T:SCC 2.01
Sep. 10th, 2008 07:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bop_radarWOW.
I have been fidgeting in my seat at work all day, waiting to get home and watch this, and it did not disappoint. In fact, the season premiere immediately reminded me two of the reasons why I loved the first season so much: it did not take the path I expected, and it was completely action-packed.
I had expected Cameron to be more damaged by the bomb blast. However, I was delighted that she was immediately back on her feet, because she makes the show for me. And until John pulled his emo!kid rebellion, I was really getting into the idea of having her as this season's villain. Having said that, I think the show stayed really well grounded and believable in having the plot unfold the way it did. In different hands, this plot would have been dragged out over at least a couple of episodes, but realistically there was no escape for John and Sarah in the state they were in.
I may be in a minority, but I initially believed Sarah killed Sarkissian. I think it's just wishful thinking though! I sort of would prefer it if she had, as I had a few issues late in the first season with the implication that Sarah wasn't quite as tough as she seems/makes out, and this would have been a good way to offset that impression. Also, when she was getting kicked around, I really wanted her to be the one to fight back, not John. I think it would have caused interesting tension between her and John. Having said that, his silence and withdrawal also make sense if he killed Sarkissian himself--and of course regardless the angst was piled on massively by what happened subsequently with Cameron.
I love Cameron but I really did think her 'dying' words were a trick. And the 'I love you' did seem like manipulation, clear and simple--and I believe it was, even if she was fixed. I think intelligent Cameron appealed to John based on human behaviour patterns in the best way she could think up. And I think he knows that. John's angst this episode arose from a tension between logic and emotion--logically he knows what he must do and he knows why, emotionally and instinctively he rebels against it.
While I don't ship John/Cameron, I fell a little bit in love with him for being so determined to give her a shot at life. It was UNBELIEVABLY STUPID and on Sarah's behalf I was screaming at him not to do it, but I also found it courageous and beautiful. He's such a kid, and yet also a budding hero. The conviction combination of both aspects in the one person is an impressive thing for this show to pull off. And I continue to like the fact that on this show, the male lead is emotional and intuitive and the female lead is colder, hard-edged and logical. Yes, still a sucker for gender reversal. ;)
So John's intuition paid off. Cameron is fixed. Somehow. I can live with that, though it's a bit handwave-y. It was cool to see her override the termination programming and makes me even more intrigued about what makes her different from other terminators. I loved that she told Sarah never to let John do that if she went bad again.
Poor Sarah! That was one hell of a bad day. I know it was John's birthday and I should feel sorry for him most of all, but actually it was Sarah I ached for at the end. Her speech through the door to him was really moving and what struck me is that she spoke to him adult-to-adult, not parent-to-child. She's honest about her limitations and she tries to signal to him that they need to accept what's happened has happened. John was so defiant, angry at his mother for wanting to torch Cameron, but I do believe that he understands why she did so at some level. He may be acting out the rebellious teen at the moment, but he loves Sarah really, just as she loves him. Right now it's just very hard to deal with the reality of where their roles have forced them--for both of them.
I am indifferent to Shirley Mansun's character so far. She wasn't awful but she didn't blow me away, and that speech about people crossing the road was a bit too cliched super-villain for this show, I thought. I'd quite like to be able to stake people through the head at work when they pissed me off though. *jealous*
I continue to dislike Reese and like Charlie.
Cool new credits!
I have been fidgeting in my seat at work all day, waiting to get home and watch this, and it did not disappoint. In fact, the season premiere immediately reminded me two of the reasons why I loved the first season so much: it did not take the path I expected, and it was completely action-packed.
I had expected Cameron to be more damaged by the bomb blast. However, I was delighted that she was immediately back on her feet, because she makes the show for me. And until John pulled his emo!kid rebellion, I was really getting into the idea of having her as this season's villain. Having said that, I think the show stayed really well grounded and believable in having the plot unfold the way it did. In different hands, this plot would have been dragged out over at least a couple of episodes, but realistically there was no escape for John and Sarah in the state they were in.
I may be in a minority, but I initially believed Sarah killed Sarkissian. I think it's just wishful thinking though! I sort of would prefer it if she had, as I had a few issues late in the first season with the implication that Sarah wasn't quite as tough as she seems/makes out, and this would have been a good way to offset that impression. Also, when she was getting kicked around, I really wanted her to be the one to fight back, not John. I think it would have caused interesting tension between her and John. Having said that, his silence and withdrawal also make sense if he killed Sarkissian himself--and of course regardless the angst was piled on massively by what happened subsequently with Cameron.
I love Cameron but I really did think her 'dying' words were a trick. And the 'I love you' did seem like manipulation, clear and simple--and I believe it was, even if she was fixed. I think intelligent Cameron appealed to John based on human behaviour patterns in the best way she could think up. And I think he knows that. John's angst this episode arose from a tension between logic and emotion--logically he knows what he must do and he knows why, emotionally and instinctively he rebels against it.
