The Connor clan dropped by to say hi last night... and it was the bomb dot com. We know you have your doubts. We did too. But now, we are in love -- and we might not be the only ones. Here are a few of the reasons everybody's all twitterpated:
1. Everybody loves a plot twist: Cameron, John Connor’s terminator turned body guard turned sister turned sort-of love interest (say that five times fast), survives the fiery Jeep explosion of season one. She survived! The robot’s alive! (Thank god because Cameron’s pithy observations and steel-bending strength really move the story forward). But now that she’s up and at ‘em again, Cam is programmed to terminate John. Oh no! Something happened to her chip! She’s damaged goods! What will happen next!?! (We know, too many exclamation points; we’re just very excited about a twist!!!!)
2. You’re crazy if you don’t love Shirley Manson: Listen, she’s no Meryl Streep. But she’s got other strengths: the brogue, the fitted white suit, and the fiery red pompadour to name a few. Not to mention the fact that she can apparently pull the old "silver finger through the eye" trick from T2: Judgment Day. You heard us, y'all; she's a T-1000. Which means she can brush up the old acting chops at her leisure. (Note to Terminator writers: You think you can work in a musical episode this season? We’re hoping there’ll be an opportunity for Shirley to break out in song.)
3. John and Cameron sitting in a tree, K.I.S.S.I.N.G.: That’s right kids; robot-human love is blossoming before our very eyes. How do we know? Um, John saves Cameron even though she tried to clock him upside the head with a wrench and (more dangerously) got weepy trying to keep him from pulling out her CPU when she was pinned between those two semi-trucks. As far as faux-girlfriend/pretend-sister/bodyguards go, homegirl is obviously less than stable. (Ed.: You ain't kidding! That thing with the trucks? Best T:TSC scene ever. All of a sudden she was the deathless ex-girlfriend in the zombie-filled breakups of our nightmares.) But she said she was sorry and even whispered "I love you." The burgeoning relationship between John and killer Cammie makes us want to put on a little Midnight Star and whisper "Aww Baby" into our vocoder. (What? We're the only ones got a synthesizer ready for those times you need to put a little more stank on a slow jam?)
4. John's growing up: This was a pre-req to our really getting into this show. First season, John Connor was a little mopey and we weren't really seeing the whole "savior of mankind" thing. But: he had a couple of chilling scenes last night when he was faced with the prospect of deactivating Cameron; in the next episodes he's getting a gf to keep his mind off her (good idea); and his new Fauxcratic trick for winning an argument (convincing the other side that he's already won because, after all, he's in the fuuutuuurrrrre) is sneaky and self-involved in a Christian Bale-sort of way -- which is plenty soldier-like (and since Bale's playing him in the new movie, is actually bringing the continuity back a little to boot).
5. Stop or my Mom will shoot (and look good doing it): Sarah Connor didn't do much last night -- some running, some driving, some shooting -- but we think she might have gotten hotter. Just so we're all on the same page.
Coming up on the show: the Mansonator continues to try to build SkyNet (which is kind of a chicken-and-egg thing, right?), Cromartie the other Terminator tries to turn Agent Ellison to the dark side, Brian Austin Green and Dean Winters clutter up the periphery, and John's new do attracts the ladies, or at least one lady. Oh -- and stuff blows up big time. We're so in.
PREVIOUSLY:
Top Ten Returning Shows: #1 - TIE: "30 Rock" & "Terminator"
Can We Talk About Shirley Manson Being On "Terminator"?