Re: Derek recognizing Cameron -- I figured she (or a duplicate model of her) was involved in whatever happened to him in the basement?

Great discussion points on here! This episode was the first one that made me want to go back and rewatch the first movie -- just rented it and must say I really enjoy the details they picked up for this episode, like the photo, the way the flash-forwards in both are so intertwined, the rubber-skinned models, all the quotes.

If the Connors do fess up to Derek that he's the uncle, it would be so bittersweet for Sarah to be able to talk to someone who knows Kyle so well and who was with him so recently!

What exactly are her adaptation / learning skills ?

Arnold T1 was a t800, the safe house t888 after falling scanned Cameron and his HUD read: unknown model. And I felt she beat him badly during the evasion sequence, he never stood a chance against her (except at one point she is down and he could fire at Derek...). Is Cameron a more evolved model than he was (t888+) ? Fox lists her as a TOK715 according to wikipedia.

However as she stood by the fire we saw she has a similar endoskeleton, and her skin was damaged in the first episode. So she cannot be a t1000. Cameron obviously can mimic human demeanor much better than other terminators we have seen until now. And she draws less human attention than t800 t888.

Does Cameron really have a learning curve ? Could this modify her secondary priorities so as to be more efficient in achieving the all mighty priority number one ?

For example Sarah s unnecessarily mean behavior towards a helping terminator both Hurts (if possible) and makes Cameron think Sarah could become a liability to her mission. If her entire software (including mission and program learning skills) is read and write (as has been discussed in the first pages on this thread), then she could rewrite it to exclude Sarah demands (after all if we are to trust her she claimed to follow future john s orders). Maybe she did just that in a millisecond when she lied to Sarah: 'i swear'

So Cameron s choices could be affected by Sarah unnecessary aggressiveness, leading them to a future dispute over present John Connor. Hence the pseudo oedipus complex including a cybernetic organism. Weird ?

And i wonder was the safe house terminator really destroyed ? We did not witness the metal melt down. Only what seemed like dust when Sarah arrived. I thought Cameron used too little thermite, and she stood nearby as it began to burn, without burning her own skin. And remember she wanted the doctor out of there...

Maybe this potential rewrite of the secondary priorities include a squad of good terminators, helping her keep the only vital human element John Connor as long as possible. Hence why she pocketed the cpu chipset: maybe she will try and reprogram it in one future episode. She never sleeps.


A few more questions:

Why would Derek lie about killing Andy Goode ?

How can Derek recognize Cameron (or a similar model to her) the first time he enters the captured factory in the future ? And he definitely seemed to fear her when awakening after the blood transfusion.

Are Jet engines needed to make the time machine work ? Don t they have enough (nuclear) energy as it is ?

The time continuity problem has to be addressed: is this a paradox / multi parallel or a fate universe ?

It is true that Andy Goode was killed in our present, but it is not true that he could not have existed in the future because what he did in the future had already happened, and his skynet program was already in existance (and maybe stolen) *before* he was killed in our present. Suppose our present is 1942, and suppose Hitler killed your grandparents in 1941, you would not get them back by killing Hitler in 1942.

AQ

althought we do not know if John sent Cameron back...

Cameron lied to Sarah when pocketing Cromartie cpu instead of destroying it !

I knew she was going to do something shady. That development makes her the most interesting character imho. I agree with those who stated the possibilities of learning curve (Cameron) and oedipus complex (Sarah John Cameron). More on that later.

What is Cameron s mission ?

She could be a sleeping cell of skynet, waiting the very last moment in april 2011 to make her move and ensure skynet is created. Possible but improbable, as future John Connor sent her in the past.

How is she programmed to achieve her mission ?

I think it s safe to assume her software is written in term of priorities:
1- Save John Connor
2- Save Humanity if it does no interfere with priority 1
3- Do not harm human beings only if it does not interfere with priorities 1 and 2
... And so on

So the evolution of the series (already in an alternate timeline from the movie franchise) could be greatly affected by the definition of the priorities as chosen by future John Connor.

If he is as noble as portrayed in the future, Cameron s main objective could be to save humanity then save John Connor. This could prove decisive in april 2011 when they fight the awakening of skynet: he could become expandable.

However if he made a mistake and chose to program Cameron to save his past self, then she could try and save him instead of destroying skynet at all cost, resulting in judgment day.

Therefore i am wondering what is Cameron main priority ?

I agree with the poster who asked why the terminator would leave an axe and allow the "prisoners" to escape. I was kicking around the idea that it was their own people doing it. I am very curious to see if the basement is explianed later. If they were harvesting thier blood and cells, why would they not then just kill them when done. Also, they kept seeing the jet engines for the time machine being hauled off. Was this maybe the resistence fighters taking the equipment from the installment they took from the machines?

Burning flesh smells so bad that it might draw attention to wherever they were hiding out.

Lots of comments on how can Skynet be created if Derek murders Andy Goode.

Andy Goode said that he was part of a team that created Skynet. The team still exists even if Andy Goode is dead now. Or the team WILL exist? Either way, I think the writing was meant to illustrate Skynet as a hydra. Chop off one head, and 5 more grow back in it's place.

As the show progresses, and the characters begin to prune the future from information that they have, I think the future will take a different direction.

After it is a series. If they had killed Andy Goode and effectively destroyed Skynet that would be the end of the series.

Did anyone else have a problem with Cameron disposing of the terminator endoskeleton? Why bother cutting the flesh from the skeleton? At 2500 degrees wouldn't it burn also? At 2500 degrees wouldn't her skin also burn?

The heat from burning the endoskeleton illuminated Cameron's face for some eerie foreshadowing or dramatic effect. Whatever it was supposed to be, the effect fell flat.

Is it just me or do these types of dramatic ploys in the show distract the viewer from any form of suspension of disbelief? If they would just hire a seventh grade science teacher to help them with some of their science I think the viewer might actually be able to pay attention to the plot rather than the bad science.

@Andy Goode being alive:

Those where Derek's memories of a future he knew before he went back and changed it. That's why Andy is there, but now he wont be.

In Queen's Gambit, when Sarah chases down Derek after she sees Andy dead, didn't he tell her that Andy was dead before he got there? If so, how does that jive with the last scene showing Derek shooting Andy?