Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Josh Friedman, the writer behind Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, has used the series production blog to address concerns over the future of the series.

In context with the creative direction of the series and the issue of a lack of action, Friedman points out:

“A note about the recent/current episodes: some months ago I determined to steer the show towards its title, towards Sarah Connor. I wanted to explore not simply the idea of chasing Skynet and all that that entails, but also the psychological effects of doing so. It wasn’t enough to just hunt/fight/protect; I wanted to see what was going on inside her head, especially when those around her doubted her. “

But if that wasn’t enough to partially mitigate cravings for more action and a little less drama, perhaps his comment regarding the finale will get some people excited:

“Tomorrow we will be attempting the most complicated, dangerous and largest stunt/effects sequence in the 31 episodes of this show. I have been thinking about the sequence since September and we have been planning it since before Christmas.”

He also acknowledges that the series has posed a lot of unanswered questions.  In response, he has promised resolutions to a whole host of them before season 2 comes to a conclusion.   But they are kind of spoilers, so if you want to read them, you’ll have to head on over to the production blog.

Finally, he also addressed that Grindhouse ad (the one that shares a weird advertisement with Dollhouse):

“Please understand this: I do not control how the show is marketed and advertised. If you liked the Grindhouse ad, thought it was tongue-in-cheek, I’m glad for you. If you felt it was inappropriate for the show, misrepresented it or made false promises, I also feel your pain.”

Haven’t seen the Grindhouse ad?  Then here you go:

I’ve been waiting for a decent quality trailer to the next episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but one hasn’t surfaced.  Instead, we’re left with the crappy version posted below.   ‘Some Must Watch While Some Must Sleep’ (Season 2 Episode 16) follows Sarah Connor as she checks into a sleep clinic thanks  to trouble sleeping.   Hmm.

After being prepared by cast and crew for a more action oriented second half to season 2, I’ve been surprised at how little action there has been.  My only hope is the expectation they raised for a faster paced season doesn’t turn out to be a let down.  Still, with ‘All is not as it seems’ flashing across on the preview, they may have something good planned for us yet…

Promo trailer for next episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Season 2, Episode 15), titled ‘Desert Cantos’.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles debuted last week for the first time in a Friday time slot and the result wasn’t entirely good – it only managed 3.71 million viewers which equates to a 35% drop from what it achieved with its previous episode.

A drop of 2 million viewers is pretty monumental to say the least, although some pundits are playing down the drop as being semi-typical of what is to be expected on a Friday night.  Semi-typical or not, cleary Fox was hoping for better results and its unlikely Fox will play the results down.  The fact that it came in third behind the ABC and CBS is enough to raise Fox’s concerns.

Terminator was aired behind the premiere of Dollhouse – Joss Whedon’s new sci-fi drama.  Dollhouse achieved better ratings than Terminator, pulling in 4.7 million viewers in its premiere and, for its time slot, bringing Fox to number two in the ratings battle.  Some claim this was a good result for a Friday.  But none are claiming the same for the results of Terminator.   Still, was this really a good result for Dollhouse?

It seems whilst season 2 of Terminator hasn’t tickled everyone’s fancy, the series at least received thumbs up for its premiere.  Not so for Dollhouse.   Dollhouse has really gotten off to a bad start, suffering mixed and even caning reviews – some didn’t like it, some hated it, others thought it had potential – the odd person liked it enough to tune in next week.  From a quick read around it seems more people thought less of it than thought more, so the question begs, could poor reception for Dollhouse have materially impacted Terminator’s first Friday night results?

Having watched both episodes back to back, the quality difference between Dollhouse and Terminator was pretty clear – Terminator was clearly the superior show.  But since it failed to top Dollhouse’s ratings, it may be a fair assumption to say that some people flipped channels because of Dollhouse.

Either way, ratings for both series weren’t spectacular and so right now, question marks hang over their future viability.  This is a sad situation because Terminator is a very good series and, with a few tweaks, could be exceptional.  News over the past couple of months has indicated a pace pickup and more action will occur as the season unfolds, so perhaps the exceptional factor will emerge as some have indicated.   Let’s hope so, and above all else make sure you tune in for it – otherwise it’ll become just one of many cool series that’s gone the way of the dodo.

Trailer for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Season 2 Episode 14 ‘The Good Wound’

If you’re a Battlestar Galactica fan then you must have heard of Bear McCreary – if not, you’ve probably heard his work without realizing it.  He’s the music composer of the absolutely astounding score to the Battlestar Galactica series.  He’s also the composer to the brilliant score behind Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles the music score was released just under a month ago (December 23, 2008).   There’s three songs that ruin the mood of McCreary’s music but apart from that the rest of the soundtrack is superb – typical McCreary top-quality musical craftsmanship.  Since it’s release it has received nothing but rave reviews, with all reviewers handing it 5 out of 5 stars.  I too give it 5 out of 5 stars and believe this is one for any sci-fi music buffs collection.

If you don’t know much about McCreary then I suggest you go out of your way to find some of his music to listen to because he’s easily the best music composer in Television.  You can visit his official website to learn more about him.  You can also find all of his released albums in the Sci Fi Scoop Mall.

I highly recommend the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles soundtrack.

The last nine episodes of Season 2 of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles begin on February 13 2009.  Here’s a sneak preview.

Sci Fi Wire have posted an exclusive interview with Thomas Dekker, aka John Connor from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.  If you hadn’t already guessed, Season 2 of this excellent series didn’t wind up in 2008 – nine more episodes forming the last half of Season 2 are set to begin airing from the 13th February 2009.

In the interview, Dekker drops a few hints as to what fans can expect as the rest of Season 2 unfolds.  He talks about what will happen to Riley (who we all know attempted suicide in the last episode), about the looming death of a major character, and on the planned acceleration in the evolution of his kind-of-silent character into the ass-kicking intelligent warrior that we all know John Connor is destined to become.    He talks about a lot of other stuff too, so if you don’t mind a few spoilers, go check out the interview at Sci Fi Wire.

The second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will premiere on September 9 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox, and the news is a major character is going to die. Given that there aren’t that many major characters in the series, and given that we’re well aware John Connor goes on to battle the Terminator’s in the future, that doesn’t leave too many characters to wonder about.

Of course, if the character who is going to die is Sarah Connor herself (and, well, we know she has to die eventually), then it sort of makes the name of the series kind of redundant. For this reason, it’s highly doubtful the death will be Sarah Connor. Despite the fact that reports indicate the role of Thomas Dekker (John Connor) will accelerate as John Connor steps up to take more control in line with his future calling as a leader of the resistance against the machines, it’s surely a fair bet to say Sarah will stick around for a while.

There are really only three more major characters. We have Summer Glau as the georgeous and deadly Terminator named Cameron Phillips, we have FBI agent James Ellison played by Richard T. Jones, and we have Brian Austin Green, the ex Beverly Hills 90210 star playing John Connors uncle, Derek Reese. Read the rest of this entry »