Terminator Begins Its Chronicles

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles always looked as if it would be the showcase series premiering in the winter. The success of American Gladiators seems to have changed all that, at least in the short run. But on a night that stood as a major casualty of the writers' strike -- the Golden Globes was decimated, and this time slot on Fox was originally slated for the premiere episode of 24 -- this long-awaited pilot was a good re-introduction to the Terminator universe, although future episodes will clearly not be budgeted as this one was.

We picked up the story in 1999. We began with a dream sequence in which Sarah and John Connor, her son, are arrested, only to have a terminator lay waste to the scene, kill John and begin the reign of terror. Once she awoke, we learned that Sarah had received a marriage proposal from her boyfriend, which signaled it was time to scoot. Sarah explained to John the importance of doing nothing at all that will attract attention.

The well-meaning boyfriend informed authorities Sarah was missing, but FBI agent Ellison told him who Sarah really was, and that she was wanted for terrorism and killing Miles Dyson. The pair ended up in New Mexico, where John hates it. Soon Ellison was in the state as well. John tells a girl in his class, Cameron, a version of the truth: his father was a soldier on a mission who died before he was born. One day the class had a "substitute teacher," who was actually a terminator who shot up the classroom. Cameron took a bullet for John, who escaped out a window; but as the robot was about to kill him, a truck driven by Cameron ran him over. The girl opened the door and said (all together now), "Come with me if you want to live." Cameron was one of the good terminators! And because it's Fox, she's a very pretty young woman!

Sarah rushed to the scene when she heard the reports of violence at the school, and the terminator accosted her, mimicking her voice when John called and telling him to go home. At the house, Cameron mimicked John just to make sure it wasn't a trap, and when it turned out to be just that, the pair of terminators threw each other through walls before Cameron was able to use a live wire to immobilize her adversary. After explaining to Sarah who she is, Cameron told her that Skynet went online in 2011. John wondered why all this was happening again, and said that he obviously had no leadership ability. Sarah told Cameron they were going to go in search of Skynet. They traveled to see Dyson's widow; Sarah denied having anything to do with her husband's death. The terminator found the group and the trio barely escaped, with Sarah slightly wounded. Cameron then led everyone to a bank, where she staged a robbery as a means to get to the vaults, where she assembled a time machine to get the group into good old 2007. [Show Me SciFi]

Moonlight:
Josh was attempting to prosecute a Salvadoran drug lord who was notorious for making threats against the loved ones of those who came after him. Josh was beaten in a parking garage and his attackers let it be known Beth was in danger. Mick was still pondering Coraline's blood, and what was so special about it that she might be reverting to humanity. Beth wondered why Mick was so eager to not be a vampire -- think of what he would see in the future. Josh told Beth he was dropping the drug lord case to protect her, but she told him he had to stick it out, and Mick agreed. Josh arranged for protection for Beth, and showed the drug lord he meant business by having him arrested at his daughter's Sweet Sixteen party. Mick had Coraline's blood tested and it was found to be normal, though the tester remarked it was so untainted it seemed to be from a child, and it was a rare blood type, the same rare type Beth had. The drug lord was released on bail, which was immediately followed by an attempt on Beth's life, foiled by Mick. Coraline's blood vial was destroyed in the commotion.

The drug lord's next move was to have Josh kidnapped, and he was grabbed off the street outside Beth's house. Beth and Mick gave chase, and GPS on Josh's cell phone allowed him to be followed. Mick knocked the kidnappers out, but one of them revived in the front seat of the car and shot Josh through the back seat before he could crawl out of the trunk. Mick used his World War II medic experience to try to stop the bleeding. Despite a heroic effort, which required Mick to spend more time in the sun than normal (and ignore all that tasty blood), Josh faded. Beth begged Mick to turn him into a vampire to save him, but Mick refused and Josh died just before an ambulance arrived. Beth angrily refused consolation from Mick.

One of the kidnappers refused to cooperate at the police station, but Mick asked to be put in the interrogation room with him. With his back to the police, he bared his fangs and the terrified kidnapper gave up the drug lord's location. Mick lied about the location to the police so he could take care of the bad guy himself. He laid waste to the bar where the drug lord was holed up, and drained him of his blood. Afterwards, Beth asked Mick if she had been in Josh's position, and he told her he didn't know, but had to admit he couldn't say for sure. [It's All Fluff]

Friday Night Lights:
Smash dealt with the pressures of recruiting, with his mother and Coach Taylor trying to keep him grounded as his new girlfriend kept him excited about the process. He ended up making a commitment to TMU. Things came to a head between the Taylors and Tami's sister Shelly after one too many incidents where she got in the way (using one of Eric's scouting tapes to record The Office was the last straw); after passing the real estate exam, Shelly departed for Dallas. Tim's brother Billy lost his job and girlfriend Jackie and was in danger of losing the house, until he and Tim came upon $3,000 while Tim was retrieving his belongings from his former roomie, the meth dealer. The big game with Laribee approached with Taylor still getting the cold shoulder from Dickens, the rival coach, whose team was still holed up at Dillon. As Tim was heading down the sideline to score the winning touchdown late in the game, the deranged Dickens ran out on the field to tackle him, later explaining to Taylor that he was distraught over his wife's terminal illness. Julie took her sweet time telling her father the real story of what happened the night Tim took her home from the party; when she finally spilled, Taylor expressed disappointment with her, and he later told Tim he had behaved honorably. I like Riggins, and Taylor Kitsch in the role: he's definitely become first among equals among the younger set in the cast, which wasn't the case last season. [The House Next Door]

