So say we all...

"Sarah Connor Chronicles will have given us the best and worst sci-fi television has to offer"

Now I liked the show, but the best? Really? Has it been that long since BSG left the airwaves? Have we forgotten already? :)

And I'm sorry, but the worst slot is reserved for Sci Fi's Flash Gordon revival a few years ago.

I hope T:tSCC comes back, and if not then, well... Fox cancelled another decent Sci Fi show. That puts it in decent company. Right, browncoats?

I thought the season final was great. This season the show wrapped up enough to keep me satisfied, but also left a lot open to keep me coming back for more. The real tragedy would be if Fox didn't pick up the show again. It really has been one of my favorites this TV season.

I have liked this show a great deal while having no interest in the movies. Terminator movies are just extended chases , while SCC avoids being just 'explosion of the week' .
It could use a little more robot-on-robot action (even as the John Henry/Weaver scenes are pure gold), but it is clear Friedman is spinning gold out of what little budget he is given by his bosses. The show offers characters, situations, and mood that really get under your skin. I think the only real mistake was naming the show after Sarah Connor, when logically, the story would eventually end revolving around John.
Renew, Fox. Renew. (Dollhouse, too)

The first season was epic and cinematic but season 2 (the more than half I watched) was some of the most boring stuff I've ever watched on TV. Given that this is Fox I don't think it will be back but this is just average for the network.

They should have a spinoff called The John Henry Chronicles. He is the most interesting character of the series and they never really went anywhere with him.

I love the show and hope it comes back but, in the finale, the writers seemed to be satisfying their crushes on Shirley Manson and Brian Green instead of worrying about consistency with everything they had set up.

Some possible answers.

"What do the Terminators want the other Terminators to "join" them in doing?"
There are 2 factions of terminators. John sent an invitation to the neutral faction to join him.

"Why'd John Henry go into the future and what the heck does Cameron's chip have to do with anything?"
John Henry is going to decide which side deserves to win. He needed Cameron's chip so he could be mobile. Without it, he was on a leash to his computers.

"Did Derek kill Jesse?"
We can only hope.

"Who kidnapped Sarah and popped a tracking device in her breast?"
She was captured by the security guy who shot her in the leg. It is likely he put the tracking device in her.

"How did those guys know to attack at the very moment Sarah discovered the tracking device in her breast?"
A ludicrous coincidence I think.

"Is Skynet really John Henry's brother?"
More like a cousin.

"Who called the police on her anyway?"
They followed Ellison, he said that in the episode when he went to deliver the message from Catherine.

"For that matter, why was Savannah almost kidnapped?"
More likely that she was almost killed, not kidnapped. Perhaps her future self is responsible for the neutral terminators.

"Why did Derek really come into the past?"
He was part of the team sent back to stop Sky Net from existing.

"And if John in the future knows what he knows, why wouldn't he tell Derek when he sends Derek into the past not to go into the house where he gets killed by the Terminator?"
Sending people into the past changes the future. The John that sent him back didn't know how he would die.

Cathrine set up the plane crash. After the plane crashed a piece of it melted into her. It WAS her. She (as always) is deciving us.

Remember folks, this is a show on FOX. They are notorious for canceling shows without an ending. They really dont give a crap about their viewers or ending a series properly.

The first season did very well due to the fact of the writers strike. It was one of the few new shows on the air at that time. While not great it still is miles better than the overload of reality tv now on the airwaves.

thekatwoman: It wasn't a plane, it was the prototype hunter/killer that we've seen before, notably when it came out of the lake, they showed it in the "previously on" segment at the beginning of the show. And as I saw someone else note that the thing on the ground that melted into her was the Morey Eel that was in her office fish tank. An interesting way to keep tabs on what's going on in the office while she's away.

This show has great potential, but it needs to be on a network that appreciate its shows and has the freedom to grow no restriction on it. like the regular networks. with the movie coming it would be nice to tag the show with it. If the Fox network really like the show than put it in a proper time slot and back the show up with some support and on the other side if people would watch the show instead of this reality crap that is on, we lost some good show these last 2 years because of this reality crap. HBO is the only place for a show like TCSS it would be nice to see another 2 more season of TSCC.

It'll be a real travesty if Fox doesn't bring back TSCC. There were ups and downs with the quality of the episodes this season but they seemed to have righted the ship right at the end. The finale was very good.

