A few months ago, Ian Goldberg announced that he wanted to write an episode inspired by the classic movie The Night Porter, an Italian film starring Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling, written and directed by Liliani Cavani. We all got very excited about the prospect of this, I had some vague memory of how much I liked and/or admired the film, though I could not recall a frame of it, except maybe a shot of Bogarde at the counter through the front door of the hotel, and I suspected that even that memory was unreliable.
Anyway, we embarked upon this little exercise and about three days into breaking the story, Ian confessed that he’d, in fact, never seen the movie. And so we all decided we needed to see the movie if we were going to write something inspired by it. So, cut to a week later, and the only person who actually went out and rented it and saw it was Toni Graphia, who thought it was creepy and disturbing and not as sexy as she’d hoped it would be.
I don’t know how much, in the end, the episode resembles in spirit the great French film (which I still haven’t gone back and watched), but I can say I feel it is among the best scripts we’ve produced on the series to date. This, primarily because of a couple of big sci-fi ideas it contains, and because of the profound (and uncredited) contributions from Josh.
Richard Schiff does amazing work in it, as we’ve all come to expect from him, and Brian Austin Green is a revelation. You’ll also get to see a very moving performance by Stephanie Jacobsen. Finally, Lena holds the entire episode together with a haunting, beautiful performance. She is, as always, at the heart of the show, and at the center of everything that happens. The world revolves around her and this affecting performance really resonated with me.
If you pay close attention, you’ll see Sarah revisit the old Connor house in one crucial scene. Thanks for watching!
Its always funny to me to see the preperations people make for shows…so only Toni Graphia actually watched the movie its supposed to be based on?
Then I read about actors who walk on, maybe see one terminator movie, maybe a couple of episodes from season 1, in the meantime fans like me have seen every movie more times then I can count, every ep of season 1 twice, and most of the season 2 episodes more than once…
Probably the funniest moment I ever saw was an actor on Alias, doing a DVD voice over, who didnt even know by sight the main villain for one of the seasons (someone his character would know down to the tiniest details!).
Thanks for the info! I’m excited about tonight’s episode, Complications, and future episodes as well. I’m glad we’ll get to see more of Lena at her best. She is such an amazing actor. Please give her more great material. She really deserves “best actress” awards. I’m also looking forward to see more of Stephanie.
Is this what tonight’s episode is based on or is this referring to a future episode?
[...] And you know something seriously weird is going on when even the Official Blog thinks you’re gonna need to watch this one twice, while John Wirth stops by to tease the audience a little: [...]
Tonight’s episode is sounding better and better. Lena really is the glue that holds this show together. Her performances always amaze me!
I agree with Pat. The Emmy’s really need to pay more attention to Sci-fi shows. What they’ve done to BSG is unforgivable.
I can’t wait! More Lena, please and thank you. Her acting is from the heart! I love her.
More heartfelt acting from Lena! My favorite thing about the show! Can’t wait!
I agree with Linda, more Lena, all the time!
We all think Lena’s the best, even if the awards shows probably never will! Sigh…
Complications was a great episode and that’s not fluff, I truthfully really liked it. Lena, Summer, Brian, Thomas etc etc, they all did/do great jobs as always. SCC has one of the best casts out there and you can tell they are all getting comfortable with their roles and that means it can only get better.
Summer and Lena = best actress’s period. I’d sooner watch them then the other high gloss slop Hollywood has to offer. I sincerely hold these two talented actresses’ in such high regard it’s not even funny. Summer won me over as River Tam, and now enthralls me as Cameron while Lena makes one heck of a great Sarah Connor and brings so much emotion to the show. It’s not just because they are “pretty faces” either, nope it’s because they are genuine. So many other actors are selfish, they do what they do to support a lifestyle and you can tell simply by the way they carry themselves during appearances that they really don’t care. Summer and Lena don’t come across like that. They are down to Earth, friendly and do what they do because it’s what they love and because it’s what the fans love. That is reflected in everything I have seen them do both on and off the stage. Seriously how many times do you see other big name actors sitting for hours greeting fans and signing autographs? Not much but these classy ladies do it ALL THE TIME. Fame is a mere byproduct of being genuine and in their case the fame is rightly deserved.
P.S. Fox better not cancel SCC prematurely. I know it got a full second season but the move to Friday’s so called “death slot” next year and the “talk” that’s been going around has me antsy. It so deserves more than 2 seasons and the actors are too talented to be given the cold shoulder ala Firefly. Seriously what were they thinking with that cancellation. Gawd it still hurts, take the knife from my heart already.
Tonights was a great episode, well written and acted. Brian Austin Green was especially good in his role as Derek Reese. That character adds gravity and meaning to the entire show. I loved the tortise reference. Was that an homage to the interview scene in BLADE RUNNER ?
The last 2 episodes have been amazing. Please for the love of god do not cancel the series or move it to Friday night, if that happens then sadly the series will be canceled for sure. Keep up the great work and please axe Shirley Manson, a block of wood has better acting skills then her.
The Night Porter is an Italian movie, not French.
“The Night Porter” or “Il Portiere di notte” from his original title, is Italian, not French.
This is in response to Eric Curits. I agree with you 100% what the Emmys have done to BSG is horrible. Why the Emmys don’t look at
sci fi shows more I have no clue. Summer should be looked at as a great actress and BSG should be nominated at least for best show.
PLEASE do not cancel SCC I rarely watch t.v. shows, this is one of the few that’s out there that’s any good.
If there is a writer’s support sign up sheet or a letter written to FOX to not cancel the show, sign me up!!!!!!
The writers don’t get enough credit or money in my opinion. HATS OF TO YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!
This season has a completely different “feel” to it than last year. I like them both, but this season has been an AMAZING ride so far.
