In the first episode of the second season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, I’m fucked up, you’re fucked up, everything is fucked up. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Jesus, what a ride that was.
This was a bold and incredible way to open up this season, and it signals a massive shift in the storytelling. The focus is changing for John Connor, for the arc of season 2, FOR MY OWN PERSONAL WELL-BEING. And lord, this is going to be so much fun.
Ellison
While I am desperate for him to have a larger role this season, I actually liked that his presence here was so serene. Ellison has just witnessed the most traumatic thing in his life, and he’s shaken, so much so that he sort of drifts from scene-to-scene, constantly unable to process how much his worldview has been destroyed. At the very least, he knows that he is alone. The only other person who might have believed him at the FBI – Greta Simpson – is now dead. He can’t explain the true course of events to his superiors, and he can’t find solace in his faith or in any other person. I think that this is all done to give us this subtle parallel between Ellison and John Connor. Both of them realize how lonely this world has become because of their experiences with different Terminators, and I feel like “Samson & Delilah†is a quiet acceptance on their part of the destiny that sits before them. That’s a lot more obvious for John, but I think Ellison is going to use his power at the FBI to continue pursuing this.
Catherine Weaver
Look, there are a lot of spectacular things in this episode, but giving us Shirley Manson as a goddamn T-1000 Terminator is perhaps the most incredible thing in the universe. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT. I love that we don’t actually understand her purpose aside from knowing that her interest in the Turk feels sinister. I love that she gives that entire monologue about humanity, and it makes her seem like a cold and calculating CEO AND INSTEAD IT’S ACTUALLY FORESHADOWING HER REAL IDENTITY OH MY GOD. I love that after that one dude says something misogynistic about her, SHE TRANSFORMS FROM A URINAL INTO HER HUMAN FORM AND THEN KILLS HIM. I have no idea what her purpose here is, I don’t understand how she was able to become head of this business, and I don’t know how long she’s infiltrated our world. DOES SHE KNOW ABOUT JOHN CONNOR? What’s her endgame? Is she actually creating Skynet? Oh, I’m just so excited, y’all.
John and Cameron, Samson and Delilah
I was so upset, y’all. I was so upset for most of this episode because I’d grown to like Cameron so much, and then the show reminds me that she is a literal killing machine, and I had to accept that this might be it for her. Summer Glau is BRILLIANT throughout this episode, portraying a range of emotions we’ve never seen in Cameron. Initially, though, we have to watch in horror as her programming is reset to default mode after her chip is damaged in the explosion. I loved that they made her physically broken as well, since the visual imagery of her torn face was so striking. That’s one aspect of this that I did appreciate: practically everyone was physically harmed in this massive fight, and their injuries aren’t ignored.
While “Samson & Delilah†is largely a frightening cat-and-mouse game between Cameron and the Connors, it’s the moral and emotional beats present within this that made this episode feel so monumental. Like the audience, John has to navigate his own complicated feelings about Cameron; it’s clear he has an affectation for her, and he also knows that she possesses information about them that could get everyone killed. So he and his mother do what they can to trap Cameron, all in the hopes of removing the chip. AND I GENUINELY THOUGHT THEY’D GET IT RIGHT ON THE FIRST TRY, BUT NOPE. What’s so scary about this is that we are never allowed to believe that Cameron won’t destroy them. That whole fight sequence in the Los Angeles River drains (a nice callback to T2) perfectly demonstrated Cameron’s abilities and her willingness to be cruel. This is what they do. And this character we’d grown to like is perfectly capable of being just like Cromartie and every other Terminator in this fictional universe.
So what’s the solution to this? Look, I’ve seen shows kill off a major character in a season premiere, so I believed that this was entirely possible. Plus, that seemed like the only solution! They had to kill Cameron because the information she possessed was so vital. As if I needed to question my moral stance any more than I already was, the writers decide to unleash the most unfair scene imaginable on us: Cameron begging John not to remove the chip because she’s “fixed†AND HER FACE IS SO UNFAIR, AND WAS THAT A REAL MOMENT OR A TRICK? Regardless, it’s still an unsettling sequence because it really did look real. Is that the sort of emotional capacity that Cameron has? Did she really believe her “life†was about to end?
When John does eventually decide to repair Cameron’s chip and to resurrect her in defiance of Derek and Sarah, it signals his change. Well, I should point out that it’s not just this decision that influences him. In that stunning filmed/edited opening sequence, we find out that someone killed Sarkissian. WITH THEIR BARE HANDS. I was ready to type that Sarah was responsible, but now that I think about it, we don’t actually get to see who killed that man. It seemed obvious to me, given Sarah’s emotional state at the end of the episode, that she’d finally killed another person and was upset because of it. (Good god, Lena Headey, how are you real? WHY DON’T YOU HAVE A MILLION AWARDS JUST FOR YOUR FACE ACTING ALONE?) Was John so cold to her because that’s what he’d witnessed? I think that makes a lot of sense, and I think it could also explain his defiance to Sarah, too.
While I stick to that theory, I think it’s important regardless that this signifies John Connor becoming the John Connor in the future. This is the first major decision he’s made all on his own, and he’s committed to it. The way the entire thing is framed establishes a visual separation between John and the adults, and I feel like it’s a fantastic way to outright state that John is not a child anymore. He is not there to take orders from others; he’s ready to make them on his own. I loved the reference to Samson having his hair cut off here, though it’s John who cuts off his own hair in the end. After betrayal, John finds strength instead of having it taken away from him. And part of that strength? It’s in the very person who betrayed him.
Y’all, that episode was so amazing. Holy shit.
The video for “Samson & Delilah†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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