In the thirteenth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i>, Sarah seeks out the meaning behind the three dots in an unlikely place, while Cameron begins to suspect Riley. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For discussion of abuse, cissexism, suicide, and abortion.<\/b><\/p>\n
I seriously thought this was going to end with a confirmation that Alan was lying and bullshit and it was all unconnected to the larger story but I FUCKED UP\u00c2\u00a0I FUCKED UP<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Abraham<\/b><\/p>\n
I know that I discounted the importance of this episode because the premise seemed so\u00c2\u00a0absurd<\/i>. A UFO convention?\u00c2\u00a0Really?<\/i> Except then the writers draw deliberate parallels between these believers and Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, and I was done.\u00c2\u00a0Done<\/i>. AND YET I WAS COMPLETELY UNPREPARED FOR WHERE THIS STORY WOULD GO.<\/p>\n
It was compelling, though, to think about how this network of UFO believers could comfort Sarah. In a strange way, they had been through something similar as her, namely in experiencing doubt from their loved ones. But that wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough to sustain a full episode. It was an interesting story, but what connection did this have to Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quest? I saw potential in the drone storyline because it\u00c2\u00a0was<\/i> possible that technology created for drone use\u00c2\u00a0could<\/i> have morphed into something that eventually became part of Skynet. But\u00c2\u00a0how can you tell? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what drives a great deal of the suspense and tension here. While Alan seems trustworthy once we learn exactly what his past is, we never know if this is a true path to the answer of the three dots.<\/p>\n
Which is awkward in a way that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly unintended. I was briefly (literally for like a few seconds) excited about the possibility of a transgender character, but no. As far as I can tell, Alan wants to be called Alan and is a cisgender man who merely disguised himself as a woman. (Though Alan is played by a cis woman?) There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing here to make this a canon trans character, though that wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly be the best representation either, since \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Earthlings Welcome Here\u00e2\u20ac\u009d dabbles in the same sort of tropes of deception that are often associated with trans or gender non-conforming characters. (Stop doing this, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.) So it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often weird to talk about, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s weird to have a character like this at the center of an episode about legitimacy. Nothing is illegitimate about people who choose to wear clothing that differs from expected norms, and all the talk about what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153real\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or not is massively uncomfortable when applied to gender.<\/p>\n
So what does this mean for Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doubt? Like I said, one of the main themes of this episode is about the legitimacy of perception. Has Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obsession with the three dots been a foolhardy journey the whole time? Is she imagining connections to Alan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0easier<\/i> for her to do so? I thought that at the worst, Alan was working on a type of metal that had no connection to Skynet whatsoever. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not entirely unbelievable that Alan worked on a top-secret government project, but was that\u00c2\u00a0Sarah<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/i> project as well?<\/p>\n
I suppose once that black-clad motorcyclist shot at Alan and Sarah, that really didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter. BECAUSE SOMETHING WAS CLEARLY GOING ON HERE. Why try to execute Alan? Was what he knew\u00c2\u00a0really<\/i> that bad??? What was the piece of metal that he stole and locked away in storage? Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, it\u00c2\u00a0had<\/i> to be something terrible because they were willing to assassinate both Alan and the UFO group leader. WHY? WHAT HAD SARAH STUMBLED ON?<\/p>\n
I simply\u00c2\u00a0loved<\/i> the scene where Alan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voiceover led Sarah to that warehouse, though I wonder how much of\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i> Sarah imagined. Did Alan\u00c2\u00a0really<\/i> say he was once a waitress? I think there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a dichotomous view of Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s identity within this episode, particularly since this episode makes her think about her time before she ever became wrapped up in this nightmare. In that sense, I think Alan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t necessarily offensive, since he had learned to live a life split entirely in two. (That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I said it was unintentional; that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean we shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t talk about it, though, since I think lots of us cis folk overlook the implications of our thoughts on gender.) There was life before he ran, and life after. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just like Sarah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. So will hers end like Alan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s? Will she get used to running?<\/p>\n
Also:\u00c2\u00a0What was in that warehouse????<\/i> CLEARLY THIS IS ACTUALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION I NEED TO BE ASKING. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s possible she hallucinated that machine, but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 seriously, that could be the prototype for the flying machines we see in the future.\u00c2\u00a0It could be real<\/i>. It could explain her obsession with the three dots. And it sure as hell could explain why that warehouse is so important and why Sarah was shot in the leg over it. BUT???? MAYBE NOT??? I DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW, THIS CLIFFHANGER IS SO UNFAIR.<\/p>\n
