Spoilers. How frustrating. As Chronicles enjoys a creative upswing, its viewing figures plummet to new depths. "Strange Things Happen At The One Two Point", indeed. This is another intriguing episode for the sci-fi series, that finally has Sarah (Lena Headey) edge closer in temperament to her cinematic predecessor...We're back on the trail of Skynet's origins again, as Sarah and Cameron (Summer Glau) investigate Dakara Systems -- because their company logo matches the three-dot triangle smudged in blood on their basement wall by the now-dead future soldier. Sarah has started to obsess over its meaning, and comes to believe that Dakara's interest in an advanced microchip has relevance. Posing as wealthy investors, eager to finance the purchase of the Japanese-owned chip for the company (and destroy it), Sarah and Cameron try to earn the trust of CEO Alex Akagi (Eric Steinberg) and his genius son Xander. They do this by dressing as pencil-skirted secretaries from the 1920s.
For once, Sarah's story is actually quite involving, mainly because her obsession over the triangular dots and fierce determination to prevent the super-chip evolving into Skynet is a welcome burst of the craziness Linda Hamilton channelled in Terminator 2. The TV Sarah has been softened too much, but Headey finally gets to show real grit, mania and violence here. It's just more enjoyable to see Sarah as the edgy member of the quartet, with Derek (Brian Austin Green) as the more level-headed one keeping her sane. I understand you can't keep Sarah super-intense all the time, but hopefully she'll let off some steam more often now.
Derek himself discovers his girlfriend Jesse's (Stephanie Jacobsen) big secret, which surprisingly ties in with John's (Thomas Dekker) girlfriend Riley (Leven Rambin). It appears that Jesse does have a mission, after all -- to ruin John's relationship with Terminator protector Cameron, which has apparently started to cause problems in the future. It's inferred that Future John's attachment/love for Cameron is clouding his judgement, so Jesse has travelled back with Riley to nip it in the bud. Yes, Riley is nothing more than a preemptive honey trap.
While the surprise works, I'm not sure I believe in Riley as a soldier from the future. After accepting John's lack of explanation for the violent events in Mexico (yeah...), we see Riley meltdown in front of her adopted family -- exasperated by the mundanity of their lives in sharp contrast to the atrocities and hardship she's experienced. She even paraphrases Sarah's asylum rant from T2 at one point. Rambin doesn't quite carry this breakdown off, sadly, and I'm not sure why this mission required Jesse to take surveillance photos of the Connors either.
The ongoing mystery of Catherine Weaver (Shirley Manson) is also returned to after a lull. Here, psychiatrist Dr. Sherman (Dorian Harewood), whom she employed to help her A.I system become more "human", is killed after an accident at work -- where a power-cut resulted in the A.I diverting power to its servers, at the expense of Sherman's safety. The doctor died of heatstroke, locked in a room with no ventilation. Ellison (Richard T. Jones), who has earned Catherine's trust by delivering the body of Cromartie to her, agrees to help work out what happened. After interrogating the system (which Catherine has named "John Henry"), Ellison comes to the simple conclusion that the A.I has no sense of ethics or morality. It simple didn't value Sherman's life. Or, rather, understand the difference between life and death.
These scenes are appealing, and even the continuing uncertainty about Catherine and her "Babylon" project isn't testing my patience. I have faith it will all be explained, so that's enough for me right now. It's certainly a puzzler, though -- based on the fact Catherine wants John Henry to become moral, is it possible she actually has good intentions? Considering she's an advanced machine herself, why is it so difficult to back-engineer A.I, and why does she need Cromartie's body? That last question is possibly answered in the amusing final scene, where we discover Cromartie's been connected to the A.I -- becoming its "human" face. Great to see that Garret Dillahunt hasn't left the series after all; he's simply been given a new, childlike character to play! Good news.
Overall, thanks to the enjoyable John Henry development, an improved performance from Lena Headey, a stimulating twist for the Jesse/Riley characters, and not forgetting Summer Glau in a little black dress, "Strange Things Happen At The One Two Point" was an entertaining instalment.
24 November 2008
Fox, 9/8c
Writers: Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stents
Director: Scott Peters
Cast: Lena Headey (Sarah), Thomas Dekker (John), Summer Glau (Cameron), Richard T. Jones (Ellison), Brian Austin Green (Derek), Garret Dillahunt (Cromartie), Leven Rambin (Riley), Shirley Manson (Catherine Weaver), Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen (Jesse), T.J. Kayama (Minamoto), Savannah Jayde (Gina), Greg Perrie (Aaron), Karen-Eileen Gordon (Kay), Dylan Cash (Byron), Shane Edelman (Matt Murch), Eric Steinberg (Alex Akagi) & Dorian Harewood (Dr. Boyd Sherman)
