Sarah Connor Chronicles / Terminator TV

[DKT]

So I finally finished watching the first episode.  It was okay.  More action-packed than I thought it would be.  I still have some hang-ups.  I was kind of hoping to see Sarah Connor: outlaw, instead of Sarah Connor: moonlighting outlaw (this might be corrected later on in the series).  The terminators are still poor would be Arnolds.  Summer Glau...or Cameron, expresses quite a bit of (fake) emotion when she first meets John, but somehow can't fake it after that, and seems very mechanical. 

I thought the time travel thing was interesting, even if it left me more than a bit annoyed with the way it wreaks havoc with the Terminator continuity.  Mostly, I'm hoping the new Terminator films don't suck.

But yeah, not a waste.  I might check out more of it.  Lena Headey grew on me, even though she's no Linda Hamilton.  And wherever they're going with the lover she ditched might be interesting...

[wintermute]

I'm not sure how this got so sidetracked so quickly. Yes, River Tam was a wonderful, nuanced character with depth. Yes, excellent stories can be told with robots as the main characters. Yes, it's possible for robots to be other than inhuman. Yes, Star Trek has had more time to explain more themes than the Terminator franchise. Yes, the Terminator franchise might, at some point in the future, explore these themes. Or, then again, it might not.

But none of that has anything to do with the point I made. Or the point I thought I was making, at least. Which is that I have seen Summer Glau in exactly two roles, each of which has been an "inhuman killing machine" (a phrase I chose carefully to avoid words like "robotic", "soulless", "emotionless"* or "android"), and I would like to see her in other roles, because I'm interested in seeing if she can act like a human. I suspect that she can, and I suspect that the evidence is out there (after all, she has played more than two characters), but I'm simply not familiar with it. I'm sorry if I lead anyone to believe that I thought there was anything wrong with the roles she's had so far.

I think it's a shame when any actor gets typecast (especially in so narrow a role as this), and deserves a chance to show that they can do something different. The more different the better. Some will, of course, fail; to quote Vittorio De Sica "There is one role anyone can play: himself".

But, honestly, I liked both Firefly/Serenity and The Sarah Connor Chronicles, not least because of Miss Glau's perfomance. Is it really so wrong of me to want to see her in more diverse roles?

*OK, I added a little snark on the end which kind of undercuts this point, and for that I apologise.

[lieffeil]

I think it's a shame when any actor gets typecast (especially in so narrow a role as this), and deserves a chance to show that they can do something different. The more different the better. Some will, of course, fail; to quote Vittorio De Sica "There is one role anyone can play: himself".

Here's one of the funniest interviews I've seen in a long time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7abOdUT0FM
It's Nathan Fillion on Ellen, and he talks about being typecast, as a gynecologist. And he tells a story about his cat.
That's all I got. Sorry about the off-topic...-ness.
Enjoy.

[stePH]

So I finally finished watching the first episode.  It was okay.  More action-packed than I thought it would be.  I still have some hang-ups.  I was kind of hoping to see Sarah Connor: outlaw, instead of Sarah Connor: moonlighting outlaw (this might be corrected later on in the series).  The terminators are still poor would be Arnolds.  Summer Glau...or Cameron, expresses quite a bit of (fake) emotion when she first meets John, but somehow can't fake it after that, and seems very mechanical. 

I thought the time travel thing was interesting, even if it left me more than a bit annoyed with the way it wreaks havoc with the Terminator continuity.  Mostly, I'm hoping the new Terminator films don't suck.

But yeah, not a waste.  I might check out more of it.  Lena Headey grew on me, even though she's no Linda Hamilton.  And wherever they're going with the lover she ditched might be interesting...

I just watched the pilot last night (the DVD has been here for a week).

I enjoyed it, and I'll keep watching, but one thing really bothers me:

How long is the FBI agent guy going to keep his head firmly up his ass, continuing to believe that Sarah Connor is a "delusional whack-a-mole?"  Nineteen eyewitnesses at the school shooting reported "a shooter with some kind of robot leg".  There had to be some kind of remnant of the terminator at the bank; I doubt that spiffy gun completely vaporized it.  And does he really think Sarah Connor can tear a bank vault door apart into little pieces with her bare hands? 

[Darwinist]

How long is the FBI agent guy going to keep his head firmly up his ass, continuing to believe that Sarah Connor is a "delusional whack-a-mole?"  Nineteen eyewitnesses at the school shooting reported "a shooter with some kind of robot leg".  There had to be some kind of remnant of the terminator at the bank; I doubt that spiffy gun completely vaporized it.  And does he really think Sarah Connor can tear a bank vault door apart into little pieces with her bare hands? 

Yeah, the whole series has situations like that it seems, but I still like it.  The FBI agent comes around. 

I missed the first two shows of Season II.  Has anyone watched?  Is it still decent?

[stePH]

I missed the first two shows of Season II.  Has anyone watched?  Is it still decent?

Oop, Season2 has started?    I guess once I finish season 1 on DVD I'll have to bittorrent myself up to current; then I can set a Season Pass on the TiVo.

[Talia]

How long is the FBI agent guy going to keep his head firmly up his ass, continuing to believe that Sarah Connor is a "delusional whack-a-mole?"  Nineteen eyewitnesses at the school shooting reported "a shooter with some kind of robot leg".  There had to be some kind of remnant of the terminator at the bank; I doubt that spiffy gun completely vaporized it.  And does he really think Sarah Connor can tear a bank vault door apart into little pieces with her bare hands? 

Yeah, the whole series has situations like that it seems, but I still like it.  The FBI agent comes around. 

