Terminator-202 "Automatic For the People" - Discuss/Grade <SPO>

[diefledermaus]

I'll give it an Above average. enjoyable, with a few "huh?" moments, and some story advancements. I am really looking forward to the rest of the upcoming episodes.

I thought i saw a bullet come through the time bubble and continue it's trajectory through future guy. but it also looked as though he had something protruding from his pec after it went through. bad makeup application maybe? or exit wound blowout?

 

[DarthPipes]

what the hell does he need to learn English for?

As an English teacher, I resent that!

I'm not terribly keen on Riley;

Yeah, Riley sucks.

Heheh. Sorry about that.

But he's not going to defeat the Terminators by reciting poetry.

 

[Samurai8472]

I'm not terribly keen on Riley;

Yeah, Riley sucks.

blame the execs
http://community.tvguide.com/blog-e...Todays-News/Terminator-Sarah-Connor/800043244

John's new love interest, Riley (played by soap vet Leven Rambin) came at the behest of Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly, hence her soundalike name. Recalls Friedman of his conversation with da boss: "I said, 'Yeah, maybe we could have a girl come in around Episode 8 or 9.' ... We compromised at Episode 2."

• Rambin's innocent high-school cutie serves a particular function for the producers. "Sci-fi shows get a little insular at times," says Wirth. "It's nice to see [our characters] interact with real people." As such, Riley will not be privy to John's special burden. "I was just as clueless as my character is," Rambin says about joining the in-progress series.

• But how about some hot man-on-machine action, guys? We can't be the only ones who have noticed the tension between John and metal-maid Cameron (Summer Glau). Wirth teased: "Every interesting relationship I've been in has been a triangle." Oh, reeeallly? Is this the Swingtown panel?

• And why was Cameron so good at hanging with the teens at first, but later seemed more awkward about human behavior? "Summer's character had been prepped for that particular situation, so it was almost like she had a script," explains Friedman. "Once they jumped forward in time, though, she was as adrift as everyone else."

 

[nx1701g]

First. It looks like my fears about this show are becoming more and more a reality. Looks like we are gonna get a new Terminator every week plus this week we get another future soldier as a bonus.

Spoiler: Time Travel

The producers have already admitted that time travel is going to factor more and more into the series. In TSCC the temporal equipment wasn't destroyed like Kyle believed. Skynet and TechCOM both have it and are using it to alter the past.

Second. Was every soldier in the future captured by the Terminators? Every one so far has been branded. How did they all escape?

This was dealt with in the films. Most of the people who are still alive in the future (including John Connor) were held in internment centers. John Connor and - in this reality - Kyle Reese taught the humans to fight back and escape making TechCOM.

Third. How did the Future soldier know where the Connors live? They just moved!

FutureJohn, FutureCameron

Fourth. It's already been mentioned about how easy Sarah and Cameron got into the Nuke plant so quick. I guess they don't have background checks and drug testing at such and important facility, Oh gosh what am I saying, they proved time and time again their security sucks .

The powerplant is owned by LuthorCorp from Smallville.

Fifth. Now regular Terminators can make themselves look like anyone?

Skynet appears to know more and more about important people from the past than it did in the early Terminator films. Remember that the soldier came back and warned them to watch out for the character. We soon find out that he was killed and replaced by a T-888 after meeting with Sarah. This isn't the first time we've seen them replace someone to accomplish a mission. Vick Chamberlain for example (and we saw a chamber containing dozens of copies of him in Season one).

 

[nx1701g]

Well, if I'd seen what Ellison had seen, I'd probably start handing out more Bibles than the Gideons...and I'm not even religious!

I'm not religious either, and I wouldn't suddenly convert just because I knew people made killing machines and that there was essentially a time war. I tend to take the side of Sarah's "beliefs" from the previous episode.

There is an old saying from WWI: There are no atheists in foxholes. I think that this would pretty much apply to most of the characters in the show.

Am I the only one who caught that Cameron thinks of herself as a demon?

 

[Tim]

Am I the only one who caught that Cameron thinks of herself as a demon?

Which line was that? There was one that I didn't hear quite well (from Cameron to Sarah after frying the "replacement") and I'm thinking that's the one.

EDIT: Re-watched and found it. Cameron asks "Am I?" in response to Sarah's quasi-rhetorical question about being a ticking time bomb (regarding cancer). It certainly suggests that Cameron is aware that she is a possible threat if she were to "go bad" again. As for the resistance fighter at the beginning, as he materializes, a bullet bursts out of his chest (presumably a through-and-through). He must have been shot in the back just as he entered the time portal in the future.

 

[LutherSloan]

I thought it was pretty good, although I too was confused about what ended up killing the unnamed future TechCOM soldier. It was not very clear from the episode.

I have to say that the episode description made it seem like Shirley Manson's character would have more screen time than a non-speaking appearance in the last 2 seconds of the episode. FOX has always pulled that crap, especially with trailers for upcoming episodes, by manipulating the order of things to confuse people on the fate of characters or the plot.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Average. This episode just seemed to be filling space. I know it's very hard to have a whole season of gems, but I hope things pick up a little next week.

 

[The Master of Tarquin Hill]

Broccoli
Yeah, Riley sucks.

Is that a spoiler?

 

[Aragorn]

What happened to that long process of a terminator slipping into someone else's skin from season one? And now random non-T-1000 can duplicate a person without taking his skin?

