The basic premise of the show is what you'd expect, with a few kickstart twists. The Connors and Terminator-Glau-Protector travel forward 8years into the future and because they invested in diamonds have wads of cash to spend on guns, fake ids and pokey tools. Theyre joined by a freedom fighter from the future, and some other bad Terminators (and some other freedomfightersfromfuture) Its odd that Glau as the 'big draw', The Terminator and biggest name actress has had very little to do. Progressively, her character mapping has gotten weaker, to contrived shoehorning into otherwise clever stories. Brian Green, in portraying Derek Reese, supplies the 'muscle' of the group of self-confessed terrorists. Glau appears irrelevant, much because of the show's orientation towards the 'human'
Sarah Connor's methods of investigation, determinedness and beliefs are logically developed from the cinematic rendition. Its unusual that her delusions are often pointed out as cynical by her son - his estragement acting as a viewer-perspective. For the most part though, the developing leader of the resistance, doesnt seem to reflect basics of the vocabulary we might expect one to gain from investigation in this area. Undoubtedly the most interesting characters in the series are those derived from Sarah's mission - Richard T. Jones's rendition of James Ellison brings a fine example of balanced inquisitiveness combined with complete naive lack of awareness about his obvious role as a tool. Probably the finest example of character writing in the series. Actor writing regins supreme in Shirley Manson's catherine Weaver - The Terminator's face in the corporate, which equally activates the sex drive and the shit-your-pants undrive. The concealment of cards here makes for a prime drive of the show, and gives the series layers of anticipation in eventuality.
Story-wise, The Sarah Connor Chronicles behaves sometimes as a butt itch. The dialogue is often cliched, the story is riddled with jump-the-plot-shark-moments. Lately, it has plodded on for episodes were very little happens. Stand alone stories sometimes work, but not in the way that we expect. It will be interesting to see what tricks the crew learns from competitive placement by Joss Whedon's Doll House. Were Connor Chronicles excels is that... as a viewer, when I begin to feel the show is more predictable than a Dan Brown audiobook, two years predictable, it sucker-punches me, with unforeseen sudden accelerations in story, and then another. I think of how Larry Hama, Simon Furman and Chris Claremont used to plot, and then times 100 and then times 100 again. The writers enjoy momentum high as addiction. This may be what causes the shows downfall and provides its final moments, for now though, its the hugest fun. It also manipulates character re-positioning, as in Garret Dillahunt's 'Cromartie' (a one-note two-dimensional character) to 'John Henry' (a high dry comic relief with lines as worthy as Whedon) Other characters such as Riley and Jesse may change due to re-positioning, as their stories appear to be more ambiguous.
