Monday, January 21, 2008

The Sarah Connor Chronicles

New favorite show alert: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

A TV show based on the Terminator movie franchise. So far, it's at episode three, but I think it would be easy to catch up.

In a nutshell: the pilot was set about two years after the second movie. A bad terminator shows up, a good terminator saves them and Sarah, John, and the new terminator (Summer Glau of Firefly) jump forward to 2007. Good terminator explains that movie two just changed details of Judgment Day but didn't stop it (as we saw in movie three.)

Did you like the movies? Then you'll like this show. I enjoyed the acting, the plotting, and the adventure. I especially liked how it tries to maintain continuity with the three films (tho figuring out the John Connor timeline can be a wee bit headache inducing.) Check out the official website, which has past episodes.

Didn't watch the movies? Arg. How to explain. It's the end of the world as we know it...in a couple of years. In man v machine, machines win, and John Connor leads the resistance to defeat the machines. The machines then keep sending terminator cyborg machines back in time to kill John Connor; in movie one, they tried to kill his mother before John was born, but then John sent someone back in time to save his mom, and in turns out the person he sends back ends up being his dad.

In movie 2, a new bad terminator is sent back in time to kill a young John (he's about 12), and a reprogrammed terminator is also sent back to save John, and John and his mom end up deciding to stop the machine takeover before it happens by blowing up the company responsible for creating the machines. In movie 3, a grown up John is caught again between a good and a bad terminator, and finds out he only delayed Judgment Day.

And now the tv series, set between movies 2 and 3, but because of the time jump, it's basically a new timeline that has nothing to do with the movie franchise.

Does this not make sense to you? Then this isn't a show for you.

But if it does make sense... well, duh, how could you have not already watched the films? Please.

Edited to add:

A look at the various Terminator timelines. Yeah, it's confusing.

4 comments:

Brian Farrey said...

Actually, as I understand it, the continuity has everything to do with the first two movies but is essentially pretending that the third movie never happened.

The movie franchise will continue on as a separate entity and ne'er the twain shall meet. It's kind of like this stupid Justice League movie they want to do with new actors playing Superman and Batman, ignoring Brandon Roush and Christion Bale. Why do they feel the need to confuse the public at large with criss-crossing timelines and "let's pretend that never happened" reasoning.

Liz B said...

without rewatching the third or checkingout wikipedia's answer, here is how I see the third fitting in:
Skynet and the war still happen, except it is 2011 when it all goes down (which may or may not be the year of the third movie, but I know the third movie was a bit off with John's age, so maybe a retcon to be correct with the age)
Sarah dies of cancer in 2005 (or at least before the third movie and off screen.)

Both of those things from movie 3 are mentioned in the tv show: skynet still happens, if the jump forward had not happened Mom would be dead from cancer, and ep 2 ends with Mom going to a doctor.

So I see this as paying attention to the facts of all 3 movies, yet b/c of the time travel, splitting into an independent timeline that will not meet up with the third movie, ever, because it's already changed the past of the third movie.

Sophie Brookover said...

We are loving Sarah Connor, too -- the kid who plays John is sort of eh, but Lena Headey & Summer Glau are kicking butt & taking names.

Camille said...

We are watching every week. Confusing? Sort of. We don't care.