SJA and SCC 2.06

[selenak]

Being sick - just a cold, nothing more- makes for catching up on tv stuff, so: two Sarahs, one post!

Sarah Jane Adventures: was fun. I have nothing deeper to say, safe that the use of a certain flashback made me squee. What can I say, that hug from School Reunion is still one of my favourite scenes ever.

Sarah Connor Chronicles: has just gotten a full second season, which makes me happy, as I love it very much. Every character and the whole intelligent narrative. Oh SCC, do not leave me any time soon!



I loved the way the plot thread with Catherine Weaver and Savannah mirrored and contrasted the one with Sarah and John, connected through Dr. Sherman. We got some answers for ongoing questions here; Savannah is human, and there was a real Catherine Weaver, whose appearance the T-1000 has taken on. (Btw, the short recording of real Catherine was a neat demonstration on Shirley Manson's part that her acting choices for T-Catherine are deliberate; real Catherine was warm without overdoing it.) There are actually three children in this plot thread - Savannah, the Turk and in a way T-Catherine Weaver herself, learning like the other two (or Cameron, for that matter). So far, she's learning to imitate, but who is to say that it will not become real? It did with Cameron and John. Which isn't to say this automatically will make Catherine Weaver "good". But they seem to head towards a confrontation of the mothers for the season finale, and if she's just using Savannah as a cover, the balance won't be the same. Of course, she's also acting as a protector of the childlike Turk A.I., but here we get into chicken and egg territory; if the Turk is baby SkyNet, isn't "Catherine Weaver" ITS child? Like all the Terminators, in a way? And oh, the irony: the progress Dr. Sherman achieves with Savannah means she's now more trusting towards the person who most likely killed her real mother and father, the progress he achieves with the Turk means one step closer to SkyNet.

(Speculation: Derek in the season premiere called SkyNet getting sentient an angry child. So far, it's just a bored one, with a sense of humour, if indeed the Turk = baby SkyNet. If the season ends with Sarah defeating and destroying Catherine Weaver, and the Turk has gotten imprinted on Catherine as its "mother", maybe this is what starts SkyNet to go angry and lash out at all humans?)

And then there is John. Or rather, there are John and Sarah, talking less and less to each other since the season premiere. It wasn't that difficult to guess that it was John, not Sarah, who killed Sarkassian - both their behaviour afterwards makes much more sense than the other way around - but I hadn't expected it to come up literally via therapy. And again with the irony; John, who isn't a soldier (yet) except that he is and has been for most of his life, taking the bug because he wants that moment of privacy means they miss Catherine Weaver mentioning the Turk out loud in Sherman's office later on. Being human, wanting that moment, means that much more danger. That's the vicious circle of it; there really is no moment where it's safe, or where you can afford to be not afraid and not pay attention. Sarah's moment of humanity, when she stops listening, does not have similar repercussions; we'll find out whether her deciding to trust Sherman in the end will.

Meanwhile, Derek meets an old girlfriend, and it's Kendra Shaw from Battlestar Galactica! What I find most interesting about Jesse is that it looks like she could be our first human resistance fighter who doesn't go with the "we all die for you" flow and doesn't believe in Future!John's strategies anymore. Given how much Derek, who is a believer, is creeped out by the existence of Cameron at John's side in two timelines, I would be surprised if there weren't resistance fighters who turned against Future!John for his relationship with "the metal" (especially since some of them misfunction and kill more people). Of course, Jesse could also be brainwashed and/or collaborating with the machines, but I think it would make a far better story if she had turned against future John Connor of her own free will and because of the way he relates to Terminators.

Speaking of which: Cameron didn't have a large role this episode, but her deadpan foe/friend comments and her reading the brochures about teen suicide (as well as Sherman diagnosing her with Asberger's) cracked me up. And talk about mirrors: the show lets Cameron and the other Terminator who is after Sherman perform mirror-like movements, yet isn’t there also some mirror process between Cameron and Catherine Weaver, whose attempts to mimic human behaviour strike us as sinister because of the context, not because they’re really different from Cameron’s?

Comments

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

Not just reading the brochure about teen suicide: but reading it while holding the other Terminator's chip that had been programmed to self-destruct.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Right! Oh, Cameron.

[veritykindle.livejournal.com]

the show lets Cameron and the other Terminator who is after Sherman perform mirror-like movements

Actually, I wondered if this was intended as a way to imply that the other Terminator was actually reprogrammed by John and sent back by John to kill Sherman because of his work with the Turk. Maybe Cameron and the other Terminator reacted so similarly in certain situations not just because they were both Terminators, but because they were programmed to act a certain way by the same person. (I can see John building in extra safeguards to protect children and keep the machines from fighting when children might be put in danger. I am not sure I can see Skynet doing the same thing with its assassins.)

