{"id":4298,"date":"2014-12-16T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2014-12-16T16:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4298"},"modified":"2014-12-09T09:16:12","modified_gmt":"2014-12-09T17:16:12","slug":"mark-watches-the-sarah-connor-chronicles-s01e09-what-he-beheld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2014\/12\/mark-watches-the-sarah-connor-chronicles-s01e09-what-he-beheld\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘The Sarah Connor Chronicles’: S01E09 – What He Beheld"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ninth and final episode of the first season of\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i>, THAT WAS SO OVERWHELMING. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holy shit, that was INCREDIBLE. Both understated and over-the-top, this finale managed to feel like a proper close to this chapter of the story while hinting at A LOT OF THINGS.\u00c2\u00a0A LOT<\/i>. INCLUDING ONE THING THAT I NEED TO YELL ABOUT BECAUSE I WANT SO DESPERATELY FOR IT TO BE REAL.<\/p>\n

Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chat, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.\u00c2\u00a0I have things to say<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Protector<\/b><\/p>\n

Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I was retroactively destroyed by the cold open of this episode once Derek revealed who those kids were. But\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i> is not content with merely invoking this emotional tool just for the sake of it, and\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i> is what makes this such a fascinating choice. The entire\u00c2\u00a0Terminator<\/i> franchise has to rely on time travel as a story premise, and while that leaves a lot of storytelling potential, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also easy to rely on cliches and archetypes if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not careful. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s definitely a trope at work here in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What He Beheld\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a person visiting their past self \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in the details that this show absolutely knocks it out of the park. I mean, if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d just seen Derek watching himself and his brother, I think that would be powerful enough. I got the sense that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been constantly visiting that park to watch them, so it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s watching over them, just to ensure that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re safe. (Within this world, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a reasonable thing to do. What if a Terminator travels back in time to kill Kyle Reese, thereby preventing Sarah from having John?)<\/p>\n

But Derek doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take John to that park in order to do something for himself. He gives John the first glimpse of his father\u00c2\u00a0ever<\/i>. AND HIS FATHER IS A CHILD, AND IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S WEIRD AS FUCK, AND IT DOESN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T MATTER BECAUSE JOHN IS SO OVERWHELMED BY THE OPPORTUNITY THAT HE STARTS CRYING AND\u00c2\u00a0I AM SO DONE WITH THIS SHOW<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Sarkissian<\/b><\/p>\n

Oh my god,\u00c2\u00a0where is this going<\/i>? In the pursuit of the Turk, the Connors unravel a complex conspiracy that I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I understand at all, and I WANT TO KNOW SO MUCH MORE. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brilliant move on the part of the show because it demonstrates to us that this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going to be a singular story. At this point in the season, all we had to go after was the Turk, and now it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that this is just the tip of the iceberg in\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 something else??? It was so jarring to finally meet \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sarkissian,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to see him openly manipulate Sarah and blackmail her, and to have the episode suggest that this man was connected to something much larger than himself. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so special about the Turk? Does someone else know what it becomes?<\/p>\n

CAN WE ALSO TALK ABOUT CAMERON DURING THIS PLOT? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so endlessly entertained by this show sticking these violent, terrifying scenes within the framework of high school. In this case, one of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sarkissian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d men tries to keep an eye on John, but Cameron manages to stop him. Oh, right, by killing him and stuffing him in his own trunk<\/i>. WHICH SHE THEN OPENLY ADMITS TO MORRIS, OH MY GOD, WHAT ARE YOU DOING. I guess they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to prom now? (Oh god, maybe not because of\u00c2\u00a0reasons<\/i>.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, this just gets so deeply complicated and uncomfortable and frightening. I mean, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just talk about the big one: Derek shooting \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sarkissian\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in that alley right in front of that little girl, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re tricked into believing that she is his daughter, and WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME,\u00c2\u00a0SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES<\/i>? And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even the most shocking thing in this episode, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all! Actually, given that Derek is the shooter, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not surprising that\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i> specific character would do something so brutal. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen multiple times that Derek is willing to kill anyone he sees standing in the way of the greater mission, so while he does cover that girl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes, he still executes her \u00e2\u20ac\u0153father\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with little hesitation. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s terrifying! But that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the dichotomy of Derek Reese that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been presented to us in the show. He can be the man we saw when he showed John his father, and he can be the man who killed \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sarkissian\u00e2\u20ac\u009d without a second thought.<\/p>\n

So, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had to put \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sarkissian\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in quotes because that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not actually who he is, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because this show is super, super evil. The man they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been interacting with the entire episode is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, who knows? We never find out his name, and his hard drive shows\u00c2\u00a0another<\/i> man with the name Sarkissian. ALSO, SURPRISE, THE OWNER OF THE INTERNET CAFE IS BEHIND PROBABLY EVERYTHING AND HE PUTS A BOMB UNDER THE CAR AND IT BLOWS UP WITH CAMERON INSIDE IT. WHY. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do I need\u00c2\u00a0to kill you now?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to save some thoughts for predictions, but I need to talk about this. NOW. I loved that we got to see Carlos and his gang again, though I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sad that most of them are now dead. (What about Carlos himself?) I wish the show would name the young Latina woman who keeps showing up, but HOLY SHIT. GREAT.\u00c2\u00a0GREAT<\/i>. Her silence allows her to secretly follow \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sarkissian,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how she tells the Connors where he is. But after this woman helps them, Cameron asks her, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do I need to kill you now?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Which seemed really, really,\u00c2\u00a0really<\/i> strange, given the circumstances. This person had just led them to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sarkissian\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u009d hideout and nothing more. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like she learned anything about the Terminators or Skynet.<\/p>\n

Oh god, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. WHAT IF THIS GIRL IS ALSO A TERMINATOR. WHAT IF SHE IS AN OPERATIVE.\u00c2\u00a0WHAT IF<\/i>.<\/p>\n

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably bogus, but whatever, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great idea, I LOVE IT, I just want her and Cameron to have their own show. I WANT IT.<\/p>\n

Ellison<\/b><\/p>\n

I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T. There is just so much brilliance in what the writers choose to do with his plot, and I am so thrilled he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still alive because THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Like, where do I start??? How about with Ellison visiting Charley and basically telling him that he believes Sarah Connor? This man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s whole life has been upturned by recent events, so I saw this as a desperate grab for stability. Ellison cannot keep this whole world to himself anymore, and so he goes to the only person who\u00c2\u00a0might<\/i> have a connection to Sarah Connor. He knows she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s alive now, and he knows that she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lying about Skynet. Of course, the meeting doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite go as he expected, since Charley isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t about to just hand over Sarah to someone who\u00c2\u00a0might<\/i> believe her.<\/p>\n

But from meeting Charley, Ellison gets a name: Kester. This is how this show builds the inevitable confrontation between Cromartie and Ellison. Once Ellison has the name, we know it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only a matter of time before he connects it to Laszlo, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only a matter of time before this all starts to make sense to him. Even then, I expected something different. As the FBI agents began to converge on Kester\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s place, I assumed that Kester would have escaped, slipped out of a window and chosen a less confrontational option than one that would get so much attention. But I even commented in the last episode\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s video that Kester was getting more and more bold, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122D FORGOTTEN I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122D SAID THAT.<\/p>\n

I think it was absolutely monumental that this show chose to show us the ramifications of this raid by sticking a camera in the pool and merely showing us the horrible aftermath. It leaves our imaginations running wild, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about a million times more horrifying than if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d actually seen everyone, including Greta Simpson, die at Cromartie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand. (It reminded me of a certain scene in the original version of\u00c2\u00a0Let The Right One In<\/i>, which I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend.) All we see is body after bloody body plunge into that pool, all murdered by Cromartie in a manner of minutes.<\/p>\n

All but Ellison, who is spared for\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 what? Why keep him alive? As witness to the carnage? The man ABSOLUTELY knows Terminators are real now, so why keep him around? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SCARED.<\/p>\n

This season was brief, but it packed a hell of a punch. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait for season two.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What He Beheld\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– Mark Does Stuff is now on Facebook<\/a>! Feel free to Like the page, which I’m running myself, for updates and SILLINESS.
\n– If you would like to support this website and keep Mark Does Stuff running, I’ve put up a detailed post explaining how you can!<\/a>
\n– Please check out the MarkDoesStuff.com<\/a>. All Mark Watches videos for past shows\/season are now archived there!
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next two Double Features are now in the schedule! I will be watching <\/b>The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i><\/b> and then <\/b>Leverage<\/i><\/b>. <\/b>Commission away!
\n– I will be at quite a few conventions and will be hosting events throughout 2015, so check my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page<\/a> often to see if I’m coming to your city!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"