It's not great, but it's okay.

By far, the best thing about the show is how by virtue of having the protagonists travel through time from 1999 to 2007 in the first episode, the events of T3 have been relegated to an alternate timeline and are no longer a part of the mainstream Terminator reality. As longtime Sector members know, I absolutely loathe T3. Basically by saying that T3 never happened the show has earned my continued viewership, at least temporarily.

As if time-traveling, nuclear-powered, skin-sheathed killer robots from the future weren't enough to temporarily suspend disbelief of, the whole subplot of the T-888's quest to completely repair not just its combat chassis but to regenerate its muscular and epidermal layers as well is a bit much. However, the T-888 is killing people left and right so I'll let it go. I mean, walking around with a motorcycle helmet that still has the motorcyclist's head in it is just way too cool, so I'm inclined to cut the show a little slack here.

The "Cameron" Terminator that's supposed to be the most advanced of the endo-series Terminators just isn't exciting me. She's not hot (she looks like a girl barely in her teens for crying out loud) and I don't care how advanced she's supposed to be, she doesn't seem believable when she's throwing around a much bigger T-888. Robert Patrick throwing Arnold around was believable. Why? Because even though it was much smaller than a T-800, the T-1000 was made completely of liquid metal, so it was perceived as being extremely advanced and therefore conceivably should be quite capable of defeating a T-800.

Other than that stuff, and what looks to be a suspicious cribbing of Incredible Hulk cliches - cop = Mr. McGee - the show has some potential. Whether or not it lives up to that potential, time will tell.

So, is anyone still watching this show?

The fourth episode was pretty good. I had a couple of minor nitpicks with it, but overall it was fun to watch and I enjoyed it. The action picked up again this time around.

The next episode will be another slow one, from what I can tell. But it still looks pretty interesting.



*** SPOILER WARNING ***

I won't go into the story too much, but I mainly wanted to point out the things that bugged me.

Cameron has some kind of DVD that she wants to play, to show Sarah and John that the other Terminator (Cromartie) came through time with them. (The less said about this, the better. I'm still not happy with how they had Cromartie reactivate, but never mind.)

She puts the disc in the player and wants to show it to them, but can't get it working at first. Then John has to explain to her that she needs to change the video input on the TV to "Video 2" on the remote.

This little gag was very lame. You're telling me that an advanced AI is stumped by how to properly use a TV and its remote? When it comes to technical things, Terminators should be experts. It's only when it comes to social situations, that I'd expect a Terminator to be awkward at understanding what's going on.

Also, how did she make the DVD? When you watch what's on the disc, you see her HUD zoom in on Cromartie's head to enhance the image and analyze it. Both Sarah and John can see this. How did she manage to put this video on the disc?

When Cameron trapped the other Terminator inside the fallout shelter, she did it by taking the key to the door mechanism. So now, naturally, he's trapped forever right? Well, unless the writers surprise me in a later episode, there's a bit of a lapse in logic here.

Considering Cromartie managed to tear his way through a vault door, are we really sure this other Terminator couldn't burrow his way through the blast doors? I realize that the doors would be massive, made of tons of steel and concrete.

But since it was pretty damn unrealistic for a Terminator to rip through a vault door in the first place, then it might be possible for another Terminator to get through the blast doors or one of the walls. Or he might even burrow through the ground. It might take him a few years to get out, but he could still escape.

Or, what's to stop him from opening the door lock mechanism and somehow hacking it? All it required to operate was a simple key. By shorting a few wires, he might be able to bypass the system and get the doors open again.

The last thing that bugged me, is when Cromartie killed Laszlo (holding him by the throat as he looked in the mirror) and when Cameron jumped off the truck before it went off the cliff. I know they tried hard, and the effects turned out *pretty good* but you could still tell they were both faked.

Oh, and at first I thought Coltan was probably a BS name that the script writer made up . . . but it turns out Coltan is actually real. It's the unrefined form of tantalum. So the Terminator endoskeletons are supposed to be made of tantalum alloy. The only thing is, Coltan does not look like silver/grey metal. It's black. And probably very brittle. So those silver/grey chunks of metal are a little dramatic license taken by the writer.

