TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES – “Pilot” Episode Review
December 16, 2007 · Print This Article
Is the TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES any good? I just finished watching the pilot episode and here is my review.
The story begins after the Terminator 2: Judgment Day story line. The pilot centers around Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) and John Connor (Thomas Dekker) desperately trying to outrun the FBI and Terminators. They are aided by another Terminator, Cameron (Summer Glau) who was sent back from the future to protect John so he can lead the resistance when the time comes.
One thing I have to say right away is that this is one of the best pilot episodes I have seen in a long time. The whole episode has a very real and tense feel to it that makes the action and the moments in between the action compelling.
Summer Glau is brilliant as a Terminator in charge of protecting John from the dangers of the world. She is interesting because she has a cold impersonal side of her and also an “emotional” side that seeks to connect with her surroundings.
Lena Heady is also convincing as a mother determined to do anything to insure the survival of her son. Her efforts on hiding her emotions in order to survive make her an appealing character. She’s the kind of person you would want to defend your cause.
Thomas Dekker is a little disappointing in his portrayal of the soon to be leader of the resistance. He lacks a certain gravitas that you would expect a kid who has been trained in firearms and Rambo-like survival. He is not helped by the corny OC like lines that he has to utter all throughout the episode. Jeez, you would think that someone who knows how the world is going to end would not be so eager to go high school.
Overall, the pilot episode is one hour of action packed, tension building moments that culminate in a pretty cool ending. This will definitely be a must-see show for 2008. I wonder what the writers have in store for us. Are we going to see different kinds of Terminators come back? Is John going to emerge as the hero he is destined to be? Will there be a Human-Robot Love affair between John and Cameron? I can’t wait to see the rest.
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I cannot tell you how much I have been looking forward to this show! The original Terminator is one of my all time favorite movies (yes, shut up) and I am hoping they don’t kill my hopes and turn this into a crappy TV show. I am crossing my fingers here….
I am with you on that, Patty. I can tell you that you certainly will not be disappointed by this at all. I think that if they do this right, they might even bring a revival of the terminator frenzy of the 90’s. Oh, Happy Days!
first of all, T2 is THE best movie of all time. second, depending on how shortly after T2 this takes place, John may or may not yet be trained in weapons and stuff…
frankly I’m surprised by all of the positive reviews. sure, on it’s own it looks great, but when compared to terminator2 this is a complete travesty. sure the budget is smaller but it’s the directing as well- I didn’t, for a second, feel any sence of drama that t2 was so good at, and the actors were mediocre at best- not to mention all of them were 3rd rate and completely unknown- could have at least picked 1 or 2 familiar faces from somewhere. Overall I describe this show as “very funny, a must-see”. very funny- cause I kept on laughing/giggling through it all. the opening scene where the evil terminator shot up the cops had me almost rolling on the floor laughing- reminds me of the mad tv (youtube) parody of terminator.
First of alll john was already trained. Which if I’m not mistaken happened while in Costa Rica with Sarah’s gun running boyfriend. All the charater sucked. Lack of attitude that we all came acostumed too. How dare that school teacher terminator try to pull an “Arnold oneliner” But “Come with me if you want to live line” was also a disgrace. I dont think that these people who put this show together even seen the originals or consulted with true fans like us who wasted our sunday night in hope of a new begining……………………………..And why is cybernet sending old model terminator (junkyard scrap) to kill John. Especially after beating the liquid terminator. Since when do terminator need to hide guns inside their legs. What is her model number anyways?
Who is the guy that played the dude that gave Sarah the ring in the beginning of the pilot? I have seen him in something but can;t pur my finger on it. Anyone?
That guy played in “Rescue Me” and “OZ”. The question you should be asking is “what is his role in the show? Is he a Terminator?
Just watched the pilot here in London via Yahoo.
