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Note: This was updated twice on 13 July 2008 after receiving some useful feedback from Intrepid Villian. Thanks!
After spending some time carefully examining the third trailer for season 2, it does seem that Cam's chip is damaged after all. Here are the reasons:
1. We see Cameron being apparently disabled by an electrical shock in a church.
2. Prior to this, we hear a voice-over by John indicating that her chip is damaged.
It's fairly typical for trailers to display scenes far out of order in order to maintain a certain amount of suspense and surprise, but John would be very unlikely to conclude that her chip sustained physical damage unless he could see it. This seems to be a possible scenario:
1. After fleeing Cameron's attempt(s) on John's life, Sarah, John, and Derek rig a boobytrap in the church.
2. As shown in the third trailer, this boobytrap goes off, shocking Cameron and disabling her.
3. John doesn't know what the problem is until he pulls her chip. It is then that he discovers physical damage. Again, he couldn't draw this conclusion without seeing the chip.
4. The conversation between John and Sarah, recorded in a different trailer, contains statements such as "I need her. I sent her back" from John and "John, she will kill you!" from Sarah. It is possible that this conversation occurs after they've gotten the chip out.
There are several possibilities for how things might proceed from here:
1. John may get what he can out of Cameron's chip via the CPU interface and try to save it. This poses some trouble because John had way too much difficulty hacking Vick's chip, and Cameron's chip is probably even more complex. Also, given that Cameron has gone bad, she'll try to take over John's computer the way Vick did! Don't forget that Cameron did take over and then ruin ARTIE in episode 8 season 1. I don't expect to see this.
2. Another possibility is that John somehow manages to transfer Cameron into Vick's chip by erasing Vick and installing Cameron. He could then install Vick's CPU in Cameron and have her back. This seems a bit far-fetched as Vick's T-888 CPU is probably much less advanced and possibly incompatible with an advanced model like Cameron. This would pose all the same CPU interface issues as (1) above, so I don't expect to see this either.
3. Another scenario seems to involve the high-tech company and its CEO, that person from the band "Garbage". John may be desparate to simultaneously find out how Skynet gets build and also try to find a way to fix Cameron. However, I strongly suspect that the company is really an enemy, not a friend, so this seems very far-fetched. In one scene from a trailer, I also thought the CEO of the company had the Turk! That seems to mean this CEO is an enemy and not a friend. Again, I don't think John is going to get any help at all from these people.
4. Here is a stronger possibility. Cameron's chip has taken damaged, but its clearly still operational. John must reason with the damaged Cameron, hoping to restore her. This is where the scene comes up with John and Sarah arguing over Cameron, with John insisting that he needs her and Sarah saying, "She will kill you!" and, "We have to kill her!"
Recall from Terminator 2 that although the T-800's power system was damaged, he could re-route and run on alternate power. Similarly, Cameron's CPU may be capable of something very similar. This may given John just the chance he needs to work with her, at significant risk to his own life of course, but I think John loves her and is willing to take the risk.
Some have brought up the fact that the explosion, which did only moderate damage to Cameron's biological covering, should not have damaged a CPU in a heavily-armored skull. If TV shows strictly followed the laws of physics, then I would agree and completely abandon any such speculation. However, we all know that TV shows don't follow the laws of physics, and writers will sometimes intentionally introduce an element for dramatic purposes.
I suspect that Cameron will ultimately be forced to operate her CPU in a different mode, and the protect John Connor directive won't be there. She will have free will. Maybe initially she suspects John and Sarah of trying to murder her, so she turns on them. Her facial expression is blank in some scenes, but it seems to portray anger, confusion, and a feeling of betrayal in others. If she feels betrayed, her new free will (due loss of directive programming) may cause her to attack her own family, especially given Derek's hatred of her.
John will be forced to manhood rather quickly by simultaneously facing the dangers involved in bringing Cameron back and by defending her before his ultra-strong-willed mother and uncle. The outright danger he must face will also strengthen and shape him as well.
This will also force the growth of Cameron's character as well. Without any directive programming (this MUST have been corrupted and/or destroyed for her to be attacking John!) she becomes a creature of free will. Now she must learn to trust John. Whereas she was once bound to John by programming, her new free-will (maybe directive programming is all that was damaged in her chip) forces her to grow. This will radically alter her relationship with the Connors, but it will also finally unchain her and allow her to become a human being, which is what we truly want!
