Jumping on board a little late thanks to managing to miss this update completely...?!
That scene just didn't add up. It was either a really flimsy setup for Jameron cheers or it was a weak manipulation by Cameron that worked because the blood had left John's brain.
It was so utterly shoe-horned in, that it felt like a desperate plea for a S3 to me, but I like the idea that Cameron has been manipulating John since the get-go, because every move she's ever made on the poor lad has been to further her own aims. I can't see the logic in Future!John sending back a cute-arsed robot to seduce his teen self (well, unless Future!John's even more of a tit than Present!John) so I reckon Cameron's particular F!J's dead and Cam's sent herself back to work everything to her own scheme. The "join us" thing is her idea, the seduction is her idea and she has an end game. We'll just probably never get to know what it is.
I can't cheer that. I can't be wowed by that. I can't even pretend to enjoy that. It's fucked up and I'm not okay with it. Sarah, however, was okay with it. Um, what?
If the writing for the Connors is okay with being that poor, then I am perfectly okay with adopting the "la la la, I'm not listening" approach to viewing the end scenes. You stick your fingers in your ears (as opposed to doing that and covering your eyes for the motel scene) and pretend that nothing is going on until the credits roll or Uncle Derek appears, whichever makes you happier. Because any attempt at fan wanking that makes my head hurt.
I still don't know if Sarah thought John loved Cameron or was bonded to her like family or what, but at the very least, Sarah understood that John had a powerful attachment to her and there was nothing she could do or say to come between that.
You mention John needing therapy, I recommend: Slap therapy. It's when you open your palm and whack someone around the head until they come to their senses (believe me, many a time have I been tempted on a shift!) I wonder what the rest of the writing staff thought of this scene. They took so much time and effort carefully constructing believable characters arcs for Sarah and John. They retconned John into a sensible, intelligent, mature, potential future leader. They gave him lessons to learn about being "human" and valuing humanity. And then in five minutes Friedman allows him to chase into an unknown future, following an unknown terminator to find a piece of metal with a freezing cold soul. Oy. Yeah, yeah, I know we're heading towards let's all play happy families with the metal and bond and that's the way to save humanity. I'm just not on board with that, and Weaver's actions up to suddenly coming across slightly more cuddly in the finale, did nothing to persuade me she has humanity's best interests at heart.
And since she won't have any clue what he's up to, it wouldn't exactly be The Sarah Connor Chronicles anymore. Don't even start with the "it's not about the title character anyway" comments.
Well, the back 9 certainly has been. They've given us some awesome Sarah stories of late, which is why the pounding her character took at the end of this one was such a disappointment. Maybe it was a sop to Fox ("look, we're going to focus on John now, we're going to make it a love story, we have more cool future stuff, please don't cancel us!") maybe it was a sop to the Jameronians, maybe Friedman really did think he'd written something cool. Lots of people agreed with him. I personally hope that - if we do get a S3 - he leaves the writing to the guys and gals who made the back 8 (well, 7, I'm gonna take Desert Cantos out the mix!) so bloody stunning.
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ninetydegrees
no subject
on 2009-04-20 09:29 am (UTC)It was so utterly shoe-horned in, that it felt like a desperate plea for a S3 to me, but I like the idea that Cameron has been manipulating John since the get-go, because every move she's ever made on the poor lad has been to further her own aims. I can't see the logic in Future!John sending back a cute-arsed robot to seduce his teen self (well, unless Future!John's even more of a tit than Present!John) so I reckon Cameron's particular F!J's dead and Cam's sent herself back to work everything to her own scheme. The "join us" thing is her idea, the seduction is her idea and she has an end game. We'll just probably never get to know what it is.
If the writing for the Connors is okay with being that poor, then I am perfectly okay with adopting the "la la la, I'm not listening" approach to viewing the end scenes. You stick your fingers in your ears (as opposed to doing that and covering your eyes for the motel scene) and pretend that nothing is going on until the credits roll or Uncle Derek appears, whichever makes you happier. Because any attempt at fan wanking that makes my head hurt.
You mention John needing therapy, I recommend: Slap therapy. It's when you open your palm and whack someone around the head until they come to their senses (believe me, many a time have I been tempted on a shift!) I wonder what the rest of the writing staff thought of this scene. They took so much time and effort carefully constructing believable characters arcs for Sarah and John. They retconned John into a sensible, intelligent, mature, potential future leader. They gave him lessons to learn about being "human" and valuing humanity. And then in five minutes Friedman allows him to chase into an unknown future, following an unknown terminator to find a piece of metal with a freezing cold soul. Oy.
Yeah, yeah, I know we're heading towards let's all play happy families with the metal and bond and that's the way to save humanity. I'm just not on board with that, and Weaver's actions up to suddenly coming across slightly more cuddly in the finale, did nothing to persuade me she has humanity's best interests at heart.
Well, the back 9 certainly has been. They've given us some awesome Sarah stories of late, which is why the pounding her character took at the end of this one was such a disappointment. Maybe it was a sop to Fox ("look, we're going to focus on John now, we're going to make it a love story, we have more cool future stuff, please don't cancel us!") maybe it was a sop to the Jameronians, maybe Friedman really did think he'd written something cool. Lots of people agreed with him. I personally hope that - if we do get a S3 - he leaves the writing to the guys and gals who made the back 8 (well, 7, I'm gonna take Desert Cantos out the mix!) so bloody stunning.