Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

It's a cash cow of sorts, parasitic on Cameron's breakthrough blockbuster, but surprisingly it works. There are a few fresh ideas, a bit of awkward shuffling in place, the special effects are truly TV-quality, the production design is somewhat poor (it’s especially obvious in the future settings), overall average – it doesn't offend, doesn't amaze, but surprisingly doesn't bore. But the fact is that about a month later, I can barely remember two or three scenes from all 9 episodes. There is still untapped potential, though, I wonder how they will deal with it in the next season. PS: The girl playing the personal robot bodyguard was pretty cool with her cold, unreadable expression. (13/05/2008)

Pilot: Definitely could have been done better. There’s nothing precisely wrong Lena Headey, just that she’s no Linda Hamilton. Like Thomas Dekker, John Conner seems whimper too much, but maybe that’s just my first impression, he didn’t get much room. Cameron the Terminatrix is pretty good, which certainly can’t be said about her totally laughable rival. And what can I say about the story, when it seems like it’s headed a different way than the action-packed pilot? But it might work. If they are going to jump around in time more frequently, it could turn out to be a pretty interesting project. Three stars, but I would love to be convinced otherwise. (06/08/2007)