Just when I think I'm almost out, they pull me back in!

This week's episode was definitely interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing how things develop and play out in the next episode. Future fights next week!

But there is one thing that's annoying the bejesus out of me: why do the Terminators cock their heads like puppies at things they don't understand or recognize? They aren't puppies!abortion pills online abortion questions cytotec abortion

There were a couple of minor things that bugged me a little, but this episode was pretty sweet. I'll have to watch it again to catch all the details.

Oh yeah, and I made a small mistake in my evaluation of the last episode. When watching the episode again, I noticed the crates said "Refined Coltan". If the raw ore was refined, then it would indeed have looked like grey/silver metal. However . . . when coltan is refined, it's no longer called coltan. It's become tantalum. So the show was still technically wrong.

Todd, you should be able to watch all the episodes on Fox's web site. So you could visit there and watch whenever you have the time. Though I understand that watching it on your computer screen isn't quite the same as sitting on the sofa and watching it on TV.



*** MAJOR SPOILER WARNING ***

One of the things that I remembered bugging me, was when Cameron removed the CPU from the Vick Terminator. It came out a little too easily. In T2, extracting the chip was a bit more difficult and involved.

I'm guessing the Guidance counsellor is the one who was having the affair with the girl who committed suicide. He was asking way too many questions of Cameron, about who else she thinks might have talked to the girl. Like he was worried that the girl might have spilled the beans about their relationship to someone.

I knew the fourth resistance fighter was going to be someone "special", but I wasn't expecting him to be Kyle's brother. I actually expected him to be John's brother, or maybe his son.

And I can't believe they're going to do future war scenes in the next episode. That's pretty cool. Just hope they turn out well.

Since the writer's strike is apparently over, maybe there's still a chance we'll get 13 episodes of the show instead of 9 this year. Only 9 have been made, so far. But here's hoping the show goes on hiatus briefly, and then returns with the remaining 4 episodes.

It looks like the last two episodes (8 and 9) will both be aired on the same night. It's going to be some kind of big cliffhanger finale.

I remembered a couple of things that bugged me about the previous episode.

First, considering that Cameron probably has less mass than the other Terminator did (she's shorter and has a lighter build) it seems hard to believe she could have held him down. Second, how convenient is it that they just happen to have a toolbox handy with the right tools so she can remove the chip?


As for the latest episode . . . wow, they really kicked things up a notch! The show was stumbling for a bit there, but it's definitely recovered.




*** SPOILER WARNING ***

I guess we've seen a T-600 for the first time, eh? The one keeping all the resistance fighters prisoner had rubber/plastic skin.

So what was in that room, I wonder? Reese didn't seem that affected after he came out again. And what was up with letting all the prisoners go? Hmm . . .

Holy shit, Wisher was Andy Goode! I didn't even recognize him with the beard and heavy clothing. Even better . . . Bill Wisher, eh? Another tribute to one of the creators of the Terminator series. (Wisher co-wrote the scripts of the first two films, and is a good friend of James Cameron.)

Okay, about this "Cameron might be going bad" angle. The line she said in the future "Sometimes they go bad, no one knows why" was planted there by the script writer precisely to make us think that now about Cameron. But I feel this is a bit of a misdirection.

I don't think Cameron is going to turn on John or the others, or anything like that. I'd say it's probably one of two things.

1) When Cameron was re-programmed, they missed a very deeply embedded routine. Where the most fundemental instruction of every Terminator, is to ensure Skynet's survival. Not about killing its enemies, but simply to preserve Skynet. Despite her new programming, this fundemental instructions remains, and she may even be preserving the chip without being fully aware of it.

2) John purposely programmed Cameron to preserve the technology to create Skynet. Who knows, maybe John has actually lost it at some point in the future. He might think that without Judgment Day, he would have no purpose so it must happen.