This is quite nicely not attepting to succeed via the past glory of the movie(s). And series like La Femme Nikita and Buffy were also widely criticized for being nothing like their movie counterparts. This pilot reminded me of the X-files chemistry, which granted, I didn’t see the pilot untill the dvd, (I wasn’t allowed to stay up that late in 1992) it was much the same feel. Including the non famous actors. It made me curious and anxious for the next installment. I will close saying IF Fox gives it a chance, Those of us that are without a weekly series to look forward to like Nikita, Buffy TVS, Tru Calling or the latest casualty, “Veronica Mars” are very happy! And of course there will be a robot/human romance… but it may well be the tragedy of the millenium if she must “self terminate” in the SERIES FINALE to save mankind.
Jillian
I enjoyed the pilot for the simple reason I tried my best not to compare it with the movies. I’m surprised at the budget that allows the special effects. (wonder if we’ll see the same shots only shot from different angles).
The scene where the “bad” T reaches inside his attached flesh for the gun was just plain stupid.
I think it will take a few episodes to build the characters. Hopefully, John will not continue to appear as the whimp and grow. Wonder if the female “T” is, as was Data, complete in every way???
After seeing the previews for the past month for this show, I had a feeling it would be crap. The plot is what I have the main problem with. We have all seen Terminator 3 by now if we are watching this TV series, so we know there wasn’t any other Terminators hunting John or defending John since T2. So how are they justifying the plot in this show and how do they expect Terminator fans to swallow it? In my book, a TV series must not break the canon of the movies [IF] the movies came first, which they did. It’s no different than the expectations we put on directors who shoot well known books as movies. The actors themselves aren’t bad and most have made an appearance in a good movie before. My only issue is the plot not going along with the original Terminator canon. Other than that, this movie isn’t bad for people who wants to see more Terminators without their skin on (like me).
Oh, forgot to add. I think the series should have taken place after T3 so as to not mess up the already established story. Besides, seeing post-T3 made into a series would have been a lot more entertaining.
There were some good points made before, but I’ll add my two cents in…
On Thomas Dekker as John: I think he’s done well, but again, needs to grow in the following episodes to truly pass off the magnitude of his future role. If you think about it, Edward Furlong did a really good job in T2, but after seeing it recently, I had forgotten just how young the character John was in that movie. The John in this series seems old enough now to get his hands dirty, so lets see it!!! Otherwise, I’m sufficiently pleased with the other performances, esp. the ‘bad T’. He’s no Arnold, but good.
Excellent point made before, in asking why did Skynet send back a T-101 to kill John instead of something more advanced than the T-1000 from the second movie? Maybe something in-between the T-1000 and the TX (from Terminator 3) was too difficult to construct?
Overall, killer action for a TV Series I think. Anxiously awaiting tonight’s episode!
Anyone else bothered by the fact that the terminator skull passed through the time portal in the second half of the pilot? Isn’t that a MAJOR incongruity in the story? Also, Lena’s Sarah Connor is way too soft, not edgy and tormented like Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor… and when she’s edgy, it seems overdone. I hate how she calls Kyle “Kyle Reese”. It was always either Kyle or Reese. Do you call someone you love by their full name? And as another poster stated, the terminator that was in the classroom, when he turned around and said, “Class dismissed”, I cringed. I hope this series improves and that this is just the teething process of a new show.
I think terminator 2 is the best movie all the time.
back to July 24, 2004, Judgment Day. How in the world you are going to completely disregard the T3 movie? On top of that they supposibly came to 2007 after the jump, hello? Am i missing something? Whats wrong with that picture….? And also when they did the jump how did Terminators head got through with them? None biological matter can travel through the time gate.
In over all i liked the show but weak Sarah Connor and this really really enoying faulty plot with no continuity makes me not wanna watch the rest of the season.
I found the entire show to be absurd, I quickly got tired of watching the same old fights and breaking of sheetrock and balsa wood. How far can you go with the show, how many new ways can you have the Terminators fight. The storyline is not strong enough and it will quickly go the wayof the Bionic Women.
They only have 9 shows made prior to the writers strike, and they blew the first two already, so 7 more shows before the Terminator disappears again. The actors in the show haVe been given permision to take on other projects, so how long before they could even film another episode? This is just a stop gap measure by the network to put something new on TV no matter what it is, at least it will generate interest in the new Terminator movie wth Christian Bale, Terminator Salvation.