I will miss the show if it is not brought back.Some of the things in the article to me are rather stupid."why is every one so depressed? Really? Sorry .most people find it hard to be lighthearted when trying to prevent genocide and armageddon.What the hell?
By the way the crash was not by Weaver it was from the guys who built the drone several episodes ago that was thought to be a UFO.The piece that merged with Weaver was the eel she kept in the tank.I made the same mistake watch the scene again and you will see .By the way I dont think that was stupid just the main article.
I am really curious what people wanted from this show who were not satisfied with it .I looked forward to it every week and by the way what is with the Jesse hate? She and Brian Austin Green actually were pretty good.

OK, first I liked the recent Flash Gordon revival; but I always like the shows everyone else cringes at...

TSCC is decent, but this season has been weak; I blame Jesse, not the actress, just the story arc -- it seemed weak and budgety.

Summer Glau can do no wrong as far as I am concerned -- I worship Firefly and enjoyed 4400.

I would hope the show returns, but kinda' doubt it. The finale was good stuff, but too little too late will likely be the networks decision.

The Terminator franchise has become really big and the show might be able to continue despite it's lack of viewership as long as the franchise is profitable.

BOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRING

I liked the finale a lot and while there were some saggy episodes this year, I imagine budgetry constraints meant that not every episode could be all action. Still, there were some missteps. I think this show was on the verge of greatness a few times, but never quite made the BSG sized leap. Sadly it won't now in all likelihood. Ratings stick and the producers have written themselves into an impossible corner anyway.
The cast did a great job, a very good series that had the potential to be much more.

Deano - glad you explained it. Lots goes on in these episodes. I've never been around for their broadcast time slot (BSG too) so I've watched them on Hulu. Often several times.

Prior terminator films really don't stand up very well to T:TSCC. At the time they were trail blazing in their own way, but T:TSCC and BSG have set the bar way high in writing, plot and character.

Summer Glau's Cameron is infinitely more layered and interesting the The Big Guy's character and her physical acting of plot sub texts is nothing short of brilliant. She also delivers dry humor, self deprecating humor and (written) unintentional humor wrapped up in convincing terminator trappings. "She's coming"; chilling words.

Matt Decker's growth, towards -"The John Cameron" -, has been very well paced, nuanced, effective and extremely well written and acted. His growing assertiveness in the latter part of this season and the conflicts with his mother and Cameron inherent in that assertiveness was beautifully portrayed in the Riley episodes - really great writing in service of plot and absolutely essential character development.

Finally, Lena Headly. What absolutely bravua performances she gives. She had big shoes to fill and she did; overfilled in fact. Her character's tenaciousness of purpose; did she learn the lesson of Pescadero or what! Her fierce love of her son - "Her moral and good soul," the soul of the series really. The Philosopher Queen, always mourning but never mournful, ever mindful of her appointed task.

The casting of secondary and episodic characters, especially difficult for a series like this, rarely had a misstep.

My thanks to all those who have made this series possible. For showing what is possible - with talent.

If this show is canceled, SiFI would do better to spend money trying to continue the development of the series on the sifi network than spending money on dubious "SYFY revisioning".

I'm told that when Hulu and other internet venues are included in market share calculations T:TSCC does just fine. I hope this trumps the limited vision of those fighting market share wars with the last wars technology.

The Internet is a tidal wave. Learn how surf it or get swept away by it.

Well, a guy working for Syfy has some big brass ones to hurl criticism of the quality of an ACTUAL science fiction show like this.

Yes, the show was uneven at times, and started off a bit awkwardly--but when you work for the channel that shows wrestling, Flash Gordon, and the crappy Mansquito sorts of Saturday "originals", you really have no cred to sling mud. When you work for the channel that cancels Dresden Files, abuses BSG fans with split and delayed seasons, well, why should your opinion matter to fans of Actual Science Fiction?

But, if SciFi saw this as an opportunity to grab this show and keep it alive, you might gain a bit of credibility back. If you could tear yourselves away from wrestling & ghost-hunting plumbers long enough, that is.

Fox has been running Fringe, SCC, and Dollhouse--three ORIGINAL science fiction shows during Prime Time in the same season. SciFi shows one 'original series at a time, once per year--Eureka is only on briefly, once per year, each summer. Sanctuary, once per year. BSG, once per year. And you don't overlap the air dates, so there is maybe one hour a week of worthy science fiction on your channel at any time of the year.

