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TV Review: TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES - SEASON TWO - 'The Mousetrap' - iFMagazine.com Send to a friend
© 2008 Fox Sarah and Charley in TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES "The Mousetrap"

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TV Review: TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES - SEASON TWO - 'The Mousetrap'

Now Terminators make fancy elaborate traps instead of just killing people

Grade: C
Stars: Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, Brian Austin Green, Shirley Manson, Dean Winters, Richard T. Jones
Director: Bryan Spicer
Release Date: Sept. 22, 2008
Rating: NR

By PETER BROWN, Managing Editor
Published 9/23/2008



Poor Charley Dixon. The dude can’t catch a break. First he’s left by Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) in opening episode of TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES in season one. He’s then forced to re-enter their lives in order to help save John Connor’s (Thomas Dekker) uncle, Derek (Brian Austin Green), and gets nothing but hell from his wife about it.  

Now he’s forced to once again turn to the Connors once Cromartie – the badass Terminator from season one that methodically reconstructed himself and took the shape of another human and was the best part of season one – abducts his wife (played by Sonya Walger who you might recognize from LOST as Penny) to set a trap to get a hold and ultimately kill John Connor.
 
Honestly, it is about time Cromartie (Garret Dillahunt) came back into the picture. After watching nine episodes of him putting himself back together in season one and ending with him killing some dozen FBI agents, it was time for him to get back into the action. Also, since they neglected him for the past two episodes, now was the perfect time. This makes even more sense now that they have the T-1001 liquid metal Terminator (Shirley Manson) with her own agenda that is much more nefarious then just killing John Connor.
 
I guess the real issue I had with Cromartie’s return is … why the cat and mouse? He’s not a sadistic and demented human being. He’s a machine. He doesn’t need to create an entire elaborate mouse trap bomb for Charley’s wife then create another bomb tied to a cell phone relay to have it crash into the building they were in. Why not just wait until they are around Charley’s wife and use the same cell phone bomb to just blow them up? Or better yet, he’s a freaking indestructible killing machine just kill them with his own guns and sh** since that’s what Terminators do? Yet, instead he makes a fake bomb just to kill them using another bomb that blows up an antenna that crashes into a building. Um, OK, whatever.

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After the tower crashes into the building, Charley’s wife is banged up and bleeding terribly, so much so she dies despite her husband being a paramedic and that he really didn’t do anything other than bandage her up. But it was all a moot point anyway as John was able to elude Cromartie by jumping into the ocean and as metal sinks, he escapes.
 
Eh, I dunno, I really try hard to like this show. I really do. Mostly because I enjoy the movies and the legacy of the films. But I just find myself being heavily critical of the show more so than others because I want it to be good, but I just find more flaws than anything else. I do hope it gets better and I’ll continue to watch hoping so.
 
Some observations about TERMINATOR through three episodes of season two:
  • Thankfully they have given Cameron a little less of a monotone personality and started opening her up a bit. And it looks like next week will be even more into her mind.
  • I’m glad they didn’t just end the Cromartie tale with a dip in the ocean, that would have sucked.
  • Anyone else surprised that Brian Austin Green is actually pretty good as Derek Reese?
  • No Lena Headey naked and getting scrubbed down this week? Such a shame.
  • I like that they finally gave us a Terminator impersonating Sarah (or any other person for that matter) as we haven’t seen that too often in this series.
  • So it looks like we have a new warrior in the fight against the machines in Charley. What else does he have to fight for at this point after losing his wife to them?
  • What is the liquid Terminator's game? She wants to find other Terminator parts but for what? And why if she is one? This is by far the most interesting thing going on the show.
 
CHECK OUT iF'S REVIEW OF LAST WEEK'S EPISODE
ALSO READ THE REVIEW OF THE OPENING SEASON'S EPISODE HERE

Reader Comments

Joe from USA sez....
So, this review is really bad, and here are my reasons why... First off, the blowing up of the cell tower was not to "kill" the crew in the building (even though that would be an added benefit for Cromartie), but it was to stop Sara from calling and warning John of the situation. Also the need for the "cat and mouse" was there because he needed to be able to find any type of code used when talking to each other, as to not warn John to something wrong. (However I will note how he knew he needed to get a code is a little beyond me, but its a TV show, and specifics down to that detail would be un-needed) The comment of how Charlie didn't do anything for his wife even though he is a paramedic doesn't make sense either. What was he going to do, fabricate tools needed to properly bandage her up? He even said he didn't have the equipment to see if the accident nicked an artery or if it was just a flesh wound. Reading this review would lead me to believe that the reviewer did not even watch the show, and more so read other peoples reviews and making comments of their own. This is one of the better shows on TV at the moment, and I hope to see additional shows that leave me as on edge as this one does week to week.
9/23/2008 12:23:48 PM

justadude from someplace sez....
Managing Editor PETER BROWN sucks. his article about the terminator episode- the mousetrap is crap. He should be fired ASAP!
9/23/2008 10:05:11 AM

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