The Sarah Connor Chronicles

I have a bit of a Firefly bias. So when I see that any of the cast are going to be in something, I make sure to set the DVR to record. The Sarah Connor Chronicles was one of those shows, starring Summer Glau, who played River Tam in the Firefly series and in the movie Serenity.

Looking a little too old to be a school girl, with a bit of the amygdala stripped River in her eyes, she plays artificial intelligence well. But The Sarah Connor Chronicles is not as much about the action as it is about the relationship between mother and son when the worst is expected at every turn. Oh, the action is great. Glau's performance as the butt kicking ultimate weapon from Serenity comes into play here as well (we love those high kicks) as Cameron, the butt kicking ultimate protector created by Future John Connor to protect Past John Connor. Lena Headey, as Sarah Connor, does a good job of being a bad-ass too and you almost don't miss Linda Hamilton. Almost. John Connor, played by Thomas Dekker, does not act like a kid that has been hunted and knows he will continue to be hunted. But he does act like a kid, and his reactions, at least from the 1st hour, ring true. Richard T. Jones plays FBI agent James Ellison, who has been tracking Connor since Dyson died at the end of T2, believing her to be Dyson's murderer. Owain Yeoman plays the bad terminator, although I hear that he will be replaced by Garrett Dillahunt, most recently seen as Matthew Ross on the 4400. I liked Owain Yeoman in The Nine as the more sympathetic brother of the robber pair that trapped everyone in the bank.

Yes, the action was great. Lots of explosions, chases, fights, Terminators destroying bank vaults, Terminators getting hit by trucks, Terminators pulling guns from their legs and shooting other Terminators... yes, there was action. But I think that the story for The Sarah Connor Chronicles will be more about the relationship between mother and son, a mother who loves her son so much, she will do anything to save him, even if that means that he hates her now, rather than see him not be aware and die. It will be an interesting dynamic between this family, with the mother not sure if she can trust the female Terminator, the son not sure if he wants to be or can be the resistance leader everyone says he will be, and a Terminator who is more human than we might know.

The Sarah Connor Chronicles, on Fox Mondays at 9pm... after Prison Break... where they try to break out of prison... again... bleh.