“But we aren’t broken…”
No The Sarah Connor Chronicles are not broken but they’re a few missteps away and with news that the show is heading into the Friday night slot, it’s all the more reason to fix the stuff that is.
Let’s start with the characters, after a season and the half John Connor is still a moody -bastard. Understandably, I’m not destined to be the sole leader of humanity once the machine take over but John’s griping aren’t exactly making me think he will grow up to be that guy either. Now I understand it must be hard knowing you’re humanity’s last hope but I feel like he should be filled with something more than self-pity. The show would benefit from a more forceful John Connor who refuses to accept his fate and continually tries to change it or one who accepts it and willingly and angrily puts himself out there (think of Batman Begins, once Bruce Wayne has his mission how exciting is it watching him try to fulfill it).
I thought Lena Headey looked funny always acting with a pouty face but after seeing her again in 300, I realize that’s just the way her face is. But she is convincing with a gun and has gotten better bringing Sarah to life and making her a compassionate woman. The continuing theme with Sarah on the show is that she has accepted fate and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to ensure John’s safety. The problem is that most of her stories is that they don’t test Sarah enough; how far is she willing to go to protect John? What is she willing to sacrifice? Important questions that haven’t been addressed while we’re treated to Sarah aimlessly chasing down leads or dealing with with questions of her sanity. Sarah should be one the character on the show who doesn’t question fate but welcomes it. The stories don’t do enough in testing her resolve and willingness to protect John. Also, it’s almost been a forgotten fact that Sarah is destined to die of cancer, I think the show could do a lot with Sarah preparing and accepting death.
I didn’t like Summer Glau at first but she’s grown on me as John’s protector. The writers have managed to give her enough moments of cold robot badassness and also mysterious human emotions. It’s actually very interesting to the relationship that’s developing between her and John and see her character as she adjusts to John. What bothers me most about her character is that her abilities are never fully explained; one episode she can touch someone and tell if they’re lying, the next episode she can’t. A clearer understanding of what she can and cannot do would do a lot toward establishing tension when she is in a fight with other Terminators.
B.A.G (Brian Austin Greene) is actually quite badass as Derek Reese and the show does a great job of making him into something of a mentor for John. He’s the one character on the show I wouldn’t change and like as is
I don’t really care much for the girl from Garbage or Richard T. Jones as the FBI guy. While the show needs a bad guy, the girl from Garbage isn’t it for me and Richard T. Jones’ involvement doesn’t do much to draw me in. I think he would better used if he was still chasing them or if he was dead and become a Terminator.
Right now the show is riding the premise of John Connor and wasting it with boring drama and inconsequential chases. The show needs a stronger enemy, a more serious threat to John and Sarah; right now, a lot of the fire fights and problems that they have faced could have been done without Summer Glau’s Terminator. She’s back there for a reason, they should do something with that. The idea of protecting other officers in John’s army is interesting but it wears thin. In my mind, humanity and Skynet are already fighting the war on two fronts, the future and the present. John and Sarah should be dealing with other soldiers from the future and fight off Skynet’s advances in their time. The show should be less of a drama and more of a game of cat and mouse as humanity is essentially in a war it doesn’t know it’s fighting.
The pacing of the show could also be a little faster and more hard hitting. The show has really good moments of action but I don’t think it would hurt if the show upped the gun fights.
The show isn’t bad and it’s quite enjoyable but there are just too many moments where the show feels like it’s going in the wrong direction. Going into the Friday night slot is tough but the show has enough going for it that with some changes, it can be better and popular.
Just thinking out loud
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I find it interesting that Cameron has grown on you. That character is the best developed of them all. Cameron can surmize if someone is telling a lie by changes in pulse rates, skin salinity and temperature. While she can’t perform x-rays, she can scan to see whether someone has an endoskeleton. I don’t get where you find her abilities inconsistent presented in any way. Other than that point, I would tend to agree with your analysis of the show.
I’m sorry to say that I don’t agree with much of what you say. I would if the show were a movie, but it is not. In order for the show to extend through time there are gong to have to be some “filler” episodes — that’s the way it is for all the TV series I have watched. As for development, once Jon Connor accepts his fate, the show is effectively over, because the primary transition has occurred. No interesting character can accept fate in that way — that would make them what is commonly called “two dimensional” — okay for a movie again, but not a series. Heck I can’t accept my fate — it’s human nature to oscillate. I believe the series holds John in an effective state of tension. Late in the series toward the end, critical events might happen that drive him into a one dimensional character with no complexity. For now he can learn all the technical skills of leadership and the moral demands without manifesting the force of will. Typically that occurs in a Gandhi moment anyway. I have found some of the temporal anomalies fascinating, I am very interested in the John Henry character, as well as the mission of the cyborg who created him (what all that means). There is some potential to work with this spaceship that rises from the bog as well. In short, I think there are enough complexities to allow this show to develop over a five to eight year period without it having to resolve its major issues in the first few weeks. Time for John to reach 25 and for Sarah to die (if she does in this version of the story), and time for John Henry to evolve as a moral character. There is also time to work out the Pinocchia theme with respect to the Cameron character. She clearly represents an anomaly in the engineering — recall the evening she practices ballet by herself, she aspires to the aesthetic, or the time she tells John that she loves him and that in the future they love each other. There are a lot of things that are unresolved that can hold a viewer over time. One thing I would like to see is the exploration of the real elements of moral development (not just the 10 commandments) in the development of John Henry and whether or not the attempt to teach him morals represents an attempt to create an alternate future. I’m not crazy about the Rachel the spy character, but something could still be made of that. Ultimately, I feel like this is the one action series that has not to one degree or another turned into a soap opera or a cliche (Smallville, Heroes). It has kept it’s edge, and not just because the main characters are sexy and dress in combat gear, but because they are complex and unfinished. I hope it lasts a decade.
At first I have to say I agreed with your review of the show, as I’ve been thinking a lot of the same things. I just recently started watching the show and in just the last week I’ve watched all of the second season up to last Friday’s episode. I have the first season rented from Blockbuster online and have only seen the first three episodes (the rest are on the way), so I can’t comment affectively on the whole series or it’s progress. I can say that as diehard Terminator movie fan that I really like the series so far.
However, I do agree with what Wade has to say about it and it makes a lot of sense. I would love to see the series last for many years, as well. I next to never watch TV (news and weather, if that), but it looks like this show is gonna bring me back to it! The last sries I watched on a regular basis was the X-Files. No surprise there, I’m sure. Really sad it went away, but very glad this has come along to take it’s place in supplying my regular need for a continuing sci-fi series!!