Watching last night, I almost got the feeling I was watching these characters for the first time. I love the direction the series is taking.
great episode, many questions to been answers
by tha way..it was realy good that riley wasn’t in this episode, she is the worst character of the show
this show doesn’t needs her, i hope than one day you realize that
Lena sold this episode to me, when she said, “I have no one to talk too.” I really felt for her, during that scene. But, I have to say the best scene of the episode was Cameron rolling Ellison over onto his stomach. I guess she is not ‘cruel’ after all. Ah, cyborgs, can’t live with them, can’t live without them.
Agree with John, this second season has a whole different feel to me than the first season. I’m enjoying it though.
I think I especially enjoyed the four core characters of Lena, Summer, Thomas and Richard in season one more, probably because they had more screen time together (except Richard of course). They also have a very good chemistry together.
But if you want to expand the stories you pretty much have to expand the cast too. It’s still a good cast and the stories are great.
I’m just happy to see the show continue. Great job you guys.
Just thought I’d leave a response here for the first time ever as an avid fan of the show from the UK, in reaction to what a few other people have already said…
The first four episodes of this season (’Samson and Delilah’ to ‘Allison from Palmdale’) were, for me, slightly disappointing. The dialogue, the introduction of the new characters, especially Riley and Kacy, and the emotion of the show all seemed a little forced at times - one scene would be brilliant and the next cringeworthy. The epitome of this period’s inconsistency for me was probably ‘Allison from Palmdale’, with the gripping action of Cameron’s storyline clashing heavily with the clunky sentimentality of Sarah’s as she sat with Kacy in the hospital as the latter waits to give birth. The quieter scenes just seemed to lack the intelligence and emotional honesty of the first season at times, and I found myself a little worried that the show would eventually degrade into a series of gasps and bangs.
Obviously, with the first season being cut short due to the writers’ strike, and your clearly stated intentions to change the show’s direction this season, I understood that this adjustment would take time, patience would be required and so I remained hopeful that this awkward stage would pass.
‘Goodbye to All That’ was the episode that changed everything for me. Every episode since then, including this week’s, has been an absolute joy to watch. The introspective linearity of the show’s first season has clearly made way for something of a much greater scope, and that wouldn’t be possible without all the new characters and difficulties weaving their way in and out of John and Sarah’s lives. The show has been truly enriched by the additions you have made this season. I commend the audacity of everyone working on the show for making that risk and succeeding. All you have to do now is maintain the balance you have found - keep the action hard and the emotion real!
Thank you for creating such a groundbreaking piece of television that keeps me enthralled week after week. I anticipate next Monday already.
FYI: My fourteen year old honor student is having trouble following the story convolutions and symbology. For us, it’s about as complicated as we can digest. It would help if the symbology were explained/resolved within the episode.
Also, I almost lost her when Derek started ripping out young Fischer’s fingernails. That’s a little rough for PG-13, and I’m not sure I really want her exposed to that.
Otherwise, great episode..
Loved this episode. You guys put so many twists and turns in to this episode that I was still running it through my head a couple of hours later trying to figure out how all the pieces fit and left me anxiously waiting for Monday to see if any of my guesses are even close. And the humor you wove all though a very serious storyline was awesome. And Ellison! He really did steal Cromartie’s body, wooh! And, then took it to a terminator for help!! You really caught me off guard on that one.
Finally, I have to disagree with at least one of the comments above–because Allison of Palmdale was one of my favorite episodes, not just because of Summer’s fantastic acting, but because of some of the really emotionally charged poignant scenes (like when Allison calls her mother-brilliant), and all the really tantalizing questions it left unanswered about the future, and not to mention the frightening, awful, horrifying realization that Cameron literally stole Allison’s life in order to get at John Connor. I hope that story gets told at some future point.
You mean when Cameron calls Alison’s mother.
I’ve always thought ‘Allison from Palmdale’ proved that John Connor might be one hard, cold sonuvabitch. Why? Well, it depends on how the timeline flows but think about this; If the timeline continues such that Judgment Day does happen does that mean that, at some point, John Connor is going to run into a 17 year old Allison Young? And when he does, what will he do?
It’s a little convoluted but bear with me as the logic for this theory is much the same as the events that led to his birth. He knew his father was Kyle Reese and the only way to make sure he was born was to send Kyle back in time. Thus, it stands to reason that he may have to also send Cameron back in time as well… Except Cameron is modeled after Allison Young. So, in order to make sure that his protector makes it back in time to his younger self, John Conner will have to do something to make sure Allison gets captured by the machines.
Hopefully, this can all be avoided by what they’re doing but can you imagine an older John Connor meeting Allison Young and knowing what needs to happen to her? Yowch.
Then this is the same as for Fischer…Skynet sent Charles Fischer back with the knowledge to set up the back doors into the military’s computers; thereby setting up Fischer’s (and Skynet’s) future.
Just in response to Lee: I notice everything that you said was good about Allison from Palmdale was related to Cameron’s storyline, which I completely agree with, but was the rest of the episode really that great? Can you see the point that I was trying to make?
It’s not worth arguing about now, I suppose. I’m just glad that the crew have got things back on track.
I don’t get chills from television series. It takes a moment like Peggy Sue Got Married as the character realizes her long dead grandma is on the phone or the Vulcans emerging from their survey vessel to deliver mankind into the promise of the future of Star Trek:First Contact for all the tumblers to click. T:SCC has already provided two. John sees the father he never met as the child he never was allowed to be with Uncle Derek…amazing and Cameron, as Alison from Palmdale, as she speaks to the mother who cannot conceive it is her, the grownup version of the child she carries…goosebumps.
Anyone interested in Night Porter might also be interested in the following:
Filmografia di Liliana Cavani — http://www.lilianacavani.com/