Sarah Delivers Yet Again!

This week's episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, merely the latest in a long string of excellent installments, had a lot going for it. Not only was it told in a "point-of-view" manner, where the story plays out as you see the events from different characters' perspective, but it had yet another scene that just cuts you to the bone. I'll describe that momentarily, but first, here's some of the dialogue leading up to it, between Sarah and FBI Agent Ellison. The latter has become a believer after initially trying to bring the Connors to justice. They had just finished discussing what to do in order to clean up the mess that their latest crisis had caused, leading Ellison to ask about the future.

Ellison: Then what?

Sarah: There is no "then what." Pretend I died again.

Ellison: I lost a lot when you died the first time... my marriage, my career.

Sarah: That's a lot to you?

Ellison: I suppose many people lost those things.

Sarah: You want answers...

Ellison: I just want to know my role. What happens after this?

Sarah: This is it. There's nothing else behind the curtain. This is what I do; it's all I do. You already know why I do it. I'm sorry for what you lost, but I can't help you get any of it back.

If that exchange doesn't sum up what the show's about - what the whole concept of the entire Terminator franchise is about - then I don't know what does.

The episode ends with Sarah taking the butt end of an Uzi and using it to smash the CPU chip of the defeated Terminator to bits. As her thrusts get more and more violent, she breaks into a series of sobs and finally her son, John, pulls her away with a hug that no mother would ever refuse. They do such a great job in this series of juxtaposing the steely, cold exterior that Sarah's had to construct for herself with the human side that just wants to protect her child against what the world would do to him (kill him, or turn him into the ultimate soldier in a world where humanity is on the brink of extinction... neither one's a rosy picture!)