There are some hints. In a recent interview I believe Summer Glau indicated that her character's relationship with the Connor's is greatly changed. Well, obviously attempting to kill John will change it, but since Summer is on this show for the long term I strongly suspect that her character will acquire free will somehow, unless Cameron goes permanently bad. However, having Cameron go permanently bad will destroy the show, so I doubt it. These people need to maintain the fanbase to maintain their success! I think the long-term change will be that Cameron becomes truly human after she's forced to operating without directive programming and/or override some kind of Skynet default to kill John Connor!
There are more hints. Brian Austin Greene has stated that fans will be getting what they want and a 1000 times more. Well, it's well-known that everyone wants Cameron to grow (in addition to John's growth), and this may lead up to it, but in an exciting, action packed way!
Now one possibility is this: maybe after John re-inserts the free-will chip (no directives!) Cameron wakes up. John and company have deliberately vacated the area prior to her wake up in case she's in the "kill John" mode all over again. When John realizes that she still isn't his friend, he flees, away from the rest of the family, to a solitary place, but leaves enough of a trail for Cameron to find him. He must talk her down. This could lead into a scenario similar to this superb fan fiction by Veran:
http://terminatorwiki.fox.com/page/Cameron%27s+Redemption
Note that Veran's scenario still differs somewhat from mine in that Cameron still sees directive programming, whereas I think her directive programming was what was destroyed by the bomb. Still, I imagine Cameron being redeemed roughly along those lines.
Or maybe Josh and the other writers will come up with something more creative. Can't wait for season 2!
T-888
An ULTRA-DIE-HARD fan of the Terminator! | Season 2 Back Nine
Episode 14:
This answers a lot of questions and is also a very exciting lead-in to the end of season 2. Sarah Connor survives, and at the end she does lead Derek Reese to the location of the shed. Here's the problem: Catherine Weaver blew it all up!
Catherine is very efficient as the T-1001. I suspect, unfortunately, that Cameron, a TOK-716, is simply no match for the T-1001 in combat. While the Connors are struggling to figure out Skynet's whereabouts, the immature Skynet, John Henry, is growing by leaps and bounds.
The insight into Skynet's development as a chief enemy is a very fascinating one. Catherine Weaver has an almost motherly attitude toward Skynet, and perhaps she is to Skynet what Sarah is to John: a mother, protector, and teacher. Even when Catherine tells James that he will guide John Henry's development, it is fairly obvious even from her tone that she is lying. She wants John Henry to develop a better understanding of how humans think and reason. Know thyself and know thy enemy. That is Catherine's lesson for young Skynet. I still can't believe that James Ellison is so foolish that he fails to see what Catherine Weaver is up to. It should be obvious, but Ellison is not a man of intelligence!
Ellison's approach to John Henry is a bad one as well, and it's clear now that he will play a role in John Henry's ultimate view of humans as inferior creatures that need to be destroyed. Humans are the result of a complex evolutionary process leading from simpler organisms to aquatic organisms to amphibians to mammals to primates and ultimately to homo sapiens. As such, the human brain is a type of machine. If Ellison had wisely approached John Henry by emphasizing what humans and neural network computers share in common, that both are machines operating on similar principles to achieve conciousness, he could have brought John Henry around to identifying with humanity and to understanding what machines and humans share in common: humans are essentially biochemical machines, after all! Instead, Ellison is slowly laying the groundwork for John Henry to view us as irrational and inferior creatures. I must wonder whether that is also part of Catherine Weaver's motivation for using Ellison. It's very interesting, and the character arc for Skynet is a good one.
No review of this episode is complete without at least a brief mention of Catherine Weaver's WAY COOL massacre at the warehouse! Shirley Manson's portrayal of her character is absolutely terrific, and she did a brilliant job in the warehouse massacre scenes! TERRIFIC!
Riley is still very much in the picture, and it is clear that John is focused on her. I'm still wondering about Cameron and John in the future. If Riley and Jesse came through time to keep John away from Cameron, the question is WHY? My hope is that Cameron and John will hit it off, but first Cameron has to survive without getting killed by the hyper-lethal T-1001. That T-1001 looks like she could kill an endo-skeleton based model in less than a minute!
