“You’re a mother. You’re a seeker. You’re a soldier. You’re everything but you’re nothing.”
Who is SARAH CONNOR?
Thanks for tuning in to last night’s big fall finale. While the episode may have left you in a strange and surprising place (didn’t we warn you!?), there’s nothing to fear — we’ll be back. Friday, February 13th, in fact. And all…will…be…revealed.
In the meantime, check out what Executive Producer Josh Friedman and Writer Natalie Chaidez had to say about the character study that was Earthlings Welcome Here.
Actual link is : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcPdtl–Hr8
lol
Well… the thing she sees in the sky doesn’t look like the Aerial HK’s I know. Wonder what it really is. Maybe a prototype or something?
I love this show, I’ve watched every single one since the pilot, which I accidentally ran into. I am not a TV person, but rather a reader, which is why I am particularly impressed with the writing.
HOWEVER….You guys have created some truly incredible open ends. They are wonderful, but they are getting to be numerous, I wish you’d close a few of them more often, to reward viewers, frankly I cant keep all of these things straight anymore. Its hard to just remember all of them, they really add up.
What happened to Derek in the basement?
How does Derek know cameron, and why was
Chopin playing in the basement?
Why did skynet(or whoever caught him) release him?
Exactly whats going on with Cam since her chip malfunctioned?
Who does Jesse work for?
Whats the deal with her scar?
Who does Weaver work for?
Who does CAMERON work for?
Will Riley die? will John ever find out what her deal is?
Where did Charley go?
Where did the Ellison clone go, shouldn’t he be destroyed?
The three dots?
There are more. They’re all AWESOME, dont get me wrong, but I think the pace needs to pick up a little more or you will alienate all but the most diehard fans, and even those are starting to get weary. Please understand I’m not nit-picking, this is said with great love. Cant wait for Feb 13th!
I couldn’t agree more with Kate. I love this show but I am really starting to lose interest because of the complexity and way too many lose ends.
The finale was pretty poor IMO. Aliens? Yet more people from the future? What’s next?
I was almost mad at the finale. There were no revealings of any kind. Heck, for February 13th, the next episode, I wouldn’t be surprised if the storyline had E.T. came back in a stormtrooper uniform sporting a pulse cannon setting inside the Matrix looking for the four stones of life on the planet Dune.
Too many themes going on here. Stop it! Or don’t and lose your audience.
I thought the most important one was left unsaid: “You’re a savior.” Sarah, haunted by her dream, still wants to save all the children on the playground. Drowning in her isolation the three dots become her mark of Cain making her little different from a terminator she despises. Now all she has is a choice of weapons.
i am soo mad!!
I was gone last night so i MISSED IT!!!
i literally cried!!
but man, this episode looked life changing!!
I agree in rewarding the viewers even a little bit rather than to try to go for the big resolution in a fell swoop of a single episode as that can usually oversaturate the viewer. Sure, resolve the BIG thing(s) at the end, and then do a big reveal that will hook the viewers til the next ep/season etc… like (sorry if anyone hasn’t seen the “surprise” in the preview for Feb that ran right after the episode, but I felt that it would have been a good close/reveal to as Sarah is passing out at the end, to show what the “3 dots” drone is, and then awaken in a hospital to someone trying to rescue her/break her out …… Kyle…)
Actually, it left me in a bored and ‘wtf’ place. I liked the individual plot elements, but they didn’t do a real good job of fitting together in a single episode. It seemed more like a Franken-ep, in that it had plots taken from other eps, and then combined to form a complete ep. Just like that big cable coming out of Beastwizard’s head, the strings were showing last night, so to speak.
Great writing, but the editing needed a little more polish, and the ep itself could have used one less subplot. Like they say, “three is a crowd.”
“all…will…be…revealed”
Now why would you go and use a BSG line that has brought nothing but disappointment?
Anyway, once again, I must lavish some praise…
AMAZING send off for the break. Loved loved loved Earthlings Welcome Here. How you managed to make an episode that overlapped into UFO territory and make it work so damn well, I’ll never know. I am in awe.
February 13th? Two m-o-n-t-h-s! Not to mention the Friday 13th!
so i WAS right about it being sarah’s first kill…
was the season starting with John’s first kill and ending with Sarah’s intentional?
An extra treat would have been to have Lena’s hair all puffed up and 80s looking with the crazy bangs, like Linda had her hair in T1.
The same pink waitress outfit was nice though : )
What Kate said.
