Sarah Connor Chronicles. Should I bother?

Hambydammit
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Sarah Connor Chronicles. Should I bother?

 I discovered that hulu has the latest eleven episodes of Terminator:  The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  Should I bother to invest my life in this, or is it as bad as the last couple of terminator installations?


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Well, honestly, I think you

Well, honestly, I think you should save your money. I thought it was okay, but if I understand your tastes, I think you'll vehemently disagree. There's no boobs, and sometimes you might get the feeling that there's a deliberate attempt to keep them behind closed doors (a few fade to black scenes, for example).
 

And there's car chases. Plenty of car chases.

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"Natasha has just come up to the window from the courtyard and opened it wider so that the air may enter more freely into my room. I can see the bright green strip of grass beneath the wall, and the clear blue sky above the wall, and sunlight everywhere. Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence, and enjoy it to the full."

- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
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At one point John Connor

At one point John Connor lays on top of a mostly naked Cameron and shows his had into her chest. A heart warming moment I will cherish for a lifetime.

I have to admit, I really dug the John Henry plotline, and the last episode ended on such an epic note that I was left torn. I really wanted to see where they were running with this crazy turn of events. But I really want them to end on a good note, too. So, I guess I chalk it up to "yet another terminator timeline" and call it good. Maybe they'll at least set a couple of novels in that changed future.

 

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 Well, it's free, so it's

 Well, it's free, so it's not so much about the money.  Knowing that it's network TV, I didn't expect boobs.  The car chases, though... that's generally bad.

The thing is, the other night while I was having my weekly bout of insomnia, I watched both of the first two Terminator movies.  I'm probably just trying to milk some more geek interest out of the Terminator concept.  I watched one episode, and there seem to be terminators everywhere, and they're not killing people.  I get that John has a hottie to protect him, but it seems like the terminators are trying to help build skynet.  That's fucking with my brain.

Don't explain it to me... just tell me if the story's worth my current confusion.

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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It... err... that's a tough

It... err... that's a tough question. How much do you like time travel paradox plot devices? They have a very interesting few ideas, but if you don't like time travel as a frequent means of bringing about deus ex machina solutions, you might want to break your TV screen by the time you're done.

 

Since it's free, I'd just say fuck it. Pop some corn and watch it.

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"Natasha has just come up to the window from the courtyard and opened it wider so that the air may enter more freely into my room. I can see the bright green strip of grass beneath the wall, and the clear blue sky above the wall, and sunlight everywhere. Life is beautiful. Let the future generations cleanse it of all evil, oppression and violence, and enjoy it to the full."

- Leon Trotsky, Last Will & Testament
February 27, 1940


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Summer Glau is totally worth

Summer Glau is totally worth watching Smiling


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Fanas wrote:Summer Glau is

Fanas wrote:

Summer Glau is totally worth watching Smiling

Absolutely.

 

Unfortunately Fox has canceled this leaving it with open questions and unresolved story lines, typical.

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"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.


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 Quote:Unfortunately Fox

 

Quote:
Unfortunately Fox has canceled this leaving it with open questions and unresolved story lines, typical.

No kidding?  Mother fucker.  Do they just hate Summer?  They did the same damn thing to Firefly.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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Hambydammit

Hambydammit wrote:

 

Quote:
Unfortunately Fox has canceled this leaving it with open questions and unresolved story lines, typical.

No kidding?  Mother fucker.  Do they just hate Summer?  They did the same damn thing to Firefly.

 

Apparently it came down to Dollhouse or Sarah Connor. Having fucked Joss Whedon over on Firefly as well as Summer Glau they went with Dollhouse, probably because it costs less to make.

____________________________________________________________
"I guess it's time to ask if you live under high voltage power transmission lines which have been shown to cause stimulation of the fantasy centers of the brain due to electromagnetic waves?" - Me

"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.


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pauljohntheskeptic

pauljohntheskeptic wrote:

Hambydammit wrote:

 

Quote:
Unfortunately Fox has canceled this leaving it with open questions and unresolved story lines, typical.

No kidding?  Mother fucker.  Do they just hate Summer?  They did the same damn thing to Firefly.

 

Apparently it came down to Dollhouse or Sarah Connor. Having fucked Joss Whedon over on Firefly as well as Summer Glau they went with Dollhouse, probably because it costs less to make.

 

Dollhouse? wtf is Dollhouse? ... so help me if it isnt nudity related >.<

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 I'd never heard of

 I'd never heard of Dollhouse before.  I did a quick IMDB on it and found this summary:

Quote:
A futuristic laboratory assigns different tasks to its various residents, who then have their memories erased upon the completion of their assignments.

