Terminator-211 "Self Made Man" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS>

[Q2UnME]

I didn't get to see this episode because our local FOX station had problems with the main network feed. My DVR recorded 10 minutes of show and 50 minutes of test pattern. This happen to anyone else or was it just limited to the Buffalo, NY area? Anyway, I've obtained a copy from alternate sources and will be watching tonight when I get home from work. Hope it's a good one.....

Q2UnME

 

[misskim86]

I liked it a lot, I wish they would explore some sort of relationship with Cameron

 

[Hanover Fiste]

Glau was an excellent choice to make the most of some pretty decent writing. Cameron has become the most interesting character on the show. This episode was easily one of my favorites.

 

[TheArsenal]

This was also my favorite episode and Glau's nuanced performance was excellent. It made me reflect on how well this show is handling character pieces considering the first few episodes of the series made it look to be a weekly rehash of Terminator chases the Connors. The time travel device was used in the most novel way we've seen yet, giving us a detective story with a fascinating conclusion.

Excellent.

 

[DontFeedPhil]

I really think that Rileys mission is not to destroy Cameron, tho that might be Reese's Asian Girlfriends' ...(I cant remember her name)...Mission. But I think that Rileys Mission is to make sure that John Does not get the chance to fall in love with either Cameron or the Human who Cameron is based off. Somehow they are worried that he is around metal too much and that its influencing his decisions and leading "good people" to get killed. So Rileys job is to basically manipulate him. And I do think that her Parents Dying in the "Fire" was the H-Bombs of Judgement day.
But how she got picked and sent back is another story...

 

[Booji]

above average
for a stand alone ep, i thought it was fantastic. Cool way to work a detective story into the mix. the last 15 minutes when everything came together was really cool.

 

[Star Wolf]

I really think that Rileys mission is not to destroy Cameron, tho that might be Reese's Asian Girlfriends' ...(I cant remember her name)...Mission. But I think that Rileys Mission is to make sure that John Does not get the chance to fall in love with either Cameron or the Human who Cameron is based off. Somehow they are worried that he is around metal too much and that its influencing his decisions and leading "good people" to get killed. So Rileys job is to basically manipulate him. And I do think that her Parents Dying in the "Fire" was the H-Bombs of Judgement day.
But how she got picked and sent back is another story...

I think Riley's mission is to give John something to fight for. So far I've seen a lot of John as he was at the beginning of T3. In no way would he be able to take command. In T3 he only did because he was in fact the only survivor he knew what was happening.

Riley seemed to be pushing the confrontation. From going to the thug party to stealing the lighter it was to get John to actually fight and not just hide. If we are taking alternate universes the perhaps John, in Riley's and Jesse's was not the great leader that Kyle Reese would do anything for but a weaker further version of the boy hiding in the vetenarians office.

 

[nx1701g]

Very fair point...was it really necessary for the Terminator to rebuild the building so he could kill the governor? I mean...why doesn't he just kill this guy when he's a child or something? Why did it have to be on that day?

To use some election speak, maybe Governor Wyman was for Skynet before he was against it...

Easy answer: that was the day Skynet selected and the location Skynet had assigned for the death, or perhaps zoot suit calculated that an earlier death would harm Skynet. Many variables.

 

[nx1701g]

If we are taking alternate universes the perhaps John, in Riley's and Jesse's was not the great leader that Kyle Reese would do anything for but a weaker further version of the boy hiding in the vetenarians office.

That could be a possibility. A long term arc of this series has been about John deferring more and more to the Terminators that he's reprogrammed for mission planning. In Dungeons & Dragons Perry said to Derek that Connor doesn't talk to anyone except for the machines. Jesse said recently that every base had at least one terminator in the command staff.

 

[Forbin]

Double yay if one of them has Cameron back in the dress from last week's episode.

I was thinking, during that scene, of someone here who said "anyone who thinks Summer Glau is hot is an idiot."

Call me an idiot, then!

 

[Rat Boy]

Uh, someone want to refresh my memory as to how we know Riley's from the future?

 

[MNM]

I'm in love with Summer Glau

Arent we all man, arent we all....

I liked this episode. Most of it anyway, I have never liked Riley, and my dislike just increases each time she is in it. seriously she is hurting my interest in the show, I just switch the sound off now when she is on and wait for her to go, I dont care if I miss plot points. I did enjoy the Cameron aspect of the show, seeing what she did during the nights, how they tracked down the Terminator, who I thought had an interesting story himself. I liked how his programming was so rigid in what he had to do that he went to all those lengths to get the building built and then holded himself up to wait just so he could kill his target at the time and place he had been told to. Clearly he is not as advanced as others were. I also enjoyed the fact that Cameron was clearly pissed that the Connors thought she could do the laundry for them.