Miss America Reality Check:
We met Miss Alaska, who ran her mouth a lot, and Miss D.C., who was overcoming a tough, non-pageanty upbringing. Miss Utah tried to keep in mind what she had been told about getting more glamorous. The ladies had to change into swimsuits for a competition. Michael Urie put the girls in line and the ones first in line had to answer quiz questions. If they got them right, they could move to the back of the line; if they were wrong, they had to jump in the pool and were out. The women wearing a lot of makeup were nervous about losing it in the pool. Miss D.C. had an asthma attack in the pool, but came out OK. The women now had wet hair and no makeup after being in the pool, so they were getting a consultation on how to update their look. The winner of the challenge, Miss New Jersey, and everyone on her team won a prize of personalized makeup application by experts.

As the consultations proceeded, most of the women accepted what they were told, but Miss Illinois turned down a suggestion that she cut her hair. She said she was worried because every other contestant had accepted the help, but stuck to her guns. Miss Alaska went the other way, agreeing to lose 12 inches of hair. Miss Utah adjusted to being prettied up, a big change from her military background. The biggest changes for most of the contestants involved losing their helmet-head haircuts in favor of shorter and more relaxed cuts. The women then moved on to the photo shoot where they would get new head shots; they were urged to be natural and not cookie-cutter. Miss Utah had some problems with the request to "strike a pose" and was unsure of what to do. Miss Alaska vowed to listen more, but expended a lot of words in doing so. She even said something that got bleeped, which I didn't expect to see on this show.

The advisory board met. Some of the judges believed Miss Utah's heavy makeup at the quiz by the pool was a deliberate attempt to show them up after she was criticized for not being girly. Miss Indiana was praised for losing her plastic pageant look. The top three were revealed to be Miss Indiana, Miss D.C., and Miss Illinois. The bottom three were Miss Washington (criticized for losing her personality in front of the camera), Miss Utah (in last week's top three, she was hammered for making fun of the pageant), and Miss Alaska (too weird). Miss Utah is the only woman who has been a key player in both episodes, which is probably significant. [Snark This]

The Amazing Race:
Do all seasons go this quickly? I can't believe there's only one week left. The teams had to find something called the Floating Garden Observatory in Osaka and received a clue to fly to Taipei. Ronald and Christina were alone on the first flight and stayed in first the rest of the way, earning their second consecutive win. TK and Rachel, who began the leg three hours behind, caught one break when the teams were delayed by the hours at the observatory and again when they had a little wait at the airport; they were caught up with Nicolas/Donald and Nathan/Jennifer by the time they got to Taiwan.

The Roadblock required racers to ride in a car on a teeter-totter, which was only an issue in that some time was spent underwater. TK's and Rachel's Speed Bump required them to put on flame-retardant suits and run while fireworks were aimed at them. They again caught good luck (and Jennifer/Nathan had miserable luck) by catching up to get back on the train to Taipei with the other trailing teams. One clue written in Chinese (an advantage for Ronald and Christina, who knew some of the language) instructed teams to find a clown, who gave them the Detour choices: burn good luck messages inside a lantern so as to send it aloft or the one every team chose, to walk across some sharp rocks for 200 feet back and forth. Nathan and Jennifer spent most of her birthday arguing over transportation and were eliminated, leaving a final three that is pretty well stocked with agreeable people by this show's standard: five decent characters and Ronald, and even he's improving a bit. [Buntsign]

The L Word:
Tina and Jenny were urged to put more sex into the Lez Girls script, but had trouble separating their real life friends from their fictional stand-ins. Tina had lunch with a new friend named Denise, who got the idea Tina was still not over Bette. Shane got an assignment to do hair for a wedding (the daughter of the moneyman behind Lez Girls) and hooked up with the sister of the bride. Max had a hookup of his own with a gay man unaware of Max's background; he later met Adele, one of Jenny's superfans, and Jenny got pulled into the conversation against her will. Shane landed another sister/bridesmaid.

