Gale Anne Hurd

Rick and Shane argue about whether the search for Sophia should end. Daryl gets hurt and has a hallucination involving someone from his past. Hershel warns Maggie to keep her distance from Rick's group. And Glenn finds out why Hershel doesn't want the group near the barn.

Desperate to find help for Carl, Rick heads for Hershel's Farm. Meanwhile, the rest of the group continues to hunt for Sophia in the woods. Finally, Shane and Otis head into the nearby town to scavange supplies in order to save Carl's life.

The Connors face an attack on two fronts in the wake of the Jeep explosion, one of them from an unexpected source that sends them on the run. Cameron and John face choices, and John realizes that maybe he is destined to be alone. Meanwhile, after Cromartie's massacre, Agent Ellison must face off against both the Feds and his faith.

Unwilling to trust any Terminator, Derek searches and finds the T-888 brain chip Cameron hid. When John accesses the data on it, he finds a potential way to stop Skynet and change his future by sabotaging a computerized traffic system. However, Cameron will have to trust her fate to John, because if Derek has his way she will not come back from the mission. Elsewhere, Cromartie looks through school records in search of John.

Sarah's transaction to buy the Turk from a mysterious businessman gets very complicated. Elsewhere, Cromartie closes in on John's location, and Agent Ellison closes in on the Terminator he knows as Laszlo. Unfortunately, events spiral out of control, leaving a wake of destruction from which some will not survive.

While looking for the missing hand, Sarah breaks into Agent Ellison's apartment. There, she discovers the record from her time at the mental hospital, and she decides to track down her old psychiatrist. Ellison investigates the new information about Sarah, which leads him to the same psychiatrist – now a doomsday convert. Meanwhile, John becomes upset after watching one of Sarah's hospital encounter videos. Elsewhere, Cameron signs up for a ballet class.

The stranger fights for his life, lapsing in and out of consciousness, during which he flashes back to his future life battling the machines in 2027. Meanwhile, Sarah tries to explain the past to Charley.

Sarah reevaluates the capabilities of her friend Andy's computer after he enters it in a chess competition. As she struggles with what she must do, events take an unexpected turn and she meets a stranger with a history similar to hers. Meanwhile, Agent Ellison finds remnants from a past terminator battle, and he focuses in on the same stranger.

While searching for some stolen cargo, John goes his own way during a mission with Sarah and Cameron – a risky maneuver that may or may not prove his leadership abilities and stop Skynet's plans. Meanwhile, Agent Ellison's murder investigation leads him to a surprising suspect, and the near-impossible feat of proving his case.

Sarah visits Miles Dyson's widow to find the creator of Skynet. She points Sarah toward a man named Andy Goode, who used to work with Dyson, and is building a chess-playing computer named "The Turk." John and Cameron try their best to fit in on their first day at a new high school.

Sarah contacts an old friend to acquire new aliases for her and John. In the meantime, John leaves safety to find Sarah's former fiancé, and Cameron attracts the attention of a new friend. FBI Agent Ellison discovers that Sarah is alive and that one of his enemies is back.

After two years in one spot, Sarah Connor feels the need to move on before she and John get too comfortable. They move to a new city where John starts school and meets a mysterious girl. However, danger follows them again, and they are caught in another struggle for their – and humanity's – survival.