"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Today Is the Day: Part 2 (2009)

Director:

Guy Norman Bee

Writers:

Josh Friedman (developer)
Ashley Miller (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" (2008)

Original Air Date:

20 March 2009 (Season 2, Episode 19)

Genre:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

Jesse recalls more of her fateful future mission aboard the Jimmy Carter. Back in the present, her plan to turn John against Cameron backfires when John discovers that Jesse--not Cameron--killed Riley.

Plot Keywords:

Skynet | Russian Mafia | Female Terminator | Cyborg | Robot

Cast

Lena Headey	...	Sarah Connor
Thomas Dekker	...	John Connor
Summer Glau	...	Cameron Phillips
Brian Austin Green	...	Derek Reese
Garret Dillahunt	...	John Henry
Shirley Manson	...	Catherine Weaver / T-1001
Leven Rambin	...	Riley
Richard T. Jones	...	James Ellison
Theo Rossi	...	Dietze
Chad Coleman	...	Queeg (as Chad L. Coleman)
Chris Ellis	...	Hayes
Stephanie Jacobsen	...	Jesse Flores
Yuri Lowenthal	...	Garvin
Krishna Cole	...	Blake
Erin Fleming	...	Goodnow

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Certification:

USA:TV-14

Trivia:

Terminator John Henry can be seen painting miniatures. Those are a "Cloud Giant" and a "Fomorian" from the Dungeons & Dragons miniature game (Giants of Legend series).

Goofs:

Continuity: When ranting about the 'metal' in the canteen, Dietze's arms keep changing position.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Derek Reese: [of Riley] I'm really sorry, John. She was a good kid, she didn't deserve what happened to her.
John Connor: Few people do.

Movie Connections:

References The Caine Mutiny (1954)

Soundtrack:

New Messiah

Dreamflower, I totally agree

This series was always somewhat interesting but as this season has progressed its blossomed into a full blown classic that can hold its own with the likes of Battlestar Galactica and the late, lamented Babylon 5. And, I'm not just confining it to the category of my lifelong, preferred genre, SF; its easily one of the best nuanced and textured series on the glass teat (thank you, Harlan Ellison).

I have to say that Jesse became more sympathetic to me with the USS Jimmy Carter story arc. Now, I could understand what I always suspected with the intro and development of the Jesse character: her decisions were shaped by the tragedy aboard the Carter and the consequences it engendered. She saw the Carter incident as a sign of weakness in humanity's "saviour", in the form of a "skin job" that got too close to Connor and perhaps influenced him to, by her lights, take a gamble with the machines. The fact that her close friends and crew mates were slaughtered by what was in the box to be brought back to Conner and the loss of her and Derrick's baby just compounded the matter.

This is a dark yet slyly humorous series that has taken its time to develop the back story needed for it to thrive as a series. Most of us older SF fans take a look at Battlestar, Babylon, X-files, Next Generation and Entetprise--seasons 3 & 4 (the two Star treks that I think are worth a damn) and weep for the quality we could have seen and didn't during our formative years.