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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2 Episode 13

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8.6

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AIRED: 12/15/08

Sarah's continued obsession with the three dots leads her to a blogger with intimate knowledge of the symbol. Meanwhile, Riley and Cameron face off.

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Fan Episode Reviews (9)

Another example of The Sarah Connor Chronicles trying far too hard to be something that it's not and failing miserably.

4.0

By screenagedkicks, Jun 11, 2011

Okay guys, big mid-season finale here. Terminator's gonna be off the air until the middle of February right, so we need to keep viewers literally wetting themselves with anticipation for its return… we're gonna need a huge episode with a massive cliffhanger… what can we possibly have happen? Natalie Chaidez pipes up, "Oh I know, Sarah whines about the three dots, goes to a UFO convention, meets a male-to-female post-op transsexual, talks, talks, nearly gets shot, talks a bit more, makes a cup of camomile tea, then ends up at a shadowy 'military facility' where she ends the episode staring up at three dots in the sky. Oh, and Riley tries to off herself." Well, how utterly fantastic does that sound, guys? I mean really… what an episode! I think I might be about to overload on sarcasm! Jesus, what were the production staff thinking? Aside from the occasional gleefully b****y exchange between Cameron and Riley, and a bit of quality acting from the guy that plays Ellison as he tries to teach the AI about God (euck! More religious mumbo jumbo!), this was something of a car wreck that went nowhere, said nothing and succeeded in being unnecessarily bizarre at the same time. We were all expecting some sort of action-packed narrative-progressing bonanza before the break and instead we got a load of boring gumf about UFOs. Well, UFOs being military craft used making technology from the future. But the pace is so snail-like and the story so bogged down in self-examination and, excuse me while I vomit, attempted 'poignancy' that any excitement that may have been generated from this is completely and utterly lost. Another example of The Sarah Connor Chronicles trying far too hard to be something that it's not and failing miserably; if the show carries on like this for the remainder of its second season, yo-yoing between fairly good and dismally bad every other week and flatly refusing to move any narrative strands forward at all, it won't make it past the Spring.moreless
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Cliffhanger much? The writers definitely were on the ball for this one!

9.5

By VixenofVenus, Aug 06, 2010

I've seen plenty of shows which left a mid-season or even season finale where there was a major character dying or possibly in an inescapable life-or-death situation ... but rarely does a show leave with TWO major characters on the brink of death.

Not only is the lead, our beloved Sarah Connor, bleeding out of a leg wound in the desert when no one knows she's there ... but Riley also decided it was time to cash in her chips and shaved a bit deep!

Personally, without the last few minutes of the episode though, I thought it was worthless. There was NOTHING revealed up until the final moments, and even then, we know less than what we knew before the episode started ... just more questions.

Usually, I'd say that's a perfect reason why I watch this show, but in this case, I think it just frustrates me too much since I have to wait even longer for the next episode ... February? Really!?moreless
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Terminator meets the X-Files - an very surprising ending.

9.0

By BlueKnight13, Aug 06, 2010

This show continues to surprise and the depth of the writing is great. I loved the exchange between Elieson and John Henry that ended with, "Am I a child of God?" "Well, that's what we're here to talk more about." Like Battlestar Galactica, the Terminator writers don't shy away from topics that most shows won't touch with a ten foot pole.

Sarah's three dot obsession, leads her, to all places, a UFO fanatics convention. She finds a man, dressed as a woman to be in hiding, but is really a man who worked for....it's unclear. Sarah chases down the lead, it looks like a dead end, but ends up getting shot. And just when I thought she'd pull herself into a warehouse full of terminators, instead she pulls herself outside to find apparently a UFO coming down. Kudos to the writers for bringing back her waitressing background from Terminator 1.

Meanwhile John and Cameron start coming to a head over Riley who tries to end her life. It is interesting seeing Riley as the future street urchin, looking very much like Cossette from Les Miserables. The story gets deeper and deeper.

Now we just have to wait for the next one. And the key question is will the show draw more on Friday night? I hope so.moreless
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Mom meets an alien; sister and girlfriend square off, girlfriend's secret comes to haunt.

