So, I guess we’ll find out if Cameron makes it out of that Jeep after all. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been renewed for a second season. A whole new season of Lena Headey and Summer Glau running around in tank tops with shotguns while saving the world? Hell and yeah. The show’s strike-abridged nine-episode first season ended on a big bang of a cliffhanger (which, if you haven’t seen yet you should stop reading now, but – gosh, that was like a month and a half ago so what’s the hold up?). Cameron went kerplewie after starting the family Jeep while on a cake run for John’s birthday. The car bomb was planted by internet café owner/sneaky owner of The Turk Sarkissian. So, looks like she is going to need that recipe for fake Terminator skin that Cromartie cooked up earlier this season. The series has earned a 13-episode pickup. The extended season is good news and means they can flesh out (puns!) the show’s deeper themes about identity, duty, technology and the very nature of the human soul. And, given its prevalence, Lena’s scowl might as well have its own subplot.
Among the show’s pleasant surprises has been the resurfacing of Brian Austin Green. The former 90210er has redeemed his acting chops as the intense Derek Reese, John’s future uncle. Looks like he won’t be going on Dancing With the Stars anytime soon. Sure, the series had its flaws and unanswered questions. (What happened with Sarah’s cancer? Will anyone believe Agent Ellison’s story? Why does Derek distrust Cameron so much? Should we distrust Cameron? Is Cameron going to make it to prom? Will John be able to see through his bangs?) But with more time, I think they can build on the show’s real strength.
Sure, the super-human robots are cool, but it’s the quieter philosophical questions about a mother’s instinct to protect her child, a soldier’s duty to a mission and mankind’s ability to destroy itself that make the series more than just another sci-fi smash ’em up. Well, that and the tank tops.
