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Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Navigation

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Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that this series picks up right where the first two Terminator movies left off, centering on the never-ending conflict between Sarah Connor and her son and the indestructible robotic assassins that want to kill them. There's plenty of action, including car chases, explosions, fistfights, and gunfights. But it's not just mindless violence; because the show focuses on Sarah's efforts to protect her son at all costs (so he can grow up to lead the human resistance), it has a strong narrative framework to support all the smash-'em-up scenes. Plus, with her take-no-prisoners attitude, Sarah is one of Hollywood's most interesting female characters; here, she's joined by Cameron, a tough female terminator. By contrast, teenage John is still unformed, and, though earnest, he can also be rash and immature. This series, as the name says, is all about the women.

Families can talk about the media's fascination with time travel. What other movies and TV shows can you think of that revolve around time travel? How is this one similar or different? Also, this series takes place after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Why do you think the show's producers have chosen to ignore the events that occurred in the third film, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines? Does it help the series better fit into the overall Terminator storyline?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Will Wade

Despite their titles, the Terminator films have always been the story of Sarah Connor. In the first movie, the character (played by Linda Hamilton) transformed from a mousy, struggling waitress into a tough-as-nails heroine who managed to defeat an unstoppable cyborg that had marked her for death.

The second movie, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, turned Sarah into one of Hollywood's most fascinating female action heroes, determined to do whatever was necessary to protect her son and save the human race. But in the third film, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, she never appears (viewers are told she died of leukemia); perhaps that's why, despite having plenty of thrills, T3 lacks the emotional center of its predecessors -- it's all chase, with no soul.

Smart move, then, for TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES to return to her legend, picking up the story a few years after the events of the second movie. In the show, Sarah (Lena Headey) and her now-teenage son John (Thomas Dekker) are living as fugitives, on the run from both the authorities -- who think the Connors are responsible for several deaths -- and from the Terminators, which have never stopped hunting them.

One of the most fascinating mysteries of the Terminator stories has always been how Sarah raised John, who, fans know, is destined to lead the human resistance in the future after humanity loses its war with the murderous machines. The show fills in that gap, showing how she taught him the skills necessary to fight back and win against a seemingly unbeatable enemy. This chapter of the Connors' life is much better fodder for a TV series than a simple rehash of the films' standard chase format would have been -- the result is smart, nuanced, and very satisfying.

That said, this is a Terminator show, so there's still plenty of action and excitement. There's a third main character in Chronicles -- a female Terminator named Cameron (yes, her moniker is a shout-out to James Cameron, who created the franchise) who's been sent to protect the Connors -- and she regularly ends up duking it out with her robotic counterparts.

The interactions between Sarah and Cameron (Firefly's Summer Glau) are especially fun; these two powerful women dominate the show. By contrast, John is young and unformed, and though he's the focus of the storyline, he's the least interesting part of the show.

Fans will probably like any of the Terminator movies, as well as Firefly or its movie spin-off Serenity. For another, considerably bloodier look at Headey playing a powerful woman, check out 300.

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Content
		CS	adults	kids
Sexual Content No sex, but teen John Connor certainly seems to have some chemistry with his attractive robotic protector, Cameron (and she shows a little bit of cyborg skin, but nothing sensitive). Characters sometimes travel through time and must be completely naked for the trip, but there's no explicit nudity.
Violence The Terminators are plenty tough, and it gets pretty rough when two machines go at it. Expect some serious brawling, shown in explicit detail -- though, since they're indestructible, there isn't much gore. When humans take on the Terminators, expect lots of big explosions as they try bigger and bigger guns, usually with little effect -- and sometimes followed by the unnerving sight of a robotic skeleton rising from the wreckage of a blast that seems like it could have destroyed anything. When a Terminator has the upper hand, it's ruthless and aggressive, killing quickly and efficiently, and leaving corpses in its wake, sometimes in a bloody mess. Some of the robots' wounds appear bloody temporarily, but they don't feel pain.
Language Includes words like "hell," "crap," "whore," and "bitch."
Message
	Social Behavior Sarah Connor and her son, John, are fighting to prevent a future apocalypse that nobody else really believes will happen, and they're willing to break the law to accomplish their ends if necessary. Those ends could include murdering people to prevent them from inventing dangerous machines, stealing to support their guerilla efforts, or robbing a bank. The Connors are fugitives, forced to live underground using fake identities and fake papers and often must lie to the authorities who think their wild tales of unstoppable machines are simply symptoms of mental illness. The show features two strong female characters.
	Commercialism Part of the successful Terminator movie franchise.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Some background/social drinking.

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