So no credibility on this network.

I rewatched Season One in anticipation of the finale--and forgot how much I really did like this show. I liked this season as well (although I want to rewatch it), and I hope they bring it back for a third season. There is SO much they can do with this show--Fox needs to let them do it!

OK, I have comment on shows before. But if fox cans this show now I will boycot the station. I sick of good show getting caned. soap suck and they go on for fucking years. if you like the show like me then do the same lets foxes know, no more TSCC no more views.

I think it should have a FINALE tv-film that wraps everything up so a backstory of Terminator Salvation WILL be known!

IMHO!!!

Markus McLaughlin (linuxglobe on twitter.com)
Hudson, MA, USA

I agree with many of the comments of caindie. I think the casting of T:TSCC has been outstanding. Summer Glau's portrayal of Cameron is worthy of an Emmy, and both Thomas Dekker and Lena Headey really make you feel the constant struggle their characters must face every day. What I especially like about the Cameron character is this: the writers have never given in to the temptation to make her a "real person" (like the doctor from Voyager, or even Arnold at the end of T2). There's never any doubt that whatever insights or perceptions she may have, she's still always first and foremost a machine, a terminator.

But beyond that, what I particularly like about the show is not so much the plot development, but how many of the episodes are truly exemplary examples of great writing and drama. There are individual episodes of this series that are better than any of the Terminator movies. I think the show has very wisely taken the opposite tack from the movies; the films, understandably are a compressed two hours of action and pursuit; but the series gives us the real drama--what it would really be like for Sarah and John, to wake up, day after day, knowing that everyone they pass on the street is doomed, and only they have the power and responsibility to help them.

I really look forward to this show every week, the acting, the writing, the haunting music, everything. I'll truly miss it if it's not renewed.

If Derek was alive in the future and John sent him back, he wouldn't / couldn't die in the past or the future would be changed in such a way as to make this show moot!!!

I loved the show and never missed an episode--thank God for DVRs!! I hope they bring it back, I've enjoyed every Terminator movie and show and I'm looking forward to seeing #4 in May! T:TSCC and Dexter are my only 'never miss' TV shows.

I really liked the story arc with catherine weaver and john henry, this season.I think they carried the show, when the story got bogged down with cameron and sarah standalone episodes.Loved weaver in the final,she was badass.

I loved the show and especially the drama, Riley, Sarah, Cameron, John Henry, and John Connor, and all of their and secondary characters' amazing acting. The 3-parter with Riley and Jesse was fantastic and kicks the crap out of everything non-BSG. All these idiots who prefer plot-driven bull fake-outs and wastes of time like "Heroes" and "Lost" and "24" are missing something unique, and I'm continually pissed by idiot sci fi reviewers who think drama is a waste of time; they also disliked the love quadrangle on BSG which felt real and phenomenal!

My only gripe is that Josh Friedman is rightly criticized by Mania for ripping off the movies. That's why I nominate Toni Graphia as head of the show or for her to write even more episodes. Her stuff is amazing and unique and interesting. She was awesome on BSG and she's great here. There are some other better writers than Friedman as well, but I can't remember their names.

This was always better than any films that would be made by McG or by the studio after T2. Heck, the series was went deeper than T2 in terms of drama alone. Screw action; I want more drama!

Many of the answers to the questions being asked here should be obvious. Some have already in fact been answered. I think the only reason anyone is disappointed in the series is that they wanted the same old stuff they've been seeing in the Terminator movies. They're afraid of anything new that may cause a few neurons to fire. When time travel is a factor, expect change. Just pay attention and expect change. You want the same old stuff, get the Terminator movies on DVD. Leave the show to those with us not afraid to use our brains. There better damn well be a season 3! Thank you.

What gets me is that the series takes place between T2, when Sarah is still alive, and T3, when she's already dead. So the finale has John Connor in the future. How can he get back to enjoy the events of T3? I think the series finale (if it is a finale) has just totally cocked-up the continuity.

