I think it’s imperative when you read a review that you know the reviewer’s background, so let me give you some of mine.  I’ve watched the first two Terminator films one time, back when T2 was first released on video.  I was roughly in 8th grade at the time, I think, so I don’t remember much about them at all.  I pretty much remember that John Connor will become the leader of a resistance group against the machines, which had taken over the world in the future, and the Governator was sent back from the future, first to kill him, then protect him.  Or something like that.

Luckily, you don’t have to be a Terminator Saga aficionado to get Sarah Connor Chronicles.  The events pick up shortly after the events of T2 (I’m assuming it’s not taking the events of T3 into canon).  Sarah and John are on the run, doing their best to lay low and avoid the machines that are apparently still searching for John. 

Like all pilots, this served to set up exactly what’s in store for the rest of the season. Despite the fact that Miles Dyson, the guy who designed Skynet, which subsequently destroyed the world (Wikipedia is your friend), had been killed, Skynet still goes online in the future. So it becomes the responsibility of the Connors, with the help of the newest Terminator model, to stop it. After successfully evading the most recent Terminator sent to kill John, they make a quick jump into the “future” 2007, where they will begin their quest.

I heard some negative buzz about this one early on, but that came primarily from viewers who were probably huge Terminator fans back in the day. But as for me, a casual fan at best, I enjoyed it. The performances were all very solid. Lena Headey, in the title character, is a very convincing as a mother who has become hardened from the years of having to protect her child, and Thomas Dekker is great as a kid who has spent his life on the run.

I think that there are enough veins of story to really make this an entertaining watch. Besides the obvious Skynet takedown plot and the apparent endless stream of Terminator models coming to kill John, there’s also the FBI’s efforts to find and capture Sarah, who they perceive as a homicidal nutbag. We also have her former fiance, Charley Dixon, who will factor into future episodes. It’s interesting that this part has been recast and reinvisioned from the pilot. Originally, the fiance was Burke Daniels, played by Tim Guinee, and it was a much more docile role. But Dean Winters has a much harder edge…it’s obvious that there’s a direction they’re headed there.

Sarah Connor Chronicles is not revolutionary television. It’s nothing that will redefine the genre. But it is really entertaining and quite suspenseful. I’ll definitely be checking out tonight’s episode.

And, really, what else is there to watch?

Grade: B+