I've seen this plotline before.  It was called Dark City.  Every so often, these telepathic dudes would come along and rearrange the whole city, switching up people between jobs, mates, and history.  They were searching for the human soul.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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The Doomed Soul

The Doomed Soul wrote:

 

Dollhouse? wtf is Dollhouse? ... so help me if it isnt nudity related >.<

Dollhouse is a Joss Whedon production where people are dolls in effect having mental imprints of others to perform certain tasks including being playthings for the rich. It stars Eliza Dushku, the bad Vampire killer hot babe from Buffy. Episodes available on Fox.

____________________________________________________________
"I guess it's time to ask if you live under high voltage power transmission lines which have been shown to cause stimulation of the fantasy centers of the brain due to electromagnetic waves?" - Me

"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.


pauljohntheskeptic
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Hambydammit wrote: I'd

Hambydammit wrote:

 I'd never heard of Dollhouse before.  I did a quick IMDB on it and found this summary:

Quote:
A futuristic laboratory assigns different tasks to its various residents, who then have their memories erased upon the completion of their assignments.

I've seen this plotline before.  It was called Dark City.  Every so often, these telepathic dudes would come along and rearrange the whole city, switching up people between jobs, mates, and history.  They were searching for the human soul.

 

Not the same. In this the dolls are programmed for specific tasks and rented out to rich fucks. It has some interesting moments. 

____________________________________________________________
"I guess it's time to ask if you live under high voltage power transmission lines which have been shown to cause stimulation of the fantasy centers of the brain due to electromagnetic waves?" - Me

"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.


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 Back to the story at

 Back to the story at hand... I watched episode 11-21 of season two -- that's all that was available on hulu.  Since everyone else appears to know the plotline, I'm not going to worry about spoilers.  Stop reading if this is an issue for you.

So...There's a liquid metal terminator building an early AI guy, and one of the solid mechanical terminators is trying to kill her daughter, who isn't really her daughter, but is somehow important, but not as important as John Henry.  The liquid girl's company is a cover organization for facilitating the development of terminators, or I guess, more specifically, the equivalent of Skynet, although I'm kind of confused as to whether or not Skynet exists now, or whether the time fucking around things have made skynet into another company... or something...

Somehow or another, the war has changed, such that terminators are in charge of submarines.  Presumably, John Connor has made some kind of deal with the devil, and there are factions of machines, some of whom are somehow sympathetic to the human cause.  (Curiously Matrix-like... but I'm letting it slide for the moment.)  

I guess in the broad scheme of things, I don't have a huge issue with the way the plot works, though my logical brain does have some serious questions about why things are the way they are if it's so freaking easy to just bounce around through time.  I thought the whole plotline with the bitchy mech-hater girl trying to get the future girl killed to take John away from his hottie protector was a waste of my life.

The season finale was awfully impressive on a lot of levels, though.  Good old fashioned Terminator police station break-out, liquid terminator badass, big booms.  Impressive Terminator stuff.  I suppose I'd have kept watching if the FOX crew had kept it going.

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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 Maybe this might help you

 Maybe this might help you since I can't find any season 1 episodes for free, if you have Netflix they have it.

Summaries from TV.com of Season 1.

This came out in January 08 and its the story of what happened prior to Terminator 3.

Summer Glau is a Terminator, Cameron who John Connor in the future sent back to help himself in the past.

It appears things change and what was may not be. Try the summaries to see if that helps you understand Season 2.

____________________________________________________________
"I guess it's time to ask if you live under high voltage power transmission lines which have been shown to cause stimulation of the fantasy centers of the brain due to electromagnetic waves?" - Me

"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.


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 Quote:Maybe this might

 

Quote:
Maybe this might help you since I can't find any season 1 episodes for free, if you have Netflix they have it.

~Sigh~

I always do things ass-backwards.  I suppose I'll have to watch it at some point.

Quote:
Summer Glau is a Terminator, Cameron who John Connor in the future sent back to help himself in the past.

I got that part, and got the bit about the timeline being different... I mean... hell, there are terminators running around controlling companies before Judgment Day.  How bizarre is that?  Ah well, yet another story line with no ending courtesy of Nielson.

 

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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Hambydammit

Hambydammit wrote:

 

Quote:
Maybe this might help you since I can't find any season 1 episodes for free, if you have Netflix they have it.

~Sigh~

I always do things ass-backwards.  I suppose I'll have to watch it at some point.

Quote:
Summer Glau is a Terminator, Cameron who John Connor in the future sent back to help himself in the past.

