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Sarah Connor's Garret Dillahunt said he'd be back: Here's how
Garret Dillahunt—one of the cast members of Fox's Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles—remains with the show, even though his initial character, the Terminator named Cromartie, was killed; now he's the robot body of a computer program named "John Henry."
In the second half of this current second season, Dillahunt told SCI FI Wire to look for more from John Henry, who most recently was still tethered to his mainframe computer.
"I know John Henry gets to leave," Dillahunt said in an interview last month in Hollywood. "He gets to cut the umbilical cord, thankfully. I'm tired of being in that room. And I'm also tired of having my lines broadcast behind me on that screen, because I can't mess up at all, and they've been kind of complex. But it's going to be interesting."
Dillahunt added that he's grateful the show's producers kept him on even after they killed off his character. "I'm really grateful that they trusted me enough to sort of give me another character, basically," he said, adding: "He's like a super-powered infant. You know, he's very [intelligent, and] he's very dangerous, I think, because of that. So we're going to see him out in the world. He's going to make a friend, yeah. He's going to learn about fear, emotion, I guess. ... They told me today I get in a big fight. I don't know with whom; I'm anxious to find out. They said it's a big learning experience for him."
With Cameron (Summer Glau), maybe?
"I don't know," Dillahunt said. "I hope so. We've been dying to have a real fight. She just walked in and shot me. 'Whaa?'"
Dillahunt, like the rest of the Terminator cast and producers, is philosophical about the ratings-challenged show's move to Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT, leading in to Dollhouse at 9.
"None of us really know what it means," he said. "It's such an odd time. ... It's really hard to gauge who's watching what [and] how. A lot of my friends watch the show, and they don't even know what night it's on, because they just push 'record series' [on their DVRs]. They don't know what night it's on. If they didn't have the TiVo, they wouldn't know when it was on. A lot of people think it doesn't matter, the timeslot. ... But I think there is a lot of audience that's kind of ignored, the older crowd that does stay at home, and they do tune in. And maybe they'll be mined more efficiently."
It's been surmised that Terminator will have to improve in its new timeslot to get any kind of third-season pickup. "I assume a lot of people have always felt that we've been on the chopping block from day one, but here we are still, so I'm bad at predicting," Dillahunt said. "Just when I think, 'Ah, that must be it, we're picked up.' Like, 'Ah, great news.' So I hope they let us know soon, one way or another. But it's a good show, you know? It's hard to worry about those other things and make a good show. I think it's a trap."
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles returns with new episodes on Feb. 13.
By Facepalm at 5:58 AM ON 02/03/09
I believe the whole ambiguity of John Henry is one of the best things ever to happen to the Terminator series. Both he and his mistress are not out to destroy the world, but they won't allow the machines to be destroyed either.
It seems the lines are blurred in the traditional conflict between humans and machines. The series is heading towards two factions, one obsessed with destruction and the other longing for piece. Good and bad are not determined by design but by the choices the characters make. I hope the Sarah Conner Chronicles get a lot more episodes.
By Peter S. at 6:18 AM ON 02/03/09
So if I got it right, about a month go, they were STILL filming scenes with John Henry plugged into the Turk? Because all the stalling with the Skynet story and relying on people other than Dillahunt to tell that story has left a number of fans rolling their eyes.
And now this probably means that Skynet will still develop from the Turk, but without Cromartie as the interface. I wonder if they're setting Dillahunt up as the next Uncle Bob or he just wants to leave the show. Either way, I'm not convinced they're interested in finishing what they started in the first 13 episodes.
By Facepalm at 6:48 AM ON 02/03/09
John Henry does not have to be Skynet. All the time travel rendered Skynet futile for the war. It already happened. The first Skynet was built by humans, the second Skynet was reverse engineered from the Terminator. The third Skynet was born from a virus the T-X brought back from the future. Skynet will already have existed, therefore the robots invade "the past" (our present). What that one T-1000 tries to build, does not have to be a Skynet hellbent on the destruction of everything.
The series already hinted at multiple future timelines colliding in the present due to time-travel. It's in the episode where Reese does not remember his future torturer, creating him in the process. The T-1000 never stated its mission, so the option of big surprising moments is on the table.
By Pennarin at 8:24 AM ON 02/03/09
Convergent chronicity, or however they call it -wildly varying events always tend to procude the same end result - is such a load of bollocks.
Made T3 a jagged pill to swallow just because of this (oh yeah....not to mention the mediocre scripti and goofy attitude).
By Patrick at 8:37 AM ON 02/03/09
Cool interview, thanks for posting! The only thing I worry about from what he said is that JH doesn't leave Zeira for another 4-5 episodes. I was happy to see him play baby Skynet at first, but that story has turned out to be little more than a tedious Weaver monologue that hasn't really told us anything at all, it just reduced Ellison to a puppet and led to a lot of frustration.
I think they've made it pretty clear that the Skynet we've seen in the series evolves from a chess computer, with Andy Goode/Billy Wisher saying it in season one, the constant references to things always being a game, and the fact that terminators and people still do get sent back from a future in which Judgment Day happens.
Beyond that, the story we've been given so far revolves around the Turk and it would be cheating to have any other program turn into Skynet. Another robot could be involved, sure, but not another program. The question is not whether or not the Turk becomes Skynet, but once JH leaves that room, does he come back, to what extent can he function as a substitute for the Turk if it got destroyed, and yeah, would they really set him up as a good robot for season three and let a less compelling character or actor play the big bad of the series.
Too bad they have not yet explained why there was a robot out to kill and replace Ellison, because even without additional info, this does imply that Ellison possibly succeeded in his plans for JH.
By squirrel at 6:11 PM ON 02/03/09
Yeah they took the baddest character of the show and turned him into a computer infant trying to learn human behavior.... Good move
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