I usually don't write reviews online, but Terminator is one of my favorite franchises out there and this series not being as good as it could have been, irks me enough to write one.
Simply because, this show could have been great. Really great. Unfortunately, it's not. I don't really know why, since there are tons and tons of source material to work with, good and bad.
Season one was quite decent. It was basically a plot hole fest, but an entertaining one at that. Full of inconsistencies (like Cromartie's metal head successfully making a time travel, Cameron's changes in behavior, etc., I could go on, many have already pointed them out), but nonetheless, there were enough action scenes and plot events that kept the pace and managed to not lose the viewer's attention. The... "jokes" stung in here and there were dumb, but at least made you laugh, because they seemed so uncharacteristic (think "class dismissed").
Season two started decently, not faultless, of course, but there were a few episodes that were entertaining to watch, even by themselves (for instance, episode 1, 5 and 12). Then it dove into empty, useless drama with lots of sulking and little meaningful conversation. Starting from episode thirteen, it was a real pain to watch, everything dragged on, nothing worthwhile happened. The problem is not the drama itself, the problem is trying to turn an action based concept into drama alone, with nothing to make it move forward. Characters just walk into a room, they talk about something, then head into another room, talk again, and that's it. And even when they talk, they say basically nothing. A few examples:
Jesse: What does different mean? Derek: Different means different.
Cameron: I don't know what I was going to do. John: What do you mean you don't know what you were gonna do? Since when do you not know what you're going to do. Cameron: I don't know.
It's nonsense. When people talk on screen, they should say things that make sense. They should reveal previously unknown information about themselves, the plot, or something that makes the whole thing go forward. That's what talk is for. If you don't have that, you won't understand what's going on, it will become boring and silly after the first sentence.
Many have criticized the acting of the series. Well, we don't get to see the same level of acting we saw in the feature films, that's for sure. But I think that's a lot more because of the badly written plot and dialogue than the inability of the actors. Lena Headey is no Linda Hamilton, but I don't think she couldn't play Sarah Connor more rough, if the way the story was written would allow it. Thomas Dekker could play John Connor a lot more characteristically, but again, if you're given a dumb set-up and plot with dumb dialogue, you can't make it all turn out well. Summer Glau plays Cameron faultlessly, as faultless as the plot allows. She could be a very interesting character in her own right, but she is also given dumb, "freakish" lines and things to do on the screen (not to mention being the series resident eye-candy). The same could be said about the rest of the cast. They could do better, were they allowed.
After having examined the outside, let's dig a little deeper and see about the inside. Here I experience more major problems with the concept.
The original message of Terminator is long lost. That human beings should not hurt and destroy each other. They should not spew hatred, because it can lead to the eventual creation of a sentience that would want to annihilate them all (Skynet). That humans should learn to trust each other, to work together, to shape their destinies for the better (there is no fate but what we make). And even a soulless Terminator could learn how important that was. Sarah Connor, who hated that machine, could learn to trust it. You get the idea.
Here, you don't get even a glimpse of that. More people die in one single episode than in the feature films altogether. Like it was that meaningless. And you see the main bunch constantly telling each other off, threaten each other, then run off in distrust. John matures somewhat along the progress of the show, but eventually, I couldn't say he is all the better now than he was at the beginning. Just different. The others are the same as they started. Cameron, who has one of the "most advanced learning computers" in her head, hasn't learned a single damn thing since the start. Instead of settling differences and talking things through straight, the characters say nothing to each other, don't answer questions, just sulk and act emo and depressed. If that is to make the series serious... well, it doesn't. Saying coherent things, overcoming obstacles and fighting off weaknesses through sacrifice would make it serious.
Just a little character development and wits would do the trick. Like with Cameron's malfunction, they could've stuck her chip in an interface and tried to repair the damage that way. Could have been an interesting insight to her "mind". Or leading things in a way that Derek eventually starts trusting Cameron. Or Sarah and John could learn to rely on each other more. You could write a long list (or try Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita to see how it should be done; it's an excellent cyborg story, with the main heroine strangely resembling Cameron/Glau)
Anyway, if you're pondering on to see the show or not, I'd say give it a go. It has a few good moments that are fun to watch by themselves. But it's definitely not the kind of thing you pick for a weekend-long movie marathon.