Tasha told her superior she thought she was being investigated for homosexual conduct, and she wanted an attorney; the superior turned cold and told her she had few prospects of beating the charge. Joyce told Phyllis she would wait for her to commit, but blew up when Phyllis said she wanted the freedom to see others. Helena had an encounter with some tough girls in the prison shower straight out of dozens of B-movies, but was saved from serious consequences by her cellmate Dusty. Tasha told Alice she wanted to fight the charge against her without challenging "don't ask, don't tell." Jenny stumbled into the wedding late, but the ceremony was delayed by Shane's counseling of the reluctant bride. Tasha complained about Alice discussing her situation with Bette and Jodi. Joyce was having a hard time taking no for an answer from Phyllis. Helena startled Dusty in the middle of a bad dream, leading to some prison sex. Jenny asked Adele to fill her revolving assistant role. As the party was winding down, Shane received an offer she couldn't refuse from the mother of the bride; their noisy hijinks drew the notice of the sisters who were looking for a repeat performance. Strange episode: Tasha's and Phyllis's subplots were grounded in recognizable reality, but the rest of it was just insane. [Critics Rant]

Brothers & Sisters:
Nora called Isaac, and when she heard he was going to be in California for a fundraiser anyway, invited him to a big family dinner. Sarah realized Nora has an interest in Isaac. With the military controversy still dogging Robert's campaign, Isaac cooked up the idea of having him appear before a veterans' group to answer questions. Getting Tommy and Justin together for the dinner would be an effort, so Kevin handled the task of getting them to act civilly so Nora wouldn't suspect they had been fighting over Lena. Rebecca asked Holly if David was her real father, and she denied it. Robert's town meeting was a minor success, but Isaac had another idea: attack Adamson for opposing funds for the developmentally disabled even as he had a child with special needs that he never acknowledged. Robert balked at putting that out there. Kevin said that he would be meeting Jason for lunch. At the family dinner, Kitty raised the Robert/Adamson question in the form of a hypothetical about the importance of revealing hidden information, and the way she phrased it made everyone assume she was talking about their little issues. What came out afterward was Justin having to reveal that he was still sleeping with Lena, cheater Tommy being told by Julia that she was an ex-cheater too, and Robert telling Kitty that he didn't think he wanted children. During this dinner, Kitty eventually did say what she was getting at earlier (about Adamson). Even though Robert hadn't wanted the dirt on Adamson released, someone at the meal eventually did, because an embarrassed Adamson came clean and left the race, leaving Robert as the Republican frontrunner.

The Wire:
Bubbles spoke at a recovery meeting, and announced he had been clean for 15 months; but he was reluctant to fully open up, which irritated his sponsor. Lester and Sydnor worked on the Clay Davis corruption case, but missed their old work on the street. Marlo, who realized he wasn't being watched as closely he once was, decided to consolidate his power with multiple shows of force. McNulty, steamed over his new duties, had to take a bus to a possible homicide scene when he had a flat tire, and intensified his drinking.

Councilman Carcetti found that test scores in the schools were up, which he hoped would compensate for the crime news. Marlo saw Avon Barksdale in prison, who told him he could serve as a conduit to The Greek. At the Sun, the brass called for a series on the problems of the schools, an effort that bothered Gus, who felt it was only bait for a journalism prize. Lester, who was still keeping an eye on Marlo when he could, told McNulty that they were beginning to get sloppy. They attempted to get the FBI interested in taking over the 22 murders, calling it an easy clear, but got turned down.

A reporter, the same guy entrusted with the big schools piece, came back from the Orioles' opening day with a nice human interest story that Gus felt was too thin to print, but editor Whiting liked it so much he wanted it on the front page. Marlo ordered Snoop and Chris to take out Junebug (for the crime of trash talk) and his family; Michael, watching the back door, allowed a little boy to escape (still a conscience there). Clay Davis raged against the enclosing walls while Commissioner Burrell listened. Bubbles is further urged to talk at a recovery meeting, and also to help serve food at the soup kitchen where he eats. After a lot of grousing about how no one in power cares about the sorts of crimes he works, McNulty found an unorthodox solution: he and Bunk worked the routine case of a homeless man found dead. McNulty desecrated the body to stage it as a murder, in order to raise the alarm of a serial killer on the loose. Bunk was horrified, which I'm guessing was a common reaction among viewers. [Fish Hawk Droppings]

Rock of Love 2:
Only about 15 weeks after the conclusion of his first search for love, Poison lead singer Bret Michaels was back to try it again. The 20 women vying for the honor ran the gamut from agreeably sleazy to the sort of person Britney Spears would look down her nose at. Four women were singled out at the beginning for what most assumed would be eliminations, but they were instead deemed VIPs and got extra time to get to know Michaels before the first eliminations. It's never easy to say much about a cast on a show like this after one episode, but three standout women were Kristi Joe, who had the good sense to avoid giving Michaels a kiss after he had already had several women of questionably cleanliness buss him; Angelique, a Frenchwoman who has undergone multiple plastic surgeries, apparently performed by Freddie Krueger; and Courtney, who seemed quiet enough at first, but later got so drunk she was unable to rouse herself for her elimination. Another woman, Jackye, made the cut only to decide she didn't want a shot at love after all. How sad, to see the romantic spirit snuffed out so decisively in her innocent heart. [Backseat Cuddler]

The 65th Golden Globe Awards:
To pile on any further would be cruel.

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