Summary
- John Connor’s absence in the past impacts his future, as he is no longer the resistance leader — at least not yet.
- Sarah Connor chooses to stay in the present to thwart Skynet’s creation.
- Weaver reveals her true purpose as the mother of John Henry, an A.I. created to combat Skynet.
Set shortly after the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was canceled after just two seasons, leaving the series unfinished and with a cliffhanger ending. While it’s not entirely clear what was going to happen next in Terminator: TSCC, the science-fiction drama show teased a few possibilities in what became its series finale. Penned by Josh Friedman, who’d go on to co-write 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate, the 31-episode spinoff show aired from 2008 to 2009, and starred Game of Thrones‘ Lena Headey as Sarah Connor — the Terminator protagonist first portrayed by Linda Hamilton in 1984.
As the series’ title implies, the spinoff revolves around Sarah and her son, John Connor (Thomas Dekker), as they try to prevent the creation of Skynet — the artificial intelligence system that, in the future, launches a devastating nuclear war on humans. In that post-apocalyptic future, John leads the human resistance against Skynet and its homicidal Terminators. At the end of Terminator 2, the so-called “Judgment Day” is seemingly averted thanks to Sarah, John, and the time-hopping, protective T-800 played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. In Sarah Connor Chronicles, which unfolds after T2‘s timeline, the mother-son duo learn that they only delayed Skynet’s creation.
John Connor Is No Longer The Resistance Leader
John Travels To The Future (& A New Timeline)
At the end of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles season 2, teenager John Connor discovers that his looming future has, in fact, changed. However, his dark fate hasn’t shifted in the way he and his mother, Sarah, hoped. In the alternate timeline that is Terminator: TSCC‘s future, John is no longer the resistance leader. Unfortunately, Judgment Day happens, and humanity is still at war with Skynet’s Terminators. Hoping to reactivate Cameron, John Connor travels to the future to track down John Henry (Garret Dillahunt) — an A.I. that inhabits the T-888 Cromartie’s body. In the future, John encounters alternate versions of his comrades, who don’t know him.
Terminator’s Movie Success Killed The Sarah Connor Chronicles
The Sarah Connor Chronicles was green-lit because of the show’s connection to the Terminator franchise, but this same link killed the series.
Evidently, John Connor’s absence in the past has impacted his future to a remarkable degree. Not only is he no longer the future’s resistance leader, but he isn’t even a footnote in the new timeline. According to Dekker, the canceled third season of The Sarah Connor Chronicles would have depicted John Connor’s rise in the season 2 finale’s alternate future. Since Sarah chooses to stay in the past (or present, really), season 3 would’ve been split between the Connors’ stories (via Gizmodo). Based on what Dekker teased, John Connor would likely become the future’s post-Judgment Day resistance leader, albeit in a completely new way.
Sarah Connor Stays In The Present To Thwart Skynet
FBI Agent Auldridge Finally Believes The Connors’ Story
When John Connor decides to follow John Henry into the future in order to reclaim Cameron’s CPU and reactivate his Terminator bodyguard, Sarah stays behind. John tells his mother that he loves her — a meaningful moment considering the mother-son duo’s many ups and downs. Before Sarah makes her decision to remain in the present-day timeline and thwart Skynet’s impending creation, she’s questioned by FBI Agent Auldridge (Joshua Malina) about her son. Although Sarah lies, saying John died around the events of Terminator 2, Auldridge continues to pry for John’s whereabouts. Against all odds, he seemingly believes Sarah’s remarkable story.
Sarah Connor Chronicles Focused On The Wrong Terminator Star
Although The Sarah Connor Chronicles had other major issues, the Terminator TV set itself up for failure by trying replace an irreplaceable star.
Since Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles season 3 would’ve split up its key protagonists, John and Sarah, the Auldridge turn makes sense. It’s not clear if Auldridge really believes Sarah or if he’s leaning into a disarming interrogation tactic — and viewers will probably never know. No matter the outcome, Auldridge could make a compelling ally or adversary. With Sarah needing more plots to run with in the present timeline as she attempts to stop Skynet’s formation, and the looming Judgment Day, the introduction of a recurring FBI agent could’ve added an interesting dimension to the narrative.
Cameron Is Deactivated After A Run-In With John Henry
Cameron Was Sent By The Connors To Kill John Henry
With John Henry’s aid, Sarah Connor Chronicles‘ Cameron (Summer Glau) frees Sarah from jail, but that’s far from Cameron’s last encounter with John Henry, who’s utilizing Cromartie’s endoskeleton and processors. Sent to kill John Henry at the Connors’ request, the reprogrammed Terminatrix searches for John Henry and, upon finding him, is asked a rather nebulous question: “Will you join us?” Instead of fighting the A.I., Cameron gives John Henry her CPU. With Cameron’s processor chip in his custody, John Henry uses the time-displacement equipment to travel to the future. When John Connor locates Cameron, she’s deactivated, which prompts him to follow John Henry to retrieve the CPU.
Given what happens in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles‘ series finale, it’s not clear what shape Cameron’s season-three story would have taken. In the show’s season-one finale, Cameron survives an explosion, but it has some alarming effects on her programming, causing her to glitch and act strangely throughout the sophomore outing. It’s possible that the plot line would have come back into play in season 3. According to Dekker, John Connor, who would’ve made his way in the post-Judgment Day future, was set to develop a romantic relationship with Allison Young — the resistance fighter who served as Cameron’s living tissue model template (via Gizmodo).
Sarah Accuses Weaver Of Trying To Create Skynet
Weaver Reveals Her True Nature & John Henry’s Purpose
In the series finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Catherine Weaver, a mysterious Terminatrix, reveals her true purpose to the Connors. Sent from the future as part of a Skynet-fighting infiltration mission, Weaver views herself as the mother of A.I. John Henry. The T-1001 heads up the Zeira Corporation — a front for the Cyborg Resistance, a faction of rogue machines that oppose Skynet. When John and Sarah Connor meet with Weaver in the season-two finale, Sarah accuses Weaver of trying to create Skynet. Weaver’s intentions are the exact opposite; John Henry was created to combat Skynet as a kind of alternative.
Sarah Connor Chronicles Has A Big Terminator Plot Hole (For A Stupid Reason)
The Terminator franchise’s time travel rules aren’t always consistent, but the Sarah Connor Chronicles has a plot hole that turns them upside down.
After Weaver reveals that Skynet is their common enemy, and that John Connor and John Henry are destined to fight alongside one another, a drone tries to assassinate Weaver. More than that, the strike is meant to disrupt the gradually forming human-machine alliance. After finding the deactivated Cameron, Weaver realizes that John Henry has traveled to the future. Although Sarah and James Ellison stay in the present-day timeline, John Connor joins Weaver in her efforts to locate John Henry. Once the duo arrive in the alternative future, Weaver vanishes, leaving Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on a very open-ended note.
Source: Gizmodo
