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Terminator: Desert Cantos

This episode was not terribly interesting. In general, I appreciate the slower pacing of the series, especially when it gives us time to explore the psychological impacts on our characters, but this one was a little too slow for my tastes. Certainly, it makes sense that the Connor crew would continue to look into the mystery warehouse and its destruction, but this was a very long and awkward hour just to get to the major revelation at the end.

No doubt, the discovery of the drone in the pond was a pretty awesome moment. I loved that all four of them saw it. Now, the others (and the audience) can’t doubt Sarah. I can’t wait to see where this takes their efforts to thwart Skynet. Skynet seems to be stepping up its game, if it is creating such advanced drones before Judgment Day. I’m certainly curious about where the drone was getting carted off to at the end. Is the truck driver now a rogue human working against Skynet, instead of for them (however unwittingly)? Or is he working for a Skynet faction other than Catherine’s? Very curious.

Other than the drone revelation, not much happened this week. I did like seeing some of the emotional fallout for Sarah regarding the death of the security guy. I wonder if the revelation that he was a bad, bad man will make her feel less guilty about killing him. Especially since it was essentially self-defense.

The sequences with Catherine Weaver weren’t overly compelling. In fact, the scene with her daughter struck me as totally bizarre. If Savannah is back to behaving somewhat normally, why keep trying to “mother” her? What’s the point? Hopefully, her feigned and incredibly fake “emotional moment” raises some warning flags for Ellison. I’d like it if he started catching on to her.

Other thoughts:

I liked the very brief exchange between Derek and Sarah, about their unwillingness to let Reese go.

We need more Cameron. She has not had near enough to do the last two weeks. I miss the stuff with her interest in the soul and the human condition. I miss her kicking ass and taking names.

How long has it been since last week’s episode? Sarah seemed to recover from her near fatal wound pretty quickly. I didn’t notice her limping at all. Hell, she was climbing in windows!

I had to smile when Catherine’s “OSHA investigator” told Derek he was an ex-cop from Baltimore. The actor, Max Perlich, used to be on Homicide: Life on the Street, which was a cop show set in Baltimore (one of my favorite shows, back in the day). He didn’t play a cop, but it was still a nice nod to that series---even if it was unintentional.

Final rating: 2 out of 5. I didn’t really like this one. I hope they pick up the pace again next week. And, please more Cameron. Seriously.

Jess Lynde is a highly engaged television viewer. Probably a bit too engaged.

10 comments:

  1. Nice review, Jess. And I completely agree that, as interesting as it was that they went undercover at a mass funeral, it took too long to get to the meaningful conclusion.

    The references in the last two episodes to Kyle, and Sarah calling Derek "Reese" by accident, have made me wonder if the writers are subtly moving Sarah and Derek together? When Derek's character was initially introduced, I immediately thought of him as a love interest for Sarah. A very screwed-up, bittersweet love interest. But we all know he's certainly her type of guy.

    Maybe I'm imagining it. Or maybe the writers just can't help inserting romantic undertones. This is American television, after all.

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  2. I totally agree with you this episode was just a little too slow for my liking...maybe it was because I watched it pretty much straight after the fast paced lost episode this week.

    To be honest it really just felt like a bit of a filler ep and Catherine Weaver is starting to annoy me.

    Hopefully next week we will get a Cameron centered episode *fingers crossed*

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  3. Billie, I don't know if they are going the romantic route or not. They may be. Or they may just be exploring another facet of Sarah's psychology. Her dependence on Kyle's memory. The strength it gives her. I think she's certainly coming to rely on Derek more, especially since he's the closest thing she has to Kyle, but I don't know if it is a romantic thing or not. And, if it is romantic, I don't really know how I feel about them going that route with those two characters. It doesn't feel right to me. Not yet anyway.

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  4. I had no problem with the pace of the episode, but then I'm one of those fans who wishes Lost hadn't cut down on episodes to appease impatient fans who don't like reruns (not a judgment, just a statement of fact). I like slow, introspective shows.

    I was however underwhelemed with the conclusion, seeing as how it was pretty much the same revelation as in two episodes ago.

    Oh, and I actually really like the Weaver parenting scene. Very creepy. I think the implication is that Weaver's intentions are not to control the child as we previously thought but to understand human behavior through her. The question is why.

    In short, my opinion is completely the opposite from yours. Still, nice review: expressive but to the point. You definitely have a repeat customer in me.

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  5. I have no idea why, but ever since the show returned from its hiatus, I've been really into it. It feels like I've moved on from the simply liking it phase, to the "Dear God, please don't cancel it" phase (not that I believe God personally cancels anything - I figure he's a TV kind of guy).

    True, not much Cameron this week (and I do like Cameron), but I was pleased with what we got.

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  6. Have to agree with Jess although I probably liked it about a 3 of 5. I too wondered just how did Sarah recover so quickly. No sifn of a limp or anything. Also not nearly enough Cameron. But then I seem to feel this way just about every week. I want the cyborg learning to be human angle.
    Have to disagree with all on Catherine. I loved her scenes with Savannah. So, so creepy. Whith that little girl sitting on her lap I felt a shiver run down my spine.

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  7. I too was underwhelmed by this episode. The whole gang poking around the funeral(s) dressed in their deafult uniforms just made those scenes feel fake to me. The lack of real wardrobe changes makes me think this is like the Simpsons or Gilligan's Island. Don't want to draw attention? Hmmm maybe wear something appropriate to a funeral.
    I don't need an A-Team style almost getting caught by the cops sort of thing, but they should still be trying to lay low or blend in.
    The Stepford town didn't do it for me.
    I also wondered why no limp?
    This episode though for the first time made me think that overall they have been successful in repeating what "Highlander" the series did. They created a viable series from a movie with a very serious departure from the timeline & story of the two. I hope they can keep this going a few more seasons with flash forwards too.

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  8. Only just catching up on this, I'm afraid, as I'm going at UK speed. I too thought the scenes with Catherine Weaver were the best. To be honest, I think she has given the game away to Ellison - or at least flagged that something may be wrong. She shouldn't have referred to the 'excitement' of bringing her daughter in on the anniversary of her father's death. Very wrong choice of word. I think she realised her mistake, and hence the 'I'm feeling emotional' attempt to rescue the situation. Surely someone with Ellison's FBI experience should pick up on that?

    Other than that, definitely need more Cameron. Seems to be becoming very one sided, and whilst I realise it's called the Sarah Connor Chronicles, it needs more of a balance. It's not even as if Sarah's storyline is particularly gripping at the moment.

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  9. Not the best one. This was only average to me. And I want Elison to start finding out about Weaver.

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  10. And for a 3rd time, I kept telling myself : "Gee whiz, this is weird." Also I smiled a lot because since it's a Warner show, the vigil was at the former centre of Star Hollow. (Sorry, but I really loved that show)

    (Not one, but three veteran of the unnamed show that I loved : Adam Wylie, Max Perlich's return and, joy of typecasting, Jim Jansen as the pastor. The lucky Jim played in one of the very best of ST DS9 : "Trials and Tribble-ations".)

    They tried to make it interesting by naming the chapters : vigil, service, processional, burial, wake and recessional (you see, I DO take notes). It felted more like a visual novel that a TV show.

    And that darn metal is poisonous.

    Weird.

    "Your lap is COLD." "I know."

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