She may be The Terminator, but he's a Bigger Robot

Terminator Primer*: In the future robots will revolt against humans and thoroughly kick our asses. Or will they? Not if John Connor has anything to say about it. For he will travel back in time to when he was a cute 16-year-old boy-genius and try to stop the robots from ever being built.

But he is not alone. He brings with him Cameron, a former Terminator cum teenage hottie, who has been reprogrammed, by John (in the future), to protect him against other Terminators whose mission is to kill John so that they will be created and take over the world.

Simple, right?

The second season of FOX's The Sarah Connor Chronicles opens with Cameron, a super-hot piece of cyborg-ass, as she marches with robotic purpose in murderous pursuit of John Connor and his impossibly intense mother, Sarah, played by Lena Headey. (But why? Cameron was sent to protect him? What the…)

“When Good Cyborg Girls go Bad! On the next Dr. Phil.”

But really, this show can be summed up in three words (plus a modifier): running, explosions, more running. Oh, and intensity. Four words.

In fact, I believe that Thomas Dekker, who plays John Connor, studied at the Intensity = Intensely Boring school of acting. What is meant to be determined comes across as petulant. He is too soft to be bad-ass and too bland to be heroic. This kid has the screen presence of Paulie Shore, and the result is a lead character that you wish would be written out of the script. Unfortunately, he is kind of essential to the plot, so it seems that we are stuck with him.

Ironically, Summer Glau who plays the female Terminator has created a character so complex and wry that she is riveting. Studying ballet for most of her life, no doubt helped her master the subtle physicality of a character who, contrary to appearance, is not quite human.

With a stiff tilt of her head or a quick shift of her gaze she silently conveys more to the audience than a cast who screams, shoots and flees through every episode. That is when they’re not busy taking themselves waaaaay too seriously. Fate of the human race notwithstanding would it kill somebody on this show to smile?

One kinda cool note, Shirley Manson, former singer of Garbage, plays Cathrine Weaver the head of a sinister corporation and fellow cyborg. But once again, Shirley, cold-as-ice does not need to be dull-as-rocks.

Personally I’d love to see a spin-off created entirely around her character. Possibly a remake of My Favorite Martian, only this could be My Favorite Machine. I can picture the madcap adventures already.

All I can say is that if John Connor represents the savior of the mankind, I think I’m pulling for the robots.

*If my primer wasn’t detailed enough check out the official website for a more complete summary.