(S02E09) You'd think that eliminating Cromartie would end all the Connors' troubles, but apparently, Cromartie isn't necessarily gone (he's still appearing in dream sequences) and all the troubles continue.I consider myself to have at least average intelligence, but tonight's episode had me confused. What was the significance of Sarah touching the three dripping blood dots on the wall at the end? Is it just something to make Sarah and the audience cogitate further on the mystery behind them?
On a side note, I was very glad they tortured the real Charles Fisher (Fischer?) and threw him in jail. I'm still pissed off at him for killing Tara back when he was Warren.
My first question is: why does Skynet even take human allies? I thought the goals of the machine were to exterminate all humans and set up a more organized and logical society (on a sad note, I know people who agree with at least one of those goals). Is the idea that humans know how to torture other humans better than machines do?
Gossip Girl' Show & Cast Photos
Actress Leighton Meester attends the Gotham Magazine Leighton Meester cover party at Marquee on September 27, 2008 in New York City.
Duffy-Marie Arnoult/WireImage.com
Actress Leighton Meester attends the Gotham Magazine Leighton Meester cover party at Marquee on September 27, 2008 in New York City.
Duffy-Marie Arnoult/WireImage.com
Leighton Meester attends the Gotham Magazine/Leighton Meester Event sponsored by Jose Cuervo Platino at Marquee Nightclub on September 27, 2008 in New York City.
Brian Ach/WireImage.com
Leighton Meester attends the Gotham Magazine/Leighton Meester Event sponsored by Jose Cuervo Platino at Marquee Nightclub on September 27, 2008 in New York City.
Brian Ach/WireImage.com
Leighton Meester attends the Gotham Magazine/Leighton Meester Event sponsored by Jose Cuervo Platino at Marquee Nightclub on September 27, 2008 in New York City.
Brian Ach/WireImage.com
Leighton Meester attends a Gotham Magazine celebration at Marquee on September 27, 2008 in New York City.
Michael N. Todaro/FilmMagic.com
Leighton Meester attends a Gotham Magazine celebration at Marquee on September 27, 2008 in New York City.
Michael N. Todaro/FilmMagic.com
Blake Lively on location for "Gossip Girl" on September 22, 2008 in New York City.
Bobby Bank/WireImage.com
Cynthia Sparer, Dr. Herbert Pardes, Leighton Meester, Alex Cohen and Pamela W. Barnes attend the Kids for Kids celebrity carnival benefiting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation at the Park Avenue Armory on September 20, 2008 in New York City.
Jason Kempin/WireImage.com
Actress Leighton Meester attends the Kids for Kids celebrity carnival benefiting the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation at the Park Avenue Armory on September 20, 2008 in New York City.
Jason Kempin/WireImage.com
At first, I thought tonight's episode would only be in pieces (unlike the macro-episode from last week) and not include Ellison and Catherine Weaver. Obviously, since Weaver has a Terminator, the stakes have risen. If anybody has the resources to repair his chip (and we may have seen the replacement in the previews for next week), she does.
That Ellison. What a lying bastard. He deserved the ass-kicking. He doesn't know how deep the human race is in it by giving Cromartie to Weaver.
I also thought tonight's episode was derivative of the play/movie Death and the Maiden, but I was somewhat disappointed by the much-too-soon reveal of Paul Stewart. I think it would have been more interesting if they killed him not knowing whether or not he was a Skynet agent from the future. Mind you, if they did that, they would not have been able to move the plot along as they did (we now know why he was sent back), but it would have made for better drama and deal with the series' theme of the cost of war (much like Sarah's dreams).
I loved it when Cameron called it "rehydration fluid".
It's about time Sarah got some therapy. Like John before her, she's seen too much crap to not go to a psychologist. It must be tough when the future of the human race depends on not telling your shrink the whole truth.
The conversation between Jesse and Derek in the car after they buried Fisher/Stewart was interesting. Are we dealing with alternate futures here? Or rather, is Derek a sleeper agent for the machines whose memory was wiped? If it's the alternate future theory, I'm wondering when the sea otters will appear. This concept may unnecessarily over-complicate the series and I'm hoping the creators provide another explanation.
I wonder if the other Mr. Fisher (the one who ended up in jail) will appear again in the future? I certainly hope so.
Overall, I found tonight's episode to be somewhat 'eh'. It's obviously part of a bigger story, but in order to survive in its imminent Friday night death slot, this series has to gain tremendous buzz. The series really excels when it uses flash forwards and hopefully, there will be more in future episodes (possibly even alternate future flash-forwards). That is, of course, assuming the show has a future. Here's hoping that Friday, February 13th, is not Judgment Day.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-18-2008 @ 12:08AM
Parl said...
I'm over this series. All the episodes have been "meh." I think the acting is static and the plot lines mostly cliche. It's not a bad series, but it's not good either. It has a lot of the same problems Heroes does in that they've got so many balls in the air that it just stops being interesting, but for some reason it doesn't hold my interest like Heroes does. Whenever I miss it on Monday, I find almost the entire week goes by before I rev up the DVR to check out the newest ep.
I just hope they wrap up the storylines and call it a night so we can look forward to the next movie.
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11-18-2008 @ 1:36AM
DMD said...
'On a side note, I was very glad they tortured the real Charles Fisher (Fischer?) and threw him in jail. I'm still pissed off at him for killing Tara back when he was Warren.' Amen brother...
Reply
11-18-2008 @ 1:43AM
mrkorb said...
Best scene of the night was all the grinning Terminator heads watching the scenes in the future. It was creepily eerie the way they seemed to just be floating there in the darkness, glowing red eyes, and frozen smiles.