And if John was the one who sent back the other Terminator, it brings up all sorts of other questions about why her chip self-destructed. (And considering how many other people that Terminator killed before getting to Sherman, it brings up questions about just what kind of man future!John has become.) Plus, all of this makes me wonder if maybe the chip *didn't* self-destruct. Maybe Cameron was the one who destroyed the chip to keep John and the others from learning what was on the chip. Remember, Cameron was originally an infiltrator model. I think it's possible that she's not working completely for John and Sarah any longer.

[ide-cyan.livejournal.com]

If John had reprogrammed the Terminator to go after Sherman, I would HOPE he'd also try to include instructions about not killing innocent bystanders and receptionists.

[veritykindle.livejournal.com]

I would *hope* so, too. It scares me to admit it, though, but from what we know of future!John, I can't say for sure that he *would* have included such instructions. We are talking about the man who owes his very existence to the fact that he sent his own father back in time to what John knew to be certain death. Who knows what John might have turned into in this version of the future, where he's apparently been sending most of the members of his inner circle back in time, and spending most of his time working on the machines instead.

I am trying to remember if we saw the Schwarzenegger terminator from T2 actually kill anyone, before teen!John specifically ordered him not to. Did he kill the people he got his clothes from, in the beginning of the movie? Certainly, Cameron doesn't appear to have all that many compunctions about killing people, or leaving people to die, although we never actually saw her try to kill innocent bystanders until this season.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I don't think Arnie killed anyone - hurt a few, but no deaths I can remember.

[thepouncer.livejournal.com]

"Uncle Bob" did not kill the guys he got clothes from at the start of T2. They were bikers, in a bar, and he burned one pretty badly on a stove, but I'm fairly sure there were no fatalities. He was intimidating enough that they gave him what he wanted. I have no doubts that he *would* have killed them if they'd resisted further, but that gets into meta-narrative about Schwarzenegger no longer playing bad guys by that point in his career and the tension with the first film's portrayal of Terminators.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

What Ide said; one hopes Future!John would include instructions not to kill anyone but Sherman unless attacked, or something like this, if he was the one sending the Terminator in question. I mean, given that Future!John sent Kyle Reese back knowing what would happen because it had to happen, and must have known what would happen to Alison as she looked like Cameron, he definitely has developed the capacity to keep secrets from friends and sending them to their doom if necessary, BUT that's a different thing from wilfully sacrificing innocents. Which wouldn't be ruthless but callous. Different thing.

Cameron: oh, I think she's been independent ever since the end of the season opener, and trying to figure out what to do with it. Mind you, she also hid things from the Connors in the first season when presumably her programming was still intact (though do we actually know that? We didn't see John from Cameron's pov - in her Terminator vision, I mean - prior to Samson and Delilah, did we?) - Vic's chip, for example. So yes, it could be that she destroyed this chip.

[veritykindle.livejournal.com]

Which wouldn't be ruthless but callous. Different thing.

This is true. I can't see the John we know in the present ever being OK with randomly killing innocent bystanders, the way this latest Terminator has. But I also can't think of anyone else (with access to terminator technology) who could have a motive to kill Sherman, since he is apparently going to help the T-1000 with the Turk.

Also, I think that this season especially, the show has been trying to hint at something very shady going on with future!John. The scenes between Allison and Cameron in the future, and what they have implied about John singling Allison out in some way, might have some... pretty disturbing implications, as well. Did Future!John somehow let Allison get caught on purpose, to get access to Cameron? Again, I can't see the John we have gotten to know doing something like that, using an innocent young woman who is so completely loyal to him in this way. But Future!John? I don't know.

The question of whether it is possible for a man to be hardened into being no better than the machines is one that has been explored already with Derek Reese. I wouldn't put it past this show to try and explore it with John, as well. I would *hope* that John would never sink as low as to ever use methods like these. But I think it's plausible that he has.

though do we actually know that? We didn't see John from Cameron's pov - in her Terminator vision, I mean - prior to Samson and Delilah, did we?

I don't think we ever knew for sure. I think there might have been some hints that Cameron had hidden motives of her own last season, as well. But certainly, her behavior seems to have changed significantly, this year, so whatever motives she might have had last year might also no longer apply.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

But I also can't think of anyone else (with access to terminator technology) who could have a motive to kill Sherman, since he is apparently going to help the T-1000 with the Turk.