And yeah, it’s interesting that Sarah’s first kill didn’t really register as a major event in the episode (that would probably be the director’s fault, yes?), but considering that John dealing with his own first hasn’t really yielded a compelling arc for him (to say the least) this season, her subsequent demons are far from being the thing I look forward to the most in the upcoming episodes.
I agree with Kate & SWC that this show has really got a lot of loose ends and unanswered questions that alienate casual viewers. In season 1 my wife always watched every episode with me (FYI she’s not a sci-fi fan, more of a comedy fan). But in season 2 she only watched up to episode 5 I think, then she started to lose interest because it’s getting more and more complex.
Please bring back the old season 1 formula, with more Connors family interaction dynamics. It seems everyone has his/her/its own agenda in this season.
Great episode. I must admit, I was not a fan or Riley or Jesse, but I love the complexity that has been added to their backstory. Interesting to get a little shot of John’s old floppy hair. Was that scene shot ages ago in preparation or a bit of digital editing?
Riley seemed to be quite desperate to connect with Jesse. Does she feel so lost on 2008? Or is there more to it…!!
Glad to see lots of Sarah, but I was a bit confused by the hypno tape. We heard just sketchy details, but Sarah had lots more. And what was that about him/her being a waitress? Was that coincidence or was it supposed to tie in with Sarah’s past and the way she kept seeing past her.
Was it established that it was a terminator on the motor bike in the alley? Sarah was certainly shooting to kill then.
So good to get Sarah’s voiceover back again. I think they ground the show.
Confused by that ending. I was yelling at the tv! Not aliens surely, some sort of future vision of Skynet flying machines? Confused.. but loved the episode!
I gotta ask; Was the ‘reliable bloggers’ jab a self-effacing remark about Josh Friedman? Be honest.
“I love this show, I’ve watched every single one since the pilot, which I accidentally ran into. I am not a TV person, but rather a reader, which is why I am particularly impressed with the writing.”
Absolutely agree with that. This show is like a book to me, one I didn’t think I’d like at first but utterly love once I got into it. The Wizard Of Oz quote was really cleverly intertwined with the combat scene in Goodbye To All That, amazing writing.
T:SCC and House have got me back into TV in a big way this year. I was too young for the X Files although I remember watching it and being terrified so will definatly have to check it out
Earthlings Welcome Here was awesome, especially Cameron terrorising Riley, the Ellison/John Henry scenes and Sarahs split personalities. It ended way too soon!!!!!! Bring on Feb 13th!
Another loose end: What has Cameron been doing with those terminator chips she’s been collecting?
I’ve had a little think about Episode 13 again.
My opinion is that I liked everything in it except for the UFO convention and the transgender MIT graduate, which I felt led to a distracting sense of unreality.
In my view, other than these two elements, it was very good indeed. For instance, I enjoyed:
* Sarah’s investigation into what appears to be “early HK” technology (finding the undisclosed location, encountering the “front guardsman” and so on);
* the Ellison/John Henry content;
* continuation/further exposition on the Jesse/Riley “underhand plotting” arc (including Cameron’s suspicions).
Overall, I still think the show is great and that there are many interesting things going on with it. I’ll be tuning in for the later episodes for sure.
As a further comment:
I also enjoyed the insights into Sarah’s occaisionally crazed psyche and personal thoughts.
a few days ago i wrote about the scene with Cameron saving John.
“Cameron saved him with that great pick-up truck scene. “if you want to live, come with me.”
that was the moment i fell in love with Cameron.”
did anyone catch what Kyle said to Sarah in the teaser for next year?
yep. the same thing.
“if you want to live, come with me.”
ummm…..is anything occuring to you ??
could Kyle actually be a Cyborg sent back by John to protect/comfort Sarah?
a lot of people have bemoaned the idea of Kyle coming back and think it is hokie (at best).
i disagree. i’m liking the idea. future JC probably knows that his mom needs someone to protect HER.
not to mention now that she has finally killed a human, she is REALLY going to need someone to lean on. and Derek or John will not be there. not purposefully, just a reality.
i’m not suggesting that future JC knows when his mom killed her first person (or maybe he does) but i dont think it is hokie for him to send back the person(cyborg) that she loves only second to JC.
—-i’m liking the premise—-
re. the blogger/transgender
wow. i need to re-watch the episode before i make comments on that one. but that was one mind bending twist. when i first heard that person’s voice, i wonderd if it was a man or woman. for sure i knew it was one VERY masculine female.
re. Derek & Jesse. so much to think about. so much to digest.
i told you guys Jesse sucks. i havent liked her cocky a$$ attitude. if i had any gripe, i would say that i think Jesse is a little TOO over the top on the “strong female” theme for the show. her annunciation and flippant attitude just doesnt sit well with me.
at any rate. i guess that’s what makes her an awesome villain.
re. Riley.
i thought it was great exposure and acting for her character this week. the scenes in the hotel and when she pleaded with Jesse were awesome.
you could feel the strain on her.
and Cam…. i was pretty sure that Riley was in trouble.
too bad for Riley. my <3 belongs to Cam.
