Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles Episode #1

[David Howery]

I enjoyed it. I admit to being one of those who didn't really like T3... except the last 5 minutes when they actually blew up the world, and set the stage for T4, which I'm really looking forward to. The series, if it survives, looks like it's going to be set between the time of T2 and the inevitable war (I don't think anything they do is going to stop it, although they'll certainly try to).

But... why only the two basic models of Terminators? No more T-1000's and whatever the model that Kristanna Lokken was in T3? I suspect the tighter TV budgets are to blame for this...

 

[RangerWickett]

My key opinion is that T3 was really badly directed and filmed. So it should be ignored because it was not good.

Also, that ending negates the possibility of a TV series which explores similar themes. It's sort of like how the Highlander TV series ignores the end of the Highlander movie.

So the Terminator TV series takes place in a related alternate universe.

 

[Arnwyn]

But... why only the two basic models of Terminators? No more T-1000's and whatever the model that Kristanna Lokken was in T3? I suspect the tighter TV budgets are to blame for this...

I think that's probably the case.

My wife and I are, in our geek heads, explaining it to ourselves by saying that since Judgement Day was postponed due to Miles Dyson's death and the delay of building SkyNet, it seriously hurt the resources of the machines in the future, and thus they are slow in building any more T-1000s. The machines are stuck with T-900 models, that have the T-1000s 'interactive' AI (look at how well the substitute teacher fit in - he was just like a T-1000). [With all that said, I do hope to have the show actually explain it...]

Geek out!

 

[trancejeremy]

Maybe someday we'll see an Ellen Ripley Chronicles, set shortly after the events of Aliens (and ignoring Alien 3 and whatnot)

 

[Darkwolf71]

Maybe someday we'll see an Ellen Ripley Chronicles, set shortly after the events of Aliens (and ignoring Alien 3 and whatnot)

That would be awesome. (Although, I have to admit; there is a part of me that really enjoyed the Ripley of Alien Resurection. )

 

[trancejeremy]

Lots of things have changed during that time, the biggest obviously being the influence left by 9/11, but lots of other things as well.

I dunno, day to day life hasn't changed much. Cell phones are more common, the internet is faster for some people. Probably the biggest change would be confusion on why kids and young adults are dressing like its the 1970s (not the over the top stuff, but the average fashion from back then)

 

[frankthedm]

Maybe someday we'll see an Ellen Ripley Chronicles, set shortly after the events of Aliens (and ignoring Alien 3 and whatnot)

If you like the idea of alien 3 being ignored, might I suggest the Dark horse Aliens comics or thier Novelizations?

The book is a novelization of the first series of the Aliens spin-off comic book (called Book One in the original trade paperback) written by Mark Verheiden which was released in 1989. At the time the comics formed a natural extension of the story as it was left at the end of the film Aliens.

However, the novel was released as a tie-in with Alien³ (1992) which took the story off in another direction. To avoid any confusion that might arise, the characters' names were changed, so Hicks and Newt became Wilkes and Billie, respectively. Other minor characters were also renamed.

When Book One was 'remastered' in 1996 and re-released as Outbreak the panels were colored and, to bring it in line with the revised story as presented in Earth Hive, the characters were renamed and references to LV-426 were changed to the colony world of Rim.

 

[Felon]

We disagree, it completed the mythology. The ending proved that the robots would lose no matter waht needed to be done. It was great. It made sense as to why no more terminators would be sent, why more than one could not be sent. Because regardless, the future is set in stone. It wrapped up the whole series in a neat bow so all we need to worr yabout now is the war. The whole point of the movies was that the future can not be changed and here's how.

Right now its back in silly mode. Whenever you deal with time travel in scifi you got to be careful and a series is scary territory. Outside of Dr. Who, i have yet to see time travel done right in a tv show. Most of the time it is a writer's favorite crutch

Without rules to time travel this can't work. If the future can be changed, why not send a terminator back to early 1960s or to before the modern era of guns and kill off the lineage. Why not send more than one terminator. Why not send an army. Why be chronological with it, why not spread them out.

I'm not sure how you figure that Doctor Who does time travel right--it blithely ignores the advantages of time travel that are at The Doctor's fingertips. But otherwise I agree. If you can just keep going back over and over until you get it right, then how can you ever lose? And if some scientist in the sixties has the resources to build a time machine, then the earth-dominating machines in the future should be able to cobble together plenty of time machines.

 

[Vocenoctum]

T3 was not the finale of a trilogy - the whole point of T1 and T2 was that you can change the future, then T3 comes along with the big reveal that no, you actually can't, rendering the first two movies completely irrelevant - the ending is just one huge nihilistic cliche. Any series that followed T3 would have to go down that path as well, and make things even worse. I'm glad they decided to undo the mistake instead.

Just to be a nag, T1 wasn't about changing the future. The whole point of it was that he had to come back and such for the future to happen. It was a nice, clean little time loop.

T2 ripped that apart with Paradox. Who changes the future if there's no longer a future to change? It was a totally different paradigm, but it was your "the future CAN be changed".

T3 comes along and says the future is some stream that polishes out paradox over time, preserving the time stream.


T1 left me with the impression that it was a one time, last ditch effort to send them back in time. T2 & T3 opened the fact that more can go back in time and such, leaving the "why not go back BEFORE T1" when they're unaware...

 

[Felon]

Yeah, count me as another vote for the "It's a good thing they decided to write things as if T3 never happened".

T3 was not the finale of a trilogy - the whole point of T1 and T2 was that you can change the future, then T3 comes along with the big reveal that no, you actually can't, rendering the first two movies completely irrelevant - the ending is just one huge nihilistic cliche. Any series that followed T3 would have to go down that path as well, and make things even worse. I'm glad they decided to undo the mistake instead.

Sarah and Kyle hooked up and produced John at the end of T1, which reinforces the notion of inevitably.

And that's not really nihilism, but rather fatalism. Nihilists see existence as a senseless crap-shoot, which is what you get when terminators can come at you willy-nilly ad infinitum.