TV Recap - Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles - Adam Raised a Cain

This is, most likely, the second to last Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ever. If so, it will be a shame. Not because it is the only show I cover for Blend Television and I will be out of a gig, but because this Terminator:TSCC has been gaining steady steam for the last five episodes. The writers have added the intrigue and suspense sorely missed in the beginning of this season. They have begun more deeply exploring aspects of the Terminator franchise. These being: John Connor’s development as a leader and the end game of those creating the machine that leads to J-Day. “Adam Raised a Cain” began to simultaneously tangle and untangle the web woven throughout this season. If anything, I wish the writers had explored some of these themes earlier in the season in order to add more depth. Alas, we sprint towards the finish.

“Everybody dies for me right?” – John Connor

At the end of last episode Charlie died saving John’s life while Sarah, Derek and Cameron faced a coordinated hit by some faction of killers with motives unknown. On one of the hitmen, John found a picture of Savannah Weaver. They know she is a target as well.

Savannah is at home when a T-888 attacks the house. John Henry is monitoring the house remotely and tries to lead her to safety. He fails, but John and company come to the rescue. In the melee Derek is shot and killed by the T-888. This happened so quickly that, while taking notes, I basically missed it. This shocked me, not because of the death so much, but rather the speed of it. Bang and Derek is dead. In about ten minutes of programming, Terminator: TSCC killed off two major/minor characters and the only male influences in John’s life.

“Why did you stop looking for Sarah Connor?” – John Henry

John Henry has seen the security footage and knows the Connor contingent too Savannah. Ellison convinces John Henry to not tell Weaver this information. Deep down, Ellison does not trust Weaver. Using John Henry, Ellison tracks down Sarah and sets up a meet to get Savannah back. Sarah agrees as long as she can meet Weaver. This is where Catherine Weaver shows her true colors by not doing everything to save Savannah’s life. Her first priority is to protecting John Henry, not her daughter.

“He’s my friend. He lives in the basement. He has a wire coming from the back of his head.” – Savannah Weaver

While talking to John, Savannah lets on about the existence of John Henry. This calls into question everything John, Sarah and Cameron know or can trust about Ellison, Weaver and ZeroCorp. Mission one now becomes destroying the machine being built in the basement. Cameron wants to kill Ellison but Sarah stops her.

They agree to hand off Savannah to Ellison at a movie theater. After the exchange, Sarah walks to the exit in front of John and Cameron. When the door opens she is confronted with a massive police force, led by the detective looking for Savannah in the kidnapping case, waiting to apprehend her. John thinks Ellison betrayed them. Sarah makes a run for it and takes a couple of officers in the melee. I think she does this less as an escape attempt and more to buy John and Cameron time to escape. The police take her in.

These events have now left John and Cameron on their own. This may be what Cameron ultimately wanted. She had begun planting seeds about the problems in trusting anyone but her.

The last episode nears. Sarah sits in jail. John Henry continues to question his role in the universe. Ellison cannot be trusted. Weaver works her own endgame. John and Cameron are all that remains of the resistance. This could be the end.