{"id":4331,"date":"2015-01-02T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2015-01-02T16:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=4331"},"modified":"2015-01-01T23:33:15","modified_gmt":"2015-01-02T07:33:15","slug":"mark-watches-the-sarah-connor-chronicles-s02e12-alpine-fields","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2015\/01\/mark-watches-the-sarah-connor-chronicles-s02e12-alpine-fields\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘The Sarah Connor Chronicles’: S02E12 – Alpine Fields"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twelfth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i>, Derek tries to save someone who is important to the future Resistance. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For brief mention of suicide.<\/b><\/p>\n

This show is just so\u00c2\u00a0rewarding<\/i>, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a serialized arc present in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Alpine Fields\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also its own story, and I do love it when shows find a good balance between the two of them. LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK ABOUT THIS, IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO NEAT.<\/p>\n

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

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been trying to parse my thoughts on the storyline that is set six months prior to Derek\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interactions with Lauren and Anne Fields, and I realized that the writers are almost giving the Fields\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 family destruction a soap opera feel. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that in a negative way; as the Fields cope with the Terminator who is out to kill Anne, we watch their lives fall apart in an almost comedically absurd fashion. All of this is deliberately juxtaposed with the drama of Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, which is a lot more muted in comparison. While these people talk about their family secrets, their betrayals, and their issues with one another, Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s busy building a trap to hopefully disable the T-888.<\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s through this that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re given hints about Lauren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s future interest in the Resistance. She floats around Sarah, eager to help. I think Derek was right about her willingness to adapt; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s young enough to be able to shed her preconceived notions of the world and change herself to fit within it. (I have another headcanon-y thought about this, though. I think Lauren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s line about watching \u00e2\u20ac\u0153lesbian porn\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on her father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s computer wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a joke at all, and she just covered it with a dismissal BUT IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S ACTUALLY TRUE. Which leads to her having a bit of a crush on Sarah Connor, which inspires her to be like Sarah, and THIS IS A REALLY GOOD HEADCANON, OKAY.) It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why we do see her in the future, doing what she can to save humanity. The events of this day changed her forever, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an awful thing. She looks so radiant in the future, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of the few beacons of hope we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen on this show.<\/p>\n

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

But it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t\u00c2\u00a0seem<\/i> hopeful in the present time. If anything, Anne and Lauren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life is more chaotic and upsetting than it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ever been. Again, I think this show constantly takes risks with its story, and this non-linear episode is a great example of that. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not one shot of John Connor or Ellison or Catherine Weaver, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re asked to care about characters who probably won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter in future storylines. But they matter\u00c2\u00a0now<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a compelling story because we watch how these people adapt to a life that is no longer ordinary. Lauren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much better at it than Anne, which is sad because that inevitably led to her husband\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death and Roger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death as well. Shit, and her own! Which is why it felt so bleak to me, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. These people didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deserve to go through this, but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, no one did. No one deserves to suffer like this, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one aspect of this series that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pervasive throughout the show\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> the movies. Life is utterly unfair for everyone embroiled in this nightmare. But\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i> gives us a chance to see how \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ordinary\u00e2\u20ac\u009d people fight against an oppressive future in their own ways, one victory at a time.<\/p>\n

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

That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important for\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>to give us signs of hope and signs of progress. While the writers aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t afraid to be grim, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not being dark for the sake of it. The war against Skynet is a complicated nightmare, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting to see the small ways in which the Resistance gains ground against the machines. By helping save Sydney, Derek\u00c2\u00a0saved himself<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another predestination paradox, as is her name. But this episode does more than show us the Fields\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 importance to the future. We finally get to see how Derek and Jesse first met, and OH MY GOD IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO HEARTBREAKING. When we first got a glimpse of that pregnant woman and her daughters, I thought it was a shot of some random people in Derek\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bunker. I had no idea that it was actually a glimpse of all the dead humans in Sydney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bunker, the ones who had succumbed to a bio-weapon. And shit, I do like that this story gives us some worldbuilding, too. Of\u00c2\u00a0course<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0Skynet would pursue any means necessary to exterminate humanity!<\/p>\n

Sydney is the exception to their act of terrorism, and her blood holds the key to humanity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s survival.\u00c2\u00a0But Derek is so overwhelmed by the sheer inhumanity he witnesses in that bunker that he contemplates killing himself, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s here that we see how Jesse\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearance actually saves his life. (And there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s some neat worldbuilding in that, too! I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so happy that this show has now confirmed that other countries are also dealing with the Skynet threat in their own way.) And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s in these details that the future is made. Jesse saves Derek, they both save Sydney, who saves\u00c2\u00a0them<\/i> with the antidote to Skynet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weapon, and both of them head back in time to save the world. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all connected, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only hope we have that the Resistance can truly beat the machines.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Alpine Fields\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":"