I kinda agree. Although Arnie was iconic as the T-800, Summer has brought a subtlety to the role that has been the only thing keeping me watching through the weaker moments of T:TSCC, of which IMHO there have been many, both in the first season and this one. That said, I really think it has taken a noticeable turn for the better in the last few episodes.

Shirley Manson on the other hand is, to me, utterly unconvincing. I really don't think she's a good actress. Which goes to show, I guess, that it takes acting chops to even play wooden (or, er, metal in this case)!

(I do like the addition of Stephanie Jacobsen -- I thought she was amazing in BSG: Razor.)

As an aside: does anyone remember the sub-plot from season one about the girl at John's school who killed herself? I had the feeling that it was meant to go somewhere. Did it just get dropped on the floor? Or was it never meant to do anything more than offer an opportunity to show the difference between how John reacted to it and how Cameron reacted to it?

dzr | November 07, 18:45 CET

Nope, they just dropped the entire school subplot dzr, which was a real pity IMO, watching Cameron "wrestle" with becoming involved could've been a nice way to showcase her arc. Josh Friedman talked about it in an interview for IGN.

Is she the best ? Maybe. She's certainly the most interesting IMO but then she's meant to be, right ? One of the bigger aspects of T:TSCC is that Cameron might be more than just a machine, you need to write her differently than the original T-800 or T-1000. Where Summer really excels is in the walking of the line - she gives us the Terminator goodies any fan of the "franchise" is looking for but she also shows us the ambiguity, gives us room to ask the "big question".

(and yeah, Ms Manson sings well enough but her acting's not doing it for me unfortunately, even as "wood")

[ edited by Saje on 2008-11-07 19:12 ]

Saje | November 07, 19:02 CET

Ditto on the regrets for losing the S1 school plot. Who wouldn't have loved seeing Morris take Cameron to the prom?

damaged justice | November 07, 19:27 CET

Seems like the new school friend o John could be a kind of return to that plot. However, something that bugs me is the diference of comportament of Cameron from the beginig of the pilot, where she disguised very well a girl, and after that she becames a normal robot. If she could seems more human, probably will be better stay this way to blend in society.
And i'm really waiting for continuation in the Allison From Palmdale plot.

Brasilian Chaos Man | November 07, 19:33 CET

I have a theory about Cameron's varying ability to act like a normal human girl. Before John knew who and what she was, the priority of her programming was to get close to him. Once her identity was revealed, fooling him was no longer a priority and her programming spent less resources and energy on masking her robotic self and shfited to protecting him instead, which takes less.

And i'm really waiting for continuation in the Allison From Palmdale plot.

Me too! Mostly because she didn't just recall what happened to Allison, she was remembering it from her perspective. Something's up with that. Like she said to Derek, "I'm different."

NYPinTA | November 07, 19:47 CET