Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles: "Pilot"

"Series Pilot"
What a beginning! With a mega ending too.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this TV installment of the Terminator franchise, but this pilot rocked.

It starts off with a dream sequence in which Sarah picks up John at school to go on the run except cops nab 'em. Then a wooden-looking big guy comes along and blows most everyone away--including John.

I figured then something was off.

The next clue was when a mushroom cloud goes off behind the school, revealing the big guy as a Terminator, who grabs Sarah by the throat--

And she wakes up in bed with her fiance in 1999. It's obvious that she cares for the guy, which is why she cuts out on him when he leaves for work. She can't stay in one place too long and can't get close to anyone with robots from the future after John, humanity's future leader.

She tells John to get ready in half an hour. Pack one bag plus the guns. And she'll make pancakes. LOL. In an incongrous, serious kind of way.

Sarah's jilted fiance goes to the local cops to seek help in locating her. FBI Agent James Ellison shows up to learn what he knows about Sarah. Ellison gives the fiance (and us the viewers) the low down on how Sarah broke out of a mental institution to level a high end computer R&D lab and supposedly kill a top computer scientist, Miles Dyson.

Sarah and John relocate to a "hick town" in New Mexico. John's feeling out of place in school when a hot girl, Cameron, strikes up a conversation and basically insinuates herself in his good graces. Reluctantly, John parts company with her to report home to Sarah like a good boy.
Agent Ellison shows up in town fishing for Sarah.

The next day, John tells Cameron a little about himself (without specifics) in chem class. A wooden-looking guy comes in, saying he's the sub. We know who he is and he proves it as he takes attendance, hacking a gash in his leg as he works his way to John. He pulls a 9 mil out and starts blazing away at John.

Cameron takes a few hits, though, letting John dive out a window. Motor servos exposed and grinding in his leg, the Terminator says "Class dismissed" and busts out of the room on John's trail. Didn't think this AI would care about these kinds of niceties.

He has John in his sights, pauses a hair too long for dramatic reasons, then gets railroaded by Cameron, driving a 4X4. When John stares at her, she says "Come with me if you want to live."

John gets in and takes in stride rather well that Cameron, with several gunshot hits in her body, is apparently another "good" Terminator sent to protect him.

At the local diner, Sarah cuts out the second the local news reports gunfire at the high school. She shows up to find John when the wooden Terminator somehow sneaks up on her, takes her prisoner, and lures John to the house with a flawless impersonation of her voice.

The Terminator carries Sarah home over his shoulder and props her in a chair. A figure with his jacket hood up comes in, calling for Sarah in John's voice. The Terminator calls out to with Sarah's voice and pumps a few rounds into him. Except it's Cameron again. The two smash the house between 'em and shotgun blasts from Sarah, who grabs a holdout rifle from a hidey hole in a wall. I can't help but wonder why Sarah doesn't load up on grenade launchers and other heavier ordnance considering her attackers're robots constructed from highly refined metal alloys?

Sarah and John bug out in their 4X4. Cameron temporarily short circuits the big Terminator with a power line, then jumps into the back of their truck and climbs in the cab.

Sarah takes Cameron in stride, and they hole up to plan their next move and get supplies. John and us notice how humanlike Cameron is. Apparently she's been equipped with advanced behavioral subroutines in 2027--to provide John with some pleasant company? I'll be curious to see where this goes.

John then tells Sarah that he's not the future savior of mankind and that he can't keep running. She has to try to alter the future to make things safe for him. Sarah agrees and changes her mind from crossing the border into Mexico to visit Dyson's widow in LA.

After Sarah convinces her she didn't kill Miles and Cameron lights up the blue LEDs in her eyes, the widow says all the research on Skynet was destroyed as far as she knows. No joy there. And the Terminator tracks John down again.

Sarah and company drive away and blow him up, but not before she gets a bullet in the shoulder. When she wakes up after a patch job by Cameron, they all head for a bank where Cameron has a safety deposit box reserved since 1963.

Cameron relieves a 60-year-old security guard of his revolver and gets a teller to fork over the deposit box keys and lock 'em all in the bank vault.

I found myself wondering what Cameron's exit strategy was as the police made their inevitable appearance outside. Under Cameron's direction, John and Sarah open boxes filled with the pieces of an energy weapon. Cameron lets slip that an engineer went back to 1963 to build the vault and leave them certain resources should the need arise.

Nice.

After Cameron sets an isotope solution charging to red and gives the weapon to Sarah, she unseals a few more boxes and some beyond cutting edge computer panels extend into view. The controls for a time machine.

Looking a bit battered, the Terminator shows up, ignores the police who stare dumbfounded, and tears the vault door down.

Cameron sets the temporal coordinates as the Terminator approaches. Sarah blows him away just before they all vanish in a sphere of temporal energy.

The sphere reappears in a highway that stops evening traffic, depositing John, Sarah, and Cameron sans clothing. Drivers gawk and catch them on live video with camera phones.

A highway construction sign flashes "2007" as Cameron stops a car with guys who want to show her a good time. She thumps their heads and gets them to volunteer their clothes.

We fade out with Sarah and company poised to seek out Skynet before it's created and destroy it.

I can hardly wait to see what happens. It looks like the initial 12 episode order was complete.

This pilot was filled with nods to the films that all savvy fans can't not fail to notice. The ending went in an unexpected direction, which is always good. Hopefully, things won't tank after this pilot, like they did for "Bionic Woman."