Terminator-212 "Alpine Fields" - Discuss/Grade <SPOILERS>

[bullethead]

All United States Navy vessels were reprogrammed and upgraded with cybernetic brains following the break through to the Skynet System. On JD Skynet shut down the environmental systems of the subs and took over them by remote.

That only happened in the Stirling T2 novels. None of the canon Terminator stuff has actually gone into detail about what military assets survived in any usable form. Even this show hasn't; the mention of the Carter and the glimpse of the carrier in "Allison from Palmdale" are just background things that don't tell us much about the overall disposition of either sides' assets.

 

[nx1701g]

Where are you geting your inside information from if you don't mind me asking?

The novelization of Terminator 2 features a line that mentions Nuclear Subs were updated with Cybernetic Brains. The novel T2: Future War has several chapters dealing with the Roosevelt trying to evade Skynet destruction from submartines that have been taken over by Skynet.

Cam made a pretty big goof knocking out/killing roger... Why couldn't/didn't she "scan" him...

Fog of war.

P.S. Wouldn't thier be relatively "safe" areas on the planet. Surely Skynet's reach is not every corner of the world.,,

Depends on what you look at. In most media the southern hemisphere wasn't as devastated as the North.

 

[nx1701g]

All United States Navy vessels were reprogrammed and upgraded with cybernetic brains following the break through to the Skynet System. On JD Skynet shut down the environmental systems of the subs and took over them by remote.

That only happened in the Stirling T2 novels. None of the canon Terminator stuff has actually gone into detail about what military assets survived in any usable form. Even this show hasn't; the mention of the Carter and the glimpse of the carrier in "Allison from Palmdale" are just background things that don't tell us much about the overall disposition of either sides' assets.

The novel of T2 mentions it with the line about Stealth Bombers being upgraded with Cyberdyne processors.

 

[Tim]

Cam made a pretty big goof knocking out/killing roger... Why couldn't/didn't she "scan" him...

It could be the chip damage, the topic of which was touched upon again last week. She also got banged up pretty well hunting the T-888 in the woods. Roger did groan a bit after being knocked down, so I don't think he was dead. Plus, dialogue implies that the T-888 kills him later on.

Did anyone else notice the "should be apples" comment from Jessie, which was the same language used by Riley when she was introduced? Given their scene together a few episodes ago and the preview for next week, there are some definite homoerotic overtones to their relationship.

Ultimately, I voted "above average." Good taut action and a well-written character story, but I was left wanting a bit more closure at the end. I also wanted to see more Cameron, but well, can't have everything.

Next week looks like a bringing together of a lot of loose plot threads, which would be great. The Ellison / John Henry interaction looks fascinating (and rather like Dr. Chandra / HAL from 2010).

 

[bullethead]

Where are you geting your inside information from if you don't mind me asking?

The novelization of Terminator 2 features a line that mentions Nuclear Subs were updated with Cybernetic Brains. The novel T2: Future War has several chapters dealing with the Roosevelt trying to evade Skynet destruction from submartines that have been taken over by Skynet.

Could you tell me where subs are mentioned in the T2 novelization? I happen to have a copy, so I'd like to confirm your statements. I forgot about the stealth bombers being used by Skynet, but I wouldn't take that as evidence subs were refitted to be Skynet controlled. And we can't use any of the novel series events to conjecturalize about what happened in the SSC timeline since there has been so much divergence.

Anyway, the day the Navy lets a USAF AI control its ships will be when hell freezes over.

P.S. Wouldn't thier be relatively "safe" areas on the planet. Surely Skynet's reach is not every corner of the world.,,

Depends on what you look at. In most media the southern hemisphere wasn't as devastated as the North.

In this timeline, I think even the southern hemisphere got hit, since Derek is surprised that the Aussies are growing food again. Then again, it could've been the effects of fallout or a post J-day hit that was responsible. Since in this timeline, J Day happens in 2011, I think Skynet would know enough to neutralize China as well as the US and Russia; it might go as far as attacking the other nuclear powers as well in order to prevent them from attacking while it built up its infrastructure.

 

[Brent]

Cameron was knocked out too easily in this episode, they aren't very consistent. In previous episodes she can take out Terminators easily, in this one she ends up taking a lot of damage to the point of being knocked out?

 

[David cgc]

Too easily? She was in a hand-to-hand fight. It was daylight when it started, and night by the time it was over. That means she was keeping him at bay for at least an hour.

 

[Brent]

Why did she have such a hard time taking down this Terminator when she's made easy of them in the past?

 

[DarthPipes]

I missed the last couple of minutes and I'll have to watch the whole thing again tomorrow.

 

[HighteeHeller]

I missed the whole ep because i had a date. Since that doesn't happen very often i thought i'd share.
Look forward to catching up on it tomorrow night.

 

[Chess Piece Face]

I thought it was interesting to see Skynet coming after another mother of an important future figure, that was nice and consistent. Although I got some kind of weird vibe from the sister with the short hair...perhaps they are going to use her again because they sure seemed to develop her a bit.