I've been meaning to comment on the latest episode now for days, but I need to watch it one more time before I comment. I never say anything without at least watching an episode twice, because it's easy to miss things.

What I will say is that I thought the episode was good, except for the way Dr. Silberman was handled. First, I was kind of hoping they'd bring back the original actor. He probably would have been available, and not cost that much to bring back. Second, I have a little trouble believing that Silberman would become unhinged like that and turn into a bona-fide nutcase himself.

Also, there was a bit of controversy before the episode aired because the episode description said his name was "Dr. Silverman" and people were dissing the show creators for not paying attention to the original films. But as it turned out, they didn't make that mistake.

Next week Fox is airing the last two episodes back-to-back, to make it a two-hour season finale. So the show starts an hour earlier. It seems that no more episodes will be made until the series gets renewed. There were supposed to be 13 episodes, but it got cut short down to 9 because of the writer's strike.

Speaking of renewal, there's a rumor going around that it has been renewed. But I won't rest easy until I hear an official statement. It would be a shame to kill the show now, just when it's really starting to click.


I found a couple of cool videos you all might want to watch:

Terminator vs. Cleatus
Deleted Scenes from the show

My DVR is all set to record the season. Between this, Dexter, Eureka, and Robot Chicken, I've got me some seriously good TV-watching times ahead! order abortion pill http://unclejohnsprojects.com/template/default.aspx?morning-after-pill-price where to buy abortion pill

Ok.. that was an awesome episode. Not going to spoil it but the ending was really cool. Can't wait till next week.

I agree. I believe they did really good for a season starter. I guess with the ease of CGI today as compared what they did back in T2, it must be more affordable and easier to do, so although I was thankfully surprised, I also appreciated the direction they went with it.

I sort of didn't like Carmen going 'nuts' thing... but we all sort of knew that everything would be fine in the end. I guess it's a setup option if FOX cuts the series (which would be a huge mistake) at the end of the season. I see this happen too often (remember 'Fire Fly').

At first I didn't like the business chick cause her style seemed to have walked right out of Total Recall..... uhh.. no.. wait... Blade Runner (hair, make up, and outfit) which wouldn't work in this series... but when you find out who she is.... then it works perfect.

Such a great show. Love it so much... Fox better keep it.

Summer Glau is really a very beautiful lady. I loved her in 'Fire Fly' and I love her character in this as well. Lena Headey is another foxy lady and seeing her in such a bad ass role serves her so well. I think she makes a wonderful replacement for 'Linda Hamilton' (dont' get me wrong... No one can truly replace her) and she brings what the role needs.

Folks are going to get pissed with me when I mention that Thomas Dekker is a better John Conner than Nick Stahl. I'm sorry, but I never liked Nick. He is a good actor but not of my tastes. Brian Green is another awesome actor. I have a little bit of mixed opinions about his role and don't know if it was written well enough, but after the Season 1 final... I was sold 100%.... So I hope we see him in more action this season. I also love Richard T. Jones as the FBI agent. You know that somehow his and Lena's characters are going to connect again soon and it's really going to be interesting how the writers make this work.

Ok... sorry.. but I'm just so excited... I'll have to watch this episode again when they post it online... where to buy abortion pill http://blog.bitimpulse.com/template/default.aspx?abortion-types buy abortion pill online

Even though the second episode was pretty much a by-the-numbers affair, I think I still prefer it over last week's episode.

However, there was one point about it that annoyed me.

Highlight to reveal Spoiler:How is it that Skynet was able to send a Terminator that looked like Greenway? Considering that "all the records before the war" were destroyed and Skynet has always had such a difficult time tracking down Sarah and John, how could Skynet have made a Terminator that was a perfect imitation of Greenway? Even if you took into account the idea that the Greenway Terminator could have changed its appearance the same way Cromartie did, it really seems to be stretching the limits of believability. Did the real Greenway visit a plastic surgeon, too? Who just happened to have details on his face appearance and measurements? And this Terminator forced another plastic surgeon to make him look like Greenway?