It’s a little surprising that there hasn’t been a “Terminator” TV series before now, given how popular the franchise has been over the years, but here’s my theory as to why it finally happened: once Ahnuld took over as Governor of California, the producers decided, “Oh, well, if he’s not gonna be available to do more movies, we might as well hit the small screen.” So, we have “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” . . .
Hey, I’m psyched.
Yeah, I know, I say that a lot…but, seriously, the special effects in the pilot look sweet. Plus, what red-blooded American male can’t get into a cast which stars Lena Headey (“300”) as Sarah Connor and Summer Glau (“Serenity”) as the latest, sexiest model of Terminator? And in case you fall into a different male demographic – there, how’s that for a politically correct turn of phrase? – it’s worth noting that the shoes of John Connor are being filled by former “Heroes” star Thomas Dekker.
But if you’re a real sci-fi geek, you probably only have one question: where exactly does this series fall into the chronology of the three “Terminator” films?
Producer Josh Friedman attempts to sort out the confusion. “When we first started this,” he explains, “people said, “This takes place between ‘T2’ and ‘T3,” and I think that was incorrect. As far as I’m concerned, this is ‘T3.’ I mean, this is a continuation of what I would call the Sarah Connor trilogy. So I think anything that happens after ‘T2’ is fair game for us. And I think the ending of ‘T2,’ the exploding killing Cyberdine, killing Miles Dyson, sort of changes the timeline for anything in the future.” Friedman went on to clarify that the ultimate fate of Sarah Connor as referenced in “T3” – she succumbed to leukemia, of all things – is no longer to be considered to be a given; fellow producer James Middleton added, “We’re taking a phrase that is very important in ‘T2’: ‘No fate, but what we make.’ And this is a new fate for Sarah Connor, so we are creating an entirely new timeline.”
Of course, it will probably not surprise you to learn that, of our number, at least one person was simply unwilling to accept this answer at face value. “At the end of ‘Terminator 2,'” began a reporter, “it looked as though they had saved the future. And in ‘Terminator 3,’ basically they were stuck with the future that ‘Terminator 1’ came from. Does your show believe that that loop is inevitable, or are they still trying to change the future to the point where it never gets to the rise of the machines?”
Rather than simply saying, “I’m sorry, but answering your question would wreak havoc on the space-time continuum,” Middleton actually responded thoughtfully: “Our characters operate and fight a battle every episode based on faith that they can prevent Judgment Day. Now they’re going to do everything that they can to do that. But the odds against them are formidable. They have a formidable enemy. So how they operate every day is to fight the fight the best they can in each episode.”
(Perhaps more amazingly, the reporter accepted this answer!)
With all these references to the films, you’re probably wondering the same thing we were: what are the odds of us actually managing to see that aforementioned Governor of California on the show?
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