Simply because, this show could have been great. Really great. Unfortunately, it's not. I don't really know why, since there are tons and tons of source material to work with, good and bad.
Season one was quite decent. It was basically a plot hole fest, but an entertaining one at that. Full of inconsistencies (like Cromartie's metal head successfully making a time travel, Cameron's changes in behavior, etc., I could go on, many have already pointed them out), but nonetheless, there were enough action scenes and plot events that kept the pace and managed to not lose the viewer's attention. The... "jokes" stung in here and there were dumb, but at least made you laugh, because they seemed so uncharacteristic (think "class dismissed").
Season two started decently, not faultless, of course, but there were a few episodes that were entertaining to watch, even by themselves (for instance, episode 1, 5 and 12). Then it dove into empty, useless drama with lots of sulking and little meaningful conversation. Starting from episode thirteen, it was a real pain to watch, everything dragged on, nothing worthwhile happened. The problem is not the drama itself, the problem is trying to turn an action based concept into drama alone, with nothing to make it move forward. Characters just walk into a room, they talk about something, then head into another room, talk again, and that's it. And even when they talk, they say basically nothing. A few examples:
Jesse: What does different mean? Derek: Different means different.
Cameron: I don't know what I was going to do. John: What do you mean you don't know what you were gonna do? Since when do you not know what you're going to do. Cameron: I don't know.
It's nonsense. When people talk on screen, they should say things that make sense. They should reveal previously unknown information about themselves, the plot, or something that makes the whole thing go forward. That's what talk is for. If you don't have that, you won't understand what's going on, it will become boring and silly after the first sentence.
Many have criticized the acting of the series. Well, we don't get to see the same level of acting we saw in the feature films, that's for sure. But I think that's a lot more because of the badly written plot and dialogue than the inability of the actors. Lena Headey is no Linda Hamilton, but I don't think she couldn't play Sarah Connor more rough, if the way the story was written would allow it. Thomas Dekker could play John Connor a lot more characteristically, but again, if you're given a dumb set-up and plot with dumb dialogue, you can't make it all turn out well. Summer Glau plays Cameron faultlessly, as faultless as the plot allows. She could be a very interesting character in her own right, but she is also given dumb, "freakish" lines and things to do on the screen (not to mention being the series resident eye-candy). The same could be said about the rest of the cast. They could do better, were they allowed.
After having examined the outside, let's dig a little deeper and see about the inside. Here I experience more major problems with the concept.
The original message of Terminator is long lost. That human beings should not hurt and destroy each other. They should not spew hatred, because it can lead to the eventual creation of a sentience that would want to annihilate them all (Skynet). That humans should learn to trust each other, to work together, to shape their destinies for the better (there is no fate but what we make). And even a soulless Terminator could learn how important that was. Sarah Connor, who hated that machine, could learn to trust it. You get the idea.
Here, you don't get even a glimpse of that. More people die in one single episode than in the feature films altogether. Like it was that meaningless. And you see the main bunch constantly telling each other off, threaten each other, then run off in distrust. John matures somewhat along the progress of the show, but eventually, I couldn't say he is all the better now than he was at the beginning. Just different. The others are the same as they started. Cameron, who has one of the "most advanced learning computers" in her head, hasn't learned a single damn thing since the start. Instead of settling differences and talking things through straight, the characters say nothing to each other, don't answer questions, just sulk and act emo and depressed. If that is to make the series serious... well, it doesn't. Saying coherent things, overcoming obstacles and fighting off weaknesses through sacrifice would make it serious.
Just a little character development and wits would do the trick. Like with Cameron's malfunction, they could've stuck her chip in an interface and tried to repair the damage that way. Could have been an interesting insight to her "mind". Or leading things in a way that Derek eventually starts trusting Cameron. Or Sarah and John could learn to rely on each other more. You could write a long list (or try Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita to see how it should be done; it's an excellent cyborg story, with the main heroine strangely resembling Cameron/Glau)
Anyway, if you're pondering on to see the show or not, I'd say give it a go. It has a few good moments that are fun to watch by themselves. But it's definitely not the kind of thing you pick for a weekend-long movie marathon.