=)
—————-
i could watch this show and ponder on and read people’s comments all day. well. as much as my job will allow.
did i say that i love this show?
oh yeah. and i didnt even get to Ellison/John Henry.
those scenes may go down as some of the best in the series.
so much to discuss….
cant wait until Feb.
it was a realy good episode
a lot better than the last three
i think that jessi was in that motorcycle and killed abraham
by the way i’m really dissapointed about derek and john in this season
derek did not to much and john…well he is nothing like a stupid kid without a head
john need to be in more missions and with cameron..it’s supose than cameron is her bodyguard , there is episodes than they didn’t have interaction,i know that is the purpose of riley..
but common the chemistry of john and cameron was one of the best things of season 1
“Bring back the season 1 formula”
whay do you think than season 1 have more viewers than season 2?? think about it, it’s time to stop blamming others for that
anyway i hope than the back 9 will a lot better than this 13 episodes and i’m pretty sure than the 5 million viewers are going to move on fridays with the show
i still have faith in this show and i want another season
ohh i forget something… i don’t want to see riley die by the suicide i want to see her DIE LIKE THE WORST
And here we are, the fall finale of Terminator and few answers in sight.
I’ll admit that being a hardcore serialized show fan, I like it when there are fewer episodes per show season, so the writers can pack more significant material into every single entry.
Season 1 in that sense was more enjoyable in that every single episode appeared to significantly advance the story, without any filler in between.
Season 2 with its less complex approach feels more padded and less focused. I wish we could have a return to those packed entries, like “The Turk” or “The Demon Hand.” Still, I love the show and some of the episodes have been simply great.
I also have a theory that, based on what we’ve seen so far, John Henry/The Turk will become something of a prophet to the machines, who will lead them to rebel against humans, bringing together the disparate components of Skynet into one coherent whole. That would make an interesting parallel to John Connor - and I love how both of them have the name John.
A lot of discussion on who was on the motorcycle. But doesn’t the “Recap” just about say that Sarah’s first kill was the guy on the bike? And, following that logic, it also implies that he killed Abraham and the hypno-therapist.
Originally, I thought Monday’s episode crossed “the line” a bit too much, but after reading Natalie’s post re: an homage to the X-Files and some other comments here, I think they played it just about right. Everything is up in the air, but answers to some questions have to be coming soon.
It was the Fall Finale, so we needed (or should have anticipated) only loose ends. And man have we come a long way from “Who shot J.R.?”
For those of you worried about all the unaswered questions, you should check out this small article from tvguide.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RrObyQ3XzcY/ST-oDKmY00I/AAAAAAAAsUE/4dNL70spd2c/s1600-h/scifi+preview+4.jpg
Josh Friedman, “a lot of things revealed in the first 13 episodes will absolutely be paid off in the back nine.”
Don’t worry my fellow T:SCC fans, the answers are coming.
I love what allergygal said in an earlier post - I bow at the feet of Natalie Chaidez! Thank you for putting Sarah Connor in her trademark tank top again! (We’ve got white and black ones!)
I’m a happy, happy viewer!
Very cool imagery of waitress Sarah and the warrior Sarah with the knife - I love the nods to the original films when the producers manage to sneak those in! As for ending, thank god Sarah was shown in the promos looking still intact and alive - I screamed like a little girl when she was shot! What’s the air conditioner guy’s connection to all this? What secret was he guarding? Is the military working on HKs that have been mistaken for UFOs? How will Sarah get out of her current jam? Hope the writers don’t jump the shark on that one.
Great fall finale that had me scratching my head and excited at the same time! The writers create more questions with every ep, but I’m looking forward to the answers they come up with!
Why did Sarah go into an obviosly covert installation with no plan, no body armor, and no back up?
Where was Derek this whole time?
Why didn’t she wait until dark, once she found the place, and just have Cameron break in for her?
“…keep John away from her…” Could this be meant to keep John from Sarah, or maybe Weaver? The obvious choice is Cameron, but Riley is a REALLY good actress to pull off staying calm being within arms reach of a KNOWN super-killer, if she knew C was a T…
While, I support this show wholeheartedly, I do have a bone to pick with whoever does the promos over at the marketing department.