6.0

By nwo_spon, Aug 06, 2010

SPOILER: ok this episode took this series off the deep end. Riley, from the future? What the heck. good thing she killed herself, otherwise I'd be cheering someone to kill her. And Looking for UFOs? this is terminator, not Alien. I don't get why they want to do an X-Files turn for this. This episode has turned the series worse. I'm not sure I'm going to watch it Mondays. Oh wait they moved to Fridays... the day tv shows go to die. Good thing there is a movie coming out soon. It will probably save this franchise, now that this episode killed it.

So long!moreless
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Not the strongest episode this season, but still fairly significant nonetheless.

9.0

By TinCan101, Aug 06, 2010

I've read a lot of complaints about this episode. Words of fillers and concerns that the plot is going nowhere. As a basic rule, I'm inclined to disagree.

While watching this episode, I saw both major and minor developments in Sarah, Riley, Cameron and Ellison--though the last two seemed to be only clarifications of previous developments.

Sarah is the major player this episode, with Riley following in a close second. Sarah's obsession with the three dots returns in full force this episode, and for once it seems like there's actually something to it--but no matter what happens, I hold the opinion that Derek is right about the dots being nothing and that Sarah is only creating problems where there are none. But I also think that this is a deleberate attempt by the writers to show just how badly her life is getting to her. She follows a trail leading from Alien conventionists to a company conspiricy and cover-up. The way this was portrayed was actually quite clever in my opinion. Sarah did find something, but like Derek had previously said, it has nothing to do with Skynet. And as a result, Sarah ended up shot in the middle of nowhere.

Riley's development this episode pretty much confirmed what most of us already knew: that Riley was from the future and is the key piece in keeping John away from Cameron. Her reluctance to manipulate John, coupled with her fear and frustrations led her to attempt suicide. Now I'm not a fan of Riley's character, but the only thing that I really like about her purpose is surprisingly, her failure. Her and Jesse's failure to be exact. Riley was told to keep John away from Cameron, and she did just that. But it seems to me that her and Jesse's plan is both a sucess and an enormous failure at the same time. They are suceeding in keeping John away from Cameron, but at the same time, they are causing John to rebel against his destiny. Maybe if Riley dies, it will be the kick John needs to fully accept who he is and what he's meant to be.

Riley's development leads into Cameron's. Because Riley is keeping John away from her, Cameron doesn't know quite what to do. Protecting John is her purpose, but she can't do that if John won't let her in. Ever since Riley showed up, we've been seeing hints of Cameron's conflict here, this episode didn't do much to develop it, but it did clarify it. Did she seem jealous to anyone else?

This episode also developed Ellison's purpose furthur. Now more than ever, we see that he is somehow important to Skynet's development. Who knows, maybe with all the changes that are being made, Judgment Day may come a lot quicker than 2011.

---

The only true plot development that may be connected to Skynet was the possible HK that Sarah saw after she had been shot. Now, I actually thought she was having a delusion at first. She's been shown to have them before, but that was in the mental hospital in T2 and it could have been the drugs they were forcing on her. But Sarah has been slowly decending into madness and paranoia over the course of this season, so it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case.

---

Okay, favourite moment this episode. I've gotta say that Cameron's scenes with Riley were quite amusing. Especially the bits about the smoothie and the tatoo's. Cameron really does suit a wolf.moreless
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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Lena Headey	Sarah Connor
Thomas Dekker	John Connor
Summer Glau	Cameron Phillips
Richard T. Jones	Agent James Ellison
Shirley Manson	Catherine Weaver
Leven Rambin	Riley

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Dinah Lenney	Eileen	Guest Star
Michael Hyatt	Barbara	Guest Star
Barry Livingston	Pete	Guest Star
Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen	Jesse	Recurring Role

