Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 3.04 Allison from Palmdale

[selenak]

The travelling fan's lot is not an easy one, and I haven't been able to watch Heroes yet, but The Sarah Connor Chronicles came through.



A Cameron origin episode, and yet not. Given that Cameron is without a doubt a machine (with various chipectomies we've witnessed), the show didn't insult the viewer's intelligence by playing this as "is Cameron really a human who thinks she's a robot after all?". The question was: who was this girl, and how did Cameron get her memories? (With a sideline of yet more confirmation that Cameron is now able to make her own decisions, as her statement of her original mission to the psychiatrist means this is still current, she just manages - chooses to - override it.) Given that Cameron's appearance was always something of a bafflement - why would Skynet back in the future produce a Terminator who looks like a teenage girl? -, her being modelled after an actual member of the human resistance in order to infiltrate it makes sense. But you know what kind of creepy implication I just adore? Future!John knew. Just as he knew Kyle Reese would one day have to be sent back in order to protect Sarah and become his father, he knew that Allison, brave human who'd rather die than betray him, would in fact have to be captured by Skynet so that Cameron could get modelled after her.

Meanwhile, Present!John pointedly does not inform Sarah or Derek about losing Cameron but tracks her down on his own. I think he's clear on the fact that if they believed her chip malfunctioned yet again, she'd be toast. Well. Burned metal at any rate. Though actually this was not a malfunction. Speculating, I'd say Cameron's identity crisis is a direct result from her having free will now, hence the accessing of Allison's memories. Though are they Allison's memories? We don't see any scenes from Allison's childhood, we just hear her describe it, and we know Real!Allison has described it to Terminator!Cameron. The actual flashbacks are all from Allison's captivity, and could be memories of Cameron's, pursuing Allison. What really intrigues me is that Cameron while believing herself to be Allison is able to laugh and cry without the need to fool a human by it, i.e. spontanously. Hmmmm.

The various subplots all had mothers in them - Sarah, of course, bonding with her neighbour, and Real Allison's mother, pregnant with her, but also Catherine Weaver. The kid could be another T-1000, I suppose, or a projection, but it reminds me of various comments last week with the speculation that Weaver might be the equivalent of Sarah, the Alien Queen, if you like, and we're heading towards a battle of the mothers. I'm not surprised her ID checks out when Ellison investigates - it would have been sloppy if it hadn't - but the child was a masterstroke anyway, because now he's not going to suspect she's not human unless actually watching her transform. Their conversation brings up a good question: are machines, are Terminators evil? Not as long as they're following their programming, I'd say; killing or protecting humans is then simply an action they have no choice but to perform. But Skynet itself is able to make choices; so is Cameron now; so might Weaver be, if her claim to anger in the season opener was real. As soon as you're able to make that choice, you're responsible for your actions. Cameron in this episode both shows anger towards Jodie and chooses not to kill her. Instead, she integrates one of Jodie's stories, as she has integrated one of Allison's. Jodie is a liar; Cameron has always known how to lie - she's been programmed to infiltrate - but she hasn't done it without a specific purpose yet, until now. That is a human trait.

I have to say, I like Sarah's neighbour, whom I never expected to stick around as a character after she let the Connors in. As mentioned last week, Sarah still being able to care for people not her immediate family is a trait I want very much to be kept, and friendships like this one help. Though speaking of lies - Sarah gives a promise she knows she very likely won't be able to keep, staying around to help with the baby. Here's hoping this new friend, her boyfriend and their kid won't be the next to end up dead...

Comments

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

With a sideline of yet more confirmation that Cameron is now able to make her own decisions, as her statement of her original mission to the psychiatrist means this is still current, she just manages - chooses to - override it.

I read that line quite differently. I think that over the episode Cameron is actually recapitulating her development through three personalities: first Allison, then the original Terminator Cameron who was sent to infiltrate and kill John, and that she doesn't snap back to the current Cameron until the actual point where she nearly kills Jodie.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Now it's been a few weeks since I watched the episode, but does her "I'll kill John Connor" line to the psychiatrist before or after she met John without recognizing him?

...at any rate, I can see your interpretation of the three personalities, too. Though it brings up a question: did Cameron in s1 already have free will or is this something that happened only after the s2 opening? Because if happened only then, there should be four stages, one of which would be reprogrammed Cameron.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

There's the scene where John comes in to the halfway-house to find her and Jodie playing table football: she doesn't recognise him and he gets thrown out by the security. Later there's the psychiatrist scene where she talks about killing John, and just as she says it she looks out of the window and catches his eye as he's sitting in his car outside: either she doesn't recognise him or she does and doesn't act.