User reviews

Sarah Connor has to be one of the most disappointing TV shows of the past few years.

First, it's based on a beloved series of films, well at least the first 2 were beloved.

It also had one of the highest budgets known to television (like that other stinker Fringe).

But now that I have read it was written with Summer Glau in mind, it's really no wonder the show is so bad. After all, a show can only be as good as its show-runner, and a show-runner who thinks that Summer Glau is an actress that can carry a show is completely off-base.

After all, Summer Glau can't even carry a scene. She plain can't act! It's too bad, because Sarah Connor truly could have been a great show if only FOX had chosen a good producer to make it.

As it is , it's another victim of the I cast a hot chick who can't act in the lead and I hope she'll date me" syndrome.

There's something to be said about a franchise that just keeps coming back for more. Since the first "Terminator" movie was released over two decades ago, moviegoers have seen the arrival of two sequels (with another on the way in 2009), and now this hap-hazard television spin-off that shows a complete disregard for the story laid out before its time.

It's not so much that I mind a form of entertainment going back and filling in the gaps between its predecessors. It happens all the time, but in most cases, the stories that came before are taken into consideration. "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" acts as if the feature film "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" never existed. Take note of the fact that in the beginning of "T3," we were introduced to John Connor, who said absolutely nothing about any events taking place since the end of the story in "T2." In this show, we're now given a new set of terminators chasing John and his mother, the tough-as-nails Sarah, who still hasn't figured out how to remove that sign from her head that says "Chase me, I'm stirring up trouble and deserve to be locked up."

Leaving the show's lack of respect for previous installments aside, on its own, it still hasn't got a prayer in Heaven of succeeding where it counts. After two episodes, it's the same stuff over and over again, which works fine for feature-length movies that come multiple years apart, but for an hour each week on television, it just gets old. I don't buy into any of the acting: Lena Heady is a decent actress given the opportunity, but here, she's not given much to work with. This Sarah Connor has no passion, no energy, no drive to succeed in her endeavors. Here, she's just plain boring.

As for the teenagers, well, there's a reason they have a network called the CW (formerly the WB, soon to be renamed the OMG LMAO). Their performances are listless and humdrum, with no real enthusiasm or emotion to speak of. To those who thought that Nick Stahl and Claire Danes were poorly cast in "T3" (not the opinion of this writer), I submit Summer Glau and Thomas Dekker for your consideration.

It's going to be interesting to see how this all plays out, not from a story angle, but from an interest angle. The show can only go so far before it's going to collapse on itself; how and if they will eventually tie in the events from the third movie remains to be seen, but given their disregard for that installment, I'm not holding my breath for a breakthrough.

Who would believe it ? Enduring just two episodes of Terminator : "Made for Teens and Juveniles" The Sarah Connor Chronicles made me see and evaluate positive points of T3 have over this train wreck. OK I admit it is not a long list but come on ! I am not expecting a big budget production from a TV series but whole story/plot , dialogue and acting is just bad. Different models of T-800 model terminators in each episode ( be ready to see some of them as old ladies or little kids ) , Terminators can't shoot a target in range of two meters , protective Terminator as young hot chick ( guess who is the target audience for this TV show ? ) , Terminators who use super intelligent remarks like "Class Dismissed" , "Neat trick huh ?" , emo wannabe John Connor who insists in not growing up , inconsistencies with T2 which this series which are so much it is almost impossible to list ,they are so many. Oh have I mentioned that I found music awful ? After listening magnificent opening and closing themes of T2 : Judgement Day , listening trash piece during "action(!)" scenes of this show makes me weep ! Just that music tells you there is no edge or suspense in next scene...

Seriously this is a TV show what can you expect ? My only hope is its cancellation soon !

i was very disappointed with the show, especially the acting and writing. I am a real fan of the terminator series (apart from the 3rd!). I am not comparing directly as i know that you can never compare to something with a 60 million dollar budget. Having said that, they clearly spend some good money on this. After the 1st episode I just didn't seem to care at all about any of the characters. I wasn't convinced by any of the characters either. The terminator seemed to just move his head in a jerky way to remind us he is a robot. The Robot sent to protect them just seemed like she would fall over at a gust of wind. It just looked very fake when they fought each other. And Sarah Conner - considering she is meant to be battle hardy, and a soldier didn't seem to have any ideas or seem to act like she know how to kick ass - like Sarah Conner did in the films. It cant be so hard surely to spend more money and time on making this seem more real. It is shot well, and looks great, but that will only keep people interested for so long. I hope that this gets better....

Trouble with the show was it was the same thing every week. You can only rehash the same thing so many times. Till people can figure out what going to happened. Needed better writers.

Not Lena Heady, however. I watched two episodes waiting for a Terminator...protector or antagonist....still waiting...got a lot of people that I'm suppose to believe are Terminators bcuz they said so...Did the writers or directors watch T1 or T2 ? Anything with robots in it? Low budget , no excuse Robots don't have emotions yet...why ask me to suffer though two episodes of robots playing humans playing robots...really boring and a let down.

Leana Heady has to be very weary carrying this pathetic piece of crap. The Terminator sent to protect John is less Robot than my electric toothbrush is. Is it too much to ask for a little atificial intellegence in my robots...the only thing artificial is this girl's acting....Ok the human story is important but I got tired of PRETENDING this girl or the others chasing after them are Cyborgs or whatever...and why are they always angry...isn't anger an emoion? this is truly a ...I don't know what...any time Arnold Swarzeneggar can beat you acting, by a mile, you shouldn't be in front of any body's camera...god awful...a waste...really bad.

It amazes me how forgiving people here can be for the never resolved cliffhanger. It introduced so many interesting possibilities that no one ever got to see.

Season 2 builds steadily to this non-ending with every episode adding pieces, some more than others. Most episodes also had a stand alone story but my interest was focused on where the whole series was going. There are also some ongoing threads that last anywhere from a couple episodes up to the one concluded in the second to last episode.

There are also some holes in the premise. First, why do the humans bother with guns, especially handguns, when they do absolutely nothing to top the terminators? They barely slow them down more than a second or two. A few episodes have a weapon like a gun that can do some series damage, but those are few and far between. In short, the humans mostly run away and even those instances don't make sense how they can get away. Second, with the destruction and death left behind by the terminators and the Connor gang, it absolutely defies belief that no authorities seem to care. That kind of destruction would quickly lead to a task force to combat it which would eventually become national. And the publicity it attracts falls far short of what it should be. The Connors stay in one home base for most of the 22 episodes and they wonder around the area seemingly unnoticed while they break into one place after another leaving behind who knows how much evidence of their passing.

The second season grows in futility and despair with the last few episodes really getting bleak in all but the ultimate thread that ultimately gets cancelled.

The first season runs like most new series with complete stories being told each episode while the ongoing thread is there but not as overwhelming.