{"id":4315,"date":"2014-12-22T08:00:45","date_gmt":"2014-12-22T16:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4315"},"modified":"2014-12-15T19:16:12","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T03:16:12","slug":"mark-watches-the-sarah-connor-chronicles-s02e03-the-mousetrap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2014\/12\/mark-watches-the-sarah-connor-chronicles-s02e03-the-mousetrap\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘The Sarah Connor Chronicles’: S02E03 – The Mousetrap"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the third episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i>, IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S A TRAP. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m only three episodes into this season and everything\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fucked up.<\/p>\n

John<\/b><\/p>\n

I have some sympathy for John because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obvious that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never been more desperate for a sense of normalcy than this. As I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve mentioned before, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m pleased that the show is exploring John\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characterization within a more traditional teenage rebellion. This episode, however, shows us what sort of risk John\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s taking by disobeying his mother. Is it worth it? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not to start this off by saying that what happened to Michelle is his fault, because that would be an absurd claim to make. John isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t responsible for what Cromartie does, and neither is Charlie. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll touch on that in a bit.)<\/p>\n

So how does John stay safe and still get to pursue his own life? I think the horrible truth we see here is that he\u00c2\u00a0doesn<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t<\/i> get his own life separate from the threat of Skynet. He tries\u00c2\u00a0real<\/i> hard to pursue a friendship with Riley, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s adorable, but how can this\u00c2\u00a0possibly<\/i> last? Truthfully, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a cosmic unfairness. John should be able to have a life where he can hang out with friends and have them over at his house and do everything else that other people generally get to do. But this is his life. His life is getting into the back of a stolen van and finding blood soaked into the floor. His life is life-or-death chases on the Santa Monica Pier.\u00c2\u00a0That<\/i> is what is normal for him.<\/p>\n

But hey! Terminators can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t swim. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good news! (Just kidding, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no good news anywhere.)<\/p>\n

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

OH MY GOD, IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S LIKE ELLISON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S STORY IN SEASON ONE BUT JUST A DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCE. He was so close to the truth last season, but was unaware just how deep in the shit he was. And now, Catherine Weaver is trying to ensnare Ellison in whatever plot she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cooking up, AND HE HAS NO IDEA HOW CLOSE HE IS TO THE TRUTH. I think that Ellison is going to be pushed in a direction where he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll feel compelled to give in to Catherine, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite know what that is. The problem is that\u00c2\u00a0I don<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand Catherine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s endgame<\/i>. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly aware of Ellison\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s involvement with Sarah Connor, enough that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bold enough to lay evidence of MORE Terminators in front of Ellison without any hesitation. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a ridiculous amount of certainty! But\u00c2\u00a0why?<\/i> Why recruit someone who knows about Terminators and can arguably give inside information\u00c2\u00a0to<\/i> Sarah and John Connor?<\/p>\n

My suspicion? She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to get him close and then eliminate him. Which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I hate typing that because I want SO MUCH MORE from Ellison, but isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t he a threat to her? Of course, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a huge flaw in that theory. If Weaver wanted to kill Ellison, she would have done so already. The Terminators are not exactly reluctant to assassinate anyone. So what gives? Why ask him to help find more Terminators? I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T UNDERSTAND.<\/p>\n

The Mousetrap<\/b><\/p>\n

Three episodes into this season, and we get a story that feels like a mid-season shocker. This is tense as hell, deliberately so, and it only gets worse and worse as it goes on. Despite that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite obvious that kidnapping Michelle was to set a trap, I STILL DIDN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T FIGURE OUT HOW MANY LEVELS THERE WERE TO THIS TRAP. There are both narrative and visual sleight of hands at work here. Why would Cromartie seemingly spend so much time on a fake bomb? To convince Sarah and Derek that it was real. Why would he plan such a clear trap for someone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s historically crafty and creative? TO GET THEM TO LEAVE JOHN BEHIND.<\/p>\n

But this is more than just a trap. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a terrible confirmation of how little the Terminators care about human life. Despite that the mousetrap bomb was a fake, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of a larger trap designed to kill as many people as possible. But even if it failed, it was no issue. Cromartie successfully pulled nearly everyone away from John Connor, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all he cared about. If anyone else died? Collateral damage.<\/p>\n

So I understand Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fury here, though I felt like it was entirely misdirected at Charlie. Which I get, too, since he was the closest thing to her that she could unload on. She keeps yelling at Charlie that he should have stayed away, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s precisely what he was doing! He was on the run already, though\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get very far. NOT THE POINT. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not his fault that Cromartie targeted him, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s kind of unfair that she expect Charlie to just let his wife be kidnapped (and ostensibly killed). What was he supposed to do? I think in this case, Sarah is just so used to cutting everyone out of her life if need be that she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand why someone else would just do the same. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lived this lifestyle for so long that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just natural for her. Of course, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore the primary cause of her frustration: she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s miles away from medical help for Michelle, and she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s even farther away from John. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what is so upsetting about this: Cromartie beat them. Even if he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get what he wanted, he exposed a crucial flaw in their lives.<\/p>\n

So\u00c2\u00a0what does this mean for their system? They can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t use the identification scheme anymore. I feel like there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to be a fallout from this; surely, Sarah is going to be pissed about John flagrantly going against her rules. And what about Charlie? Where does he fit into all this now that Michelle is dead?\u00c2\u00a0How is this show so messed up this early in the season<\/i>???<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Mousetrap\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>. It was commissioned by Ryan, who wanted to promote his brother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s website<\/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":"