I missed the first two shows of Season II.  Has anyone watched?  Is it still decent?

I'm still enjoying it, yeah.

[stePH]

HA!   

Watching the first episode after the pilot just now -- in the scene where John's in the computer store in the mall, the number on the door seen as he walks out is "1337" 

[Talia]

haha, good eye. Didnt spot that at all, and usually I pick up on that.

[bluerequiem]

I liked the reference in season 1 to the skynet predecessor "the turk" and Johnny Cash "when the man comes around" playing in background during the slaughter that ends season 1.

[Russell Nash]

All caught up.

I like it in general, but the equipment is just wrong.  In the future the robots are using these big loud jet versions of Ospreys and people just sneak around at night.  I think the success of Predator drones and other ROVs shows that a quiet eye in the sky finds a lot more targets.  Also the robots would just switch over to IR sensors and find all the humans by their heat signature.  In southern california they'd actually be easier to find that way than they would during the day.

What's with all the 9mm crap?  A 9mm is a round to injure a person, but not kill them.  The police use them so they can put a couple of rounds in a suspect and still get to put him on trial.  Whenever a Terminator shows up, they all gab their 9mm handguns like it will do something and then they show the terminator getting hit with 50 rounds and not giving a shit.  If these folks were supposed to have half a brain in their heads, they wouldn't even carry handguns and if for some reason they did, it would be a .45 or a .44magnum.

Ok enough of the weapons rant, sorry.

Edit: fixed links

[stePH]

What's with all the 9mm crap?  A 9mm is a round to injure a person, but not kill them.  The police use them so they can put a couple of rounds in a suspect and still get to put him on trial.  Whenever a Terminator shows up, they all gab their 9mm handguns like it will do something and then they show the terminator getting hit with 50 rounds and not giving a shit.  If these folks were supposed to have half a brain in their heads, they wouldn't even carry handguns and if for some reason they did, it would be a .45 or a .44magnum.

I thought 9mm was roughly equivalent to .45?  Admittedly, my source is Ordell Robbie's pitch from the beginning of Jackie Brown ....

[Heradel]

What's with all the 9mm crap?  A 9mm is a round to injure a person, but not kill them.  The police use them so they can put a couple of rounds in a suspect and still get to put him on trial.  Whenever a Terminator shows up, they all gab their 9mm handguns like it will do something and then they show the terminator getting hit with 50 rounds and not giving a shit.  If these folks were supposed to have half a brain in their heads, they wouldn't even carry handguns and if for some reason they did, it would be a .45 or a .44magnum.

I thought 9mm was roughly equivalent to .45?  Admittedly, my source is Ordell Robbie's pitch from the beginning of Jackie Brown ....

9mm is equivalent to a .38, .357 or .35 . A .45 caliber bullet would be equivalent to 11.45mm.

[stePH]

9mm is equivalent to a .38, .357 or .35 . A .45 caliber bullet would be equivalent to 11.45mm.

I just remember Ordell telling Louis about how he tries to recommend a 9mm when his customers ask for a .45, because (as he puts it) it's pretty much the same gun but without the jamming problem that the .45 is prone to.

[Russell Nash]

What's with all the 9mm crap?  A 9mm is a round to injure a person, but not kill them.  The police use them so they can put a couple of rounds in a suspect and still get to put him on trial.  Whenever a Terminator shows up, they all gab their 9mm handguns like it will do something and then they show the terminator getting hit with 50 rounds and not giving a shit.  If these folks were supposed to have half a brain in their heads, they wouldn't even carry handguns and if for some reason they did, it would be a .45 or a .44magnum.

I thought 9mm was roughly equivalent to .45?  Admittedly, my source is Ordell Robbie's pitch from the beginning of Jackie Brown ....

9mm is equivalent to a .38, .357 or .35 . A .45 caliber bullet would be equivalent to 11.45mm.

These numbers only talk about the diameter of the bullet, but the length of the slug and the amount of powder have a massive effect.  The 9mm is a pussy round that allows someone to fire many shots without the recoil knocking their aim off too much. 

The .357 (and it's big brother the .44) have longer shell casings which hold more powder.  That combined with a longer barrel on the gun give the slug a much higher muzzle velocity. 

The .45 was designed for the army o meet one simple criterium. It was supposed to stop a charging calvary horse with one shot.  It is a thick beefy round with a lot of stopping force. 

[Russell Nash]

I was just looking at IMDB and noticed that this show hasn't even gotten enough votes to have a star rating.  That only requires 5 votes.  The apathy seems to show in the ratings.  There was a link to a story saying that the ratings have been in a steady free fall for a while now.  I guess we can kiss this one goodbye soon.

[CGFxColONeill]

I have started watching the show, I had to pick up on season 2 because 1 was not on that I found( as yet anyhow)
I have enjoyed what I have seen so far is it worth it to get ahold of 1? biased on what I have seen in 2 I think it probably is but wanted to get another opinion

[Russell Nash]

I think one was better.  It's in a slide.  For a show about Sarah, they don't seem to have much for her to do.

[Alasdair5000]

I think one was better.  It's in a slide.  For a show about Sarah, they don't seem to have much for her to do.

   My relationship with this show is weird.  Individual episodes tend to bore me because the storyline is so decompressed but the 'stunt' ones they've started doing in year two are actually pretty great.  'Goodbye to All That' which has Derek and John undercover at a military academy to protect one of John's future liuetenants is a staggeringly good hour of TV and a welcome spotlight on Crazy Uncle Derek.  The closing scene in particular and Derek's final speech are staggering.