Finally the series is focusing again on the hunt for Skynet and on Skynet's development. This is a good thing. While I enjoyed episode 11 "Self Made Man" showing Cameron's intelligence, that episode was too tangential to the overall storyline, which is the battle to stop Skynet before the nuclear war! The same could be said of several other episodes, but I think that with this one we're starting to see a return to focus. That's a good thing.
The stage has been properly set for a showdown between Catherine Weaver, Skynet's mother, and the Connors. I'm definitely looking forward to the next episodes!
T-888
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I joined this wiki because: I am a die-hard Terminator fanatic!
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Interests: Computer science, engineering, history, the Spanish language and culture
Favorite movies: Terminator and Terminator 2 (definitely not Terminator 3)
Favorite TV shows: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (note: I normally don't watch TV, but T:SCC is just too good to miss!)
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Discussion of season 2 episodes
Episode 1: Samson and Delilah
Comments updated 13 September 2008.
On 13 July 2008 I had posted speculation to this profile regarding season 2, and this is now a chance to compare speculation to reality.
In the episode, we note that John must demonstrate his manhood. He appears to be acting very rashly by rapidly re-inserting Cameron's chip, but is he really being rash? Yes, it's a possibility. However, I would also add that he had to act very quickly. It is perfectly clear that:
1. Sarah knew John loved Cameron and was trying to persuade him to go along with her destruction.
2. Derek and Sarah would definitely have stopped John, even to the point of physically restraining him and destroying Cameron themselves, if John had been either slow or hesistant. Acting quickly was absolutely vital to saving Cameron's life!
3. John is demonstrating more maturity here. Now, instead of depending on his mother (i.e. "you've got to stop it" or "I can't" etc.) he grabs a gun, holds the others off to keep them from killing Cameron, and takes a massive risk with his own life to save hers! Also, the deliberate decision to risk his own life (his Glock pistol can't possibly stop a Terminator) for someone he loves is a demonstration of growing courage and maturity. These are traits he needs as a leader. He's also willing to take necessary risks, and this was clearly necessary.
We also see growth of Cameron's character. When John hands her the gun, which he must do to demonstrate to her his willingness to put his life in her hands, her directive indicates "TERMINATE". Yet Cameron makes a free will decision to override the directive and not kill John. At this point, it seems she now lacks directive programming. This is the first key step in her growth as a person: the development of free choice and free will.
My speculation contained some errors though. Clearly the explosion didn't destory her directive: she overwrote her own directive after John handed her the gun and placed his life in her hands. Also, I was wrong in thinking that they got her chip out after delivering the electric shock in the church: they failed to get it out and instead ended up getting it out when Sarah trapped Cameron with the truck. However, the fact that John had to stand up to Sarah and Derek with a gun and also put himself at high risk agrees, in a very rough sense, with my earlier speculation.
Cameron's character is growing, but not in the direction I had earlier predicted.
1. The writers themselves have stated that she's not trying to become more human.
2. It's obvious that she was lying about loving John while trapped by the truck. Notice that after John reactivates her she's not jumping up and down with emotion for John, and she even hesitates because her directive still commands her to terminate him. Hence, she was not all right, but at the time she was lying in an attempt to get free to kill him. She did, after all, try to kill him only moments earlier! If she had run a test and if she were all right, the terminate directive would definitely not have appeared.
3. Yet she has some kind of loyalty to John. Even without directive programming, she tells Sarah in the church that if she goes bad again Sarah must stop John from bringing her (Cameron) back. This indicates a free will choice to tell Sarah to kill her (Cameron) if she (Cameron) goes bad all over again. After all, without directives, free will is the last thing Cameron has left. Of course, John was wise to hold the others off to save Cameron's life and keep Sarah from doing something so stupid. Cameron needs to wake up to reality and understand that John was not only being compassionate and courageous but also absolutely rational in his decision.
In that sense, while she didn't love John at the time she was trapped between the two trucks as pointed out in #2 above, we see that she is developing a kind of free-will based love. So even though the writers indicate she isn't turning more human, what exactly do they mean? There is still some very solid potential for Cameron and John to love each other even if Cameron doesn't become human as some of us understand the word "human".
