Terminator - 202 - Automatic for the People

Ok, so remember last year when getting new identities was a big deal? Now John not only just gets to show up at school (a new school? His old school?) but he also ditches at will and nobody cares? What happened with the girl who threw herself off the roof because "everybody saw" and they showed us at the beginning of forty-six episodes last season? (Now someone's going to tell me how they resolved that and it was important. S'ok, I can handle it.)

Ok, welcome back to this week's babbling about Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I not be sure if it be time to talk like a pirate yet cause it's errrrrrrrly or if it would be more fittin' like to wait until the tide turns and the next recap bein' afterrrr Talk Like a Pirate Day. Arrrrrrr.

Still good. Not as good as last week but far better than many season 3 episodes of BSG. And we got to see the alley from The Terminator for all of about four seconds. But it was there. And it still had a bum. (He didn't ask about a bright light.) They picked up some old threads and did fun things with them. We're still in our spooky "Can Cameron be trusted?" vibe. Which they have to be careful with because right now they're calling wolf. We follow up with Charlie and Ellison. Solid, and probably more going on than I was left feeling at the end. Oh, and we have a little more idea as to the shape of the Future War.

I miss Sarah doing the narration. Just saying.

And now, matey, there be spoilers ahead.

So we get the new JC. (Er, John Connor.) Gosh, he's sulky. But they've got that cool password when they call each other, so that's nifty. Might not be too tough to crack, but at least they're thinking a little bit. The new girl friend is really, well I was going to say weird, but right now she's pointless. I do like that John is still very heavily aware that he's never going to have what is commonly called "a life". It's never going to end for him. They can hit that note as hard and as often as they'd like as far as I'm concerned.

I can't think of the last time I've seen this much Christian imagery on TV (in a more or less positive light). And in sci-fi adventure no less! And because of where they're hiding, lots of it is Catholic. Huzzah! I was wondering what religion is like in 2029. Derek prays. That's an astonishing detail. (To me, any way.) Of course, this is Derek (and Kyle) Reese mk. II, since they both got to be born AFTER Judgment Day since the timeline shifted around.

Not much interesting Cameron this time around. For a moment I thought that the T1000 was being Cameron. That day will come, I'm sure. I did like when she told John essentially that he couldn't be trusted. Almost as good as when she said last season that she didn't have to listen to John because he wasn't John yet.

It's amazing that you can have a character with her name on the show, but I still worry about her. I spent about half the episode dreading what was going to happen to Sarah. You really get into her head: Is this how it happens? Is this when she starts to die? Does she really only have six or seven years to live? (Seven seasons? They may have thought this through more than I thought...)

Derek isn't quite as loose-cannon-y as he has tended to be. He almost seems... Mellow. It's interesting to learn more about the war. That there are resources to be had and positions to defend. BUT...

Skynet has SEVERAL nuclear reactors now? What does this mean for the future?

Hey look, it's Shirley. Don't blink! I was surprised when they replaced nuclear science guy with a normal Terminator, not a T1000. They haven't quite revisited how scary those things are.

Scary dying future man (who carried a bullet inside him through time - nice) - how did he find out about The Plot? And who wrote all the future stuff in blood? What was it? More power plants? Hope this becomes clear later, cause I didn't quite follow it at all.

Ellison is almost as miserable as John. I wonder what will go on with Mr. and Mrs. Charlie.

Just occurred to me: Sarah's parents are dead (well, mom is) but Kyle and Reese's folks might still be around somewhere. That interests me.

Yep. Still loving this show.