(Season 2, Episode 9 – “Complications”)
It looks like the viewers weren’t the only ones concerned about Cromartie’s corpse in the desert. This episode began with Sarah going just a little bit nuts over the deceased Terminator, insisting that no one was safe until his metal cadaver was melted down. She started having crazy dreams which led her back to the shrink from a few episodes back.
This was the secondary plot of the episode, although there was one interesting plot point buried in there. Sarah was dreaming of three dots which ended up being on the bloody message wall at the Connor house. My concern here is that Sarah is going to start having premonitory dreams. That is one thing we don’t need to see on Terminator. There is too much going on as it is. I’m hoping that her subconscious was just drawing her back to the wall.
I really appreciate how the writers are continuing to remind us that Cameron is a machine. They are continually exploring her nature and it continues to be fascinating. In this episode she rode along in the truck with her foot out the window to feel the air between her toes. She assured John that she can indeed feel sensations even though she is a robot. At the same time she doesn’t understand basic human compassion. When Sarah flipped over a tortoise in the desert, placing it back on it’s belly, Cameron was confused. As she said, it was “not a threat” and therefore she didn’t see the point in doing anything with it, let alone helping it. John explained human empathy and why Sarah set the tortoise right. This lead to one of the creepiest moments in the history of the show: Cameron beat the crap out of Ellison, trying to get information about Cromartie’s shell. Beaten unconscious, Cameron kindly flipped Ellison onto his belly before leaving him. It was disturbing, no?
Meanwhile, the real action in the episode was happening with Derek and Jesse. Jesse captured a war criminal who had returned from the future, but Derek wasn’t sure about this “supposed” traitor: Charles Fisher. There were some great minds games being played on both sides, but Jesse finally managed to prove the identity of Charles by delivering his present day self. Here’s where everything got fun. Jesse informed Derek of all the horrible things that Fisher did (will do?) in the future including teaching the machines how to interrogate humans. Derek had no recollection of this, which is peculiar because he was the person that Fisher used as an example for the machines. Derek postulated that perhaps the work he has been doing with Connors is actually changing the future, and that he and Jesse have come back from different time lines. I have a special message for the writers: “be careful!” They are heading down very dangerous territory if they are going to be introducing multiple future timelines. I’m willing to ride along with this for a little while, but they have to be really careful to make sure this doesn’t become a big, convoluted time travel mess.
Another big question from the episode came when Derek was poised to kill the young Charles Fisher. Jesse stopped him, instead plugging future Charles Fisher in the gut. What was that all about? I think it’s more evidence that Jesse is up to no good, possibly even working with the machines. Did she do this to make sure that Charles Fisher would be able to carry out his plans in helping the machines? I’m not quite sure, but it certainly raises more questions about Jesse.
The episode ended with Ellison delivering the corpse of Cromartie to Weaver-bot. That’s certainly not going to end well…
What did everyone else think? I thought this was an outstanding episode and raised a lot of interesting questions. Agree?
Clacked by Bob Degon
on Nov 17, 2008 @ 21:37 EST5EDT
My take on Jesse shooting future Fisher is he is the one who is guilty of the deeds (that’s assuming all her motives are pure – which we don’t know yet) – present Fisher has done nothing…yet.
Elllison, Ellison, Ellison! I wonder if he only decided to give T-Weaver the body after Cameron beat him up…. I guess T-Weaver has earned his trust, but I can’t imagine he does not find her strange and creepy.
Another mistake – Cameron and John should have tossed the place and looked in his trunk themselves.
Sarah and the three dots – subconcious not premonition.
Great Episode! Lots to chew on.
bsgfan2003, your take on Jesse is absolutely correct, as evidenced by her and Derek’s conversation at future Fischer’s grave:
“We had to let him [young Fischer] go. He’s not the monster we just buried.”
“Let’s hope he doesn’t become one.”
It was the first instance of mercy I’ve seen from Jesse, whatever her actual mission.
Chilling how future Fischer was the one who got his younger self the life sentence at Pelican Bay for the national security breach. I have no doubt that the old man knew exactly what would happen and just didn’t care.
I think Ellison planned to give Cromartie’s chassis to Weaver all along. Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to take the trouble to smuggle it back to L.A. from Mexico, when he knew the Connors were coming right back to destroy it. What would he have done with it without her help?
Bob Degon, the timelines have always worked this way in Terminator. The fans figured it out from the way the date of Judgment Day would change whenever a new significant time traveler came back, but now the characters in the show are just starting to figure it out.
This holds for T:SCC as well, which has a new date for Judgment Day. Cameron, Derek and Jesse all came from slightly different timelines, as you could tell from slight touches where their memories were out of sync. The time jump in the pilot episode erased Cameron’s future, which is why she had no idea if Sarah would still die from cancer in the new future.