While I don't ship John/Cameron, I fell a little bit in love with him for being so determined to give her a shot at life. It was UNBELIEVABLY STUPID and on Sarah's behalf I was screaming at him not to do it, but I also found it courageous and beautiful. He's such a kid, and yet also a budding hero. The conviction combination of both aspects in the one person is an impressive thing for this show to pull off. And I continue to like the fact that on this show, the male lead is emotional and intuitive and the female lead is colder, hard-edged and logical. Yes, still a sucker for gender reversal. ;)
So John's intuition paid off. Cameron is fixed. Somehow. I can live with that, though it's a bit handwave-y. It was cool to see her override the termination programming and makes me even more intrigued about what makes her different from other terminators. I loved that she told Sarah never to let John do that if she went bad again.
Poor Sarah! That was one hell of a bad day. I know it was John's birthday and I should feel sorry for him most of all, but actually it was Sarah I ached for at the end. Her speech through the door to him was really moving and what struck me is that she spoke to him adult-to-adult, not parent-to-child. She's honest about her limitations and she tries to signal to him that they need to accept what's happened has happened. John was so defiant, angry at his mother for wanting to torch Cameron, but I do believe that he understands why she did so at some level. He may be acting out the rebellious teen at the moment, but he loves Sarah really, just as she loves him. Right now it's just very hard to deal with the reality of where their roles have forced them--for both of them.
I am indifferent to Shirley Mansun's character so far. She wasn't awful but she didn't blow me away, and that speech about people crossing the road was a bit too cliched super-villain for this show, I thought. I'd quite like to be able to stake people through the head at work when they pissed me off though. *jealous*
I continue to dislike Reese and like Charlie.
Cool new credits!
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 05:05 am (UTC)To me, it comes across as his being very much her subordinate
That had not struck me and will give me a different way to think about him, I think.
I do think Sarah needs Derek and Cameron to do what she cannot
Mmm, see I think part of it for me is that I want Sarah to do it herself. That's why I really wanted/hope that she killed S. not John. Apparently the podcast suggests she did. I can understand Sarah baulking, but I want to know she could do it if she had to, without passing it off conveniently to someone else who she can demonise. Though one thing in Derek's favour is that she can't demonise him the way she does Cameron. Interesting.
I loved the fic! Great rec--thank you! He seems very popular in fandom (or at least on my f'list) already, so there's obviously something there for a lot of people that I'm missing.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 02:28 pm (UTC)LEEEE! I still love him the best. (There's a little bit of Lee-Zak-Kara with Derek-Kyle-Sarah, which is another erason I like him :D)
When you re-watch season 1, see how Derek argues with Sarah and John about the preferred course of action, but ultimately ALWAYS does what they want him to. As another LJ friend of mine described him, he's Sarah's junkyard dog :P
I can understand Sarah baulking, but I want to know she could do it if she had to, without passing it off conveniently to someone else who she can demonise. Though one thing in Derek's favour is that she can't demonise him the way she does Cameron. Interesting.
I’m of two minds about who killed Sarkissian. On the one hand, obviously killing Sarkissian (both the real and the fake ones) is not the same thing as killing Andy Goode, who had done nothing wrong when Derek killed him. And I’ve always believed that Sarah was totally capable of killing in John’s defense. But it’s also a very, very big deal for her – she’s never taken a human life before, and I would expect her to be much more shaken up about this than she is. Instead, John is the one who’s all shaken up, even though last season it was Sarah having the angst-fest about how many people would die because of them. Hmmmm!
BUT like you, I think Sarah needs to not be all “we don’t kill people!” and then have Cameron and Derek do all the terrible things that need doing.
And … I love Cameron too, but I honestly don’t blame anyone for being both terrified of her potential for harm and disconcerted by her lack of affect :P She really IS a very scary robot!
no subject
Date: 2008-09-12 03:49 am (UTC)Good to hear! ;) (My heart still thuds when I see him!)
I’ve always believed that Sarah was totally capable of killing in John’s defense
Same. I agree it should be a big deal for her, but on the other hand, I can see her being very pragmatic in the short term after it happened and her priority being pulling John along and getting him out of his funk state. I find it believable she'd digest the killing later, and at the end of the ep when she talked to him through the door, I felt like she was trying to be there for her son, but the subtext was that she had a lot to process too... I guess I read her as swallowing her own stuff in order to be a good parent first and foremost. But it could go either way.
I think Sarah needs to not be all “we don’t kill people!” and then have Cameron and Derek do all the terrible things that need doing.
Yeah, that was my worry. But I have faith in show--I think they'll get around that.
but I honestly don’t blame anyone for being both terrified of her potential for harm and disconcerted by her lack of affect :P She really IS a very scary robot!
Hell yeah! I looove Sarah's distrust of her, as well as the way she makes it very clear that the alliance with Cameron is a wary one.