Watching this show was a bit interesting…but not that great. They did ruin the story between T2 and T3 I noticed. Also about the head making it through you see the head go forward after it gets blasted and goes toward the portal. But I do have to say the fight scenes between Glau and the Bad “T” are horrible. They should have done it after T3 that way we can see what happens after they get stuck down in that one place. I will watch the whole season but I am already dissapointed….I say Fox should pick up the people who did Surface so they can make their Second Season. Surface > this…NBC is lame for not letting Surface do a second season…
Best show I’ve seen in a long time. Acting is good I think, there’s a certain ‘intensity’ around Lena Heady that really adds to her character well.
I am curious of how this ’seperation’ from the movies (the TV series is on a different timeline from the movies starting from the end of T2, for those who don’t know) will work out.
I think most people’s problem is the fact that they’re continually trying to compare the TV series to T2, which was a awesome movie and hard to top, so just because it may not be better doesn’t make it bad.
At any rate, I’ll certainly be watching it for a while.
You guys are ALL MISS-INFORMED! You must understand that you have to ignore the “Terminator 3″ movie completley when watching this “new” series. And you guys all call your selves fans…. jeeze! This show isnt taking place between T2 and T3. DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, Its just taking place after T2. Try to imagine there is no T3. Anyways, good point about the Terminator that came back. It should have been more advanced then the T-1000. First off you must know that the “T-1000″ was an “advanced proto-type. Secondly you all need to understand that in the future, its not Skynet that sent back the Terminators to protect John. It was the human resistance, specifically John Connor. They captured a Terminator and reprogrammed it and then sent it back through time to protect the “young John Connor”, every time this happened in every movie (except for Terminator 1). And finally if you think that the T-1000 was a “bad @ss” Terminator, How in the hell do you expect the Human Resistance to capture one (or even a better model such as the T-X) in the Future and reprogram it… Its just not gonna happen! So in all actuality here, the good Terminator that was sent back…made perfect sense. Hey, lol, just be thankful they arent using the obsolete “T-800″ Models… lol… And if you look at it from the side of the Evil Terminators that were sent back… Why would they send another Terminator that was more advanced then the T-1000? The T-1000 was again an “advanced proto-type”… so there was only ONE made, and that was destroyed. So they had to “scrap” that idea. Skynet probably thought it was cheaper in the end. BAHAHAHAHAH, just jokin…
This show really is an excellent Idea. I think it will do great for 2008!
One question I do ask myself, is that when they went through the portal, how did the T-101 model get sent back with them (the Terminator that’s head got blown off)??????????? I understand the head going through because it was blown off and it flew forward, thus transporting itself with them to the year 2007. But how in the HELL did the Terminator body (without the head) get teleported through. It fell to the ground away from them and didnt move. And also how the hell did it end up in a garbage dump, or Junk Yard or whatever it was? It should have transported with them to the same location they were sent to…. just like the “head” was…. That is my only problem with the episodes, so far… but still I am anxiously awaiting the third episode and the other 6 episodes following.
:>
Also I would like to respond about the comment made earlier…
“None biological matter can’t travel through the time gate.”
Actually a Terminator is a cybernetic organism. ”
It consists of living tissue over a metal endoskeleton. The metal endoskeleton is a microprocessor controlled fully armoured hyper-alloy combat chassis. This endoskeleton is constructed with frictionless bearings in its joints, and a servo-actuated control system. Its limbs are controlled by axial drive motors and clavicular trailing links. This allows the T-800 to manoeuvre faster than the T-600, as bursts of speed of up to 22 mph no longer threaten the joint assemblies. The living tissue, grown specially for the T-800’s, consists of flesh, skin, hair and blood, and is capable of limited regeneration over time. As this tissue is living it is warm to the touch and hence T-800’s will not show up on thermal scanners as being any different from a real human”….
Thats why they can pass through the time portal!!!
