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2.22 Born to Run Review by Jess Lynde Given Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles' ratings struggles this spring, it seems a near certainty that this episode wasn't just the season finale, but also the series finale. If that's the case, I think it performed ably on both counts. As a season ender, this was an outstanding episode with great emotional beats and some fantastic action sequences. Many of the slow-burning plot elements from this season were paid off, and it left us in a place rife with great possibilities for continuing the story. As a series ender, it wasn't quite so successful, leaving us with many questions and no true sense of closure. However, I felt it effectively wove in bits from the full spectrum of the Terminator series (movies and television show) and, thankfully, didn't leave us with a massive cliffhanger. It is certainly disappointing that we will likely never see where the story was heading, but the show ended on a strong note. All of the major arcs of the season came to a head in this episode: Sarah's struggle to accept that the best way to help John is to let him go; John slowly maturing into the John Connor of legend, losing his entire support system along the way; and the true purpose of Catherine Weaver and John Henry. Many of the elements introduced in earlier episodes came back into play, including the drone and the possible alliance between the Connor camp and the liquid metal. They even brought back numerous familiar players, from the priest and the girl from the forgery operation, to the Turk, the three dots, Derek, Kyle, and Allison from Palmdale. The John and Sarah story arcs came to their natural conclusion, with both characters finally reaching the point where they could let go of each other. Sarah was the first to recognize that John needs to stand on his own, telling him to leave this place and not to come for her, and then refusing to go with him to save Cameron. Perhaps she knew she was dying and didn't want John to see her weakened by cancer, but I like to think her choices were the result of all her experiences and soul-searching this season. John, on the other hand, wasn't truly ready to let go just yet (as evidenced by his inability to let Cameron go), but he was starting to accept that he might be losing Sarah. Combined with his experiences this season -- especially losing so many people he loved in recent weeks -- this gave him the push he needed to leave without Sarah. It struck me as a step towards truly being able to stand on his own. The Catherine and John Henry story arcs also came to a fitting conclusion, or at least to a good "end of the beginning" point. Catherine's true nature was revealed to all and she confirmed that she was trying to build something to stop Skynet. "Your John may save the world, but he can't do it without mine." The various T888 and drone attacks seem to lend credence to her story. It was great to get confirmation of things we were starting to suspect, but the end sequence left me with a lot of questions. How did Catherine know John Henry went to the future? Was this always the plan? Did Cameron give him her chip so that he could download into it and become mobile? If so, is he really the same John Henry? Mr. Murch said that John Henry as we knew him was that specific combination of hardware and software in the Zeira Corp basement. Plus, if he downloaded into Cameron's chip, is she gone? Cameron had some truly great material this week. She got to be mysterious, quietly philosophical, and a badass prison breaker. Her tete-a-tete with John about her nature was fascinating, culminating in a very sexually charged moment between them on the hotel bed. She seemed to be trying very hard to convince him that she's just a machine (whose shielded nuclear reactor was intact), but her methods only seemed to make him more emotionally attached to her (despite his logical misgivings). I was pretty startled by the way things ended for Cameron. I've thought for awhile now that her mission was possibly to die, but I never suspected she would sacrifice herself in this way. I'm not even sure if this was her intended mission. Certainly, Weaver asking (via Ellison) "Will you join us?" got a very big reaction from her (and gave me a little thrill!), but I wonder if this was something she was always waiting for or a new path that unexpectedly presented itself. Either way, she completed the mission Sarah assigned her: make sure John leaves this place. So things end with John at some indeterminate point in the future. What a fantastic twist for the final act. Strange, I never considered the idea of John Connor jumping past Judgment Day to become the man, the myth, the legend. I always thought that he survived Judgment Day and the legend built from there. I wonder if this is a new development, or something that always happened in some form or another. Based on what we've seen before, it seems like this might be a new wrinkle in time. I'm bummed that we'll likely never know the answers, but I'm thrilled that we got those last few moments with John seeing Derek again, meeting Kyle for the first time, and then seeing Allison. I loved the subtle shift in his expression from joy at finding Cameron to confusion and then a little bit of horror when he realized he was actually looking at a human. It truly is those great character moments that hooked me on this series, and I'm really glad things ended on an emotionally resonant note. Other thoughts: I enjoyed the allusions to previous events in the series history, including John's comments to Ellison about the fate of his last S.W.A.T. team, the scene with the T888 in the gunshop (similar to a scene from the original Terminator), and Cameron's shoot ‘em up at the prison (very reminiscent of Arnie's attack on the police station). Catherine dispatching the T888 and protecting everyone from the drone attack were pretty rocking sequences. She's such a cool customer. I especially loved the way Shirley Manson said "Sure" when the T888 asked if she was Catherine Weaver. I liked the priest's confession that he prays every day to understand what happened when the Connors came to his church. Plus, it looked like Cameron's "friend" took over the document forging business run by Enrique and his nephew after they were all killed. Both these touches were a nice nod to the ongoing impacts of the Connors travails on others. On that subject, I wonder what will happen to poor Savannah. She lost her father, the thing she thought was her mother, and her friend, John Henry. Who does she have left? Mr. Ellison? It's too bad we didn't have more time to delve into Ellison's reaction to the Weaver reveal. It was clear he was thrown for a loop, but it would have been cool to explore it more. I wonder where they were planning to go with the Danny Dyson thing. The fed mentioned he's been missing for three months, but that was the only time it came up. I loved the extended preview for Terminator: Salvation during the commercial breaks. Yet more apparent references to downloading into or becoming machines being the key to human salvation. It made me wonder if in the movie John Connor is a machine, but doesn't know it. Quotes: Ellison about the Cameron and the Connors: "I told you before, she'll never leave his side, and he'll never leave his mother's." Weaver and John Henry: "We'll see." The Forger: "We lose everybody we love." Final Rating: 5 out of 5. If this is it for the series, I'm very glad it went out on a high note. View all comments or post a comment. |
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