Brothers In Blog

Well, maybe not Arnold Schwarzenegger himself but his robotic friends and the Connor family have returned in “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” on FOX. As a die hard Terminator fan (Terminator III not included), I was hoping that this new television series would stay true to the storyline and action that made the movies such a hit. I’m happy to report that I wasn’t disappointed.

Often with theatre movies that try to continue living in the form of television dramas, they fall flat when it comes to the cast. Off the top of my head, I cannot recall a television series that was fortunate enough to have the original movie’s box office star(s) sign on to a weekly story. Fortunately for Chronicles, Lena Headey does a remarkable job filling Linda Hamilton’s shoes as Sarah Connor. She’s lean and mean while continuing to be a supportive and protective mother to her soon-to-be resistance leading son John played by Thomas Dekker.

Replacing Arnold as the Connor’s personal protective cyborg is Summer Glau. Although a robot, it’s obvious that there’s going to be some chemistry down the road between her and John as she learns to become more relaxed and less robotic in her gestures and responses.

Unlike the Terminator movies, there’s more background being divulged about the events that lead up to the day that the machines take over. This of course, cuts into the action scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat during the original movies, but I think the balance is good. If you’ve already missed the first few episodes of Chronicles, you can download them for $1.99 each at Amazon.com.

Whether Chronicles is just a media blitz for the 2009 release of “Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins” (aka Terminator 4) or a much needed replacement for the barrage of reality shows, I find it a welcome change. Terminator: The Chronicles of Sarah Connor airs on FOX on Monday at 9 p.m. Eastern/8 p.m. Central time.