I got that part, and got the bit about the timeline being different... I mean... hell, there are terminators running around controlling companies before Judgment Day.  How bizarre is that?  Ah well, yet another story line with no ending courtesy of Nielson.

 

John Henry is the remains of a Terminatror that was destroyed in Mexico in season 1. Catherine, the liquid terminator took over the company by killing the real Catherine and her husband. The little girl was her daughter and doesn't know mom is a machine. Until the finale in season 2 it was not clear what Catherine was doing but one assumed she was on the side of the machines. When she saves Sarah and John in the season 2 finale I was confused.

The mech hater girl, Jesse was in John's service in the future and the events on the sub cause her to hate Cameron, (she lost a baby and her crew). Also she is not the same as Derek Reese remembers as they have had a different future. This leads them to realize they can change the future.

____________________________________________________________
"I guess it's time to ask if you live under high voltage power transmission lines which have been shown to cause stimulation of the fantasy centers of the brain due to electromagnetic waves?" - Me

"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.


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 Quote:When she saves Sarah

 

Quote:
When she saves Sarah and John in the season 2 finale I was confused.

My guess was a Battlestar Galactica plot copy -- two (or more) factions of machines.  The whole "Will you join us" thing is obviously a big deal.  John Connor asked the liquid metals the same question in the future, and Cameron was obviously not thrilled about the security guy asking the same question.

I'm wondering if there hasn't been a splinter between the machines, and now two factions are trying to fuck with the John Connor timeline to try to gain an upper hand.  It's sort of like Cylons with a time machine.

Quote:
The mech hater girl, Jesse was in John's service in the future and the events on the sub cause her to hate Cameron, (she lost a baby and her crew). Also she is not the same as Derek Reese remembers as they have had a different future. This leads them to realize they can change the future.

I hate revenge plots.  It's just one of my pet peeves.  Yeah, I know sometimes people get all crazy trying to get revenge, but this was a tired plot device.  I just didn't like it at all.  I guess I also didn't like the whole miscarriage thing.  Speaking of dead horses.  Girl and guy go crazy thinking about the fact that she had a miscarriage years ago, or ahead, or whatever.  For fuck sake.  I've known at least twenty or so people who have gone through miscarriagas.  I don't buy this plotline at all.

I wonder if anybody's going to sell the 3rd season plot to a writer.  Do TV writers ever do that?  I really would kind of like to know what the hell was going on.

 

 

Atheism isn't a lot like religion at all. Unless by "religion" you mean "not religion". --Ciarin

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Hambydammit wrote:I wonder

Hambydammit wrote:

I wonder if anybody's going to sell the 3rd season plot to a writer.  Do TV writers ever do that?  I really would kind of like to know what the hell was going on.

 

I hear it's being pitched to Sci-Fi Chnl but they may be short on cash too. Depending on how this summer's Terminator movie does they of course could change their minds.

____________________________________________________________
"I guess it's time to ask if you live under high voltage power transmission lines which have been shown to cause stimulation of the fantasy centers of the brain due to electromagnetic waves?" - Me

"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.


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pauljohntheskeptic

pauljohntheskeptic wrote:

Hambydammit wrote:

 

Quote:
Unfortunately Fox has canceled this leaving it with open questions and unresolved story lines, typical.

No kidding?  Mother fucker.  Do they just hate Summer?  They did the same damn thing to Firefly.

 

Apparently it came down to Dollhouse or Sarah Connor. Having fucked Joss Whedon over on Firefly as well as Summer Glau they went with Dollhouse, probably because it costs less to make.

Dollhouse is an awesome series too, but can't they cancel something I'm not watching.

At least they could let Summer appear on Dollhouse, it would be fun watching her.


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Fanas

Fanas wrote:

pauljohntheskeptic wrote:

Hambydammit wrote:

 

Quote:
Unfortunately Fox has canceled this leaving it with open questions and unresolved story lines, typical.

No kidding?  Mother fucker.  Do they just hate Summer?  They did the same damn thing to Firefly.

 

Apparently it came down to Dollhouse or Sarah Connor. Having fucked Joss Whedon over on Firefly as well as Summer Glau they went with Dollhouse, probably because it costs less to make.

Dollhouse is an awesome series too, but can't they cancel something I'm not watching.

At least they could let Summer appear on Dollhouse, it would be fun watching her.

I agree, almost anything else on Fox should be cancelled.

____________________________________________________________
"I guess it's time to ask if you live under high voltage power transmission lines which have been shown to cause stimulation of the fantasy centers of the brain due to electromagnetic waves?" - Me

"God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these divine attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks please. Cash and in small bills." - Robert A Heinlein.