After T3 became a box office hit(not a critical hit, there's a difference)FOX and Halycon decided to develop a TV series focusing on Sarah's personal turmoil with being the one to shape John into the savior of mankind. It was also meant to focus on John evolving into the hero he is destined to be, while making adult choices at such a young age.
Taking place 2 years after T2 and completely ignoring T3 and obviously T4 we see Sarah and John now settled in with a good man and being somewhat content. Sarah however, still has nightmares of the apocalypse that was foretold to her by Kyle Reese in the first film and a recurring dream of John getting killed by a Terminator. After her dream becomes a reality of sorts, she decides its time to move on again and goes after John at school. There he meets a young woman named Cameron who takes a liking to him, but it is quickly revealed when John is being attacked by a Terminator that she is also a terminator sent to protect him. They eventually decide to fight back by traveling to 2001 and stopping the creation of what will eventually be Skynet(it is called The Turk in its prototype stage). Various stories occur as they begin to realize that Skynet isn't the only thing trying to make sure the future happens the way it was meant to happen and various great episodes appear throughout the two seasons. Sadley FOX cancelled the series on a cliffhanger in which John finally gets to meet Kyle Reese in the form that he traveled back in time to save Sarah in. Here is the rundown on the performances given throughout the show.
Lena Headey takes over for Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, John's mother, who in this series has become highly paranoid and definitely not confident that what they did in T2 stopped Judgment Day. We find out that by skipping ahead to 2001 Sarah managed to skip her own death of Cancer. Headey portrays Sarah in the same vein as Hamilton in part 2. The difference here is that, at the end of part 2 Sarah seems to understand and except that the Terminator can be good and can help if programmed, but yet in the series she never stops being untrustful of Cameron, no matter how many times she saves her or John's life. I felt her portrayal was done well, but still lacked what Hamilton bought to the table. I much rather would have had Hamilton do the series, she isn't doing anything right now and she has been on a TV show before. Still not a bad performance.
Thomas Dekker portrays John Connor, the future leader of the human resistance. Here Dekker seems to portray Connor in a darker vein of Edward Furlong and even Nick Stahl, therefore showing that the character has already evolved since the closing moments of T2. I did enjoy the performance seen in Dekker, he seemed to capture John's inner turmoil of the big responsibilty he will have in the future. There were moments where it felt like his evolution in T2 was forgotten and he was again depending on Sarah's input on the decision making, but it would only last for a short while and he was back on track. A steller performance definitley.
Summer Glau manages to steal the show as the Terminator called Cameron(she also plays Allison, the Resistance fight her model was based off of). She comes into the pilot as this sweet everyday teen and when she reveals herself she's the emotionless protector of John. Throughtout the series she became an oftly controversal character. Never fully good, nor never fully evil. She has a mission, one that we only know partially about(and sadley never fully realize) and if it means deceiving John, Sarah and whoever else she will get the job done. I enjoy that little mystery, never knowing if she will turn or not. The seasn two premiere was awesome to watch as John is ready to remove her chip and her personality changes to a scared little girl telling John she loves him(could this have been revealed at some point that this IS Allison, just now part mchine, like Marcys Wright in the new Terminator film?). I don't know. The episode featuring the flashback of how Cameron killed Allison was also interesting to watch. I never watched Joss Whedon's Firefly(or Serenity), but this series makes me want too.
Richard T Jones plays FBI agent Ellison, who is tracking Sarah down after her ordeal in the opening of the pilot, he ends up meeting Catherine Weaver and slowly begins to realize that Sarah may be right about what will happen. Jones does a fairly decent job at portraying this character. He's fortunate enough to play a character that has no comparison from the films.
Brian Austin Green as Derek Reese, the older brother of Kyle Reese and Uncle to John, although he doesn't know it until the 2nd Season. The introduction to this character was quite good, he just seemed to be a stalker of the guy who creates The Turk. On a mission himself(private and open)he's there to not only stop Judgment Day, but protect John and hopefully find out what happened to Kyle. I used to watch Green on Beverly Hills 90210(and still do)and I really enjoy seeing his acting skills expanded this way.
Leven Rambin as Riley Dawson, John Love interest. You knew immediately that there was something off about this character. I know I did, my guard throughout the first few she was featured in was up, but as she became more and more caring toward John, the more I began to like the character. Than the reveal of who she was and what her mission was, was a huge blow. I still liked the character because I kmew she actually started to care for John for real. The performance in the series and her evolution to her character was done nice and slow and to see everything come down on her in a few episodes and see her crying the way she did was heartfelt. Definitely a sign of a great actress.
Shirly Manson as Catherine Weaver/T-1001, probably not one of my favorite characters on the series, mainly because every time Manson talked it felt like she was acting, not a real performance at all. Shirly Manson is the lead singer for the Grunge Rock Band Garbage and sucked there(I only liked the single " When I Grow Up" from Big Daddy)and she doesn't fair well here either. Just a waste for what could have been a great character. I do however like the twist ending the Series finale, which I'm sure would have gone deeper if there was a Season 3.
Garrett Dilluhut as John Henry/Cromarties, another new Terminator model, a T-888, I quite enjoyed the performance in the series and the evolution of the character from a killing machine to a guiney pig by the Series Finale. Very well written there.
There are several other characters that make appearances, but just cameo appearances. The series was written very well and had potential to keep the franchise alive, even after this new trilogy is done, but FOX decided to go another way(I love Dollhouse, but this was a way better show). According to several sources Arnold Schwarzenneger, Lance Henricksen and other film stars from the franchise wanted to make cameo appearances on the series, but now we will never know if they would have. It is sad.
I don't have the Seasons on DVD, so I won't get in too deep with my favorite episodes. But you had a few really boring episodes, but some especially great episodes as well. Hopefully soon maybe they'll restart the series back, maybe give it another chance(look at Family Guy), but I doubt it.
The series for me gets a 4 out of 5 stars.
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