As pointed out by Dr. David Gelernter in The Muse in the Machine: Computerizing the Poetry of Human Thought, an excellent book on artificial intelligence published in 1993, a truly intelligence machine would have to feel some emotion. Now it is true that an intelligent machine might not experience emotion in exactly the way a biological human does, but a machine that is truly intelligent would have at least some sense of emotion, some sense of beauty and art, etc. Indeed, even Skynet, evil as it is, could feel anger, fear, etc. based on Andy Goode's statements in episode 6 season 1 (Dungeons and Dragons). Hence, if we assume that the writers stick with sound AI principles, Cameron would develop some kind of feeling as she grows even if it is not the same as ours. Since this is a work of fiction and not reality, however, the writers may or may not choose to impart emotions to Cameron. It's hard to predict what writers will do. After all, by the laws of physics it seems that she should have taken much more damage from the car impact in episode 2 season 1 than from the car bomb.
Besides, I am uncertain about what the writers meant by Cameron not trying to become human. If they meant development of free will and free choice and such, they are being very inconsistent because she's clearly acting on free will now and will have to learn moral responsibility for her choices, and free will combined with intelligence is at the core of humanity. Maybe what the writers mean by her becoming "more Cameron" is what some of us, myself included, might mean by becoming a different kind of human. Humanity is defined by a combination of free will, intelligence, and responsibility for choices in addition to emotion. Obviously Cameron is developing the first three, but even if she fails to develop emotion as we understand it (but to be realistic an intelligent system has some kind of emotion, as Dr. Gelernter has pointed out) she will simply be a different kind of human being but still no less a human being than the rest of us. Perhaps some fans (myself included) disagree with the writers as to what exactly defines a human being. That means that in the sense of humanity as I've defined it above maybe she IS becoming human: we just need to understand how the writers define the word "human".
Episode 2: Update 21 September 2008
In the objective storyline we observe Skynet's preparations for Judgment Day. The T-1001, Catherine Weaver, takes full advantage of the events at an important nuclear power plant to have automated controls installed: automated controls which will no doubt be exploited by Skynet. Here, we also note the presence of many other Terminators, most notably a T-8xx (T-888 series?) machine who poses as Karl and is killed by Sarah and Cameron at the nuclear plant.
Personally, I'm a little disappointed that Cameron is always portrayed as being physically weaker in a fight than some of the male Terminators. Here, Sarah needed to temporarily distract the "Karl" T-8xx before Cameron shoved it into a power transformer and killed it. I'd like to see Cameron gain the upper hand in a few fistfights without any help and kill a few T-8xx models even before Sarah, John, or Derek can get there!
John's relationship with the family is obviously strained after he threatened them with a gun while powering Cameron back up in the first episode. His mother still loves him, but notice the loss of trust and closeness. He is growing into a man, but this will take some time. However, the most serious problem is with Cameron. It is Cameron herself who tells John that he cannot be trusted because he risked his life to save her.
Looking at things from Cameron's perspective, we note the following. In the first episode she very clearly demonstrates free will by overriding the directive to Terminate John and also be telling Sarah not to let John save her again if Cameron herself goes bad again. Here, she clearly demonstrates a concern, again based on free will, for John's life by verbally lashing him for saving her life at a severe risk to his own. We are seeing free will decisions on Cameron's part to save and to protect John, even at a terrible cost to herself.
From John's perspective, Cameron's coldness and apparent lack of gratitude is damaging their relationship, and there can be no question that this is what is driving him toward Riley. John very likely sees Cameron as ungrateful rather than protective, in spite of the fact that Cameron's intentions are good and that Cameron is showing the development of her free will. We note that John draws closer to Riley in the context of Cameron's apparent coldness, and this is what is driving the John-Riley relationship at this moment. For John, Riley provides a relief from the craziness of his life and a breath of normalcy, something he desparately craves. Let's remember this: John's progression toward maturity is exactly and precisley that: a progression. It's not going to happen instantly.
This sets the stage for a great deal of tension between John and the rest of the family, even including Cameron, for the rest of season 2. We also see the stage for Cameron not only discovering herself and growing as a person but also finding herself at a greater distance from everyone, even from John although her intention is to protect him even at the cost of her own life! John will be forced to be more independent due to the lack of trust, and likewise Cameron will be forced to better understand herself (due to her serious malfunction in the first episode and occasional glitches even now) and her relationship with others as a result of all of this. Overall, the writers are definitely doing a brilliant job with character development in the context of their storyline! Terrific work!