And I must correct some of my previous points that I made… The Terminators that are used in these episodes areeeeeeeee infact the “T-850 series”. The actual “obsolete” designs are the “T-600’s” models. My bad, sorry…
WoW Sarah Connor?
I think this is a best movie.
remember skynet is on the brink of being defeated by the humans, so they are sending back what they have,…… assume the resistance is kicking their ass, and the humans have some control over Skynets operations and they are now able to manufacturer human friendly terminators or guardian models that protect and fight since it takes 18 years to produce and effective fighting human, why not have the guardian bots do the work??
god, some of you people are so thick. The girl the teacher? The acting bad?
for one: no girl teacher she is a student. number two: arnold was an amazing actor?
Oh and the writer of this review is not in touch with youth. who would want to save the world, i know i would rather want friends.
btw, i think the series is well done.
And as if you arn’t here unless you want to watch as much robot fucking action possible. terminator style.
This series is really good. I thought it was going to be based off the terminator movies, and it sort of was, but it also has a taste of originality.
I have yet to watch the show and T2 was amazing and stunning, but when I saw even the commercials for the show I was a little diappointed. For one thing, John doesn’t look like some one who has gone through all that John Connor went through in T2. He looks too pretty, and Sarah Connor’s hair is like black, nothing like the hair Sarah Connor had in T2. The terminator chick sent back has too many emotions even though she is leaning and storing data on such emotions, she didn’t cross terminator protector when I saw the previews because for one, she was talking to John adn I think similing. The lines uttered in the scenes were atrocious . When lady terminator tries to pull an “Come with me if you want to live” in a quavery shakey kind of voice, I wanted to hide in a corner. I don’t know if this series will come out strong after so many episodes, I mean really, you can’t just keep sending terminators back all the time, or else that would be as boring as hell.
John Conner is a woosssssss in this show. If I had the trainging in combat that he supposedly had after T2 I would kick any body’s arse. Come on writers, get it together or you’re going to wish there was still a strike! Please don’t dis-appoint us fans…..
this is the best i eever seeeeen
I dissagree completely with your review. I loved the pilot but in my opinion Sarah was all wrong. She was too emotional and her little cheezy speaches and thoughts annoyed me. Sarah Connor is a lot more butch in the films and wouldn’t go on like that. I thought Thomas Dekker was utterly perfect as John Connor, (you have to remember this is set only two years after T2 and he’s only 15 so naturally he’s not going to be anything like a leader yet). He may know how to use firearms but he doesn’t want to use them. He’s trying to enjoy his teen years in the pilot. I’m sure as the series progresses we will see him take charge in a lot of situations. Summer Glao recked my head. The whole skinny teenage girl robot thing is sooo stupid. My brother actually said “oh come on, thats crap!” when she opened the truck door and said “come with me if you want to live” it was such a joke. I’d rather a big scary male protector then a teen girl. If John gets a crsh on Cameron i will vomit! I’d like to hear your response to my comment so please email me when you get the chance.
Lena Heady is obviously part eye-candy for the show. And so is summer Glau. But they both had resumes. (”300″ and “Firefly”), so the producer got good looking ladies who can act in sci-fi/fantasy. The show isn’t the expensive action fest that T2 was, but it explores the same theme. Comments made about the “skinny” girl not working out as a protector are not aware of sci-fi possibilities. You can have an attractive female form as a terminator. Remember (if you weren’t spoiled) how the T-1000 seemed to be the weak slender guy yet he outfought the T-800 physically. It’s about the technology. The terminators are basically infiltrators and impersonators. They can be any voice , yet generate enough dynes to break of limbs of the fragile human body. Dekker looks more like Nick Stahl than Furlong but has closer to Furlong’s haircut in the beginning.
hey i thought the tv seres was good but the t-3 suck big time.first arnald is old and having him riding a motorcycle and trying to be funny about the sun glasses “STUPIT”.second john conner looks like a whimp and skinny to and his so called wife “UGLY”.third a women terminator . . . . sorry girls it was a stupit move they make.i wish that they should of done more talking then action.i hope (Fingers cross) that t-4 will be alot better then t-3 movie.