 

[The Master of Tarquin Hill]

Well, if I'd seen what Ellison had seen, I'd probably start handing out more Bibles than the Gideons...and I'm not even religious!

I'm not religious either, and I wouldn't suddenly convert just because I knew people made killing machines and that there was essentially a time war. I tend to take the side of Sarah's "beliefs" from the previous episode.

There is an old saying from WWI: There are no atheists in foxholes. I think that this would pretty much apply to most of the characters in the show.

Am I the only one who caught that Cameron thinks of herself as a demon?

There are plenty of Atheists in Arlington and the other national cemeteries.

Educate yourself.

 

[Tim]

What happened to that long process of a terminator slipping into someone else's skin from season one? And now random non-T-1000 can duplicate a person without taking his skin?

He could have been sent back from the future with that form, presuming Skynet had knowledge of Greenway. Or, he could be a male version of the T-X, with polymimetic alloy over a standard endoskeleton.

 

[amalie]

I got a bit carried away this week and gave it an "I'll Be Back" when in hindsight it should probably have been a "Come with me if you want to live"; but I just love this programme at the moment, it's easily my favourite thing on tv right now.

The only bit I found a little strange was the decontamination scene with Sarah, whoever that guy in charge was he managed to totally creep me out I wasn't sure if he was a terminator, just a general bad guy or simply a bit of a letch and it turns out he's none.

One thing I love about this show is how it makes me really like a character, whether it's just for one episode like today's or several as with Andy, then proceeds to kill them.

Riley was okay, nothing special but then I'm not expecting her to be. I did like John in this episode, the hair cut is a deifinte improvement. He now seems a lot more believable and interesting as well as being significantly less annoying.

Overall I really enjoyed it and as usual can't wait for next week.

 

[Zod]

Towards the beginning Cameron said that John couldn't be trusted anymore and when he looked at his family she said, not them but others.

Who was she talking about?

I liked this episode, more a mystery. I especially liked what John said at the end to Cameron that he did not have to prove himself to anybody. A well acted scene.

 

[amalie]

I thought that Cameron said that people didn't trust him anymore, meaning herself; she believes he was recless to reactivate her. In the final scene he basically says he doesn't need to prove himself to her which I thought was a direct reply to their previous conversation, but I could have read it completely wrong (I often am).

 

[MNM]

I'm not terribly keen on Riley;

Yeah, Riley sucks.

blame the execs
http://community.tvguide.com/blog-e...Todays-News/Terminator-Sarah-Connor/800043244

John's new love interest, Riley (played by soap vet Leven Rambin) came at the behest of Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly, hence her soundalike name. Recalls Friedman of his conversation with da boss: "I said, 'Yeah, maybe we could have a girl come in around Episode 8 or 9.' ... We compromised at Episode 2."

• Rambin's innocent high-school cutie serves a particular function for the producers. "Sci-fi shows get a little insular at times," says Wirth. "It's nice to see [our characters] interact with real people." As such, Riley will not be privy to John's special burden. "I was just as clueless as my character is," Rambin says about joining the in-progress series.

• But how about some hot man-on-machine action, guys? We can't be the only ones who have noticed the tension between John and metal-maid Cameron (Summer Glau). Wirth teased: "Every interesting relationship I've been in has been a triangle." Oh, reeeallly? Is this the Swingtown panel?

• And why was Cameron so good at hanging with the teens at first, but later seemed more awkward about human behavior? "Summer's character had been prepped for that particular situation, so it was almost like she had a script," explains Friedman. "Once they jumped forward in time, though, she was as adrift as everyone else."

What happened to the chick from season one? The "damaged goods" one. She was interesting, Riley, not so much.

 

[Star Wolf]

Towards the beginning Cameron said that John couldn't be trusted anymore and when he looked at his family she said, not them but others.

Who was she talking about?

I liked this episode, more a mystery. I especially liked what John said at the end to Cameron that he did not have to prove himself to anybody. A well acted scene.

While the entire point of Terminator is John as humanity's saviour/general people are still people. In the real world there is bound to be a crown prince not willing to wait to be king. Someone on John's future staff or maybe the leader of another reisitance cell.

As for Riley, forget about Sarah letting her stay, who are her folks? She just links up with the new kid at school and spends the night?

 

[Brent]

Pretty good episode, I give it "Come with me if you want to live"

Cameron in that outfit at the bar

 

[Ryan8bit]

Third. How did the Future soldier know where the Connors live? They just moved!

FutureJohn, FutureCameron

I can't speak for PKerr, but I think what he's getting at is an issue of causality. They sent terminators to the past to change things, not to fulfill a destiny, therefore the past has been changed by certain events already. How the previous John who sent Cameron and Derek could've known about what house they'd be in does not make sense. It would make sense if it was a different John from a different future, but this starts to get confusing. Like how long of a window do these time travelers have before events start catching up to the future?

This kind of ties into the biggest problem of terminator of the week. The more time travel, the less it makes sense. I'm starting to get a temporal cold war feeling from this show, and it's far too high-concept to be handled well by any TV show.

 

[Chaos Descending]

There are plenty of Atheists in Arlington and the other national cemeteries.

Educate yourself.

They're definitely not atheists now.

As for Riley, forget about Sarah letting her stay, who are her folks? She just links up with the new kid at school and spends the night?

John asked her about her parents and she didn't say anything. She just got a look on her face and changed the subject. That tells me all I need to know about her family life.