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The Sarah Connor Chronicles was always going to be a strange beast. Almost like an extended version of Terminator 2 (No bad thing) – with a kind of Terminator of the week plot line. Season 1 ended rather prematurely after only 9 episodes.
Doing a Superman Returns and ignoring the plot of the third Terminator film, TSCC (yeah I’m too lazy to type that out) follows the characters of John and Sarah Connor, along with uncle Derek and erstwhile family pet/robot Cameron (see what they did there?).
To be honest Lena Heady has the hardest role as the titular character Sarah – she really isn’t Linda Hamilton crazy focused bitch alá Terminator 2; because if she was- we’d lose all sympathy for her after 2 episodes. However, she is so different – that we can’t really see her as ‘The’ Sarah Connor. John Connor (Thomas Dekker) is another iconic character, who’s not done much justice – who is basically just a whiney teenager in this, we don’t really treated to the idea that he will be a great leader in the series – he is however slave to an ongoing arc and obviously everything has to be dragged out to help with the longevity of the series.
Brian Austin Green, is a suprise hit as erstwhile unknown older brother of papa Kyle Reese – his character is the most enjoyable – especially his flashbacks(forwards?) to the future.
Summer Glau has starred in two TV Shows, where she has no personality – and great powers – and you know what? She’s good at it, just really sorry she’s been typecast so young!
Richard T. Jones returns as agent Ellison (well ex-agent), he’s performance is great, but his character makes a lot of mistakes and strange wrong footing that don’t really sit that well with the character.
Along with the cast from season 1, we also get a few more regular’s this season. Shirley Manson – is in the same league as Arnold Schwarzenegger in regards to her acting ability – however like Arnie in the titular role in 1984 – her poor acting, actually helps you believe she is some kind of machine (and boy is she creepy thoughout – you have to feel sorry for her on screen daughter!).
Jesse Flores, old flame of Derek – is a really waste of screen time. Her whole plan was so obvious throughout – that the final reveal of who Riley Dawson actually was is both expected and extremely boring with it’s teenage angst – although the sigh of relief when this plot point is resolved (and in a rare insight by John Connor, no less!) is both great but shows how rubbish the plot line is.
Still there are moment’s of brilliance throughout the series’, that you can’t help but keep watching to get another glimpse of it. The almost irrelevant way that a major character is killed off – reminded me of the Episode of Buffy when her mother died. No slow motion falling over while depressing music plays in the background. You almost expect the character to get back up and say – oh! It’s ok just a flesh wound in the center of my forehead, I’m fine...
It’s also nice that it’s less terminator of the week, which seemed to haunt the first season so much – there’s lots of plot points to follow and apart from the aforementioned Jesse/Riley plotpoint (is there one?). Lot’s of the episodes make sense in what the gang are up against.
Watching the DVD set as a whole, you can see how the arc was going, the meeting of Sarah Connor and Catherine Weaver is a little bit of a wet fart I’ll admit but the ending almost makes up for the entire season’s teen angsty moments and makes you wonder what a third season would have been like. (hopefully the planned/rumoured TV Movie is on the way!).
Special Features on the DVD comprise of your standard TV series fare, lots to watch here and some interesting talks to the creators and the passion they have for series – good stuff overall.
SYNOPSIS:
The time: today. The stakes: all our tomorrows. A nascent AI, assisted by droids, continues to edge toward world domination and the ruin of humankind. It accepts no limits. It fears no one. Except John Connor. The machines know John, now 16, is the future head of the resistance. They know he is growing in abilities. They must find and terminate him. But Sarah Connor is there, protecting and instructing her son as he becomes the man he’s destined to be.
The hunt is on in a season of powerful revelations, breathless pursuits and bravura effects. A mysterious 3-dot symbol (Do UFOs provide a clue?), a girlfriend for John (Is Cameron jealous?), ZeiraCorp (Can it master the renegade software called The Turk?) – Season 2’s six-disc action arsenal is locked, loaded, and ready to amaze.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – The Complete Second Season continues the saga of one of the best known and most popular franchises in the action/sci-fi genre,” said Rosemary Markson, WHV Vice President, TV & Special Interest Marketing. “Packed with over four hours of special features and exclusive Blu-ray content, we are tremendously excited to bring this final season to its dedicated fans on DVD and Blu-ray.”
From Bartleby Company and The Halcyon Company in association with Warner Bros. Television, the series is executive produced by Josh Friedman, John Wirth, James Middleton, Mario Kassar, Andrew Vajna and Joel Michaels.
DVD and BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES
• The Continuing Chronicles featurettes
• Write the Future – An inside look at creator Josh Friedman and the writing process and how it guides the creative decisions for each episode.
• Conceptualization – Visual Effects supervisor James Lima and others discuss the production challenges of bringing the sci-fi world of Terminator to television.
• Blood and Metal – Go behind the scenes with special makeup effects artist Rob Hall and the cast as they reveal the process of creating realistic cybernetic organisms.
• Designing Destruction – Production Designer Marek Dobrowolski and others discuss the challenges of combining real locations with futuristic sets to create a world in which the present fights to avoid a horrific future.
• Choreographing Chaos – See how Stunt Coordinator and 2nd Unit Director Joel Kramer and Special Effects Supervisor Steve Galich work closely to create the stunts and on set effects that add an undeniably kinetic quality to each episode.
• War Stories – From an unexpected earthquake on the jam-packed Santa Monica pier to the intricacies of filming underwater sequences, the producers and cast reflect on some of the most memorable production challenges from Season Two.
• Setting the Tempo – Composer Bear McCreary and the producers explain the process of taking cues from the Terminator mythology and incorporating them into the score. Bear, Josh Friedman and Shirley Manson also talk about the process of recording the season opening song “Samson and Delilah.”
• Motivations – The producers and cast discuss the themes of Season Two and how these informed both the writing and acting.
• Terminated Scenes
• Cameron vs. Rosie: Fight Rehearsal - The raw fight rehearsal and choreography session between Summer Glau and a contortionist is interwoven with storyboards and interviews explaining this intricate battle sequence.
• The Storyboard Process: Cameron Goes Bad – The production team outlines the process for mapping key sequences from the show in Storyboard format.
• Audio Commentary with Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Summer Glau and Shirley Manson and Executive Producers Josh Friedman, James Middleton and John Wirth
• Gag Reel
BLU-RAY ONLY SPECIAL FEATURES
• Collision with the Future: Deconstructing the HUNTER KILLER Attack – Interactive exploration of the climactic Hunter Killer attack featured in the Season Two finale. Four simultaneous points of view show all elements of the filmmaking of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles from Production, Direction, Visual Effects, and Special Effects. Additional focus points allow the viewer to explore even more elements of what it took to create this dramatic stunt sequence.
EPISODES FEATURED
1. Samson and Delilah
2. Automatic for the People
3. The Mousetrap
4. Allison from Palmdale
5. Goodbye to All That
6. The Tower is Tall But the Fall is Short
7. Brothers of Nablus
8. Mr. Ferguson is Ill Today
9. Complications
10. Self Made Man
11. Strange Things Happen at the
12. Alpine Fields
13. Earthlings Welcome Here
14. The Good Wound
15. Desert Cantos
16. Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep
17. Ourselves Alone
18. Today is the Day (1)
19. Last Voyage of the Jimmy Carter (2)
20. To the Lighthouse
21. Adam Raised a Cain
22. Born to Run
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