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- Goof: When Sarah tells the story of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca she says he arrived in the new world in 1490. This is two years prior to Columbus which makes the statement wrong. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca was born 1490 and his ill fated expedition was not till June 17, 1527.
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- In this episode we learn that Riley is from the future, and we see that she came with Jesse.
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QUOTES (6)
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- Sarah: In 1490, the Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca landed on the shores of the new world, seeking power and fortune. He was immediately attacked and captured, almost all of his traveling companions murdered. Enslaved, de Vaca chose to embrace his captors beliefs and learn their ways. He became a healer. Over time, he was freed, and de Vaca attracted his own following, who believed he had the power over life and death. The desert had transformed him. He was not the first, and he would not be the last.
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- Sarah: I came here today because there have been reports of people seeing UFO's with this mark. I need to find out what it means.
  Barbara: It's important to you.
  Sarah: I've been dreaming about it. I'm having nightmares.
  Barbara: Are they nightmares or are they memories?
  Sarah: My son thinks I'm crazy. Maybe not crazy. Maybe that's the wrong word. But he doubts me … He's never doubted me before.
  Barbara: Oh... if there's one thing we understand here, it's doubt.
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- Ellison: The answer's still no. I can't do what you're asking.
  Weaver: Shame. I thought a good night's sleep would change your mind.
  Ellison: I didn't sleep.
  Weaver: John Henry needs someone to talk to … now that Dr. Sherman is gone.
  Ellison: Dr. Sherman is gone because he … IT … killed him.
  Weaver: It wasn't murder, Mr. Ellison. You said so yourself. You also said I was remiss in creating John Henry without teaching him right from wrong. This is our opportunity to correct that oversight.
  Ellison: Our opportunity?
  Weaver: Your religious faith and paternal instinct make you the ideal candidate to foster his moral development.
  Ellison: That thing killed 20 FBI agents. It needs a whole lot more than just a talking to.
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- Eileen: Who are you? What do you want from me?
  Sarah: The truth.
  Eileen: I told you, I don't know. The name on my paychecks led to a shell corporation. It's all a dead end.
  Sarah: You're lying.
  Eileen: NO!
  Sarah: You're a liar and a fake.
  Eileen: You're the fake! You're a mother. You're a seeker. You're a soldier. You're everything. But you're nothing.
  Sarah: You don't know anything about me.
  Eileen: Oh, really? I'm a man who lives as a woman and you're a woman who lives as a … (Sarah slams Eileen against the wall at gunpoint)
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- Eileen: I don't hate them, you know.
  Sarah: They tried to kill you. Twice.
  Eileen: Well, they did kill me. They killed Alan Park. And I thank them for it. They gave me a gift, the life I was scared to lead. Before this happened, I was a cog in the machine. Ordinary, repressed. How many people dare to live the life they dream of? Face … their real fears about who they really are? Not their houses, or their jobs, or their habits, but their deepest, truest selves. (scoffs) Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?
  Sarah: I used to be a waitress … killed her too.
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- Ellison: Human beings aren't like chess pieces. It matters if we live or die.
  John Henry: Why does it matter? All humans die eventually.
  Ellison: Yes, that's true. But our lives are … are sacred. Do you know what sacred means?
  John Henry: Holy. Worthy of respect. Venerable.
  Ellison: Do you know why human life is sacred?
  John Henry: Because so few humans are alive compared to the number that are dead?
  Ellison: No. Because we're God's creation. God made everything. The stars, the earth, everything on this planet. We are all God's children.
  John Henry: Am I God's child?
  Ellison: That's one of the things we're here to talk about.
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NOTES (3)
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- This was the last episode to be broadcast in the show's timeslot Mondays at 8 p.m.
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- Original International Air Dates:
  United Kingdom: February 26th, 2009 on Virgin 1
  New Zealand: April 29th, 2009 on TV2
  Australia: June 5th, 2009 on FOX8
  Norway: September 12th, 2009 on TVNorge
  Sweden: October 8th, 2009 on TV6
  Finland: November 22nd, 2009 on Sub
  Czech Republic: November 26th, 2009 on Prima COOL
  Slovakia: September 23rd, 2010 on Markiza
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- Awards:
  
  For the first 13 episodes of this season, the show was nominated for the 2009 People's Choice Award for Favorite Sci Fi/Fantasy Show.
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ALLUSIONS (1)
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- No Fate:
  In the diner, Sarah sitting at a table turning a knife and having scraped "no fate" into the table. This is a reference to Terminator 2: Judgment Day in which Sarah does the same at Enrique Salceda's camp. In the original Terminator in which John makes Kyle Reese learn a longer message for Sarah by heart, which begins with "no fate but what we make [...]".
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