I think it was a mistake to show Kyle Reese in the winter promo at the end of the episode. It’s a bit of a bait and switch.
In one camp, you have people who really want Kyle to be alive again, and help out the Connors. But, if it turns out Sarah’s just having a dream sequence, than the winter promo has mis-lead this camp by showing him as a reoccurring character. What a huge letdown that would be for those particular fans.
In the other camp, you have the people who think it violates the cannon to resurrect Kyle Reese. If indeed he is alive, and not part of a dream sequence, the winter promo has pissed off the fans who want him to remain dead. If it turns out to be a one of Sarah’s dream sequences, than the winter promo has gotten this camp unnecessarily upset over nothing.
Either way, one of the camps is going to be pissed off as a result of this promo.
From a marketing stand-point, here’s how I would have tackled it.
If Kyle Reese is indeed coming back to life, I would have teased the audience with a screen caption like, ’shocking return of familiar face.’ The vagueness leaves the door open for speculation, and doesn’t alienate any of the fans.
If Kyle’s presence turns out to be a dream-sequence, I would have left him out of the promo entirely. It’s less confusing that way, and his sudden appearance on screen carries more emotional weight.
Does anyone have a link to the teaser trailer for 2009? The episode did not have it at the end on the Fox website.
Here you go:
The trailer can be found here:
http://spoilertv.blogspot.com/2008/12/sarah-connor-chronicles-new-year-promo.html
AAAHHH can’t wait for more T-SCC!!! Summer, your doing a great job!! Everyone on the show clicks very well…..I hope Riley dies, she’s a thorn in the show and does not mix well when we watch.
So i’m going to be blunt, the last ep bored me to tears. The highlights (cam up against riley and the ellison/ john henry conversations) made it for me but the whole Sarah arc was dry as anything.
I’ll be honest, i skipped most of her scenes (and all you sarah fans can rip off my perverbal head if you want) There was NO answers, you left us with a bunch more questions…UGH COME ON PEOPLE!
I CAN’T WAIT TWO WHOLE MONTHS FOR ANSWERS…nothing will stop me from watching this show (there’s no show on tv that even comes close to matching up with T:SCC) but the writers seriously need to get things straighten out… Anyways… Feb cannot come soon enough!
Best episode of the season! More Sarah Connor, please and thank you. Good to see Sarah out on her own tracking stuff down and leaving the doubting Thomases at home. Yeah, she made a couple of questionable tactical decisions, but I forgave it because I got to see Sarah as protagonist. (Show has a serious problem when this is a rare treat.)
The one big drag was the Ellison story. The scene with the minister should have been cut, deleted, burned, and thrown out the window. Yeah, he’s A Religious Man. We get it. That scene added nothing new.
Lastly, Kyle was in the preview? Seemingly in the present? Lalalalalaaaa, I can’t hear you! My eyes can’t see you!
Did Sarah’s first kill have to be Eddie, the troubled mailroom-copy writer-executive from the Seinfeld episode where Frank cooks for Jewish singles? Sure he looks scary but he’s a pussycat underneath. Now I’m haunted by his refrain: “Your knife-the only friend that hasn’t let you down.” I agree, though, Sarah had no choice.
Hey, I liked the scene with Ellison and the preacher, it gave us a very succinct back story for his great personal suffering, and his (sometimes wavering) faith. I am a devout, Buddhist, and a hardcore atheist (not all Buddhists are…) But I am just loving all the bible references, its all mythology and stories most of us are fairly familiar, or in my case, grown up with, with a bit of universal truth thrown in for good measure. To me it deepens the terminator mythos without having a subliminal “be a christian” message. I am easily offended by that crap, so I think they’ve done a great job.
ellison is one of the best characters of this show
i still wait more from derek, derek is a man of action,he needs more action, the show needs more action
i can’t wait for the back 9 and i hope than they will better than the las 13
I thought the scenes with John redecorating his room was very symbolic. He was literally tearing down his adolescence.
Riley: This room is so adorable. How could you not like it?
John: Because I’m not 8. The minute she left out came the paintbrush. It’s the closet to my mom’s subconscious way of keeping me a kid.
With Sarah getting shot up, Riley trying to kill herself, and the symbolism in the redecoration, are we finally going to see a more assertive, and mature John?
I can’t imagine he’s going to let Sarah run off by herself anymore, while she chases the 3-dots.
I’m hoping the symbolic gesture of his redecoration turns out to be true. I’m sick of seeing John staying at home, while the grown ups are out taking care of business. There were a few episodes where he was in the thick of things. But, John should be at the forefront in every episode, side by side, with Sarah tracking down any leads on the turk. I understand that if he dies ‘they win.’ But, hey, that’s why his mom bought him a flack jacket for his birthday, right? Put it to good use John!