I can think of two possible alternatives: a) there is the outside possibility that the T-1000 is interfering with Skynet's developement in a way Future!Skynet does not approve of. How? Well, obviously, as opposed to the Connors, she wouldn't want to prevent it from existing - and thus herself - but I can imagine the more advanced Terminators wishing for independence, instead of never being more than the sum of her programming. Hence her hiring of Ellison - she doesn't need him to track down the Turk for her, she already has it, but she seems to be trying to find Cameron. Especially if Skynet is indeed able to build in exploding chips in case of capture. Cameron wanted to live. Why shouldn't other Terminators be able to reach that stage? So I could imagine an advanced model going back and making sure Skynet developes in a slightly different way, one that would make it possible for Terminators to become capable of independent existence.

Alternative B: There is a saboteur about; who's to say those reprogrammed Terminators malfunctioned/fell back on their own? Why should Cameron be the only infiltrator model? Maybe there is another. If they can send a T-1000 back to the past, they sure as hell can use one in the present, who can look like just about anyone in the resistance.

All of which doesn't mean they're not deliberately hinting at Future!John as a possibility, but I think more of a red herring, for one very practical and Doylist reason: if Future!John were revealed to have sunk to such depths, they'd need to cast him so there can be a showdown of sorts. And they very pointedly avoided casting an adult John Connor, mostly, I guess, in order not to conflict with the movies too much. Also, Sarah's driving force and raison d'etre since the end of the first movie was to fight for her son. If that's revealed to have been worse than all in vain - i.e. she might have been able to save him physically, but he turned into someone she'd despise - this would be far too cynical a conclusion for movies and tv show alike. Apocalypse or not, this is basically a deeply humanist show, and so I really can't see them do this.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

There was something pretty odd about the latest Terminator; really crap programming, even compared to Arnie etc., without the "go in all guns blazing" of the original model. I think it could be one of John's less successful experiments, but another possibility is that it was a decoy, built specifically to make them think that Dr. Sherman was the target and always intended to fail.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

that it was a decoy, built specifically to make them think that Dr. Sherman was the target and always intended to fail

That's the thought I immediately had. Although that raises the question of whether Catherine is a Skynet agent, or whether she's, as I'm increasingly suspecting, the Saruman of the story.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

I really love your Saruman idea, and support it.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Oh, by the way, Sylar's turned evil again in Heroes, but they've done it by suddenly having Elle turn psychopathic again and them become Bonnie and Clyde. The only reason I'm still watching at the moment is that it's amusing to see how desperately they're lashing around trying to come up with something to keep people watching, never mind plot and character coherence.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

*is depressed*

[astridv.livejournal.com]

Being sick - just a cold, nothing more-

Oh, the infamous Messeschnupfen... (you're not the only one who caught it)

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Same procedure as every year.*g*

[dandelionteeth.livejournal.com]

Hi, I lurk on your journal all the time...you write the best meta about almost every show I care about, so I figured I would hop on this particular train of thought...

There was an additional mother/child parallel that I thought was interesting. Both mothers are looking at children who have gone to a place they have not.

Sarah has never killed a human directly (we aren't talking about Miles Dyson or Andy Goode). T-Catherine doesn't have a sense of humor. The mothers are looking at their children as something that is both familiar and alien, and neither one knows quite how to help it.

The bit with T-Catherine and Savannah interests me for a couple of reasons. First, Savannah can be seen as a human mirror for the Turk: both demonstrate that she is not well-equipped for motherhood. And looking at how cute and bright Savannah is, and how starved for affection and attention she is, gives us some insight to what the Turk might be experiencing as a baby AI.

The other thing that interests me is that Savannah in her own right is an interesting parallel for John. Her parents were killed by the robot that later raised her--and that robot did the best it could. (Okay, probably just to keep up her cover as Catherine Weaver, but still.) How would Savannah react to the apocalypse and the war with the machines? What side would she fight for?

I love this show. I will be so upset if it doesn't get picked up for another season.

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Me too. And your point about Savannah is fascinating. Provided she doesn't get killed at the end of this season, I wonder whether we'll hear about her as an adult in the future? There were two pregnant mothers in earlier episodes, and we know what will happen to one of their children - Allison - but Savannah's future is open. If Cameron is the Terminator who fights against her own kind first because she's reprogrammed and then because she chooses to, who knows, Savannah could be the human who fights for the machines.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I think there's additional irony in Cameron listening in to Savannah's session and failing to respond to what would probably have made any of the humans' ears prick up: a little girl saying that she thinks her mommy's different now. Disadvantage of the Terminator tunnel vision when it comes to things not directly relevant.