Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles
By stephanie - Tuesday, January 15th, 2008
The new Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles is already a huge hit (though who knows if that’s just because there’s nothing else on what with the writer’s strike).
I thought the show was pretty good (especially after the painfully disappointing remake of the Bionic Woman). While I’m not certain if the Terminator concept is going to be enjoyable week after week (personally, I can take only so much of the constant running and fighting and shooting), it’s possible that they’ll be able to craft a decent story arc here, and for me that might make this one a keeper.
I’m concerned, however, that the show has already set up a typical scenario where a government agent is on the hunt for Connor. We’ve had enough of that in many shows, not to mention it’s a device that’s already being used with mixed results on Supernatural.
The best part of this show is by far Summer Glau. The former Firefly and 4400 star shows herself to be the queen of sci-fi with her unique and quirky roles. Here, her deadpan delivery and stony-faced machisma is perfect for the part. She manages to be funny too, in the best way possible.
I’m not totally sold on Lena Headey as Sarah Connor. She’s a little young and not as weary as she should be. She’s also missing a good deal of the intensity that Linda Hamilton brought to the role. And where are her fantastic arm muscles? (By the way, Headey is yet another Brit playing an American on American TV – I’m not sure why casting directors these days are so opposed to having Americans play Americans…not that I dislike Brits, but it’s getting to be an epidemic…) I like Headey enough and I think the casting could have been much, much worse…so I’m hoping that the actress can just grow into the part a little more.
A minor nitpick: One problem with the Sarah Connor Chronicles is that it messes up the timeline established in T3. That said, I’m so confused by the multiple timelines now that it really doesn’t matter much to me…except there is one glaring thing that Sarah Connor seems to miss: Judgment Day has to happen, otherwise John Connor would not exist. His father needs to be sent back to impregnate her back in 1980 or whenever it was.
A few things are missing from the show: I haven’t seen any of the fantastic liquid terminators that were amazing to watch in T2, and the fight scenes are pretty blase by today’s standards. (Summer is constantly getting thrown through walls. Ho hum.) If they could pick up the choreography or throw some better effects in there, the show might be that much better.
As it stands, I’ll give it a B+. Worth watching, but nothing I’d go out of my way to see with eagerness.
January 15th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
[...] Here’s another interesting post I read today by stephanie [...]
January 28th, 2008 at 11:52 am
My only major gripe is that it appears to be a show where the main character is constantly told what to do by his mother and geek’s dream teenage girlfriend shaped terminator buddy. Time travel shows always play fast and loose with time lines.
As for the Skynet has to happen issue, one of the more interesting aspects of the show is that after all the work that has been done, it still exists in the future, merely that it’s creation date only gets pushed further and further away.
Should keep the show going for a while