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11-18-2008 @ 2:14AM
bc said...
The dots were in the configuration that Sarah drew on the paper, which was apparently a cue from her subconscious to go back and look at the wall. Among other things about the names, we still don't know whether Sherman, whom she also saw in her dreams, is a good or bad guy, and the previews implied she gains some new insight.
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11-23-2008 @ 1:31AM
Ryan said...
Was it just me or did anyone else think that the three dots were just the holes of a bowling ball signifying her guilt over saving that kid at the bowling alley?
Of course the end of the episode tells us it's not this and it's something more, but I thought up until that point it was so obvious.
11-18-2008 @ 4:37AM
HAC said...
I really like this show and think it has pretty solid writing throughout. I admit it's not exceptional, but what's there certainly has potential to be something great, there building layers on layers, and the worry is that it might become too complicated, but right now the show consistently entertains me enough to reach that switch off moment when I stop thinking about guessing whats coming next and just enjoy it, few TV shows do that, and I hope this one survives to keep doing it.
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11-18-2008 @ 7:30AM
scotty said...
So it looks like this:
1) Derek is from a future in which he was never tortured.
2) Jesse came from a future in which Derek was tortured by Fisher.
3) Future Fisher comes to the present. He frames his younger self, who winds up in Federal prison. Jesse kills Future Fisher.
4) Thus, by sending Future Fisher to the present, Skynet has created the timeline in which Derek is tortured by Fisher.
Very baffling and paradoxical.
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11-18-2008 @ 5:16PM
royce said...
Yeah, it seemed to imply that because Derek's girlfriend was angry at Fisher and wanted revenge, she was actually indirectly responsible for Derek getting tortured.
11-18-2008 @ 8:37AM
Cyantre said...
I thought the episode was quite good, and I love the series in general. It's one of the first shows I watch on my DVR of the shows I record on Monday night.
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11-18-2008 @ 10:02AM
Skater3900 said...
another excellent episode. I think we all missed the most important scene of the night with the more important line. When Cameron and John are driving back to Mexico she has here foot out the window and she says "If I can't feel what good would I be?" That gave me the chills, she is officially different from the others.
As for Derek's story, it was great. He went to shoot the younger one and Jessie shot the older one before he could kill him. Then in the ride he says he could possibly be messing up the future by what he is doing now. This is excellent. I can;t wait to see where this goes. This complicated twist has opened up this series with so many new possibilities. Can't wait for next week!
Also please go vote for T:TSCC for the People's choice awards for best Sci-Fi TV Show!!
http://www.pcavote.com/pca/votenow.jsp?showCaptcha=true&category=null&pollId=&_requestid=4222793
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11-18-2008 @ 4:53PM
Adela P. said...
Last week's episode was far better, and as a result I was expecting a lot more from last night's ep. Even though it was a disappointment, I still think T:SCC is one of the greatest shows on tv right now, and the questions that arose from it regarding Derek's role in all this, and those philosophical "can we change our fate?" questions provided enough for me to be at least a wee bit satisfied. It makes me wonder -- is T:SCC a kind of different past than the one we assumed happened before the Terminator movies? Is T:SCC changing what happens in that future -- will the Terminator movies be an alternate future, what could have happened if Derek hadn't gone back in time??? Gah. Too many questions. And these are the ones that only just popped into my brain. :-D
acf-reviews.blogspot.com
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11-18-2008 @ 11:20PM
Ryan said...
Everything that happens in the series changes the future that a time traveler remembers, beginning with Sarah, John and Cameron's forward time jump in the pilot episode. Cameron, Derek, and Jesse all come from slightly (or radically) different futures. So did Zack Ward as Naked Bloody Guy.
Don't worry, the producers have explicitly stated that T:SCC takes place in a completely different timeline from T3 and T4.
11-19-2008 @ 6:41AM
ghottistyx said...
" Thank you, Sarah, for your courage through the dark years. I can't help you with what you must soon face, except to say that the future is not set. You must be stronger than you imagine you can be. You must survive, or I will never exist."--message future John Connor made Kyle Reese memorize.
My biggest disappointment with T3 was its fatalistic outlook. From square one, the Terminator movies had a more libertarian perspective, illustrated when Sarah asked Kyle "you're from the future?" and Kyle responded "one possible future." I was hoping that TSCC would not fall into the trap T3 fell into and suddenly spin the series into fatalism.
From the beginning, the series has flirted with alternative timelines. Finally, the issue is brought into the forefront. That made me happy. I discuss this notion at length here. http://www.daemonstv.com/2008/11/17/terminator-the-sarah-connor-chronicles-complications-season-2-episode-9-discussion/
Other than that, this episode was a bit of a comedown from last episode's fast-pace. Of course, it is a nice dark introduction into the next phase of the show, a new beginning for all. Cromartie is dead, but there still is a lot going on. We know that Weaver is still at large, she has the Turk, and is beginning to make SOME progress with it. Now she has Cromartie. Also, Fischer is in solitary confinement, just in place for him to fulfill his "destiny" (notice: I'm a determinist, I am no believer in destiny, I even entertain the possibility that John may not be the future savior!) So for those of you who think this show left too many loose ends, have patience! This is only the beginning.
More important than Derek being a possible "sleeper agent", what about Jessie? She said it herself that no one comes back without a mission. But she told Derek that she went AWOL, she simply "ran away". But we suspect that's not true because we see photos of the Connors under her bed (dramatic irony anyone?) So she said it her self, everyone who's come back has a mission. What's her's really? Or is she merely the exception to her own rule?
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