Netflix Minute: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Netflix Minute is a weekly feature highlighting a title from Netflix's catalog of instant view films. If you want to spend a night snuggled up with a bag of popcorn and don't want to drive to the video store, this is for you.

Being a fairly devoted James Cameron fan, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles marked a large hole in my experience with him at the creative wheel. The Terminator movies have been somewhat hit-or-miss as far as I’m concerned, with the second leaving the biggest impact overall. Despite the bad taste left in my mouth after Terminator 3, it didn’t take long for me to realize how much I like Chronicles.

Modern action serials have been able to offer more and more as time goes on, with some people going as far as to say they are at parity with cinema. While I might agree with that statement when considering shows like Fringe and The Wire, Sarah Connor Chronicles isn’t nearly as fine tuned an experience.

Visually, the series proves to be fairly impressive given the presumably low television budget. Practical effects and breakable sets often set the stage for many of the Terminator-laden fight sequences, mirroring some of the cinematic magic of Arnold Schwarzenegger being thrown into buildings and objects all the time. Chronicles implements CG sparingly, using it to add impact to scenes rather than building whole sets with such technology.

Where the comparison to masterful cinema breaks down is unfortunately the script. While the actual plot progression and pacing are fairly well executed, voiceovers by Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) often build the thematic foundation, leading to a somewhat false sense of gravity. Beyond that, the script uses overt religious references to tie together the whole “on the nose” storytelling method that might wear a little thin.

I’d be daft not to mention one of my favorite aspects of the series, namely the score composed by Bear McCreary. While not nearly as impressive as his work on Battlestar Galactica, the music borrows a lot from Brad Fiedel’s work from the source material while adding McCreary’s iconic use of interesting instrumentation that you might not expect in a television show.

While the first season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles might not be perfect, much promises an excellent second season. The groundwork is laid through excellent characterization and a nice starting point, giving me a sense that there might be more space for creativity in the second season. The best part of the first season is the nine episode total, which makes it easy to recommend to anyone who’s even mildly interested in either the Terminator franchise or even a solid sci-fi television show.

Score: 4 out of 5
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