Sarah Connor Kicks Butt In Season Two Premiere

Tonight's second season opener of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was pretty damn fine, indeed! This show waxed and waned for me a bit in its inaugural season, but ended strong with a good mix of action and the "small stuff" like John Connor getting to meet his father (as a little boy). The finale back in May left me feeling that they'd have to up the ante in the second season, and if tonight's episode is any indication: they're going to! While the series can be uneven at times, there are clearly some good writers on staff who know how to tell a compelling story. They seem to get that they're going to have to stop telling us how great a leader John Conner is in the future and start showing us how he gets there, in the present. Tonight's scene with Cameron, and the gun, was a great example of the latter. Instincts like that don't come along every day! And just who exactly do we really think offed the reprehensible Sarkissian? Was it Sarah (who Derek had claimed in Season One didn't have it in her to kill people), or was it maybe John's first kill?

The first season finale had a very exciting climactic scene that was dubbed over with the great Johnny Cash, singing "The Man Comes Around," echoing Agent Ellison's earlier remarks about the Book of Revelations. Tonight, bookending that was an opening montage put to the music of a female performer who I didn't recognize, foreshadowing both the literal house-burning that was about to happen as well as the extended family's figurative house (of unified purpose) that would melt down as a result of Cameron's new situation. It's not exactly Alan Moore- or Grant Morrison-subtle, but it's still pretty high-brow by mainstream TV standards. And it shows a willingness to experiment a bit with their form that goes against the norm for action-based series. I continue to hold out high hopes for this somewhat-brainy gasoline-powered show...