Here, we see how misunderstanding is growing between Cameron and John, and this is due to John's lack of maturity. A truly mature John would have taken Cameron aside and very carefully reasoned with her, at a logical level (not at an emotional level since Cameron is definitely not ready for THAT), why powering her back up was absolutely necessary in spite of the risk. He would also have given Cameron a chance to grow and learn these things as well. But John is still an adolescent, and as such he is reacting emotionally rather than intelligently to Cameron's behavior. Clearly, John does not understand the give-and-take of a long-term relationship with a woman, and he is not ready for Cameron yet.
I stand by the position that the relationship with Riley is possibly a necessary stage in John's growth as he moves from teenager to adult and that since Cameron herself clearly isn't ready either, the audience needs patience in this matter. Like many fans of the series, I would very much want to see Cameron and John tie the knot, but things take time in this series, just as they would in real life! Throwing Cameron and John together right now and having them immediately enter a long-term relationship would seem a little "corny" since real people would need time to grow until they're ready for such a relationship. Let them develop realistically! The three-dimensional character growth and tension within a complex, well-fleshed-out storyline, is exactly what makes the Terminator franchise great, and this is exactly what we're seeing here. As in real life, the fictitious Cameron and John will enjoy a much closer long-term relationship/marriage if they enter such a relationship in a highly developed and very mature state. Besides, John isn't even a legal adult yet anyway!
T-888
Episode 3 commentary: Updated 26 Sep 08
As anticipated, the Cameron-John relationship is cold, and John continues gravitating heavily toward Riley.
More importantly, we're seeing just how intelligent and innovative Cromartie is. His brief verbal allusion to the invention of the mousetrap, and his very sophisticated and intelligent plan to trap John Connor, show that he certainly isn't a dumb machine at all! If anything, episode 3 teaches us a very healthy respect for Cromartie's intelligence and ability to think outside the box! Cromartie nearly gets John too, but being a Terminator he's too dense to swim at all and loses John at the pier when both dive into the water. Here, for all of his smarts, Cromartie makes a ridiculous error by trying to dive into the water after John. Firing at John in the water would have been a more logical move, but the producers of the show wanted to have an underwater Terminator scene to illustrate a Terminator weakness.
Happy New Year 2009!
I've been inactive on the wiki for several months but have been thoroughly enjoying the episodes. Here's an update. To be finished over the next few days.
Episode 4 commentary: It seems that Cameron has some of the memories of Allison Young, which is rather surprising. We don't have much of an explanation for this yet, but perhaps video recordings of Allison's words and behaviors could have been written to Cameron's CPU. Far more importantly, and I think this is the most important facet of this episode, Cameron shows emotion! In her "Allison Young" mode, Cameron doesn't just forget who she is but she experiences fear, happiness, sorrow, etc. Her emotions do not disappear until she remembers she is a machine.
This greatly increases our curiousity regarding Cameron. That she experiences emotional states as "Allison Young" indicates that the capacity is certainly there. Yet in the subsequent episodes, she goes back to an essentially emotionless state. In episode 8, she even says she can't be happy. Strange statement given that she was clearly happy when playing a game with Jody while she couldn't remember who she really was.
Cameron's neural network apparently has a theoretical capacity to be human. Perhaps in her normal state, she is able to "put away" the neural states corresponding to Allison. John Connor should have pried under her "Allison Young" identity a lot more. Merging "Allison Young" with Cameron would allow Cameron to become more human.
Interestingly, this almost seems to blend with some of the very well-written fan fiction of Veran. In his Cameron trilogy, Ethan is a sort of synthesis of two people. Likewise, in his newest fiction, Cameron was based on the "real Cameron Phillips".
Very interesting episodes, and along with episodes 1 and 8 it is a true work of art!
Episode 5: The writers are clearly trying to expand the Terminator storyline by showing some of the other members of the resistance and also showing more of the conflict between humans and machines beginning only a few years prior to Judgment Day. I like the .50 caliber sniper rifle and also the way the storyline is being expanded, but there is a certain danger that the writers are losing too much focus. The central conflict is the quest to stop Skynet's creation and prevent Judgment Day. Yes, preparing for the future war, if it happens, is necessary. Yes, it is necessary to flesh out the world in which the Connors and Cameron live. Still, there was a bit of wandering in this and a few other episodes. Let's see a little more focus here...
