101 Pilot Review for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
by Kate Blake
You can find me at the Sarah Connor Society forums- my user name is Supernatural66- stop by and let’s discuss T:SCC!
Rating 9 out of 10
Two Promos that ran right before the episode aired:
I really enjoyed the final cut of the pilot. The score was wonderful Bear McCreary has created an atmospheric soundtrack that sets the tone every bit as well as his work on Battlestar Galactica has for that show. The cinematography was amazing! The live shots and special effects shots were seamless. I have a really nice home theater set up- must get a picture of it all to share one of these days….. and with the big screen HDTV , DirecTV HD service, and Bose surround sound speakers, it felt like watching a movie in my living room.
Sarah’s Nightmare
Sarah’s dream sequence and the opening narration is haunting and the travelling down the road sequence is the first of many nods to the Terminator films. Both of the typical Terminators that we see- both the one in Sarah’s dream and the one who is hunting John, are of the archetype set forth in the Terminator films. Big, tough, emotionless machines. Invulnerable and unfeeling and completely focused on destroying John and everything Sarah values and holds dear.
Once she wakens from her nightmare Sarah is in a surreal world of her own making. The scene with Sarah and Charley, played by Dean Winter, was poignant to me. In T2 John makes allusions to his friend that his mom went from guy to guy using them to get knowledge, training, guns all this stuff to help prepare for the future but she never seemed to care about anyone or anything other than stopping the insane future. In T:SCC we see that Sarah has allowed herself to feel- and that as much as her nightmares haunt her, her reality scares her. She loved Reese for a whole lifetime in their one night and the prospect of really loving for a lifetime is something she doesn’t believe in.
Time to leave again
This soft and human look at her makes Sarah more than an icon, more than just a mother, she is a woman. I loved her interaction with John. The scene where she freaks him out by watching him sleep cracked me up.
Lena Headey has succeeded in doing what had to be done- she has redefined Sarah Connor in her own image. Sarah is the protector, the warrior woman but she is also a woman. She exhibits vulnerability in two key scenes- the second being where Cameron is tending her wounds and she expresses her fears about her boy leaving her.
The struggles and decisions she makes are more meaningful when not reduced to single layered stereotypes. Lena Headey is building her own version of Sarah in the same way that Katee Sackhoff redefined Starbuck in the Galactica series. Both have taken well known and well loved characters and made them their own.
Thomas Dekker as John Connor hits a believable note with me as a young man not ready to accept this huge destiny that awaits him, knowing he will never have a “normal life”. Regarding John and his interactions with Cameron I thought his conversation with her that he should have known something was up when the hot girl wanted to talk to him – the “new weird guy” was great. It really emphasized how John sees himself very much as the outsider. I like the dynamic where John really does respect his mother even though he questions her.
Hot girl talks to the weird new guy at school
This ability to question what is around him and not accept anything as set in stone will be part of his foundation as a leader. A good leader, especially one leading a band of scrappy rebels will have to be willing to look beyond the surface and help others see what there is to fight for. When he convinces his mother she needs to stop things, he is doing what he will do in the future- he is leading by determining the direction they need to take, by seeing through the immediate struggles to the big picture and what has to be done.
Summer Glau is playing the part of the machine who is more than just a machine with just the right touch of enigmatic mystery combined with the unrelenting knowledge that she has one job and that is to protect John. Her lack of modesty will provide some fun as the series continues- I liked Sarah having to tell her to “put those back in their holsters” when she was sitting topless pulling bullets out of her shoulder.
Naked after time travelling
What kind of a Terminator is she? John sees she is different. How is Cameron different? I like that her T-Vision is blue-green and not the red of the TERMINATORS assassins. The producers have said in interviews they wanted to show Terminators as the original version that James Cameron envisioned- infiltrators- not necessarily the thug assassins. It will be interesting to see what other forms they show themselves as during the course of the series.
Cromartie shoots Cameron
Early on a lot of fuss was made about the school shooting that is a key element in the pilot. I believe Thomas Dekker himself handled the question about it really well in a recent appearance when he said it was an example of every parent’s nightmare- your child not being safe in the place you have to trust they will be safe. Thanks Cynthia at SFUniverse.com for that info. I think Thomas is right on with that astute observation. The shooting was terrifying and felt real because of that. The Terminator is not a classmate, he only shoots Cameron and then heads off after John. It is important to note- he shoots Cameron first because he knows she is going to be the greatest threat to his mission. No kids are hurt but there is one school bus that is sacrificed. The stunts and effects in this sequence were not easy to do. Erika spoke to Owain Yeoman about wearing the artificial leg and how much time it took to get the sequences with the letter opener cutting into the leg just right. See her interview with him on MotherOfAllDestiny.com.
I really like the night into day transition shots that were used later when the Connors are on the run. Highly cinematic and true again to the look and feel of the Terminator films.
In the bank- an unusual heist.
The bank scene is one of the best in sci-fi tv in my opinion- the Terminator doing his thing and breaking through a vault door, great explosions and crackling lightning and then the whooomph you are in LA in the future- with traffic coming at you!!!!
Richard T. Jones as the FBI agent whose world is turned on end when he starts seeing that the dangerous woman he is pursuing may not be crazy is fantastic. I can’t wait to see how Agent Ellison handles this new information and how it changes his course of actions. What will Charley do after seeing Sarah on TV? The future is not set.
Agent Ellison on the case
I like the oddness facing Sarah as they build their cover with Cameron as part of the family. Cameron will be an ally and a source of information to help guide them, how everything develops will be worth watching. Sneak spoiler clips show that Cameron has been holding back information and knows more than she has let on. Trust and how much to give and share will be key to our heroes’ success or failure.
The final scene of the episode where the Connors are in front of their small house with a swing set is yet another ode to T2 and Sarah’s nightmares about the children dying on a playground.
The season really starts for me with episode two as I had previously seen the pre-air pilot. It will be the ongoing struggles and working to fight for a better future against odds they can’t imagine that will draw viewers in every week. This is far more about characters and action than your typical sci-fi programming. Once you suspend disbelief and embrace the central mythos of machines taking over the world and battling humanity in the future, the story will suck you in the way the first two movies have for over two decades.
As a footnote- I enjoyed seeing Nick Wechsler as the New Mexico deputy. I kept going….”Hmm- Kyle Valenti finally following in the family tradition”. I always felt Nick was overlooked in ROSWELL fandom because he played the straight man trying to keep a steady head in the midst of the alien craziness that surrounded him. I am hoping he can land a new regular series role soon- I miss seeing him on TV!
Acknowledgements: Photos are all available at MotherOfAllDestiny.com. I have used a combination of screen cap images from their gallery and some of the brand new episode photos provided to MOAD by FOX . Videos are all in the Sarah Connor Society Video Channel along with tons of promos and trailers for the series.
Lovely review Kate!!