released 01 apr 09 / last mod 01 apr 09 / greg goebel / public domain
* The beginning of season 1 of the Fox TV series TERMINATOR: SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES (T:SCC) -- nine episodes on DVD -- is a TV follow-up to the popular TERMINATOR movies.
Fans know the TERMINATOR scenario: in the future a defense computer system named SKYNET goes rogue and launches a nuclear strike on mankind, then produces robots to subdue the survivors. Human forces led by John Connor destroy SKYNET, but before they do so the computer system sends android assassins, or "Terminators", back in time to initially attempt to kill Sarah Connor, John's mother, and then the young John Connor. And so begins a time war, with Connor sending back soldiers and reprogrammed "friendly" terminators to defeat SKYNET's agents.
The beginning of the TV series takes up in 1999, some months after the end the TERMINATOR II movie installment. Sarah and John Connor (Lena Headey and Thomas Dekker) are hiding under aliases, but they are discovered by yet another Terminator who calls himself "Chromartie" (Owain Yeoman). The two are rescued by a "friendly" Terminator named "Cameron" (Summer Glau). In an effort to cover their tracks, Cameron takes the Connors into the future, arriving in 2007, where the trio work to make sure SKYNET is never built and frustrate SKYNET's agents.
Unfortunately, although Chromartie was badly damaged in 1999, through a chain of circumstances he manages to take on a new identity (Garrett Dillahunt) and works to pick up the trail again. Meanwhile, an FBI agent named James Ellison (Richard T. Jones), who has been tracking Sarah Connor for a decade, gradually finds the mad stories Sarah had told the authorities about killer robots from the future somewhat easier to believe every day.
* Trying to put the TERMINATOR series into a TV series format is obviously problematic since the standard of comparison is pretty high, and few watchers are going to regard T:SCC as a exercise in brilliance. One of the problems with TV series is the need to stretch out the story line into multiple episodes, which is a challenge for storytellers and an invitation to contrivances. T:SCC certainly does stretch credibility with some of its plot gimmicks -- Chromartie's efforts to obtain a new identity don't hold much water, I could have come up with something more believable myself -- and I have to say that have no enthusiasm for Lena Headey's Sarah Connor. Headey has her fans, but I find her way too "Hollywood" for my taste, and her take on the role made me appreciate Linda Hamilton's efforts all the more.
However, all that said I had to think that the money I paid for this DVD set was well-spent. The episodes are well produced, well acted, and tend consistently towards the taut and exciting. Sometimes the plot devices work very well, and I have a particular enthusiasm for Summer Glau's Cameron. I had seen Glau in THE 4400 and hardly noticed her, but although she is petite in build, she thoroughly achieves the intimidating Terminator mystique: if people are a threat to her mission, she kills them without the slightest hesitation. "Friendly" is merely a relative term when it comes to Terminators. Richard Jones' Agent Ellison is another bright spot -- a decent, competent, maybe somewhat stuffy man who ends up sadly being a loser because his level-headedness prevents him from really understanding what he is up against.
Overall, T:SCC is a credible piece of work. Anyone expecting brilliance or a level match to the movies is going to be disappointed, but given appropriate expectations, it's well worth the time and money. We'll see if the second sEason holds up as well.
