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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Season 1 [2008]
Very deliberately paced, and intricately woven to make sure it safely fits within the Terminator universe, The Sarah Connor Chronicles works a great deal better than you’d have any right to expect. Tightly scripted, and with a terrific performance by Headey in the central role, the show packs plenty of action and narrative into the nine episodes of its maiden season, and it certainly whets the appetite for more. Perhaps the biggest compliment to be paid, though, is that The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a worthy companion and follow-up to the first two Terminator films, and one that genuinely expands and deepens the franchise. It’ll be fascinating to see where the show goes next. --Jon Foster ReviewsThis Show Might Self-Terminate in the Near Future Review date: 2008-10-11 Rating: 6 out of 10 James Cameron's original `Terminator' movies are definitive, sci-fi action classics. Jonathan Mostow's third entry was a blurry photocopy that had neither big enough brains or big enough brawn to match-up to its parent counterparts. With a new 'Terminator' sequel on the horizon, set in the post-apocalyptic future and minus one Governor of California, you would think a television series based around the targeted Connor family would be an incredibly hard thing to not only pull-off, but also make fit into the already complex mythology set-out from the movies. As it turns out, Terminator the TV series decides to ignore the events of `T3: Rise of the Machines' in order to paint its own version of events post-'T2: Judgement Day.' It appears to be a smart decision. However, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a bit of a shaky, unsure first season. Granted it was cut short to just nine episodes by the writers strike but something tells me that the concept has not been fully realised. Either that or the `Terminator' universe was simply not designed to fit into weekly, episodic storytelling. With this in mind it is important to approach each episode with a certain amount of lenience as the show cannot reproduce the tone or the scale of the movies due to its TV budget constraints. The Pilot episode begins with an opening sequence that confirms that fact in the worst way with its poor pacing and corny set-up. However, the episode itself recovers when Summer Glau's Terminator - Cameron, shows up and delivers the "Come with me if you want to live" line. Glau makes an interesting, if not always convincing, Terminator. She has moments where her performance really works (when attempting to get to grips with human behaviour) and other times where her robotic detachment simply comes across as wooden. But it is not really Glau's fault, and more down to the writing staff's tough job at making an emotionally void cyborg a main character in an ongoing series. Lena Headley also takes a bit of getting used to in the lead role, at first seeming too restrained, but eventually delivering her own interpretation on the tough-cookie character with understated credibility that you can accept and enjoy as a re-imagining of Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor. Thomas Dekker as John Connor provides the angst for the teen market, at which the show is primarily aimed at, and does an okay job with it. Then the introduction of an entirely new, cliched character may prompt a groan - an FBI agent slowly tracking the movements of this destructive trio, played by Richard T. Jones. For many episodes he merely spends time connecting the dots until a turning point in his plotline gives him a much more interesting path to walk down, helping him become more three dimensional. Essentially that's the main cast, and everybody proves that they can blend into the Terminator world appropriately enough. `Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles' ultimately suffers from its episodic structure. Some storylines are executed with a sloppy sense of pacing, with underdeveloped and sometimes under-explored possibilities. The action exposes the miniscule budgets that detract from the epic feeling the show is aiming to achieve. However, the writing staff seem like big fans of the films and try to spend as much time as they can making the series a genuinely faithful continuation of T1 & T2. So we see a return of characters familiar to us from the big screen outings that are given interesting resolutions and continuations of their on-screen selves, just played by different actors. There are many twists that are telegraphed or easy enough to guess, while some developments are simply ludicrous (the live-in Terminator husband anyone?). The show tries not to stray away from the big picture (I.e. Skynet and the impending Judgement Day) but finds time to follow John Connor's school life, made relevant and amusing by the fact that Cameron has to attend classes with him. The mythology is made more complex and rich by the convolutions of the proceeding plot arcs, from the introduction