The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Vick's Chip - VIDEO

(S01E08) Fox has decided to show the final two episodes of The Sarah Connor Chronicles (which is still on the bubble for a second season) in one night and treat it as a two-parter. I, on the other hand, will be treating them as two separate episodes for the purpose of these reviews. I will link to the second one at the end of the first so it's sort of like two-Two-TWO reviews in one.

As always, I'm amazed at the sophistication of the television Terminators. One of the reasons Arnold was so great at the role was that he acted stiff naturally. A young William Shatner or David Hasselhoff might have similarly been able to pull off the role. Now that better actors are available, some subtlety and nuance is required in the performance. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Honestly, Cromartie's identity looked pretty small and lanky, like Cameron. He used similarly fluid movements and was more "human." Perhaps they're a more dangerous breed.

I liked the use of violent video game imagery. It's probably a lot like how the Terminators' view life, in a distant, unrelated fashion where their own actions don't really affect them. Cameron never even shared her lack of effort to save the Russian.

I saw two computer / television cliche's in this episode. First, the idea that more power will solve any technical problem (such as with Vick's chip). Second, the use of a virus to break down a system. I wonder if Skynet sent back better virus protection. Perhaps they were using Norton Antivirus 2037?

"She would not be the first human to be fooled by a machine." Further proof of the sophistication mentioned before.

Skynet must be pretty confident about the survival of the Turk. Or perhaps one of its agents already has it. Otherwise, he wouldn't spend so much effort insuring the A.R.T.T.I.E. system is built. On a personal note, I always knew traffic lights were evil.

How long ago was Jessica Peck killed, in relative time? Are you telling me that nobody stumbled upon the body? It had to have been at least a few days, if not weeks.

It's good to know that despite their sophistication, computers can still be fooled with a simple switch. Notice, however, that is was Cameron the machine who made the plan to fool Cromartie the machine?

Terminator sex! Vick actually had sex with his "wife" to assure that she built the A.R.T.T.I.E. system (it wasn't seen, but it was heavily implied). Finally, the perfect man (well, other than the homicidal tendencies).

I like the progression of John's character. He seems much less whiny now than in the beginning and I'm starting to actually like him. Lena Headey and Summer Glau are still the backbone of the show, but John's really coming into his own.

I had a crazy notion: what if Cameron's mission was to save Vick's chip in order to save the future that she knew? Using the usual time travel logic, if her future ceases to exist, she'll have never been sent back to save John. Or, we could be seeing alternate futures trying to fight for dominance in possible future seasons. Okay, this logic is making me dizzy.

I also have a silly question: why is Cameron's chip screwed in? Why is it so easy to remove? You'd think Skynet would have it bolted or welded to prevent human interference.

Reese made a startling revelation. Does he mean that Cameron or a model like Cameron kills John in the future? Or was he speaking metaphorically?

When Cameron said, "I saw everything," I couldn't help but think of Arnold's line in T2 when he was driving at night, "I see everything".

The second part of this review and the poll can be found in the "What He Beheld" episode review.