Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon, a review by goodguy
2x04 Allison from PalmdaleSynopsis: See Achim's post.
My Rating:
I agree with Achim that the Cameron part of the story is the most exciting and I can see why some people would find the side stories of Sarah & Kacy and Ellison & Weaver distracting. I didn't, though. Like Cameron's story, both are stories of their respective character's origin, although on a much smaller scale.
At the hospital, Sarah tells Kacy about John's birth in two different versions. The first is a lie, intended to comfort Kacy. But when she meets Kacy's boyfriend and finds out he is a cop, she switches to the truth, using it to manipulate Kacy. She was alone and she got through it and so can Kacy.
In the case of Weaver we also get a little piece of back-story. It is of course carefully selected to hold up against the investigation Ellison will soon undertake and to further draw him towards Weaver's agenda. What exactly that agenda is remains unclear, but it is interesting to note how Weaver rejects Ellison's notion of "evil" regarding the machines. Also interesting to note that she deliberate tells him a version of the helicopter crash story, which is not backed up by the official report - fully aware that he will find out. In the end, her manipulation succeeds and Ellison agrees to work for her.
During his investigation, Ellison visits his ex-wife twice (also working at the FBI) to gather information about Weaver. As small as these scenes are, especially the second one is really great. She: "I'm worried about you. I've never seen you in so much pain." Ellison: "Now, we both know that's not true." With someone like Richard T. Jones, that's all the dialogue you need to draw a rich picture of these characters.
Now I have waffled (as Jon likes to say) quite a bit and haven't even reached the main story. Blame Achim for that, I just couldn't let his comment slide.
Anyway, while all things mentioned above are pretty great, it is the main story of Cameron where this episode truly shines. It is an inspired and artistic work, with great cinematography and editing, a wonderful score and an amazing performance by Summer Glau.
The episode starts in the future, with a Cameron look-alike (Allison, as we learn later) running through a set of tunnels pursued by a terminator. She manages to get out through some metal door, but soon she is captured in some sort of net, trashing around in full panic mode.
Cut to a completely serene Cameron sitting in a car next to John. This is the first of a number of breathtaking cuts. My description barely does them any justice, but trust me, that is truly awesome stuff.
They stop and Jon sends Cameron off to do shopping and meet him half an hour later, which elicits a hilarious look from Cameron (if you recall the previous episode, you know why). Right from the beginning, the scene with Cameron in the supermarket has an eerie feeling to it, thanks to a shopping cart wheel, an apple and a reflecting balloon. Seriously. There is another short flashback to Allison trapped in the net, then we are in the supermarket again, where Cameron crashes the shopping cart into a pile of melons and than goes completely still.
Police arrives and tries to question Cameron who barely reacts and doesn't seem to remember anything. The questioning triggers more flashbacks, this time to Allison being interrogated by a terminator without the human disguise. All those intercuts are beautifully done. Cameron soon finds herself in a holding cell and meets Jody, a street kid also grabbed up by the police. While talking with Jody, Cameron starts by first mimicking her than slowly assuming the Allison persona.
As both get released from the police station, Jody takes Cameron under her wings (after she glimpsed the big wade of cash Cameron has). They have lunch, Jody gets attacked by a guy she apparently stole something from and Cameron, instead of ripping him to pieces, hands over her money to calm him down, much to Jody's dismay.
They take refuge in a shelter. During an apparently mandatory counselor session, more about Allison's past is revealed. There are again numerous intercuts between flashbacks of Allison's interrogation and the counselor talk. Cameron has now fully adapted the Allison persona and her crying while talking about her parents is a beautiful and sad moment that works perfectly for me, while Achim seems to think it is one of the worst scenes of the episode.
There is also a great bit where Allison mentions that her mother was a music teacher who listened to Chopin all day. You may recall the Chopin pieces featured in the cellar of
1x06 Dungeons and Dragons and while Cameron was dancing alone in her room at the end of
1x07 The Demon Hand.
But that scene still hasn't reached its high point yet. As Cameron-as-Allison finally has figured out she comes from Palmdale, the counselor convinces her to call her mother on the phone, who obviously is very surprised - and very pregnant: I don't have a daughter. Not yet. Very pretty name, though. Allison.
I don't want to recap the entire episode, so I stop here and only say that it even gets more amazing and complex. More flashbacks reveal more about the fate of Allison and cause Cameron to shift personalities and echo more bits and pieces from those memories.
In the end, of course, she reverts to normal(?)-Cameron, but the episode ends on a wonderfully eerie note.
This is one of the best episodes of the entire series, if not the best. Which is why it makes me kinda sad that Achim gave it his lowest rating yet.
(From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete Second Season marathon on February 2nd, 2010)
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May 18, 2024, 06:10:08 PM
