Lower Decks

The following review contains spoilers for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles through the current episode, “Desert Cantos,” originally broadcast February 20, 2009.

One of the reasons that Terminator might be in trouble is because it isn’t what people think it is.  I’m sure a lot of people, myself included, thought that the show would emulate the movies.  Every week, the Connors would be running from some kind of metal monster, and the hour would be full of bullets and explosions.  Instead, the show is full of a lot more heart than you’d think, and there’s a heck of a lot of continuity.  “Desert Cantos” is exactly what I’m talking about.

And I think that’s a major problem for the show.  I think a lot of people who would enjoy the show wrote it off the second it was announced, and I think a lot of people who want a show like 24  (packed with action) are disappointed.  I think that’s one of the reasons why the show’s ratings have suffered…the people who’d like the show haven’t watched it, and the people who wanted to watch it are tuning it off.

What’s left, however, is a group of fans that are very loyal and very satisfied.  Because, in the end, this is a really great show that just happens to be about Sarah and John Connor.

Because I watch 24, and an explosion at a factory wouldn’t have led to anything like this.  There wouldn’t be an episode that’s devoted to the consequences of a previous one.  And that’s what makes this show different from the rest.

This show has consequences.  When we saw Sarah on her quest in the fall finale, I didn’t think it would lead to much.  But we basically had two full episodes devoted to the fallout of her trek, and that makes the actions of the show feel real.  Because if a factory blows up in the middle of nowhere, there is a sound.

Now I’ll admit that the show might be moving too slow.  I don’t really feel like we’ve moved the plot, but I do feel like we’re moving towards something.  The drone seen at the end of the episode proves that Sarah isn’t crazy, and it obviously is a step towards the machines we’ll see from Skynet.  But if you wanted me to explain the plot of the episode, I could’ve done it in a single sentence.  The show can’t make a habit of stuff like that…it’s too far in the other direction.

I do wonder what will come of this mini-arc.  It seems like the Connors have run out of leads in the town, and next week’s preview makes it look like the narrative will be moving on.  I thought it was interesting that the show had such a dark connection to Skynet (from the drone to the Skynet Work Camp surveillance system), and I hope that the consequences from this episode continue to ripple though the season.  I’m confident that they will.

One thing that I love about John Connor is his trustworthyness.  Like I’ve said before, this is a guy that just radiates good feelings, and people seem to like him almost immediately.  Zoey was a girl that was looking for a fight, and she was pacified by John in a matter of minutes.  And on the day of her father’s funeral, she trusted him immediately…enough that he’d ride in the same car on the way to the burial.

Sarah also seems to have the same ability, as she gains enough trust from a widow that she’d give him the key to her husband’s secret storage locker.  I think on any other show, this kind of thing would be a little silly.  People are looking for a human connection when dealing with death, but I don’t think this kind of trust is that easy to gain on a day like that.

But we know that John Connor is a man who can unite humanity on its darkest day.  He has an almost-superhuman ability to create hope when none seems to exist, and so it makes a lot of sense on the show.  And since John has learned almost everything from his mother, it would also make sense that Sarah has the same ability.

Derek, however, is the normal guy.  I realize that he doesn’t try to evoke positive emotions in people, but I think people treat him the way that they’d treat anyone else.  He’s a strange man, and the only person that talks to him in the episode  is another strange man.  And Derek quickly loses his trust as well.

Outside of the story with the town, the other main arc (Weaver and Ellison) also deals with loss.  It is the anniversary of the death of the real-life Weaver family, and everyone seems to be mourning except for Weaver herself.  Ellison quickly takes note of this, especially when he notices that Weaver’s daughter, Savannah, is not at the office.

I think this shows Weaver’s ignorance, a trait seen by every terminator so far.  The machines simply cannot understand the concept of death, and they certainly can’t understand the concept of mourning.  Because of this, it seems to be the one thing that they cannot replicate, and Weaver simply doesn’t realize that her daughter should be with her on such a day.

I’m starting to wonder if Ellison is catching on.  He’s certainly suspicious of Weaver, but I don’t think he’s quite to the point where he should be.  Weaver doesn’t show a lot of emotion in general, but I’m just not sure he has enough experience with terminators to be certain.  Because, from what I can remember, the terminators he’s dealt with have shown zero emotion.

Although this episode made me bring up the question I’ve asked all season.  Why does Weaver care if her daughter is sad?  Is she trying to learn something about humanity through the child?  I’m going to doubt this since she wasn’t concerned about her until Ellison brought it up.  It can’t be about public image because no one saw the scene between her and her daughter….you’d think simply bringing Savannah to the office would’ve been enough to appease the people who thought the daughter should be there.

And that’s why I’m wondering if Weaver isn’t simply trying to set things up for Skynet.  If she has some kind of other motivation…and might not even be working for Skynet.  I guess we’ll see.

So there you have it.  A nice little episode where continuity means something and actions have consequences.  It isn’t the show that a lot of us were expecting, but it is something strong and it is something interesting.  We’ll see you next week.