Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2x06, “The Tower is Tall but the Fall Is Short”

Episode Title: The Tower is Tall but the Fall Is Short
Writer: Denise Thé
Director: Tawnia McKiernan
Originally Aired: 10/20/2008
Grade: A+

This was one heavy episode. Pretty much everything John-related was fabulous. I don’t think he tried to kill himself, but I’m glad we saw the possibility, and the theme in general, addressed. Dekker was awesome—John walks a pretty fine line as far as how likable his character is, but I really felt for him.

John trying to teach Savannah how to tie her shoes was quite sweet. He seems to have a compulsion about helping people who are on equal or lesser terms with him power-wise, like kids and peers. Often when he sees that someone doesn’t have a useful skill that he knows about, he’ll try to teach them. He did this with SPORTS with the kid at the military school, with Savannah and her shoelaces, and he’s even done it with Cameron, especially in Season 1.

Cameron’s reaction to events was also fascinating, and it makes it even more difficult for me to question her loyalty to John. There’s definitely something funky going on with her, but her reading the suicide literature, connecting it to John, telling Sarah, and then pointing out that John might actually need psychological help… I’m just not sure how any of that would hurt John or benefit SkyNet. She seemed as genuinely concerned as it’s possible for her to be. She certainly has an ulterior motive, but damaging John doesn’t seem to be it. Cameron connecting the suicide pamphlet with the self-destruct chip felt quite ominous, too, as if they’re setting up Cam to sacrifice herself for John. (I will so cry if that happens…)

I wasn’t surprised that John killed Sarkissian. I always found Sarah’s conversation with Derek about it in the premiere to be suspicious, for some reason. Even then, it felt like she was covering for John. I can think of at least two reasons why. What I thought up until this point was that she did it out of respect for John, because she knew he wouldn’t want anyone to know (even in this episode, he couldn’t tell the doctor the truth about what happened). It’s also occurred to me that she might have kept it from Derek because she was afraid that it would bring Derek and John closer together. Then again, it’s probably a little of both, because I think these characters are that complex. (Bravo, writers!)

I really enjoyed Shirley Manson as Weaver in this episode. Usually when I re-watch episodes, I fast-forward through her bits, but I don’t think I will be doing that with this one. She's no Cameron for me, but Weaver is definitely starting to intrigue me beyond her role in the plot. Her stories with Savannah and The Turk were interesting in their own right, but they also added so much emotional texture to what was going on with everyone else. This almost felt like an episode of Mad Men, with so many undercurrents and things left unsaid.

I hope this show gives us some answers about what's made Cameron and Weaver so different from the Terminator norm. I wonder if Weaver’s "memory" of Catherine’s younger days with her father was a memory ala Cam and Allison, or something she completely made up to try to emulate human behavior and put Sherman at lease.

I can’t even speculate on why the other T came after Sherman or what side she’s on, but it’s worth noting that even the Connors recognized that the bot could have been there to kill him or protect him, and Cameron seemed to agree. The entire scenario is odd, because Cam obviously recognized her as a T when they rode the elevator the first time, but didn’t go into attack mode until she realized the other bot was after Sherman. Cameron is non-aggressive toward other Ts unless she feels they’re at cross-purposes? Kind of reminds me of Battlestar Galactica, where even some of the “good” Cylons who hang out with humans are reluctant to kill other “bad” Cylons or interfere with their plans.