In the fifth episode of the second season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a T-888 targets one of John’s future friends and allies. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
This is a slow burn of an episode, one that’s largely about small bits of character development than anything else. AND THEN IT DESTROYED ME IN THE END BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT THIS SHOW DOES. Let’s discuss!
Ellison
I don’t get it. I don’t understand it. Clearly, Catherine Weaver needs something from Ellison; why else would should recruit him for this? Except IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE. Why would she send him back to the Serrano Point plant? She was lying about knowing about the Terminator who infiltrated that place, right? That’s my guess, but then any theory I might have about her role here completely falls apart when I try to examine it. If her goal is to ensure Skynet’s existence in the future, then where does Ellison fall into this? If she can just imitate any human ever, why use Ellison? Is she using him to clean up any potential messes? Why does she refer to him as an “avenging angel?â€
I’M SO CONFUSED. And yet? 100% into this storyline. I do wish it got more screentime because I love seeing Richard Jones act across from Shirley Manson. PLUS, I NEED ANSWERS.
Sarah
OH, SARAH CONNOR. She’s always been deliberately cold, closed off from the world because the world could kill her. So watching her interact with the young Martin Bedell is a treat, mostly because Lena Headey’s acting is out of this world. Plus, this kid is a constant surprise; not only is the actor talented, but his character brings out elements of Sarah Connor that we don’t really get to see.
Granted, it’s a very strange situation, one that Sarah wasn’t quite ready to deal with. She wanted to save the other Bedells from certain death, but she didn’t think she’d have to babysit the kid she technically kidnapped. Martin isn’t exactly an easy kid to handle, but he’s also completely in over his head. There’s that heartbreaking outburst halfway through this episode where he vocalizes his frustration with his uncompleted book report, and Y’ALL. It’s a clear demonstration that he’s struggling to understand the real weight of what he’s going through. Some strange creature is out to kill him and may kill his parents. So, despite that Sarah is a stranger, he ends up looking up to her for support.
And Sarah responds, brilliantly so, and there’s almost a sense of normalcy to her interactions with this kid. For the briefest of moments, we can imagine what it would have been like for her to live in a world without constant danger.
But that’s not the world she lives in, and the same goes for John Connor.
John
I admit to feeling like a lot of the earlier scenes at Presidio Alto to be slower than I’m used to from this show. But I do think that has to be the case here, since this is mostly a waiting game. As Cameron and Sarah deal with the T-888 up in LA, Derek and John are patiently preparing for the inevitable appearance of the Terminator who will try to kill Martin Bedell. And unfortunately for them, the Martin at Presidio Alto is the Martin from the future. On top of that, just being on the grounds of the academy triggers constant memories of Martin in the future.
While I appreciate any glimpse into the future, it’s important that those scenes established Martin’s unwavering courage. Like John Connor in the present time, the future gives us a character’s endpoint. When we meet Martin Bedell, he’s not much like his future self. Even worse, he confides in John that he’s ready to skip school and run away with a girl he’s fallen for. It’s because of this that John becomes further crushed by the weight of destiny, AND IT’S SO SAD TO WATCH. Seriously, Martin, no one understands wanting to run away from everything more than John. So why does John have to push Martin in a direction that’ll put him in danger? Why can’t Martin choose a different path in life? Why do they have to accept certain aspects of the future?
Right, because Martin sacrificed his life to save John Connor. So if he doesn’t save Martin, Martin won’t save him later, and mankind dies. It’s a remarkably grim and distressing end to this episode. Yes, it’s important that Martin Bedell did something heroic, but how does that feel if you’re John Connor? How do you cope with the fact that you keep hearing stories about people dying for your benefit? That’s not an empowering thing for John; it’s mortifying.
But it’s the life he has now.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Simply put: that whole sequence where Martin and Sarah read from that book while the T-888 hunts down the real Martin Bedell is stunning. Incredible. Brilliant. Goddamn, the writers on this show are SO FUCKING GOOD.
The video for “Goodbye to All That†can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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