First off, can someone explain the exclamation points? (Not!Sex, Future!John?) I think I've seen them in various blogs as if it's some commonly accepted Terminator grammar. Who came up with that?
When I first watched the episode, I didn't have a problem with Sarah staying. Now that I've read a few reviews that DO have a problem I can see why, but ultimately I don't have a problem with it because it was a decision made in about 10 seconds where there were no real good choices. Sarah didn't want either of them to go. I think when she stepped out he was hoping he might follow her. By the time it was clear that he wouldn't it was either jump back in at the last second or make peace with the whole thing.
Likewise, John probably knew he was making a dumb choice but Weaver was forcing him to make a decision quickly. He's still sorting out his feelings for Cameron, but it was a choice between "never see her again" and "leave now and hope Weaver's plan doesn't suck."
Both characters may have made the wrong choice there, but I can't blame them for bad decision making given the circumstances. And I think the storytelling options that this ending opens up are so huge that I'm willing to roll with it.
Characters are largely defined by their relationships to other characters. John by himself is not John with Sarah is not John with Cameron. So far, John and Sarah have always been predominantly defined by their mother/son relationship. I think the "Without John, you are nothing" is a point they'll be directly addressing. What DOES happen to Sarah Connor when you take away her primary motivation? Is her life meaningless, or does she find something new to define herself by?
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Random note: Lately I've felt that the proper name for this show would have been "The Connor Chronicles." A) It rolls off the tongue better, B) it fits better with the story that is really worth telling. This is not the story of a mother. It's the story of a mother's relationship with her son. It also helps with the POV character issue. I suspect the audience is loosely divided into the generation that saw Terminator when it first came out, who are now parents, and a newer generation of young adults. The former may identify better with Sarah, the latter with John.
Some other bloggers expressed frustration with Sarah's "failure." I can see how, if Sarah was your POV character this ending may have sucked royally. I'm a 22 year old male, John Connor pretty much directly represents me here, and the ending was extremely John-centric.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2009-04-18 06:42 am (UTC)When I first watched the episode, I didn't have a problem with Sarah staying. Now that I've read a few reviews that DO have a problem I can see why, but ultimately I don't have a problem with it because it was a decision made in about 10 seconds where there were no real good choices. Sarah didn't want either of them to go. I think when she stepped out he was hoping he might follow her. By the time it was clear that he wouldn't it was either jump back in at the last second or make peace with the whole thing.
Likewise, John probably knew he was making a dumb choice but Weaver was forcing him to make a decision quickly. He's still sorting out his feelings for Cameron, but it was a choice between "never see her again" and "leave now and hope Weaver's plan doesn't suck."
Both characters may have made the wrong choice there, but I can't blame them for bad decision making given the circumstances. And I think the storytelling options that this ending opens up are so huge that I'm willing to roll with it.
Characters are largely defined by their relationships to other characters. John by himself is not John with Sarah is not John with Cameron. So far, John and Sarah have always been predominantly defined by their mother/son relationship. I think the "Without John, you are nothing" is a point they'll be directly addressing. What DOES happen to Sarah Connor when you take away her primary motivation? Is her life meaningless, or does she find something new to define herself by?
-
Random note: Lately I've felt that the proper name for this show would have been "The Connor Chronicles." A) It rolls off the tongue better, B) it fits better with the story that is really worth telling. This is not the story of a mother. It's the story of a mother's relationship with her son. It also helps with the POV character issue. I suspect the audience is loosely divided into the generation that saw Terminator when it first came out, who are now parents, and a newer generation of young adults. The former may identify better with Sarah, the latter with John.
Some other bloggers expressed frustration with Sarah's "failure." I can see how, if Sarah was your POV character this ending may have sucked royally. I'm a 22 year old male, John Connor pretty much directly represents me here, and the ending was extremely John-centric.