Well, the producers promised us one heck of an episode and they certainly delivered. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles went out with a big bang tonight and leaves lots of unanswered questions. Will we get answers next season?
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (TSCC) continues the ongoing saga first started in 1984 in the original Terminator movie. This particular piece of the puzzle follows the travails of freedom fighter Sarah Connor (Lena Headey), her teenage son (humanity’s future savior) John (Thomas Dekker), and his Terminator protector, Cameron (Summer Glau). Others in the cast include Richard T. Jones, Brian Austin Green, Garret Dillahunt, Shirley Manson, Leven Rambin, Dean Winters, Stephanie Jacobsen, Mackenzie Brooke Smith, and Sonya Walger.
The FOX series premiered on January 13, 2008 — in the plum spot following an NFL playoff game. Over 18.6 million viewers watched with an impressive 11.1/16 rating/share in the 18-49 demographic. However, without the benefit of a football lead-in, only 10.1 million returned to watch the next day, with a 6.2/9 in the demo. The third installment dropped again, to 8.66 million and a 5.3/8. Despite the vast decline, FOX opted to renew the series for season two.
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When TSCC returned last September, it drew its worst numbers to date — 6.33 million and a 2.4/7 in the demo. Things got worse immediately and the series hit a dismal low of 4.57 million and a 1.8/5 in November. The show went on hiatus for two months starting in December. When it returned in February, TSCC served as a Friday night lead-in to a new sci-fi series, Dollhouse. The hope was that the pairing would be mutually beneficial but it didn’t work that way and many believe that TSCC has actually been hurting the Joss Whedon series. TSCC’s audience ended up dipping below three million in early March.
While many moviegoers are greatly anticipating the new Terminator movie, the TV series just hasn’t attracted enough interest. With ratings like these, it’s impossible to think that the series will return for a third year. That’s a huge shame because, after an episode like tonight’s, we’re left with a lot of unresolved plot points.
Tonight, we saw John Connor leave his mother behind and time travel to the future. Once there, he meets Derek (who doesn’t know him yet) and his dead father, Kyle Reese (who hasn’t fathered him yet). Reese is accompanied by very version of Cameron.
It’s obvious that the series is poised to take off in some interesting directions and is really hitting its stride. The fact that the last few episodes have been so strong make the show’s prospects all the more disappointing. It’s a shame that the writers didn’t get to this point sooner.
If the show doesn’t come back next season, and it looks like it won’t, are you upset with how the show has ended?
Image courtesy FOX.
The last show was awesome, they cant cancel it. The show is amazing, they are just putting the show in the wrong slots, but they have to bring it back, we have to see what happens to john traveling in the past.
This can’t be the end?! Why would they leave us with so many questions? Is Weaver indeed the same as the one on the Sub? It seems to be. But why did she travel to the past? And what are her intentions by bringing John to the future? What will happen to Sarah and Ellison? And what about John Henry?? What will his part in all this be? What will happen now that John has met his father, and Derek (again!)? And which part will the “real” Cameron play in all this? The scene with petting the dog indicates she’s… Read more »
Albeit, I enjoyed the season finale…I do not think I can stand it if this show is cancelled without a season 3. I need to understand this most recent plot twist. Right now, this is one of my favorite shows on tv. I don’t undertsand why the networks are always cancelling the best shows!?!
I just saw the last episode, and i loved it. I would really like to see a Season 3 being announced, since the writers made this last episode uncomplete in my feelings, i really want to see what will happen next. I really hope that Fox will consider keeping this show on the air for at least one more full season, since it has alot of potential but it must be used right. I also pithy it that Fox only takes in consideration the USA public, and don’t bother looking into the EU public, and the internet/itunes popularity. I’d really… Read more »
In Belgium TSCC Season 1 is just being aired and has a lot of succes, like most europeans I watched the show online and saw the last episode of Season 2 last night. Someone with a brain at Fox and decision power has to keep this series alive, it’s kicking and has so much more potential, Season 1 was crippled by the author strike, Season 2 was really kicking, it is only getting started, Seasons more are yet to come. I keep my fingers crossed and i just love Summer Glau 😉
I love this show, and I hoping that it will be renewed and because of the forthcoming movie that Fox execs will give it another chance. But, if it’s not, at least the final episode was a doozie and probably my favorite of both seasons. It gave a lot of food for thought for its viewers and, in a way, something of a conclusion albiet not one that fans would want to show to end on. At least we got something unlike, say, Firefly.
I am so tired of t.v. execs pushing idiotic nonsense on us and killing off the goods like Terminator. Because of this I have decided to finish out the current run of shows that I follow and not to take up any new ones. When the stuff I watch is finally over, the t.v. goes! The satellite subscriptions is gone and blockbuster gets all of my business from now on.
HI, I’m from Germany and I would like to point out that there are a LOT of Terminator fans over here watching the SCC online instead of viewing Season One which is aired right now over here. So, that means, there are actually a lot more people watching all around the world who are not noticed and at the same time there is the same amount of people who are not recognized in ratings since they skip the actual airings in their countries. SCC should not be terminated and I hope the movie will help generate enough buzz and pressure… Read more »
with the most amazing cliffhanger thus far, I wish and hope and pray they give us more. I’ve enjoyed it since Comic Con’s sneak peak two years ago and really do hope they keep it around. I was excited to see the characters they brought in and then saddened to hear it could be the last we see of them. Do renew.
I have been watching this from the beginning and am thoroughly enjoying it. This is the first time I’ve ever taken the time to post about a television show, I just felt I had to speak up. FOX, I would like to point out a perhaps overlooked thought on this ratings “problem”. I for one don’t watch television, I watch the recasts of the shows on the internet because it allows me to watch what I want, when I want without needing a TV / TIVO / Cable or the like. I’m sure I’m not the only one, so take… Read more »
The last episode was such an amazing cliffhanger that cancelling now is a pure cruelty. I want to know what happens next. I suspect that in the future where John ended up there is NO John Connor and I think that Cameron he saw might not be a machine but a real person (I mean – why would a robot care to pet a dog?!). Maybe future had changed, and in this one Kyle’s calling the shots and Derek… Derek’s alive! His death was so… “ha? what’s just happen… I must have sth wrong… he couldn’t just die like that…”… Read more »
I love this show and the last season finale was amazing. it would be a shame for them to cancel it. please do keep it on
The 2nd half of S2 rocked and is ripe with storylines for S3. I for one hope Fox will have some courage and greenlight a S3 – even if it’s only 13 eps or so.
Also, the other thing that really annoys me is when execs don’t even give a show the chance to end things right. A perfect example is Joan Of Arcadia…their numbers started dipping, so the execs killed it right as it was getting interesting, and left everyone who watched the show hanging with no resolution to the plot. I’m sure they’re sitting in their offices thinking “well, it’s all about the numbers”, but sometimes, it’s not. Sometimes, it’s about having something on your channel worth watching. Sometimes, it’s about forgoing that next lowest-common-denominator idea in favor of something with some substance.… Read more »
Personally, I find series like this one fascinating. I also find it amazing that studio execs seem more willing to give the next stupid reality show more of a chance than a quality program like the Sarah Connor Chronicles. I mean, how many more Big Brothers, Amazing Races, Survivors, and the like do we need? Every time I turn on the TV, crap like that is on every frickin channel, and every time they come up with another idea for a show like that, it gets more stupid than the last. What does it take to make execs realize that… Read more »