Episode Title: Chuck vs. the Ex Writer: Zev Borow Director: Jay Chandrasekhar Originally Aired: 11/10/2008 Grade: A-
My feelings about this episode are a bit mixed.On the one hand, I’m assuming that Chuck will eventually get some closure re: Jill out of this arc, but on the other hand, it came completely out of the blue.Chuck listening to the “Jill ’03 Mix” at the beginning of the episode felt entirely random and even out-of-character, and it’s quite convenient that Jill happened to show up in his life right after he was wallowing in his misery about her by dragging out those old songs.
As for Jill herself, Jordana Brewster was great physical casting—she’s not stunningly beautiful like Strahovski, but she’s cute enough to look like a great physical match for Levi’s Chuck.I also found it interesting that Jill evades confirming that she slept with Bryce.In the flashback scene that opens the episode, Jill’s rommie tells Chuck, “She’s dating Bryce Larkin now, Chuck.”Jill pops her head out of the window looking annoyed, Chuck asks if it’s true, and Jill simply says, “I’m sorry, Chuck.”It definitely seemed deliberately vague.
I am bothered by the fact that Jill didn't offer Chuck any kind of explanation for her past behavior, and also by the fact that Chuck (and the writers) just dropped it. Because all that stuff he said to her at dinner was well-deserved, and part of what I adore about Chuck is that he's sweet, but he also stands up for himself.
To her credit, though, Jill actually let Chuck into her hotel room and kissed him based on him just being himself. And then he fucked it up by talking out loud when she was having the bugged convo with her old college friend. I'm not saying Jill won me over, either, but she did seem willing to give just regular ol' Chuck a shot.
I loved Sarah betting against Casey about whether or not Chuck could get Jill to give him another chance.Hell, the guy could actually get a date if he tried to, which is part of what Sarah has argued to Roan in vs. the Seduction and to Casey in this episode. Chuck has plenty of skill in the ladies department, he just doesn't realize it, and it doesn't actually come into play unless it's part of a mission, because missions force Chuck to assert himself in ways he wouldn't otherwise.
Minor nitpick—the disease with the perfect and convenient one hour timer was absolutely ridiculous.No one would die before that, and no one would last a bit longer?Exactly 60 minutes go by, and they’re all supposed to drop dead at the same time?I think I even remember a countdown timer, but maybe not.It’s still preposterous.(And don't even get me started on the needle sharing--better hope no one in that room had HIV, or any other diseases that can be passed on through needle sharing!)
On a more positive note, Sarah’s Aussie accent during the presentation was brilliant.It wasn’t a straight Aussie accent, but rather an American doing and Aussie accent, or in real-world terms, and Australian doing an American doing an Australian accent.Strahovski is so awesome.
Episode Title: Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today Writer: Daniel Thomsen Director: Michael Nankin Originally Aired: 11/10/2008 Grade: A+
Sarah is grating on me even more than John right now, because she's so emotionally stunted that she can't even raise her son anymore (if she ever could in the first place, which is certainly questionable). She can save his life, but when it comes to anything else, the woman is a complete idiot. Harsh, I know, and I understand why she is the way she is, but it doesn't stop me from wanting to grab her by the arms and shake her.(I actually wanted her give John a verbal ass-kicking last week, or at least just completely lose it in front of him, for the same reason it worked this week--seeing his mom go nuts again might actually get through to John. This episode’s breakdown was great, though, and it worked better here, with the much higher emotional stakes, than it would’ve worked last week.)
What I’d really like to see is for Sarah and/or Derek to just corner John and fucking TALK TO HIM. A more conversational version of, “Hey John, what’s up with you? I know you’re under a lot of pressure, and I know you can’t just turn off being a teenager, but we’ve got to be able to work out some compromises here.” Because all anyone ever does is order him around and/or yell at him, or yell at each other about how much John sucks. John’s been given entirely too much tough love and not enough of the other kind. Hell, the only person who actually makes an effort to let John know that she’s aware of his emotional state is his semi-incestuous robot sister, and he’s totally squicked out by her right now anyway.
I certainly don't hate Sarah by any means, I just don't think she's a great mother in any way aside from keeping her son alive. I also think that John gets the brunt of viewer anger that should be at least split evenly with Sarah. I think this is because he's making very active mistakes, i.e. making decisions that are stupid and reckless, and we can just go, "God, John, stop acting like such a whiny emo brat!" The thing is, Sarah's passivity with regards to her son is a huge part of why he's acting like such a brat, key word being "passive." It's a lot easier to spot John's active mistakes and want to wring his neck than it is to see Sarah's passivity and become angry about that. So for me, that's where a lot of the anger at John comes from: he’s undeniably behaving horribly, but with Sarah Connor for a mother, it's hardly surprising.
John’s just a teenager, and he has no one to talk to about what he’s feeling--what he’s feeling about having so much responsibility dumped on his shoulders, or even small, normal-life teen stuff like being socially awkward and being attracted to girls. (And Sarah has no one to talk to about her own fears, either, which just makes it all that much more appalling.) I’m not saying John needs to be babied and coddled and have endless conversations about his feelings, but what is going on with that family is not even remotely emotionally healthy, and I’m not going to be okay with any kind of discipline smackdown on John until I see Sarah and/or Derek actually make a deliberate effort to talk with John on an emotional, rational, not-yelling-at-him level and acknowledge that he has feelings and opinions about the decisions being made around and for him. And of course John would be an angry brat about it, but he has a reason to be, and that’s no reason to just not even try.Sarah also needs to explain the whys of her actions and decisions to him once in a while. If he's going to be a future leader who's going to be making important decisions of his own, it might help if Sarah gave him some insight into her own methods.
