Every so often, after a movie or series of movies have been successful, there has been an attempt to launch a television show tied to the movie.  Those shows have had varying success.  The Terminator movies have been very popular and have a lot of fans.  In 2008, a television show, Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles, started to air.  I'd heard good things about the show, but I kept missing it when it was on.  I decided to go ahead and pick up Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season when I found it on sale shortly after Christmas.

Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles was set a few years after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.  The show was mostly following the changed time line mentioned in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines that had John be 13 when the events of the second movie happened instead of 10.  Things that happened in the first two movies were mentioned at times, so things would make more sense if the show was watched after the first two movies.  There was also one or two references to something from the third movie, along with an explanation for why certain things may or may not happen.

Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles followed how Sarah and John were living after the events in the second movie.  Sarah had a connection to the explosion and she'd escaped from a mental hospital.  It was logical that the police and FBI would be looking for her.  I thought it made sense that she and John would be trying to avoid the police and FBI and keep a low profile even though they believed that they prevented Judgement Day.  When Sarah felt they were in danger of being found, she would pack up and run.  She had been very careful about not leaving a trail, but she did something that I thought I was very stupid during the first episode.  Sarah had been established as too smart to have done that, so it did bug me a bit. 

John was getting tired of always moving around and he wanted to stay in one place and fight if another Terminator was sent back to kill him.  Once they learned that Judgement Day had only been postponed, they started working to try to prevent Skynet from being created in the first place.  John was starting to disagree with some of his mother's decisions about how to handle things and he was trying to make more decisions.  I saw those things as hints of the future John who was going to be such an important leader.

Some aspects of the first episode were very similar to what happened during the second movie.  A Terminator, called Cromartie, had been sent back to kill John and a reprogrammed Terminator, Cameron, had been sent back to protect him.  Cameron looked like a female teenager, but she was just as strong and deadly as the other Terminators.  After Cameron found John and Sarah and was living with them, they all moved to a new home and she passed herself off as John's sister.  It was interesting to see her try to adjust to high school and act like a normal teenager.  It was very entertaining to hear the explanation for why Cameron set off the metal detector at the school.  Things from the high school were shown in a few of the episodes, including some other students that John started to become friends with.  John's life at school wasn't that important to everything that was going on though, so it wasn't like episodes started focusing on him trying to pass Algebra or something like that, though his homework was brought up once or twice.

There was at least a little bit of action in every episode during the first season.  The action scenes were done well, especially considering that there were some limitations because of it being a television show instead of a movie.  The action did help to keep things interesting.  Most of the time the action did involve fighting, so there was some violence in the episodes as well.  The violence really wasn't that extreme, though a few things were graphic and might bother some people.  Special effects were used throughout the season for different things.  I thought the effects were done well, especially considering the budget restraints.

The events in a few episodes were tied in more closely to the events established in the movies, especially the second movie.  I did like that connection and thought it helped to make the show stronger overall.  One episode included several scenes set in the future, which made a connection to what had been established in the movies and to something new that had been introduced in earlier in the season.  It was a very interesting episode.  Things about John were mentioned, and his ability with computers that was briefly introduced in the second movie was explored a bit more.  At one point a connection to Kyle was also introduced that I really liked.  One of the episodes that was tied a bit closer to the second movie did add in something new connected to Sarah that I didn't like.  I just didn't think it fit for the character and I still don't think that Sarah would have done that.  A few things that happened during the first few episodes could have been explained a little bit more.  For one thing, I'm still not completely sure how something happened, and that did bug me.  I've been vague about the things I felt were problems because if I was more specific, certain things would be spoiled for people who haven't seen the show yet.

The first season of Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles had three main characters.  Sarah and John had been basically living in hiding for a few years when the series began.  Even though they thought Judgement Day had been prevented, Sarah was still prepared to run if she thought they were threatened.  She was very smart about most things, but she did make a few stupid decisions.  This version of Sarah was still strong and tough, but she wasn't the same as the Sarah from the movies.  She did a voice over narration at the beginning and ending of the episodes, much like was done in the second movie.  Lena Heady was fine in the part, though I didn't think she was anything special.

John was tired of always having to be ready to run and wanted more of a normal life.  He was older and starting to disagree with his mom about certain things.  He was starting to be more assertive, which I did think fit in with the type of person he was supposed to be in the future.  He started to make his own decisions at times, which had some questionable results at times.  John did use his ability with computers a few times to help them all out.  Thomas Dekker handled the part well.  

Cameron was a Terminator that had been reprogrammed and sent back in time to protect John.  She looked like an attractive young woman and she easily passed for a high school student even after she set off the metal detector.  Cameron did have a few issues with fully understanding humans and their motivations.  She was detached and wouldn't hesitate to kill if she felt it was necessary.  She did have a secret or two.  I thought Summer Glau was wonderful in the part.  I loved her in Firefly and Serenity, and her being in the show was a big reason why I wanted to see it.  

Derek was someone who turned up for the last few episodes of the first season.  He was a trained fighter and he knew about the potential future and was helping Sarah and John.  Derek did not trust Cameron.  I don't want to say any more about him because that could spoil certain things for people who haven't seen any of the episodes yet.  Brian Austin Green was fine in the part.  James Ellison was an FBI agent who kept looking for Sarah.  James realized that something bizarre was going on, but he wasn't sure exactly what was going on.  Dr. Silberman was back in one episode.  I still didn't like him in general because of how he'd treated Sarah before, but it was sort of nice to see him again.  The conclusion to his episode was perfect.

Cromartie was the Terminator that was sent back to kill John.  As far as I could tell, he was the same type of model from the first movie and not the newer shape shifting T-1000.  Cromartie was focused on killing John, but he did take time to do a few other things that he felt were necessary to his mission.  It was kind of odd for the Terminators to have names since that hadn't been done in the movies.  I think John introduced Terminator with a name at one point in the second movie, but I don't remember anything like that happening in the others.  It did make more sense for Cameron to have a name though since she had been pretending to be a high school student.  I have no idea where Cromartie got his name and if that was explained at any point, I missed it.  

Main Cast

Thomas Dekker - John Connor
Garret Dillahunt - Cromartie
Summer Glau - Cameron
Brian Austin Green - Derek
Lena Headey - Sarah Connor
Richard T. Jones - James Ellison

DVD Information

The nine episodes of the first season of Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles were on three discs.  Creating the Chronicles was a three part look at the making of the series that was on the first disc.  I really enjoyed all three parts.  The first disc also had a short gag reel that had some funny bits on it.  The second disc had some audition tapes, a storyboard animatic of a sequence, and Summer Glau's dance rehearsal.  An extended version of one episode was included on the last disc.  Four of the episodes had deleted scenes that were called Terminated scenes and three of the episodes had commentaries.  There was a short booklet that listed which episodes were on each disc, gave short plot summaries - that sometimes didn't seem to match up that well with actually happened in my opinion.  The original air dates were shared and it was indicated which of the episodes had the deleted scenes and commentaries.

Episode List

Pilot
Gnothi Seauton
The Turk
Heavy Metal
Queen's Gambit
Dungeons and Dragons
The Demon Hand
Vick's Chip
What He Beheld

Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles was a very interesting and entertaining show that I think is worth watching.  Fans of the Terminator movies may enjoy the show since it builds off of the movies while still adding new elements.  This is a good DVD set for people who have enjoyed the series.

The Terminator ~ Terminator 2: Judgment Day ~ Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines ~ Terminator Salvation ~ Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season ~

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD