Lower Decks

James Middleton, executive producer of the cancelled Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, has spoken with SCI FI Wire about how the series would have dealt with the events of the second season finale had it continued for a third season. If you haven’t seen the last episode of the series and don’t want to be spoiled, you probably shouldn’t keep reading.

Recall that “Burn to Run” (originally broadcast April 22nd, 2009) ended with Cameron giving John Henry her super duper terminator chip so he could walk and talk and become a real boy. He somehow then travels into the future. Weaver and John follow suit, leaving Sarah in the past/present to try to prevent the rise of Skynet.

When he gets to the future John meets Derek (who was killed in “Adam Raised a Cain”) but good ole Derek doesn’t know who John Connor is. He probably doesn’t care, either, except for the fact that this John Connor is wearing his brother’s jacket. John then finds himself face to face with Kyle Reese — his father. Behind Kyle is Cameron, or is it Allison?

It was an intriguing ending. John is no longer the savior of humanity. He’s just another member of the Resistance (if that) and who knows what Sarah will be doing in the past to rectify the situation. Unfortunately, we’ll never know. And SCI FI Wire’s brief interview with James Middleton didn’t shed much light on any plans for a third season.

One theory about the ending is that by leaping to the future, John Connor never grew up to become the leader of the human resistance. That would free him of the burden of saving humanity.

“I think that that’s the right interpretation, because in the actual footage of the show, we see that Derek doesn’t recognize him,” Middleton said. “So, by jumping into this future, he has erased his existence in a certain way, and we see that. We see that nobody recognizes him.”

Middleton added that leaping to the future changes John Connor’s fate. “We would have to have explored that if we did get a third season,” he said. “If we had gotten a third season, I should say, we definitely would have explored what it all meant, but I think there’s a great moment where we see Allison [Summer Glau], and John’s look to her is very meaningful. I think that also would have been a great thing in terms of dramatic potential. Like I said, the show has ended, and it would all be speculation, and I really don’t want to raise anybody’s expectations.”

That’s pretty vague. Perhaps Middleton didn’t know anything specific or maybe he just didn’t want to spill the beans. Either way, fans can continue to wonder what would have happened without knowing one way or the other.