There was a time when I thought all things Terminator required a certain Govenator to play the leading role of villain/hero. But with “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (I can already tell I’m going to get tired of typing that title!), Fox’s show that airs in prime time against NBC’s “Heroes”, I have seen the light, and now I know that it’s good to have a little Ahhnold, but it is not required.
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, know that I frown in your general direction (said the Knights Who Say Ni!). By way of introduction, the Terminator movies tell the story of Sarah Connor and her son John Connor, as they prepare to fight a war in the future. They learned of this yet-to-be-war when cyborgs (terminators) from the future traveled back in time to try to interfere with the past, in hopes that if John Connor was killed before the machines came to power then humanity would never have a chance to mount a successful resistance. Yes, it does sound quite a bit hokey, especially given the fact that time travel as a plot device always leads to logical inconsistencies–even in “Back to the Future”…
So possible time travel paradoxes aside, the first Terminator film starred a very young Arnold Schwarzenegger as the villainous cyborg-covered-in-flesh-but-with-a-red-glowing-eye-hidden-behind-dark-sunglasses, and coined the phrase “I’ll be back”. Sarah Connor survived the attack from the terminator with help from one of the human resistance fighters who also traveled into the past; and a sequel loomed on the horizon.
The second Terminator movie–”T2: Judgment Day” also starred the Arnold as a terminator, but this time a good one, who had been captured and reprogrammed by the human resistance and sent back to aid the now teenaged John Connor and his mother in their fight against the very advanced, very creepy, “liquid terminator”. I think you can see the basic pattern in how the plot works in these movies: the evil machines in the future (controlled by a sentient computer system known as Skynet) send back a terminator to try to eliminate John Connor, and the human resistance sends back someone or something to fight said evil assassin.
The third film, “T3: Rise of the Machines“, features a terminator with a female exterior, and the Govenator reprises his role as the “good” terminator one last time. Not much happens in this film that wasn’t already established other than the fact that Sarah Connor has died and “judgment day” is not avoided. Not a bad movie, but not as cool as the first two.
Now that we are fully versed in Terminator history, I turn to the TV show I actually want to talk about. So, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles takes place between the second and third films, and is essentially a direct sequel to Terminator 2. Aside from being a direct sequel to T2, “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” is also supposed to set up a returning and new fans for the next Terminator film, “T4: Salvation“. And, marketing for other films totally aside, I’ve watched “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” from first season, I’ve kept up so far with the second season, and I have been nothing but impressed with this show.
Although the idea of robots from the future might sound a bit cheesy (ok, yes
it is definitely cheesy), “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” manages to bring realism and gravitas to the story–especially in showing the daily stress of knowing the future is a very dark place and there are things coming to kill you. The show also deals with themes ranging from the obvious ideas such as man-versus-machine and the possibility of non-human sentience, machines with emotions, all the way to profound issues like forgiveness and redemption, creation of life and playing God, and the purpose of religion. Major philosophical and religious concepts are featured in almost every episode, cropping up via songs and art, dialog and scripture quotations, or even episode titles, and this really does add a layer of thought provoking material.
All the cool sci-fi aspects of the show like liquid terminators and time travel make for a fun story, but it is the serious treatment of serious themes that keeps me coming back for more. I recommend you check out “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, starting with season one, episode one, since this is very much a serial progression. (And for all you “Lost” fans, I think this might be the perfect show to tide you over until new episodes begin to air in 2009.) You can watch full episodes of “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” on Fox’s website at http://www.fox.com/terminator/.
Posted by Micah McMillan 