John \/ Riley<\/b><\/p>\n
Well, this hurts\u00c2\u00a0even more<\/i>. Just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 christ, this is so upsetting. Through flashbacks, we find out just how long Jesse has been preparing Riley for her mission\u00c2\u00a0and<\/i> abusing her. Make no mistake, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0precisely<\/i> what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening here, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s horrifying to watch. Jesse takes a vulnerable girl, introduces her to a world where she has some semblance of calm and care, and then she exploits her. When Riley is at her absolute worst, Jesse physically and emotionally abuses her further, demonstrating to Riley that she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually care about her. All that matters is the mission. (Which feels like a reference to the uncaring nature of the machines, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.) And it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frightening that this appears to be working! John isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t trusting Cameron at all, despite that she believes that Riley is lying.<\/p>\n
But I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m mostly worried about Riley. Look, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absurd to suggest that this episode\u00c2\u00a0heavily<\/i> implies that Riley\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s feelings towards Jesse are not simply out of comfort. I think that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something romantic here, given that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s looking to\u00c2\u00a0live<\/i> with Jesse more permanently. Yes, Jesse is someone who provides Riley with a sense of stability, so I understand that interpretation here. But the way she looks at Jesse\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 goddamn, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ignore this. Which is why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so heartbreaking to see her without any real support system. She can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t turn to Jesse; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no longer with her foster parents; and John suspects that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something amiss. Who does she have to go to? It makes me terribly sad, and I hope this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the end for her. But she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all along in this world, and her suicide attempt here is one of the most upsetting things I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen on this show. Christ, this is awful.<\/p>\n
Ellison<\/b><\/p>\n
AND THIS IS THE MOST UNSETTLING ASPECT OF THIS EPISODE. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absolutely surreal to see John Henry alive in Cromartie\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153body,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d given that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so hard to separate the two of them. Plus, I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand a bit of Catherine Weaver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s plan. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help that she spends a great deal of this episode with a smirk on her face, as if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s telling the audience that she\u00c2\u00a0knows<\/i> that we know she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s up to something. Shirley Manson is a treat to watch, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also horrifying. Is Ellison creating the Skynet of the future? Is Catherine here to ensure that?<\/p>\n
Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another huge question raised by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Earthlings Welcome Here\u00e2\u20ac\u009d: can you teach a machine ethics? Morality? I think we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen aspects of that in Cameron, but unfortunately,\u00c2\u00a0she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s never gotten to a point where she can express these values in non-pragmatic terms. It still comes across as rigid logic or calculations. She can memorize the morals that John teaches her, but does that actually develop into something independent? Because Ellison is a religious character, he relies on his Christianity to begin his talks with John Henry. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bother me that he starts with this, and it makes sense for his character to have that sort of basis for his lessons. I was less impressed with the weird parallels to pro-life logic, though I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s less the writers trying to preach and more of a clumsy handling of the subject matter. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sad that Ellison and his wife tried to have a child, and she had an abortion after 9\/11. It gives us the context for their relationship ending: Ellison wanted lots of kids, she wanted none. But then Ellison starts talking about how all life is sacred, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a little uncomfortable. Is Ellison pro-life? Is it more than just resentment towards his wife for having an abortion, or is it entirely a personal thing? Admittedly, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s complicated! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know whether the show is going to explore this further, either. But I think Ellison\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s faith is integral to his characterization, and I do<\/i> appreciate that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re seeing him work through it, no matter how challenging that is.<\/p>\n
The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Earthlings Welcome Here\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. In the thirteenth episode of the second season of\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Sarah seeks out the meaning behind the three dots in an unlikely place, while Cameron begins to suspect Riley. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch\u00c2\u00a0The Sarah … Continue reading
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