of more terminators, more time travel, new Skynet creators, Kyle Reese's brother(!), plus various other complications. The worst episode is an episode that should have been the best; a wasted opportunity based around flashes to the future that is so misjudged in tempo and delivery that it seems like it was an afterthought expanded to fit into forty minutes. On the whole, the nine episodes that make up the slightly under whelming but passably entertaining first season give plenty of satisfying moments and funny interactions, spearheaded by a strong cast. There are major pacing and storytelling issues that need to be addressed if this show were to continue for another few years, and the understandably weak season finale is not really a season finale at all - thanks to the writers guild strike. I'll keep watching into the second season to see if it develops beyond the routine format shown so far, although my instincts tell me this is going to be a short-lived series. At the very least it seems a worthy continuation of James Cameron's mythology, doing more justice to the first two movies then `Terminator 3' managed. Enjoyable, but not required viewing, unless you're a 'Terminator' obsessive, in which case you've probably seen it already. Genuinely surprising and fantastic TV SF Review date: 2008-10-07 Rating: 10 out of 10 I've been a fan of Terminator for years, ever since it was first shown on UK TV in fact, I put up with the T3 travesty and thought no more of it. This series has taken me by as much surprise as the new Battleststar did however. The acting is brilliant and believable, the special effects are top notch, the camera work is emotive and moody - I can't say enough good things about this show. There have been some genuinely chilling moments, just as you start to feel that Cameron is taking on human qualities, she walks away from an innocent being murdered, but then we see her trying to Ballet dance and being watched by a hiding human. One good thing, in the cannon of the terminator stories, this carries on straight after T2, T3 never happened in this time line, a great blessing. I really cannot express what a pleasant thrill it was to sit down and watch something so good. 5/5 - go get it now :) Successful small screen transition for the Terminator Franchise Review date: 2008-08-28 Rating: 8 out of 10 The Terminator movies were so inherently large scale and cinematic that it seems hard to imagine spinning off the franchise onto the small screen successfully. And yet, that is what they have done here - a combination of good writing, a good cast, and not trying to bend the storyline too much, has paid dividends, making this well worth watching, even if necessarily smaller in scale of production and effects. Set after the events of Terminator 2, we find Sarah Connors protecting John Connors and preparing him for his role as the future saviour of mankind. The pilot finds them discover another Terminator sent back by future John to protect him, this time a young woman, played by Summer Glau. After her roles in Firefly and 4400 she seems to have that mechanical stare off pat, but the subtlety of her acting should not be underestimated as the potential hidden depths and thoughts are hinted at. She protects them from a T-888 model also sent back, to kill John. Meantime a change in their circumstances sees their role change from passive to active as they see opportunities to prevent Skynet and Judgement Day from happening and set out with that as their mission. So it becomes a men on a mission series, with bad guy in chase.. however, the third and almost the most satisfying element is the FBI agent who is trying to catch Sarah. His character is so interesting as he develops that I was always looking forward to his appearances as he slowly begins to suspect Sarah may not be a loony after all. Lena Heady makes the role her own fairly quickly, so pretty soon the ghost of Linda Hamilton is put to rest, and Thomas Dekker is surprisingly nuanced as the 15 year old John Connors. Only 9 episodes here, but the series settles in fairly quickly, and after just 9 episodes and a mild cliffhanger, I can't wait for Season 2 to see where the writers go from here. Buy american for best extras Review date: 2008-08-21 Rating: 4 out of 10 If you really like this programme, then buy the american edition with an extended directors cut of 'The Demon Hand' and other extras not to be found on the more expensive british edition Product Details/SpecificationsActor(s): Summer Glau Richard T. Jones Lena Headey Brian Austin Green Thomas Dekker Creators: Lena Headey (Primary Contributor) Thomas Dekker (Primary Contributor) Recording label: Warner Home Video Manufacturer: Warner Home Video EAN: 7321902220130 Binding: DVD Number of items: 3 Format: PAL, Release date: 2008-08-11 Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region code: 2 Running time: 389 minutes Theatrical release date: 2008 Language: English (Unknown) Language: English (Original Language)
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