I think that John will probably have to behave much like Sarah in the future, in the sense of, "Do what I say because I say so and don't question me," but that doesn't mean that's all Sarah can ever show him. He's 16 years old with a lot of responsibility on his shoulders, so I think treating him like somewhat of an adult who is capable of being a part of the decision-making process shouldn't be out of the question. He's not a small child who needs to obey without question for his own safety, and while it's true that they're fighting a war and she's responsible for his safety, he's the one who is supposed to become a great leader.
Remember in the Pilot, where John was upset about moving, and Sarah talked to him in a way that acknowledged him as a person with his own thoughts and feelings? I'd really like to see that Sarah again. Still, I know she's going through a LOT right now. I'm not without empathy. I do understand how much pressure she's under, and I actually got a little teary when she broke down in this episode. I hope that at some point, she can slow down enough to breath, and think, and make more of an effort to reconnect with her son and treat him with respect (and yes, respect is earned and not given, but I think if she gave him a little, he might actually be capable of earning the rest).
Sadly, I think these people, as in the actual people, may too permanently fucked up to do anything that would be emotionally healthy. Cameron, on the other hand, is more on top of things emotionally than the flesh and blood family, yet who knows what her actual agenda is. It’s quite the trainwreck we’re all watching.
Having said all of that, I'm still mesmerized by these characters. It's very strange, because I almost want to say that my issue is with Sarah as a person, rather than with the writers. The conflicts between these characters are so incredibly well done that, for me, it's more "her character flaws bug the shit out of me" than "her character is written badly."
I think John’s behavior with Riley in the hotel room made perfect sense. Hormonal teenage boy or not, he has hardly any experience with the opposite sex and is kind of figuring it out with her as he goes along. It's obvious to anyone watching that she's into him, but with his lack of experience and social awkwardness, he's probably far from sure himself and afraid to make the first move and be rejected, especially since kissing her might even be his first kiss (there might be something in the films to contradict that, but this version of John Connor seems very innocent and inexperienced with the ladies). Watching the two of them carefully feel each other out and awkwardly try to get closer was very bittersweet. I really loved that aspect of the episode and felt like it was completely relevant rather than a scene ripped from some CW teen drama.
Even though I was very anxious and skeptical about Riley before the season began, I think Levin Rambin has done a fabulous job with making Riley feel like a real person rather than a story prop, and she's had very little screen time with which to accomplish that. Obviously mileage varies, but I enjoy her.
I don't think it was every explicitly stated or shown, but I thought that ChromeArtie followed Ellison to Mexico. Ellison knew where to go because someone from the FBI (or whatever agency it was) called him and tipped him off, and ChromeArtie just trailed after him. He arrived at the station not very long after Ellison, so it makes sense that he was tailing him, and also ties in with Chromartie's faith that Ellison would lead him to the Connors, and thus Ellison leading him into their trap. I might be wrong, since the writing did kind of blow past it, but that was my first thought when Chromartie showed up right after Ellison and started blowing people away.
It was also interesting to see Ellison’s faith be rewarded in this episode, something that was hammered home by showing him praying right before Chromartie came into the church.Though Chromartie’s prediction about Ellison came true, and thus his faith was technically rewarded as well, things did not end well for him.There were a lot of quiet little moments like that for most of the characters in this episode: Sarah telling Cameron she doesn't like the way John "responds" to her, followed shortly after by Cameron deliberately removing her jacket before talking to him. The stunned look on Derek's face when Cameron worried about losing John. John asking Riley what his tell is.
I've gotta say, I didn't see Cameron's bedroom scene with John as a blatant attempt at seduction. At least not in a way that would see an immediate payoff. I think she just figured that what she was trying to get across to him would get through better if he "responded" (to use Sarah's word) to her bare robot girl flesh. She wasn’t offering herself up to him for horizontal use, just showing him a little more flesh to make him more pliant. Which is still seductive, I suppose, but not in a, "You like girls? I can be a girl." way.
However, they were most definitely hinting at the human/robot sex angle. I've felt for a long time that if they were ever to go there on the show, we would have to know that Cameron can feel physical pleasure in order for it to be... well, a lot less squicky, because it will always be a little bit squicky. With her saying that she can feel physical sensation, in this case heat, I think they are beginning to address that issue.
I will still be stunned if we ever see this John Connor have sex with Cameron, though. They might imply that it happened in the future she came from, but I think the writers might freak out too many viewers by going this route with our present-day John.
Also on the Cameron front, I didn’t notice this at first, but her statement to Sarah that “John’s not stupid” was very, very interesting—I’m not sure I agree, but we found out a few minutes later that it was actually something that John had said about himself to Cameron, and she even somewhat disagreed with him (“But sometimes you do stupid things.It would help me to understand why.”).Did Cameron say that to Sarah because she honestly believed it and was defending John, or did she not believe it herself but felt the need to say it anyway out of loyalty to John?
As for John getting the “kill shot” on Chromartie, a lot of people on the boards that I read were pissy with John about that, arguing that he tried to steal everyone else’s glory and that it was meaningless.I think it made perfect sense, and John needed to have the kill shot for pretty much the same reason that Sarah started waling on Chromartie’s chip.John wasn’t trying to put himself on par with everyone else’s effort, he was just so angry and exhausted that he couldn’t help himself. It was closure for him. If something like that had been chasing me and my family with intent to kill, and had almost succeeded, I think I would’ve wanted to put a few bullets into it, too.