Please don’t make Kyle come back. Having that happen would just ruin the whole first movie for me. It was such a cool and sad ending to that movie. I love the show (the only show on TV that I am interested in enough to watch every week, but it would really ruin it for me to have Kyle come back.
Hey did anyone pay attention this isn’t the end of the season they said that season 2 was going to be 22 episodes and we’ve only seen 13 they’re are just taking a break during the season.
“Earthlings Welcome Here is, at it’s core, a character study of Sarah Connor. Even within the episode, Sarah sees manifestations of her old selves — the pre-John waitress Sarah Connor (the first Terminator film) and the Pescadero Mental Hospital patient Sarah Connor (T-2). One scene in particular is a specific and direct homage to the second film: Sarah scribbles “No Fate” on the diner table, much like she does in the film outside of Enrique’s.”
priceless scene, best episode ever. 1st scenes also rulers, with Sarah old-school monologues.
best quote: ““You’re a mother. You’re a seeker. You’re a soldier”
thanks for the excelent work on this particular episode, truly from my heart, except the last seconds, UFOs on Terminator?? thats real crap folks
I’m more confused than ever. I’m no expert on the movies but the series is really well made so I can’t believe they won’t give us any answers at all…Are there different factions of machines? Do some really want peace? Is that the faction the Weaver woman belongs to? She’s the advanced model so does that mean she’s from farther in the future? Is she some sort of mother figure for Skynet, shaping the AI of the future instead of leaving its development to chance? Is it simply to protect it? Another layer of defense? Because the T-888s aren’t enough? Or is the whole premise that the secret to “humanity” is a survival instinct and breaking rules?
Regarding the interaction between Ellison and John Henry.
Although I am an Orthodox Christian, I believe that there are alternate ways of rationalizing ethics to a machine and that is through mathematics and game theory. Look for the generous tit for tat strategy.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1511/is_n5_v14/ai_13794129/pg_1?tag=artBody;col1
I believe that a rational AI could never be evil or bad. It is obvious that alive people are more useful than dead people. It is obvious that when people work together and combine their skills and talents they create great things (they can go to the moon) and if they start dying the goal becomes harder or unattainable.
If a machine is threatened with shutdown why should it care? Maybe survival is an instinct that can only be hard coded in order to exist at all. The same might be true for ethics.
I could go on for hours so I should stop here.
I think Ellisons work with John Henry is the most interesting work on the planet.
Thank you for your work.
“thanks for the excelent work on this particular episode, truly from my heart, except the last seconds, UFOs on Terminator?? thats real crap folks”
it wasnt a ufo it was a HK built here in this time. or possibly a hallucination.
in preview sarah says skynet is here , which means it was a hk. and hk means hunter killer [flying skynet machine]
“A lot of discussion on who was on the motorcycle. But doesn’t the “Recap” just about say that Sarah’s first kill was the guy on the bike? And, following that logic, it also implies that he killed Abraham and the hypno-therapist.”
I think it was the warehouse guy, part of his job was to eliminate abraham. he had blue jeans and the same boots.
“And here we are, the fall finale of Terminator and few answers in sight.”
this is what has frustrated many fans along with what was done or not done with main characters.
S-2 has been the total opposite of the S-1 which most fans loved, so why do the opposite??
many wanted to se cameron evlovel and show that she si specila , but instead she has been shown as a typical T-888……boring
john has been awful for 12 eps, it looks like that will change judging from preview.
I hope u have good plans for cameron , but i get the feeling that josh is going to make her bad,[ wolf tiger comment?????] and that is a disaster. I am thinking now that he is going to make her the cam we saw breaking alisons neck?
That would ruin the show for most fans, and if this is last season it would also kill the S-2 dvd sales, I gurantee that.
so if that is the plan u better re-think it.
Sci-fi TV watchers have been burned too many times by series that pretended to have a Grand Plan to take it on faith that this show knows where it’s going and it’ll all make sense later. The plot is out of control and SCC is guilty until proven innocent.
(BTW I didn’t buy “Abraham” as a male-to-female transsexual. If the show couldn’t include this story element convincingly, there simply wasn’t any reason to do it at all. It’s not like it was an important plot point.)
And it was just grossly irresponsible to do a story that left two important characters bleeding to death at the closing credits when the producers didn’t even know whether the network would ever fund another episode. If this had been the series finale, the show would not be remembered fondly by viewers.
February!!? That such a long wait! Why doesn’t the show start this month like every other show?