Trailer and a rec

There was a trailer for Dexter's fourth season at comic con, and by the wonder of YouTube, it is also on the net:

As always, I'm torn about Dexter. On the one hand, I love the show, especially because of the ensemble, on the other, I think it really needs to end because my suspension of disbelief re: Dexter's non-capture is already stretched. This being said, I am looking forward to these new episodes!

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Most of you probably already saw this great post, but just in case you haven't: apropos the newest movie, excellent menta on Uhura, McCoy, and fannish double standards.

Sarah Connor Chronicles Revisited

The dvds of the first season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles have arrived at my home, which means I started a rewatch and am falling in love all over again. Or rather, never having fallen out of it, am struck anew what a smart, rich and all round wonderful show SCC was. I hadn't recorded the first season (as opposed to the second), so I haven't watched these early episodes for quite a while. Rewatching them with the knowledge of both seasons in mind is fascinating.

The pilot: really well done, and that's not so common for pilots who have go through a lot of exposition by their nature, plus in this case you have to accomodate both new watchers and fans of the movies. This one in addition to reintroducing Sarah and John in their tv incarnation also introduces Cameron, Ellison and Cromartie. (So odd to see Cromartie not played by Gareth Dillahunt.) And while using the formula the movies established (Terminators sent back to kill, one Terminator acting as protector instead) uses enough twists to make it clear the tv show won't just endlessly repeat this particular story. While the s2 finale hadn't been meant as a show finale, it works amazingly well as a wrap up in compare and contrast terms to the pilot.

( Spoilery examples )

As with every pilot, though, you can spot some changes to how the actual show handles things. Notably Cameron's behaviour. Now you can fanwank that Cameron can fake human behaviour way better than she does most times through the show, she just doesn't bother when she doesn't absolutely have to, but given the startling difference between Cameron posing as a high school girl in the pilot and Cameron posing as a high school girl in episode three, I'd say the Doylist explanation that when they shot the pilot, they hadn't yet figured out emphasizing Cameron's alien-ness would make her journey more effective to that the degree they did in the show proper.

Speaking of Cameron, and something that does work great both as a deliberate touch or a happy coincidence: rewatching the pilot, I noticed something I hadn't the first time around. She never answers John's question as to which model she is, and she actually does NOT state her mission. Sarah says "you've been sent back to protect my son", and Cameron doesn't deny it, but Cameron herself does not say this was why she came back.

James Ellison is more aggressive than in the actual show and a touch arrogant in his introduction scene, but in his case I think it's plausible because this is the only time we see him before he gets his first proof those tales of Sarah's about robots from the future might not be the delusions of a madwoman. And the pilot already shows Ellison is thoughtful enough to take this in and try to work with what new evidence he finds instead of just dismissing it.

Charley in the pilot and in ep 2, Gnothi Seauton, made me feel all agog in fannish love. See, I'm okay with the Reese boys, though not passionate about them as most fans are, and I would love to read some post-s2 Sarah/Ellison, but you know, there is just something about Charley... I think it comes down to human warmth, which both Connors are direly in need of in their lives and which Charley exudes effortlessly. To the Lighthouse is one of my favourite s2 episodes for that reason, and the pilot and second episode reminded me again. To Charley, John isn't THE FUTURE SAVIOUR OF MANKIND (tm), he's just this kid he loves like a son (Charley is the only one who occasionally calls him Johnny), and while yes, the Sarah he's originally in love with is only a part of her which she showed him (since he doesn't find out the truth until post-pilot), he does love her. But never in an obsessive way; you do believe that Charley has moved on in the intervening years and is genuinenly happy with his wife, which doesn't stop him caring for Sarah as a friend and, even when pissed off at her, giving her hugs when she needs them. Since she's Sarah and not SARAH CONNOR to him, either.)

Gnothi Seauton and The Turk in different ways both bring up questions the show pursues through the next two seasons. ( Spoilery explanation ensues. )

Seeing Teresa Dyson again in the pilot and ep 3 reminded me how much I liked her scenes with Sarah in s1. Maybe, given a certain hint in the s2 finale, we'd have gotten her back, curse Fox all over again. But Teresa, too, is an early example of an ongoing thread; Sarah's encounters with mostly, but not exclusively women, who have to live with the consequences of the whole Skynet activities in the present. This is a show that tells you what happens AFTER the big shoot-outs and heroic self sacrifices, and I love it for this so much as for many, many other things.

Now excuse me. Must rewatch episode 4 of this fantastic, fantastic show.