Review by: Creighton
Warning: All reviews may contain spoilers.
Robot. Sex. Honestly I'm kind of surprised it has taken this long for Fox to bring the two together in the form of a prime time TV show. For those of you who didn't watch the only new non-reality TV show on the major networks, the robot formerly played by Arnold Govenator is no longer a strapping male, oh no, but a dainty female played by ex Firefly crazy horse Summer Glau (lets just call her River from now on shall we?).
That's really the only twist to this story so far. Other than that it is very much the Terminator, I have come to know and love. An evil robot is sent back in time to kill John Conner. Also, a good robot was sent to protect him. It's one of those formulas you just don't want to fuck with, because the consequences could be dire. You could end up with something like Deep Space 9... the Star Trek show with out any actual trekking.
The story takes place between Terminator 2 and Terminator 3. A good choice since: (1) I didn't see T3, and (2) I didn't want to see T3. So this is a timeline I can totally understand. John Conner is a kid in High School just trying to fit in, his mom is batshit crazy and wants to protect him because he alone is the key to the survival of mankind and only she can protect him. Well... until he meets River at his new school and she turns out to be a robot. A damn sexy robot to boot who can more than kick the crap out of anything that comes her way... and she does not disappoint in the opening episodes.
So basically we have River kicking a lot of ass. We have a totally freaking out Sarah Conner trying to protect her son. (oh, side note: the woman playing Sarah Conner is far to pretty for me to believe she is the hardened soldier i learned to love in T2. that is not to say the acting is bad, just the actress is too attractive... it's usually not distracting.) And we have a John Conner who is going through high school trying only to fit in and not be noticed. Did I mention that they travel from the early 90's to 2007 to try and stop Judgment Day from happening? Cause they do, oh Terminator and your wacky time travel. I just hope they can keep the time travel continuity alive they have established from the original Terminator... but that's a discussion for another day.
Overall I like this show, but I wanted to like it, so that's kind of cheating. The jokes are ok, sometimes they are a little forced, but I laugh, because I laugh at everything. River is great, I love seeing her cut loose, and hearing her rationalizing things as a Terminator she plays the part so well. I think the show has a lot of potential, and cannot possibly live up to it. I fear that anything longer than one season will just drag too much. How often can they stop Judgment Day with out it feeling a bit too repetitive? Unfortunately for me the answer is 'as long as people are watching.' And since there are no other new shows on, except for Psyche (a guilty pleasure of mine as well) people will watch in droves. The only thing this show is missing from my "Producers List Of What All TV Shows Must Have" is a love story. Hmmm, where could that be... oh! John totally has a crush on River! And it kind of creeps me out, because she's a robot. But as Battlestar Galactica has proven you can't really go that wrong with sexy robots.
7/10
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