 

[nx1701g]

I missed the last couple of minutes and I'll have to watch the whole thing again tomorrow.

I missed the whole ep because i had a date. Since that doesn't happen very often i thought i'd share.
Look forward to catching up on it tomorrow night.

Watch it on Fox.Com PLEASE And vote for the show for a People's Choice Award for best Sci-FI

 

[nx1701g]

Could you tell me where subs are mentioned in the T2 novelization? I happen to have a copy, so I'd like to confirm your statements. I forgot about the stealth bombers being used by Skynet, but I wouldn't take that as evidence subs were refitted to be Skynet controlled. And we can't use any of the novel series events to conjecturalize about what happened in the SSC timeline since there has been so much divergence.

Specifically mentioning which one will be a problem. I have both copies and I'm not 100% sure which one I read it in. There is one by Randall Frakes that came out around the time of the movie itself. A new version was released in the late 90s by I think a man named Campbell or maybe it is Jefferies. It's been a while since I read them. They're packed away though because of our renovations. I'll have to look for them. I also have the comics and the illustrated screenplay - autographed by Cameron.

Anyway, the day the Navy lets a USAF AI control its ships will be when hell freezes over.

If it's ordered by the Pentagon I don't think they'd have much of a choice.

In this timeline, I think even the southern hemisphere got hit, since Derek is surprised that the Aussies are growing food again. Then again, it could've been the effects of fallout or a post J-day hit that was responsible. Since in this timeline, J Day happens in 2011, I think Skynet would know enough to neutralize China as well as the US and Russia; it might go as far as attacking the other nuclear powers as well in order to prevent them from attacking while it built up its infrastructure.

Likely possibility. There are only a couple of continuities in which I know of the southern hemisphere being left alone. Then again some storylines exist where there were two JDs.

 

[CommodoreKong]

Overall I thought this was a pretty good episode. Not as brilliant as last week, but still enjoyable. Doing flashbacks and flashforwards with the story interweaving was pretty nice. Seeing how Jesse and Derek first met was also neat.

Why did she have such a hard time taking down this Terminator when she's made easy of them in the past?

Well that part of the episode did take place 6 months in the past, perhaps she hasn't developed more advanced Terminator fighting techniques that she currently uses? I would imagine that every time she fights another Terminator, especially ones of a different model, she is better able to analyze her fights and is better able to predict how a Terminator will react to a given situation, and is able to figure out better ways of fighting them.

 

[Booji]

average
decent filler ep. nothing else i can really say about this one.

 

[Roshi]

The story unfolded on three different timelines, I loved that.

 

[Paul]

I'm not sure why Skynet doesn't just kill Sydney in the future, considering she's holed up in Eagle Rock all by herself.

I like the change of pace in the narrative of the series, though. The intertwining plotlines reminds me a bit of Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today.

 

[nx1701g]

^ Maybe Skynet doesn't know she's the source of the cure or that there were even survivors.

 

[Ryan8bit]

^ Maybe Skynet doesn't know she's the source of the cure or that there were even survivors.

Then why try to kill her in the past before she is born?

I think there's a little bit too much time travel in this show to try and give any kind of logical explanation. It's like they expend unrealistic amounts of resources to take care of the simplest of tasks, and only to serve a story...

In almost all Terminator media (including the novel of the first film actually) John Connor lied to Kyle. The War Against the Machines lasted well into 2040s.

Personally, I'm not a fan of any of these types of novelizations. I hate the retconning of a lying character just so that sequels can be rationalized, especially when it makes little sense. I preferred the idea of a single terminator (or at the very least, a few) being sent as a last ditch effort on an important mission, rather than this time travel at the drop of a hat for silly reasons.

 

[nx1701g]

^ Maybe Skynet doesn't know she's the source of the cure or that there were even survivors.

Then why try to kill her in the past before she is born?

I meant at the time that the virus was deployed. The Bio attack was believed to be able to kill all the humans at that base and that it would spread according to dialogue. Skynet probably assumed that there would be no survivors to contend with at all.

In almost all Terminator media (including the novel of the first film actually) John Connor lied to Kyle. The War Against the Machines lasted well into 2040s.

Personally, I'm not a fan of any of these types of novelizations. I hate the retconning of a lying character just so that sequels can be rationalized, especially when it makes little sense. I preferred the idea of a single terminator (or at the very least, a few) being sent as a last ditch effort on an important mission, rather than this time travel at the drop of a hat for silly reasons.

I prefer the Dawn of Fate ending myself because it means no one was lying. Skynet was destroyed during the Cheyenne Mountain invasion in it; however, the secondary backups were not and Skynet restored itself 24 hours after the Primary Core was destroyed. That was why in The Terminator the Primary Core was at SAC-NORAD (Cheyenne Mountain) and in T2 it was in downtown LA.