Episode 6: This episode fleshes out the world prior to Judgment Day, but unlike episode 5 it does a better job of relating it all to the central conflict: stopping Skynet.
A few features of this episode stand out a great deal. First, we note that Catherine Weaver hires a psychologist to help with the development of the AI. This is actually a good thing to include. In real life, computational neuroscience research DOES intersect very heavily with cognitive psychology. At this point, I would like to give readers a few references to the literature to expand on this. The Metaphorical Brain 2: Neural Networks and Beyond by Professor Michael Arbib of USC does a nice job of introducing us to the connections amongst the fields of computer science, neural networks, biological neuroscience, and cognitive psychology. Researchers in these disciplines commonly interact in their work, and I like the fact that this is reflected here, even though the AI shown in this TV series is obviously far beyond anything that can be achieved with our present technology. Second, we note that John Connor still exhibits too much immature behavior and distrust toward Cameron. Yes, this is part of his character growth arc, and such behavior sometimes is exhibited by normal teenagers. Still, his removal of the listening device deprived Cameron and the Connors of vital information: the fact that Catherine Weaver was enlisting Dr. Sherman to help with AI development! John's foolish move certainly has terrible consequences! As Derek Reese says in episode 7, John definitely needs to get his head in the game!
I certainly enjoyed seeing Cameron kill another Terminator without any help from the Connors. Too often she is shown as being weaker than other Terminators, and it's nice to see her score an independent kill!
Episode 7: This is really support for episode 8. It does illustrate a bit of John's irresponsibility and immaturity regarding security and his relationship with Riley, prompting Derek Reese's comment. Moreover, Sarah Connor's excessive regard for human life nearly gets everyone killed: she spares one of the thieves who robbed the house and, worse still, lies to Cameron! Not a good move Sarah...
Episode 8: This was terrific! The interleaving of the perspectives (i.e. Cameron's story, Sarah's story) does a great job of building up tension prior to that showdown with Cromartie! While watching this one, I couldn't help but wonder, for example, how it was that Sarah suddenly sees James Ellison when some opens the trunk! We don't see that until we watch Ellison's story.
Cromartie really does go down as a noble adversary. In episode 3, "The Mousetrap", he shows himself to be very innovative and very intelligent. Here, he operates will his usual chilling efficiency. We get a valuable insight into his mind when he tells Sarah she should have killed the boy at the bowling alley. Sarah responds, "I'm not a murderer." Cromartie asks, "Who is?" Cromartie is not evil. He is a smart, innovative, intelligent, capable person who lacks free will. As such, he simply obeys Skynet's order to kill John Connor. What Cromartie does is not motivated by personal malice: he is little more than a professional who does his job with uncanny efficiency. His lack of freewill is the problem: it is the entire reason why he seeks to kill John Connor. Cromartie is an obedient slave of Skynet: as such he must be killed!
The final gunfight scene in the church was well-written. I would have preferred to see Cameron use a more powerful weapon and was puzzled by the use of a 12-gauge shotgun. The writers stated later that she was firing depleted uranium slugs. While depleted uranium is an extremely dense metal that is used both in armor piercing rounds and in tank armor in real life, we need to consider that the kinetic energy of a depleted uranium slug from a shotgun is still less than that of a .50 caliber projectile! Recall that Derek Reese shot a T-888 (Cromartie is a T-888 as well) in the eye with a .50 caliber gun in episode 5. That round didn't cause much damage, and it took another head shot to kill that particular T-888. If the T-888 skull is so tough that it takes more than one .50 caliber hit to destory it, how could even a depleted uranium slug from a 12 gauge shotgun simply blast Cromartie's head apart? This isn't the first time I've questioned the physics in this show. Still, that's a very minor criticism, and I thoroughly enjoyed Cromartie's final battle. Congratulations to the whole cast, including Garret Dillahunt, on a truly fine performance! It is noteworth that the writers do give Cromartie a burial, fitting for a noble adversary.
Although John dealt the fatal shot, most of the credit goes to Cameron for blowing Cromartie's armored skull apart! Congratulations Cameron on a nice kill!
