{ yeah, I'm still talking about The Sarah Connnor Chronicles. }

[delga]

As well as being quite SUSPENSEFUL, this week's episode delivered - in one scene - both Cameron HILARITY and something much more quiet and poignant. For the few of you tha know what I'm talking about, I'm referencing the scene where John asks Cameron if she understands the significance of Derek near-dying on the kitchen table. Cameron is all, "would you like some SEDATIVES? EMT guy has them," and John is all, "DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT IS?" At which point Cameron gives us Derek's v. v. basic history (imprisoned and escaped with John Connor, only relative, Kyle Reese, yadda yadda) and John realises that Cameron has no idea about the familial connection between him and the Reese brothers. So Cameron is immediately on the outside. ("Is that all?" "It seems like a lot." "It is." I don't know if it's because Cameron's supposed to be better equipped at blending in, but it seems like a lot is a weird way to state that according to her logical approximations, that is a lot of information. I'm reading too much into this, I know, but it's a good indicator of how different she is from other cyborgs we've met. In the pilot, she played a perfectly normal human being - something which has been distorted as the series goes on [I can't work out why] - but her phraseology is not always that clear-cut robot-speak. Sometimes she speaks 'human', too. Seriously, her lack of emotionality is something I can deal with, but pseudo-emotionality, her keeping that chip... I don't know, that makes me think, a lot. And Sarah is so hostile towards her (understandably) which always makes me shiver. Sarah's threat is so violent this week. I know it's because of Dean Winters' character, but still. She does not give Cameron the benefit of doubt. She never does. Derek Reese doesn't, either. Something about this moves me, I don't know what or why.)

One of the things I liked about the end of episode 5 - during that pivotal fight scene where Cameron brutally and violently destroys the other cyborg, John is roaring for her, wanting to help, and Sarah has to hold him back. One of the things we're not seeing here (possibly I'm missing something from T3) is the empathy John has for the machines in T2. But that one scene showed his desperate attachment to Cameron who, ultimately, has a human face and is a friend of John's. Which is why these scenes are so sad: Cameron constantly gets things wrong, or too literal, and John is always explaining. But as much as he trusts her (in the moment, and in the future when he sends her back), he doesn't trust her enough to tell her about his father. He doesn't trust anyone enough. (I don't know if that's actually him, or if it's Sarah's influence. I think it's likely a mixture of both.) Anyway, the characterisations sometimes blow me away with how subtle they can be. And like I keep saying, re: Cameron I don't know how far we can go with her emotionality. It feels like somewhere in that last fight in episode 5, a switch flicks in her; her motives swing somewhat. What causes that? Where is that going to take us? Unfortunately, I don't have high hopes regarding the whole ordeal because in episode 7 we come out of the arc, and head back to school (and that silly plot about the girl that John likes - I don't know if this is supposed to be the Clare Danes character from T3 or what, but I'm finding it really boring) where Cameron takes up BALLET of all things. So I think plot development might take a while. And they're nearly out of episodes, which also sucks.

edit: The Wikipdia episode summary is much more coherent, and explains the episode neatly, whilst including important details about the various relationships. Also, the fourth movie will be set around the actual Judgement Day (!) which is awesome because I'm really taking to that cold post-apocalyptic environment.

edit2: !!! CAMERON ALSO STOLE ONE OF THE BARS OF COLTAN AT THE END OF 1x04! WHAT IS THIS?? SHADY INTENTIONS! For a full list of weird behaviour, see the wiki page on her character. I am freaked out! I forgot about the coltan! (I also love that relatively little is known about her model? And this page also picks up on the change in her behaviour post-pilot. I AM MORE SUSPENSEFUL NOW. And I haven't even begun to talk about Sarah Connor herself yet.