I have noticed some people complaining about how "easy" Terminators have been to destory in this series (on multiple forums), but really, Terminators have never been difficult to destory. If you have powerful enough weapons you can rip them apart or if you can imobilise them you can remove their chip and be done with it. They are only "unstoppable" if they show up in the right circumstances, ie take you by surprise, if you are unarmed, dont know what they are etc...

This episode may not have been crucial to the overal plot of the season, and in some ways it could probably be described as "filler", but I liked it a lot.

 

[nx1701g]

Uh, someone want to refresh my memory as to how we know Riley's from the future?

Last week's episode. She has talked about Judgment Day (breakdown with her foster family) and told Jesse that there were a lot of mirrors in this time.

 

[witchie]

Uh, someone want to refresh my memory as to how we know Riley's from the future?

She's talked about this place having too many mirrors and how we don't appreciate it. But the big thing is the fact Derek's girlfriend knows her, which just isn't possible.

 

[Hanover Fiste]

Yeah, she's from the future. Travelled back in time to save the human race with her Power of Annoyance.

 

[nx1701g]

Yeah, she's from the future. Travelled back in time to save the human race with her Power of Annoyance.

Or Skynet sent her back with the same mission using the same power. When she's on the screen I want the bombs to fall.

 

[Samurai8472]

I have noticed some people complaining about how "easy" Terminators have been to destory in this series (on multiple forums), but really, Terminators have never been difficult to destory. If you have powerful enough weapons you can rip them apart or if you can imobilise them you can remove their chip and be done with it. They are only "unstoppable" if they show up in the right circumstances, ie take you by surprise, if you are unarmed, dont know what they are etc...

The moment the terminator comes out of the wall it took about a minute for Cameron to dispose of him then the Amazon arrived at 7:30(my time) and was turned into a pretzel by 7:45

 

[Star Wolf]

I have noticed some people complaining about how &quot;easy&quot; Terminators have been to destory in this series (on multiple forums), but really, Terminators have never been difficult to destory. If you have powerful enough weapons you can rip them apart or if you can imobilise them you can remove their chip and be done with it. They are only &quot;unstoppable&quot; if they show up in the right circumstances, ie take you by surprise, if you are unarmed, dont know what they are etc...

The moment the terminator comes out of the wall it took about a minute for Cameron to dispose of him then the Amazon arrived at 7:30(my time) and was turned into a pretzel by 7:45

Wait a minute they were unstoppable by Sgt Reese and the police and civilian weapons of the 1980s that he could get his hands on. Or unstoppable by an obsolete cyborg trying to stop an upgrade. Exactly how advanced is Cameron, if Weaver wanted to break cover will she die an easy death also?

 

[MNM]

I have noticed some people complaining about how "easy" Terminators have been to destory in this series (on multiple forums), but really, Terminators have never been difficult to destory. If you have powerful enough weapons you can rip them apart or if you can imobilise them you can remove their chip and be done with it. They are only "unstoppable" if they show up in the right circumstances, ie take you by surprise, if you are unarmed, dont know what they are etc...

The moment the terminator comes out of the wall it took about a minute for Cameron to dispose of him then the Amazon arrived at 7:30(my time) and was turned into a pretzel by 7:45

So Cameron, a Terminator who is clearly more advanced than the two you mentioned, offed them quickly? Dont see a problem with that.

 

[zephramc]

I voted average. While the episode was good, it was mostly filler and didn't move the overall story along at all.

Likes: I did like the detective aspect of it and wish that it had spanned two or three episodes as a subplot. I think that the payoff would have been better in the end. I also liked temporal miscalculation and the terminator ending up in the 20's as opposed to 2010, or whenever it was supposed to jump back to. It appears that Skynet (and presumably the resistance) still has some kinks to work out with the whole time travel concept.

Dislikes: Besides the afore mentioned progress of the storyline, or lack thereof, just one other; Will the writers please kill off Riley? She's really done nothing except piss off most of the fans and take precious screentime away from Cameron, Derek, Ellison, Weaver and Cromar... err John Henry.

One last comment. John really needs to stop pouting around and become the leader he's supposed to be. I understand everybody has flaws, but the movies alluded to John being this great leader that rescues humanity from the brink of annihilation. So far, I haven't seen that.