They got clever on us this week with “The Sarah Connor Chronicles”…or did they? Yes, the decision to tell the same story from multiple perspectives – think “Election,” only without the blowjobs, bee stings, and Ennio Morricone theme music used for comedic effect – was unlike anything “Terminator” has thrown at us to date, but there is one small problem with it. Unlike the great, great “Election,” every character in this “Terminator” episode has the exact same perspective. The title cards may have said “Sarah’s Story,” or “Cromartie’s Story” (which I will admit I found amusing that he merited his own bit), but the truth is there was only one perspective, and several different camera angles to that perspective.
For a moment, though, I thought I’d be calling this blog “The Death of Riley” (Lightning Seeds fans, all six of them, just nodded knowingly), because they seemed to be telegraphing her death from the moment we first see Riley and John on the bus. You’ll only bring her danger, Sarah warns him. You’re doing something stupid, Cameron warns him. It seemed tragic but fitting that John would take Riley somewhere in an attempt to escape the harsh realities of his life, only to get her killed in the process. But then my wife reminded me that this is the beginning of sweeps, and they’re probably saving Riley’s death for the end of sweeps. Fair enough.
Kiss me. Deadly.
The really funny part is that when Cameron commented about how dumb John was being – while on his bed with him and stripped down in her most fucktastic outfit to date, which makes me think my prediction that John and Cameron ultimately get it on is still in play – she had no idea exactly how dumb John was about to be. Running off with Riley is one thing, but John decides to take her to the one place on Earth where people might recognize him: the city in Mexico where he and his mom stayed for years. As Paul Reiser said in the classic Thanksgiving episode of “Mad About You,” that wouldn’t have been my first choice. And, of course, it ends poorly, with John and Riley getting arrested and ultimately showing up on the FBI’s radar, which brings Ellison into the mix. Ellison ultimately helps save John, but things will never be as easy for any of them again.
Will Ellison say anything to Catherine Weaver about the “death” of Cromartie? She’s been looking for Cromartie, after all, though we still don’t know why. Does she want his chip in order to assist the development of the AI program she’s working on? And will she vow revenge on the Connors now that Sarah has crushed that chip into dust? Will the showdown between Catherine and Sarah, like Cromartie’s death scene, be shot in a Mexican church like a Robert Rodriguez movie? Tune in next week to see if Skynet finally pushes the History Eraser button.
Already a sensation in its native land of Australia (where the show is the best-selling TV-DVD in the country’s history), it’s probably best to go into “Summer Heights High” knowing as little about its various accolades as possible. After all, “Kath and Kim” was also supposed to be an Australian critical darling, and while that may be true of the original series, the American remake starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair is so terribly unfunny that we can’t imagine that’s the case. That isn’t to say that “Summer Heights High” isn’t completely deserving of its rave reviews, because even though it isn’t technically produced by HBO, it could very well become the network’s surprise hit of the fall season.
Discussions will no doubt take place over which of Lilley’s characters are their favorites, but the great thing about “Summer Heights High” is that they’re all so unique that it’s virtually impossible to favor just one. It’s actually a little scary at just how good Lilley is (especially as Ja’mie, whose girlish mannerisms are spot-on), and his work here is nothing short of genius. Lilley isn’t the only star of the show, however, and though a majority of the other characters are played by actors, the fact that they’ve been mixed into a real-life environment (the series was shot at an actual Australian school) really helps the validity of the documentary style.
