Terminator 203 "The Mousetrap" - Discuss/Grade <SPO>

In my mind, Furlong's Connor didn't show much leadership in T2 beyond being a cocky fool. He did show more street-wise toughness than Dekker's Connor, something which I miss. It seems like we're getting something closer to the wussy John Connor of T3, though if the producers make good on their promise of having John mature into a true leader, I wouldn't mind so much.

I agree that Heady gives us a softer take on the Sarah Connor character, but I don't necessiarly consider this a bad thing. The hesitation and final stopping of the van I don't see as terribly out of character given that Linda Hamilton's Sara collapses in sobs after nearly killing Miles Dyson.

Fully agree with you here. The rest of the cast is top-notch, with Summer Glau easily the best actor on the show.

 

I loathed Edward Furlong's portrayal of John Connor in T2. I thought "self-centered whiny emo-brat" nicely described Furlong's performance.

I'm not loving Dekker's portrayal of John Connor, but it's a damn sight better than Furlong's IMO.

edit: I gave the episode 2x03 an average. There seemed to be something off about the pacing to me.

 

Ratings

 

^ Hey, that's not all bad. When do we get the demographic breakdown?

 

Above average. I liked the whole Beastmaster cheap ass parody, but I disliked the inefficient Terminator with the mousetrap setup. He could have placed the explosives under the floor and called it in and wasted all of them(Instead of on the cell tower) or other lethal scenarios.

 

Yeah, but what 16 year old guy wouldn't be nailing his hot cyborg protector every chance he could get?

 

The thing is not that John chose to ignore is mother, it's the whiny, non-leader way he went about doing it. Compare what happened in the show's last two episodes to the following:

Sarah: "Now is not the time..."

John (forcefully): "And when is the time?" (Slightly less forceful, but still with steel.) "There is never going to be time, mother. I, and possibly soon, everyone, will have to fight these machines. If we let that stop us, we might as well stop fighting now, because Skynet will already have won: 30 years from now we will go extinct. Winning the war isn't enough, we have to preserve what makes us human. That means we have to connect with others... and also make babies."

Sarah: "You won't be making babies anytime soon, young man."

John just smiles and walks past her.

 

I have a far easier time believing Dekker grows into a resistance leader than Furlong. In addition, as Furlong's character was written - a smart-alec, catch phrase tossing, street punk - he may be tolerable over a period of two hours, but longer than that though, I imagine that shtick would get quite old.

I think Dekker's doing fine. And I feel Headey manages to show humanity, range, and an occasional light touch in a character that, lets face it, spends nearly every moment in a dour and grim mood.

 

Hasta la vista for me. I've gotten to that terminal point in watching any series when I start fast-forwarding the episodes to find "the good parts," which means it's time for me to bail. Next week's story seems interesting, so I'll give it one last chance but since the basic premise - protect John from the Terminators, a foregone conclusion, and therefore one with no dramatic tension - bores me, I doubt it will change my mind.

Terminators not being able to swim seems like a huge design flaw for them not to have addressed, since it gives their human opponents an advantage. There are things they could have done before now (lightweight steel? flotation device?)

Summer Glau and BAG are very watchable so when T:SCC is cancelled, I hope to see them in other things, as well as Garrett Dillahunt, who is a wonderful character actor.

Pifeedback.

The ratings are stable enough that the show might survive the season, but I doubt it will be renewed - stable or not, the ratings are too low. Unless everything Fox tries this year flops.

The real killer here is being #4 in the demo. What good is an action show about killer robots if you can get the 18-49 crowd to watch? Under 7M is a danger sign for any show on a "real" network - under 6M, gulp.

 

I liked this episode better than last week's. I thought that Cromartie had a pretty complex and clever plan as it didn't involve just shooting everyone up. And to give him credit, his plan ALMOST worked except that he couldn't swim.

Anyway, next week's episode looks REALLY good.

 

why the fuck is "Dancing with the stars" so popular?

 

^That's a mystery for the ages...

 

Because it's not just dancing. And it's not just stars. It's dancing with the stars.

 

Yeah, he is closer to T3 John, who was a pathetic wimp that was going through the motions while everyone around him was actually doing something.

Look, I understand John wants to live a little. It's important not to be completely isolated and not to enjoy life. I understand that. But no other 16-year-old I know is the future leader of humanity hunted down by nearly unstoppable killer robots. There's no excuse for him to be careless with his own safety.

In fairness, Sarah stupidly chose to remain vague and not tell him that Cromartie was on the hunt. At the same time, John should know his mother well enough to have known something was wrong.

 

Took me awhile to remember this website but its got a good look at the ratings
http://pifeedback.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/63310451/m/315109161

 

To be fair this has been a part of the Terminator Expanded Universe for years. In the Infiltrator Novel Series this also happens as a T-800 is working to kill the Connors.

 

I thought the episode was pretty good. I didn't care for the opener, but this episode and last weeks have got this show back up on solid footing with me.

However, I'm already tiring of Cromartie. I wish they would focus perhaps more on human villians-a government/corporate group trying to build Skynet, while also running into different Terminators occassionally.

Cromartie isn't all that compelling to me because he is an emotionless robot. The actor playing him is all right, but I see little real tension or drama as he lumbers forward after John or whoever.

Weaver is a little bit better. Her T-1000 is manipulative and mimics human characteristics far better than Cromartie. I do wish though that they had saved her reveal to mid-season or a season finale.

I'm really liking BAG. I liked Cameron a little better in Season 1, when she appeared more human acting, but Glau is still doing a pretty good job. I like Lena Headly. She might not be as ripped as Linda Hamilton, but she does have an edge to her and is tough in a mindset/determined kind of way, if not musclebound. John is the weakest link of the four. I just can't see this guy really becoming a leader of Earth's resistance. It would be nice to see him reading, studying, practicing and stuff a bit more than we've seen. He's way too soft.

I also like the supporting cast. Ellison and Charlie are fine.

Overall, I think TSCC has really brought new life into the Terminator franchise. I never thought this idea would work, but so far they are doing a credible job. Now, how long that lasts, who can say? But at least we're getting a pretty decent Terminator show that is better than T3.

 

wow

 

Yeah. Keep that handy for next time somebody wants Linda to replace Lena.

 

The whole way through the mouse trap, I was thinking that Michelle looked almost exactly like a young Linda Hamilton, not that i have any regrets about Lena so far... Though I'm still waiting for the episode where she has to pretend that she has an english accent for some inconceivable reason.

Man hides on water. HK bombs from the air.

It's not an issue if the entire resources of Skynet are trying to exterminate humanity to the last that they don't pick the perfect tool for each individual movement of the operation.