First off, it Miles Dyson's son was never said in the show to be kidnapped, just missing. He could be dead at the bottom of Laurel canyon for all we know. I do hope FOX grants hegira to this show and brings it back for another season. The writers strike made everything kinda hectic for alot of us and I was very happy to see the Terminator gang back. Lastly someone mentioned browncoats in conjunction with possible cancellation....Ha, I'm lamenting The Wild Cards and Sydney Bloom still. See if you can figure out those two references.

Loved the S:AaB reference, Iso.

John Henry's story really, REALLY took me. I expected it to be just another cliche story with taking in the enemy and having him betray you, but Dillehunt and Friedman did their damndest (and succeeded in) making John Henry his own character. His singing in Adam Raised a Cain was what sealed the deal.

The season did have it's slipups, though. Cameron screaming that she loves John was pure crap. A good chunk of the Riley story wasn't as good as it could've been (til the end). Jesse didn't get enough of an explanation. How'd she get back in time? It also seemed like they didn't know what they wanted to do with Weaver until they introduced John Henry. She picked up the Cerrano point facility. She killed in cold blood unnecessarily on more than one occasion. Savannah was so scared of her that she was literally pissing herself. Suddenly she winds up wanting to fight Skynet? The only plausible save on that one is the idea that she was the T-1001 in the box that Jesse's crew picked up (obviously) and that the T-888s guarding her were part of some rebel faction.

Ramblings aside, it just wasn't consistent. It was OK during the first half, got bad during the middle, and started to redeem itself towards the end. Too little, too late? We can only hope not, but we ARE dealing with FOX.

I'm sorry, but this show was just BAD. It has so much potential to be a great show (excellent cast, cool concept, good start) and then just fizzled. I haven't been interested in it since week 3.

A tv movie is a good thing to wrap it all up in and maybe a love thing for John and Cameron as she is a unknown type of robot !?

All those questions asked in this article are exactly why this show is a directionless bust. It meandered on and on and on and on while resolving very little and asking more and more questions. This is a boring show with no direction and it deserves cancellation.

Interesting show. Terrific scripts. Uneven direction. VERY attractive cast all around. Fox could've cancelled this long ago, but stuck with it. Chances of a season 3? With those abysmmal ratings? As T-101 would denote: 0.0

My prediction?? Fox either renews both T:SCC AND Dollhouse for 13 eps each...or cancels BOTH, and pisses of legions of rabid Sci-Fi fanatics!!!!!

This is a great show, science fiction or otherwise, and I hope FOX keeps it on the air. Though its ratings have declined, like most shows ratings have, when DVRs, online viewing, and online episode downloads are added in, the show's ratings are fine. On iTunes, for example, every episode is always in the top ten TV episode downloads of the week, and on Hulu, the show is one of its most popular.

Critics of the show usually cite the show as not having enough action or Terminators in each episode, which is ridiculous. Why should the rest of us have to suffer, because those with short attention spans can't follow a good dramatic story? If all you can manage are explosions every five seconds and shiny things, look elsewhwere. This is a television series that delivers every week, and has a cast that is excellent. Lena Headey, for example, had a big role to fill in taking over the character of Sarah Connor from Linda Hamilton, but she has done it, and she has made the character her own. She is fantastic in the role.

The finale for the second season was a cliffhanger episode, so hopefully FOX will renew the series so the story can continue. If not, I would hope that the creators of the series can find another way to finish the story they've been telling, like a DVD movie, or a series of DVD movies, that would do the job.

TV ratings are declining across the board, because people are tired of getting involved in a show only to have it cancelled before its time. FOX is notorious for doing this, but what the networks need to understand, and factor into their numbers, are the amount of people who don't watch a show when it airs, but watch it later, either on their DVR, sites, like Hulu, or by downloading the episodes from places like iTunes and Amazon. If the networks figure those numbers into their traditional ratings as well, they'd see a much different picture, and see that a lot of their shows aren't doing as poorly as they think. During the writers strike, viewers became accustomed to viewing shows in other ways, or finding other forms of entertainment. They don't confine themselves to the house on certain days, because a network tells them they have to watch a show on a certain day, at a certain time. It's about time the networks realize this, and stop clinging to their old ratings system. Too many good shows are being cancelled all the time because they refuse to adapt with their audience. First the networks saw their audiences shift to cable, now they're seeing them shift to DVRs, online viewing, and video downloads. It's time for them to move ahead as well, and stop being so stubborn.

Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles is definitely worthy of another season and then some. Lesser shows have been kept on the air for years, including the brain-rotting reality shows that are everywhere these days. Good dramas need a place on TV, too, where shows can take the time to develop a quality story, instead of having to cater to the mental midgets that demand more car chases, more stuff blowing up, and more shiny things. Hopefully FOX will surprise us all, and go against form for once by keeping this show on the air.

I think Fox will be looking very closely at the box office returns from Salvation before making any commitment to a new series. If the film is a hit, as expected, they could use that to give the series one last chance to rebuild its audience.

A telemovie, mini-series or direct-to-DVD movie definitely has appeal, but I can't see Fox getting involved in that. Universal and MGM have shown a lot more smarts in that regard - Razor, Continuum and The Ark of Truth are excellent examples of what could be done.

When you all talk about John henry taking cams chip, isn't JH effectively the computer that he is connected to via the cable in the back of his head? The terminators "conciousness" is its CPU, its neural net processor, learning computer, so, well JH didn't go to the future, Cameron did, inside Comartie's body......

If there's any justice they'll renew Sarah Connor and cancel Dollhouse. I've always loved Whedon's work in the past but Dollhouse is a boring failure. Fox can use that money to build more metal.

Best network show after Lost. They need to keep this on the air and promote it more.

But what a ridiculous question in this posting's story, "Why is everyone so depressed?" Maybe, just maybe it's because they know the world is about to get nuked and a bunch of killer robots are coming for the rest. And maybe it's because they know Sarah will soon die either way. You think that has a little something to do with it? I'd say they're holding it together pretty well.

Heck, even with 4 Million viewers, that means another 4 (plus) Million are waiting to watch it on DVR or on iTunes or on Bitorrent.
Those numbers are at least indicative of returning to the franchise with several TV-Movie episodes, which if done correctly, is probably a better format for the series anyway.
I'd rather watch 5 x 2 hour movies that are filled with action and excitement, each one ending with cliffhangers, then sit through 22 hours of episodic TV giving me a soap opera of events -- I think that is what hurt the series -- it moved too slowly for Terminator fans. Overall, I enjoy the show and hope to see it return.

This finale was significantly better than most of the prior eps. Love to see it continue with this level of intensity and enhanced storytelling.

If it gets cancelled, the producers should consider a couple two hour straight to DVDs like the SG1 folks did. Wrap up all the loose ends & pull in some bucks along the way.

Ya know, the thing is...what ARE people watching if they aren't watching shows that 'we' like?

They're watching all the pseudo-reality shows, apparently. (in which I have NO interest). Look at the new shows that came out--all the scifi ones have or are going down the tubes but we have numerous dancing/cooking/modeling/making-an-idiot-of-oneself-in-front-of-a-camera shows that seem to survive from season to season.

Even THIS channel shows crap like that nowadays, and seems to be heading even further in that direction.

Some of the cop/crime/procedural dramas are good but even some of those (especially with a fantasy/scifi element like Dresden and Moonlight) get canceled--fast.

It just seems people want shows where they can make fun of the participants, gossip about them (as if they were people in their own lives), or live vicariously through their exploits. (I'd be Starbuck over a dancer,any day:P )

This season of Treminator has been so boring mostly that i'm not surprised viewers turned off in droves. I've stuck with it but after a promising first season,season two has been very very talky! I mean primamrily this is an action show..no one expects budgets akin to the movies but clearly fox has spent little money on this show,the budgets flimsier than a size 0 models waist! We had the boring funearl ep..followed by the even more boring Hospital ep the next week. Its picked up a bit recently and i havent yet seen the season finale which sounds promising. I wont miss it if its cancelled. Josh Friedman clearly doesnt have a clue wher to take this show and fox won't spend more than $3 an episode so you may as well cancel it now.

Personally I have liked the series and would like to see it renewed. Maybe it doesn't have enough action for some people's taste but there's a certain depth to which I don't think you see alot in most series.

It would be a huge shame if this show got canceled! Please fox don't cancel it yet give us one more season at least. Don't leave us hanging like this.

I really enjoyed this show...yes slow at times, but it did put a new bend on the whole Terminator mythology. One question though is who put the chip in John Henry's head. Not Cameron cause as soon as she takes it out she's deactivated. Not John Henry. He unplugs himself and he's out.....hmmm.