Last night concluded the muted first season of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”. After starting out with a so-so pilot, the season gained momentum and began to build strength toward the end. Too bad it was cut short.

This Terminator has its problems, but in whole is a solid drama. It was obvious that story arcs were interrupted with the short season. I think that this caused some of the problems we saw. Every series has growing pains, and I believe that Sarah Connor worked through most of them. I believe Summer Glau’s uneven performance of a Terminator, Thomas Dekker’s wimpy John Connor, and Lena Headey’s comparison to Linda Hamilton were resolved. Also, the addition of Brian Austin Green unexpectedly strengthened the series.

I was glad to hear that it was renewed (though I haven’t seen an official press release). It has allot of promise and just needs a chance to grow. The visual effects budget is big, so I was a little surprised that it was renewed given less than stellar ratings. I believe that next season, T:SCC can be a strong show.

Spoilery discussion of last nights finale
I do have one point to make specifically about last nights season finale. The scene involving the little girl really bothered me. Reese used an innocent little girl (she wasn’t involved in the situation at all) as a pawn to kill fake-Sarkissian (the ‘bad guy’). At least if the child had been his, it would have been a son-for-daughter type of exchange. When she said, “No, my daddy works in the cafe”, it killed me. Maybe it’s that have a six year old daughter myself, but Reese using her that way made him no better than the machines he hates so much. Who are the good guys again?

The meeting between John and his six year old father was a good moment. It was done well, and shows that the writer’s aren’t completely forgetting that fact that the future soldiers are alive in this future. But, this brings up another question. We know that Sarah dies of cancer prior to this future. Where is the 23 year old John Connor? Will they run into him? (cue the Nick Stahl cameo) Should they?

What are your thoughts on this season?

Update:
Over at TerminatorSite there a big interview with Brian Austin Green and creator Josh Friedman.