connor Chronicles 2x05-2x06

[oyceter]

I am so conflicted! I really like the meatiness of the last three episodes, but I'm very leery of how Sarah's basically been a side character for all of them.

And it's not that the show is doing anything wrong per se, it is just that I feel like the men are getting to feel more of the burden from war, while we're getting quite a few images of women as mothers, lovers, and daughters. I also don't think it's as clear cut as I'm saying, since Sarah's motherhood is intrinsically tangled up with war, Weaver's motherhood is false, and Jesse is an AWOL soldier from the future who is actually a spy or something. But I miss seeing Sarah in action, and I wish the show would go into her mental scars that don't necessarily have to do with John. Did Dr. Sherman not notice Sarah's PTSD syndromes, or does she hide them too well, or were there too many people or something?

That said, I really did love all the parallels between Weaver and Sarah, Savannah and John, Weaver and the AI and Cameron, and the revelation that Derek was suicidal. And yaaaay woman of color! I hope we get lots of Jesse and that she doesn't die. Also, she and Derek were extremely hot together.

I am somewhat confused as to the role kind black men play in the rise of SkyNet and am still hoping Ellison ends up meeting the Connors.

I was very unsurprised by the revelation that it was indeed John who had killed Sarkissian; everything in Sarah and John's reactions to the event and to each other read that way. I do wish it had been Sarah, though. I want tasty female angst over PTSD and war wounds and killing and whatnot!

And oh, I felt for John so much in his therapy sessions. The actor is great, and it just killed me that John is so afraid and so tired.

I also want to know if all the emphasis on motherhood and the sometimes-childlike nature of machines will end up with the education of SkyNet, which is where my bets are placed right now.

Also, yay full season!

Comments

[rilina.livejournal.com]

ITA with regards to Sarah's lack of centrality and the weird positioning of the kind black men. There are some very strange patterns in the storytelling right now!

[oyceter]

I know! And I am not quite sure what to make of them yet; I am a little leery thanks to TV generally not doing well with gender and race, but I also am enjoying the storytelling. I guess I'll just have to wait and see...

[maerhys.livejournal.com]

I've loved these last two eps because of how little Headey's Sarah Connor I've had to see, the woman is walking WWS for me and the less the better. I really, really want more Ellison and definitely more Jesse, especially after seeing that she has photos of John and Derek. This show is so lacking in characters of color.... *sigh* But I love Ellison so as long as he remains in each ep I am happy.

I though the official podcast for 2x1 confirmed that Sarah killed Sarkissian, but I guess not. Interesting indeed. The retcon of Sarah never killing before, even John never killing before is a little irritating to me, but nothing I can't deal with, I suppose.

[oyceter]

Heh, I like Sarah. But yeah, more characters of color would be very good!

Did Sarah and/or John kill anyone in the movies? I don't remember, though I keep being irked about the non-killing for Sarah because I totally believe that Linda Hamilton's Sarah would/did kill people.

[maerhys.livejournal.com]

I went back and watched the movies (a lot, I am writing epic AU fan fic) and it's ambiguous, however, with Hamilton's Sarah her state of mind is such that she really does believe all of them are dead so when she sticks the pen to and the cleaning fluid to Silberman and beats the crap out of Dougie (which btw is all real, she was pissed at the actor and not medicated for her bipolar at the time) with the broom handle... it's not hard to imagine that she's assaulted if not killed in the past, especially coming out of paramilitary in the 1980s. Also, she does go for Dyson fully intent on killing him. I think it was seeing the kid(s) that stopped her fully. It's hard for me to believe that she doesn't have any blood on her hands.

I really wish they'd bring in Danny Dyson to work with the Connors, that's sort of my secret wish, and more Jesse although I have a feeling she's being set up as a villain. :/ Ellison remains my favorite because I think he's so perfect as Weaver's foil and he makes her scenes watchable. With the theme of both Oz and the biblical overtones, I think Ellison may be a version of an Old Testament prophet in a lot of ways, the avenging angel as Weaver said.... little does she know if he is avenging I think it will be on her.

I wish I could like this version of Sarah, and I am trying so hard. *sigh* I think a lot of it is the writing combined with Headey's acting. Also, Linda is one of my favorite actresses ever, I've followed her career since I was about ten, so I can't even blame Headey too much because I went into the tv show biased.

[oyceter]

It's hard for me to believe that she doesn't have any blood on her hands.

Yeah, me too. I need to rewatch T2! But I guess she could have just done a lot of training with the paramilitary? And I know there's been a lot of talk on T2 Sarah being not her normal state, given that she's been locked in a mental hospital and John's been taken from her, which I'm sure was devastating.

But a lot of me still has that Sarah as canon!Sarah. There's just this sense of her being willing to resort to anything that I don't quite get from Lena Headey, who feels like she thinks and contemplates a lot more and acts less.

[maerhys.livejournal.com]

I think Sarah was in hyperdrive in T2 but I think it's not far off from her normal state at that time, at least that's how I see it - she's very driven to make sure that no harm comes to John and that JD must be stopped. Intense. In the deleted scenes from T1, we get a small dose of it and again at the end of T1 she's already changing, the gun on her lap with baby bump is one of my favorite shots of all time. Maybe my own experiences color my perceptions (okay they do!) but to train with paramilitary in Central and South American during the 80s and to be as comfortable as she is with all the weapons and the casing and attack on Dyson, the woman has at least aimed to kill if not killed anyone.

For my own sanity, TTSCC is like fan fic for me, it's not a part of Cameron Canon *lol* (and I detest JC so go figure) so I don't use it when I write, and that's really the only place I need my canon straight.

Totally random but as recasting goes, Headey would have been a better fit as Catherine Chandler (Linda's character on Beauty and the Beast) than as Sarah Connor, but I think it's because my version of Sarah and who she is after T2 is not F&Co's version at all.

[veejane.livejournal.com]

While I don't disagree with you (and when Jesse came on the scene I rolled my eyes so hard -- of course the first real woman from the future is a sex partner! I hope she's much more than that), I do like the part where John is a coal-mine canary for Sarah. He's dealing with all this the first time; she's so deep in it she's forgotten people don't react that way. Her best moment in the episode was when she took out the earbuds and stopped listening, I think.

Also, I think it's kinda neat that she still has never killed anyone.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

[oyceter]

*nods* Oh yeah, I love that Sarah is so into the lifestyle that she's forgotten what it's like outside of it. I just... I don't know. Want more exploration of that or something? I mean, we are definitely getting exploration of it, but I'm always for more female angst ;).

I think my thing with her not killing anyone is throwback to T2 and Linda Hamilton's Sarah; she doesn't kill anyone in the movie, but I completely believed she would and wouldn't hold back. I sort of miss feral, dangerous, on-the-edge Sarah, but that is the result of years of crushing on her as a teen!

[maerhys.livejournal.com]

but that is the result of years of crushing on her as a teen!

You're preaching to the choir on that one! *lol* I could never decide if I wanted her to be my BFF or my girlfriend (or some combination thereof).