LK said:
Off topic: I like the new Terminator series, although I think Lena Headey's acting blows
She doesn't compare to Linda Hamilton, who totally nailed the part. Sarah Connor is driven a little nuts by the role she's forced into and always on the edge of a nervous breakdown -- or doing something really stupid. Lena Headley is trying to reach for it but doesn't quite get it.
John Connor's writing isn't what I want it to be. He needs to have a little more ambition and a little less trust in his mother -- he's also loved an AI as a father and had that AI return love for a son, and yet he sent that loving father AI to its death. Being that he as portrayed in the movies holds life to be of great value -- not a ruthless leader, John Connor -- I would've expected him to be more sensitive to the ethics of killing friendly AI's.
I'm not talking about the robot girl, although he's obviously bonded with her, but rather The Turk. There seem to be 2 Turks, if you happened to catch that, and I'm predicting one is "good" and the other "evil", but whatever the case John Connor, in addition to being the savior of humanity, should also be the savior of the AI's, the human who realizes that an AI can be good or bad just like a human, and so demands of himself that in saving humanity he not commit genocide against the species of his surrogate father and step-sister (whom he might have a crush on).
He should also be wracked with guilt over killing his surrogate father, the T-800 who loved him as a son.
But I don't write for the show, and the female robot character's writing is so freaking awesome it makes up for other disappointments. When she walks away from the dance teacher while she's being murdered by gangsters that scene is so chilling, then she's doing ballet, keeping the memory of the dance teacher alive, and that scene where she's switched off and John Connor caresses her face, obviously concerned for her well-being, then her eyes snap open and she's cold as ice and Connor halfway flinches in fear ... not only is that character written superbly, she is acted superbly. She's the reason to watch the show, no doubt at all. The alien-ness of her mind, like you know she has some kind of feelings but darned if you know exactly what or how deep, fantastic. Did you see the defiance in her eyes when she ate the pancakes? Awesome.
The pre-programmed responses, like, "Does it make me look fat?" And talking to the guidance counselor, something like, "I'm feeling rehabilitated now, thank you for your help." Most people "act fake" to try to fit in and ingratiate themselves with their more popular peers, but she acts fake in order to blend in and disappear. She says, "Does it make me look fat?" in just the right tone to make it a brush-off. Again, fantastic acting and writing.
She seemed very fragile when she was just a chip in a glass tube. Getting her out of her armor sort of humanized her, then they pull the rug out from under you and remind you what she is when Connor pops her chip back into her skull and that cold stare comes back again. Great writing.
Am I the only one disappointed when John Connor fails to hit upon the obvious idea of reprogramming Chromarti(?) into a "good robot"? Connor is after all the inventor of "robot rehab", so you'd think he'd be a little more keen to, y'know, actually TRY it. We know in the future he overcomes the problem of Terminator AI's hacking the system that's supposed to be hacking it, so he shouldn't have just given up because of that one scare. He's supposed to be John Connor, not Johnboy Walton.
Great show. I'm hooked. When's the next season start?
). Another thing is in a battle if i do need to be able to use my shield i may not have the inventory space for both a sabre and a two handed sword. I just love that no matter how less effective it is it only takes one slot and serves two purposes. It really is in my opinion the most versatile.