Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 2x19, “Today Is the Day, Part 2”

Episode Title: Today Is the Day, Part 2
Writers: Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz

Director: Guy Norman Bee

Originally Aired: 03/20/2009
Grade: A

Looks like John seeing Riley’s corpse was more than closure. The significance of Riley’s torn fingernails serves as nice example of how these writers can plant a tiny clue and bring it up again later. That clue could have easily been lost in the emotion of that scene in the previous episode, but even if it was for some viewers, I doubt many people even missed a beat when John started questioning Derek about how long an unarmed human would last against Cameron.

As for John knowing about Jesse… well, I always thought it was possible he knew more than he let on about Riley, which I suppose would mean finding out about Jesse at some point, too. Still, a couple more hints would have been appreciated in order to make it feel less like a retcon intended to make John more likable. Overall, though, that was a pretty cool reveal and didn’t stretch my suspension of disbelief too far. His evidence about Riley was all accurate, and it was good to see him accept responsibility for what happened to her (as much as something like that can be “good”). And though John has at times behaved like a whiny, rebellious brat this season, I still teared up a little when he sobbed at the end of the episode. I mean, we’ve seen him get a little weepy-eyed before, but he’s never sobbed in mommy’s lap. Poor kid.

We got at least a small piece of Weaver’s backstory here, but we still don’t know what she’s up to, only that she refused to cooperate with FutureJohn.

It seemed like John Henry showed some concern over whether Ellison would be murdered. And his figurine painting may have been a little precious, but Dillahunt sold it so well.

Sarah’s logic about FutureJohn sending Cam back because he “didn’t want [her] around anymore” was a little wacky. Yes, Sarah, FutureJohn was so freaked out by Cameron that he sent her back to his teenage self so he could grow even more attached to her. Logic is definitely not this woman’s strong point…

Finally, did Derek kill Jesse because she killed an innocent girl? Because she killed an innocent girl that John cared about? Because she wasn’t who he thought she was? All three? Did he kill her at all? Because that was a little cryptic. I’m assuming he did because she wasn’t in the closing montage. I generally love that this show doesn’t hold viewers’ hands through every step of figuring out a plot point or character motivation, but sometimes that can be mildly frustrating.