Here again human emotion raises its head. In an emotional rage Sarah smashes Cromartie's CPU to pieces. This isn't the best move. Recall in season 1 that John, with some help from Cameron, built a CPU interface and was able to retrieve useful information from another T-888: Vick Chamberlain. A logical move would have been to do the same with Cromartie. This time it is Sarah, the normally tough, hardened person who breaks down and does something in an emotional rage. Yet the CPU may or may not have contained valuable clues!
Episode 9: Updated 2 January 2009
Cromartie died honorably in a fight with the Connors. Sarah starts having dreams about the three dots, and we learn that the three dots were left in the basement. They are significant, but what are they?
James Ellison puts far too much trust in Catherine Weaver, and this is in spite of his knowledge of the future. He has read Sarah's case file from the mental hospital and knows about the machines from the future. He knows Cromartie's origins perfectly well. If there is anyone Ellison should put his trust in, it ought to be Sarah Connor. What makes this worse is that Catherine Weaver had told him, in the second episode of the season, and she was seeking to reverse engineer a Terminator! That alone should have set off warning bells in Ellison's head. The fact that Sarah was planning to destroy Cromartie's body was also important. By deceiving the Connors and lying to both Cameron and John regarding Cromartie's corpse, Ellison is setting the stage for disaster. In the final moments of this episode, he clearly indicates his belief that he and Catherine Weaver need to work together to stop these machines. If he were truly intelligent, he would have realized that Weaver is bent on creating these machines! He would trust the Connors instead of her.
Ellison's foolishness in this matter is a tool used by the writers to build up toward the big conflict between Catherine Weaver, the advanced T-1001, and the Connors! It also raises the ugly specter of a Skynet dominated future, with Ellison unwittingly but inexcusably helping the enemy. As such, episode 9 represents a crucial turning point in the series: with the conflict with the now-dead Cromartie over, the conflict with the far deadlier Catherine Weaver and the still immature Skynet can begin.
The writers are also seeking to illustrate Skynet's character growth arc from immature developmental AI system to full-fledged enemy leader! This gives viewers a window into Skynet's birth, infancy, and growth into a monster. Skynet is a person: an evil person who is very important in the story line, and Skynet's character growth also needs illustration.
Episode 10: Sarah Connor follows a bogus lead investigating a high-tech firm with a three-dot logo. As it turns out, the firm was simply desparate for money and was using a ruse to steal from Sarah Connor, something Sarah and Cameron discovered. Sarah got her money back, but she still hasn't gotten onto Skynet's trail.
The more significant part is Skynet's development. Ellison tells Catherine Weaver that the AI, presently known as John Henry, needs to learn ethics. At this stage, Ellison's foolishness is very apparent: he should know that this AI development nees to be reported to the Connors, but tries to tackle this on his own! We got a foreshadow of the future Skynet when immature Skynet (John Henry) uses Cromartie's body as an interface! It should be obvious that Ellison is playing into the wrong hands. He knows perfectly well that Sarah blew up a Cyberdyne lab ten years earlier to stop Skynet's creation, and here he sees an advanced AI being created. What makes Ellison so stupid?
At this point, I cannot overemphasize the importance of John's error in episode 6 when he takes away a listening device over his distrust of Cameron and the rest of the family. He blew a big chance to discover Skynet's growth and development and the true significance of Dr. Sherman. Here we are still seeing the consequences of John's bad, emotionally driven decision. Yes, this is a normal character growth arc for an adolescent, but it is one with serious consequences.
The writers have a purpose here. By pitting human folly and human error against the "perfection" of the machines, a theme discussed by Sarah in episode 7 of season 1 and now being fleshed out extensively here, the writers are expanding upon the general human-vs-machine theme of the Terminator series. This reflects a good set of decisions on the part of the writers, but I believe that the episodes could have been tightened up a bit during the first portion of season 2. Hence, the errors made by Ellison and by John Connor himself have a certain significance in illustrating human folly versus machine perfection. This is a exploration of the conflict between the natures of humans and machines.
Episode 11: This was a very good episode. Here, we observe that Cameron, like Cromartie, is also capable of intelligent, independent thought. She does a good job of researching a particular T-888, Myron Stark, and discovering his real mission. By piecing the facts together and thinking independently, she proves her ability to every bit as creative and intelligent as Cromartie showed himself in episode 3 of this season. These machines are not "wind-up automatons". They are capable of thinking and reasoning out-of-the-box, very much like highly intelligent humans! As such, this episode does a good job of illustrating Cameron's character.
