Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Starring: Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker Season premiere tonight at 8 pm, FOX ‘ ‘ ‘ As one astute… Starring: Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker Season premiere tonight at 8 pm, FOX ‘ ‘ ‘ As one astute viewer mentioned during the season premiere of ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles:’ ‘Well, that’s a lot of dead people.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Indeed, watching FOX Sept. 8th will bring a lot of dead people, killed ultimately at the hands of evil technology that no longer can reliably follow its programming but rather is at the mercy of microchip damage caused by automobile explosions. Computer engineers will enjoy this. ‘ ‘ ‘ Tonight FOX airs the new season premiere of ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.’ Needless to say, FOX wants to play up the action and the drama combination it has procured so well with its previous season. The storylines promise to continue the constant malfunctions of a species of robots sent from the future. It seems, unfortunately, that FOX does not have any confidence in the future reliability of electronics. Once again, computer engineers will enjoy this. Unfortunately, FOX forgot one thing about robots as a plot structure: Bad acting by either humans playing humans or the humans playing the machines ultimately and swiftly leads to the destruction of the show’s credibility. This new season, unfortunately, seems to care little for its credibility. Perhaps if the main characters could drive a little more excitingly, one could have a bit more sympathy for their lack of general acting talent. Oh well. As if to provide action for the characters who cannot otherwise provide it themselves through dialogue, FOX decided that a shaky camera should be used. Although this may appeal to some people, it also tends to really irritate others. Focus is a good thing ‘mdash; if television were all done with shaky cams, perhaps it would be better to go outside and experience the world in shaky camera first-person. Sitting and watching ‘Chronicles’ also leads one to believe that the new shows do not necessarily share the old ‘Terminator’ spirit. Perhaps a slight bit of a constant re-hash? Perhaps too much attempt to bring drama while also actively attempting to prevent the television show from losing its action roots? One who is not overly well-versed in the old ‘Terminator’ films may not notice it, but beware if you are a ‘Terminator’ fanatic. Indeed, the plot was kind of milquetoast. It is certain FOX will pull something more interesting out of some orifice or another at some point, but it may be a long wait. The shows may continue to be chock-full of FOX-standard cop-out content ‘- fake drama, relationship issues and a general undertone that technology will destroy mankind. One thing that must be credited to the FOX masterminds of ‘Chronicles’ is the fact that there is no dearth of explosions and general mayhem. Where there probably should be something interesting happening, something uninteresting is in the process of blowing up. Cars, trucks, buildings, flora, fauna, are all CG-ed into oblivion in ‘Chronicles.’ You’ll have some general respect for the engineers who laid the charges. Perhaps still you’ll walk away feeling cheated that one of the main characters didn’t lose a limb, adding to the convoluted time explanations inherent to the ‘Terminator’ movie plotlines. At least a new time-travel paradox would liven up the plotline. ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ airs tonight on FOX. Even if the plot is flirting with boring as hell, at least one character will find himself in a compromising position, being, well, flushed away by evil. You may want to watch it at least for that little gem.