''Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles'': Judgment Date

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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

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I'm just going to skip over the whole graffiti-inspired high school suicide. Didn't buy it, don't care. I just hope that T:SCC isn't going to try for the sort of high-school-analogy thing that Buffy did so well. This was a plot thread I didn't need, save for the moment where John seemed to own his destiny — Thomas Dekker actually brought a little heat for the first time, though it could've been his little spearhead necklace that made him seem extra badass. (And his stern lecture to his mom on the perils of technology was a nice touch.) But this is a show that works really well when it's going flat out, cornering like it's on rails. When it slows down for mystery-of-the-week stuff, it just kinda sits there, plodding along until the next time someone gets slammed into a wall. I know it's impossible to sustain that pace for an entire season, but that's exactly what you want this show to be. A lean, mean, terminatin' machine. The more fat you add, the more unwieldy it gets.

At least Sarah's dalliance with the none-too-subtly-named Andy Goode had a real point, even if it turned her into a chemise-wearing MILNKM (Mom I'd Like Not to Kill Me). It furthered the story, and it showed us a chess computer with moods, one possible piece of the Skynet puzzle — though I couldn't help feeling a little bad for Andy, who found the one girl in all the world you absolutely shouldn't brag to about creating artificial intelligence. And it showed that Sarah has softened a little on her mission's hard line. Cameron was right: Goode should've been axed, but Sarah chose to firebomb his crib instead. Which raises a question: How will Sarah's new empathy affect the future?

Oh, hey, before we go, can I just say that I'm not at all convinced that this show needs an Inspector Javert (or, if you prefer, the reporter that hounded David Banner in The Incredible Hulk)? There are enough implacable threats to our heroes in this show, enough strands of story to tug on in any given episode. At this point, Agent Ellison feels eminently expendable.

Since this is likely my one and only T:SCC TV Watch, I'm gonna leave you with a few questions and one prediction, one I'll never have to answer for.

Questions: Will Andy Goode return as a bad guy, one who learns Sarah's secret? Will Cromartie end up on Dr. 90210 to get rid of that newborn-Gollum look? And do you think that frequent exposure to Terminators (and their hydrogen-cell power supply) is what eventually gives Sarah Connor cancer?

My prediction: I think this show will end with the death of Sarah Connor. Because that's the only thing that can firmly set John on the Path. With her alive, he'll never stand on his own. And Sarah knows this. Which will make what transpires...interesting.

What do you think?