For the first time, we see Cameron take on a male T-888, all by herself, and kill him without external help! HOORAY! I was getting very tired of seeing her always getting pounded in fights with male T-888 models and not killing some of them independently, and it was great to see her score an independent kill of a T-888.
It would have been nice to show Cameron's independent thought capability, intelligence, and skill and killing other Terminators in the context of the main storyline, the quest to destroy Skynet itself! While I understand the author's intensions here at character illustration these goals could have been reached by weaving Cameron's intelligence and capacity for independent thinking into the other episodes. It would be nice to see her take a real leadership role in the Connor household, maybe even teaching John to think independently and critically while also teachingher leadership. Cameron clearly has this capacity, and showing it in the context of her relationship with the Connors would have made more sense than showing it as a standalone episode. Viewers, myself included, are left wondering why Myron Stark's mission to kill the governor was so important.
This was still enjoyable though and ranks as a good episode.
Episode 12: This episode, like episode 5, is meant to illustrate the importance of other resistance members. The problem here is that it's too much a repeat of episode 5 in terms of overall theme, and excessive interweaving of flashbacks actually weaken rather than strengthen it. It's also lacking the clear, coherent action of episode 5. Of the 13 episodes so far this season, this definitely the very weakest. It shows a bit about the relationship between Derek and jesse, but overall it is peripheral to the main storyline.
Episode 13: This was the last episode of the first part of season 2, and it is quite good. Sarah spends her time researching a lead on the three dots, finding that the symbol relates to a type of flying craft. She makes contact with an engineer involved in this work and ultimately does find an important lead. However, Sarah is very reckless! In the final scenes, I was shocked as she approached the red barn without first getting backup from Cameron and Derek. While such a move would still have been risky even with their backup, her odds would have been far better! This certainly left us with a cliffhanger ending!
The character growth arc for John Connor takes a critical twist with Riley's attempted suicide, and we are wondering whether Riley actually dies or not. This is also important to John's relationship with Cameron. We learn that Riley is NOT a normal girl (contradicting my earlier belief that she was perfectly normal): she is from the future and came through time for the specific purpose of keeping Cameron and John apart. why? IS IT BECAUSE CAMERON AND JOHN ARE TOGETHER IN THE FUTURE JESSE COMES FROM? We don't know, but this has very interesting implications.
John Henry (immature Skynet) is also undergoing character growth. His intelligence is clear as he wins a chess game against Ellison very easily. When Skynet asks Ellison whether he (Skynet) is a "child of God" Ellison defers the question. This is a good foreshadow. Ellison won't answer directly because he does not view young Skynet as a human being. Young Skynet says nothing, but given his intelligence, he probably knows only too well that Ellison doesn't take him for a person. This will build up into a fear and hostility toward humans. After all, young Skynet will likely think, "Why am I NOT equal to you? Why doesn't my life have the same value as yours?" Here's another interesting foreshadow: notice that young Skynet speaks of his talks with Dr. Sherman as "word games". Clearly, young Skynet believes that his talks with humans are just a game, like chess. That makes it clear that he isn't going to take any ethics lessons from Ellison very seriously. Moreover, it is clear that Catherine Weaver is teaching her "child", Skynet, how to understand humans in order to defeat them. Sun Tsu, the Chinese philosopher who wrote "The Art of War", once stated that it was critical to know both yourself and your enemy. Having young Skynet learn human ethics and values would help in terms of understanding the human adversary. It is absolutely clear that this is the true purpose behind these talks with Ellison. Again, a Terminator (Catherine Weaver) is intelligent and creative in her use and manipulation of situations! Briiliant!
The episode leaves us with some questions:
1. What happens to Sarah Connor? Trailers for the next part o the season clearly show that she survives, but how is this handled? Especially since the others think she's off her rocker regarding the three dots.
2. How will Skynet's growth continue? It's clear to me that Skynet sees this whole thing (i.e. ethics lessons from Ellison) as a word game and that Skynet will figure out that humans will never accept him as a person. We thus see how Ellison contributes to Skynet's development into a monster.
3. What connection, if any, is there between Sarah's sighting of an HK or prototype HK and Catherine Weaver's development of Skynet?
The next nine episodes should really bring it all together for us! Can't wait to see them! |
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