However, you don’t have to worry about multiple future timelines. Everything they do in the present changes the future, and there doesn’t seem to be any way for a time traveler to return to the exact future that they “grew up” in. There just seems to be one future at a time. As a consequence, time travelers seem to be orphaned from their old timeline, as their memories do not change. This means that killing young Fischer or young Derek would not affect their older selves, and that John Connor would not cease to exist if he doesn’t send Kyle Reese back in time, as he was sired by a Kyle from a timeline in which Kyle was sent back.
Brilliant work by Richard Schiff. My only complaint was that Dr. Sherman wasn’t as useful this time around. Since he was cast for this episode, it would have been nice to fit in a short scene with he and Weaver discussing the Turk. I hope they bring him back in the future.
*POST AUTHOR*
I trust they can keep things on track. I’ve just become used to Heroes trying the multiple time travel plots and botching nearly all of them, so I get a little skittish.
Bob, I think the beauty in this timeline theory is that the writers don’t have to keep track of things. There is one absolute future that constantly changes as Skynet, the Resistance, the Connors, and any other factions war in the present. As long as the future does not change the memories of those who have already come back (no future Peter or future Hiro constantly winking back and forth in time), it doesn’t matter, except to have more Derek angsting over what he has lost.
There is no way for a traveler to change the future back to the Original Timeline they remember, as new agents are constantly disrupting the mix. Add to that no faction is attempting still to preserve the OT, but each is deliberately changing things to alter the future for its own benefit, and we don’t have to worry about previously overwritten timelines, because they don’t matter.
You may be right about Ellison wanting to give the chassis (good word) to T-Weaver right away – but since Ellison liked to collect things (picture of Sarah, hand) before he met T-Weaver, I thought it was at least possible he would keep it to himself.
“Beaten unconscious, Cameron kindly flipped Ellison onto his belly before leaving him. It was disturbing, no?”
No. She was displaying a bit of empathy. It’s not good to leave an unconscious person on their back because of the risks of choking and dying.
And @Ryan “Chilling how future Fischer was the one who got his younger self the life sentence at Pelican Bay for the national security breach. I have no doubt that the old man knew exactly what would happen and just didn’t care.”
He said that the only reason he survived was because he was in jail. So I guess he made the choice to be alive and help the machines rather than die on Judgment Day.
*POST AUTHOR*
I interpreted Cameron’s behavior as attempting human empathy, but she was unable to understand it. She was just treating Ellison like he was a tortoise. I found it to be very creepy.
bsgfan2003 – Where would Ellison keep it? Cromartie’s not going to fit in his little freezer this time. I can just see Ellison taking him to a taxidermist for mounting in his standard strangling/neck-breaking pose with creepy smile. Maybe a giant plastic living room display case? Maybe he even has a recording of “Thank you for your time” he can loop over and over again.
puddy77 – I just thought Cameron did it because it’s easier to stand up from your belly. I didn’t think about choking.
It’s true the only reason Fischer survived the first time was because he was in jail, but that was only because he didn’t know a nuclear war was coming and would have been living in L.A. Now that his younger self knows, he could have just moved to the desert or to Mexico to survive. He might even have made the decision to join the Resistance afterward, if not for the screwing over by his older self. Of course, that might just have been the monster’s way of further ensuring his future, beyond installing the computer system backdoor.
I did think it was bizarre that this obvious innocent would be serving a life sentence within the next four years. I was very glad that the show addressed this point.
P.S. Does anyone know how to keep the comment system from deleting the second space between sentences? I write that way because it’s easier for me to read.
Ryan, While I don’t claim any expertise is hiding bodies, I pondered your question as I was picking up after dinner. Where could one hide a Terminator Chassis that does not smell, in a house or back yard? Here it goes: attick, shed, under bed, in closet, amoire, hollow out sofa sleeper, treehouse, buried in yard, pool box, behind book case, broom closet under the stairs. :)
You can pretend innocence with regard to homicide all you like, I’ve seen your comments in the BSG posts. ;)
I was being slightly facetious, but don’t forget the classic “buried under the new imported Italian tiles at the bottom of the swimming pool.” I like your sleeper sofa idea for its easy access.
An interesting point you bring up regarding the smell. We know that their synthetic flesh and blood don’t harbor germs, but will it rot and smell? They can sweat and have bad breath, so I’m not sure. Ellison kept the hand in the freezer and a cooler, but he didn’t know either. I’d sure like the show to answer that in a future episode.
Oh THAT business – Innocent as the setting dove!
I just imagined it did not smell – can’t prove it.
Hey, I’m just watching Blade Runner now and completely forgot until watching it that the turtle scene, with the flipping it over, seems to be a shout-out to this movie. In one of the opening scenes of Blade Runner, the Tyrell Corp. rep. is asking a worker what he’d do in a situation where a tortoise was flipped on its back, to see if he has human compassion. Interesting.