cyadon
Major
A Random Sci-Fi Geek
Posts: 612
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Post by cyadon on Nov 24, 2008 21:50:32 GMT -5
We have a new week and a new episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. This week is ‘Strange Things Happen at the One-Two Point’. There’s an extra special, extra long ‘thoughts’ section today.
1. Start with Ellison digging up Cromartie. I’m really not impressed with that rubber head.
2. “Go back to bed!” Heh. Cameron is at her best when creepy.
3. Sarah, you don’t sneak into an office in white. Really a bad choice in clothing. Though Derek has lovely fingerprint hiding gloves (and Sarah has a matching set).
4. ‘The Tech Guy’ – played by John Connor! It’s like he’s doing a cameo in a procedural.
5. Derek is obviously not a fan of the three dots.
6. Just once I want to see John playing World of Warcraft or Call of Duty when they zoom in on his monitor.
7. … and he sounds smart and together this episode when it comes to getting Sarah’s fake ID going. Nice. I like this side of John.
8. Derek finds the photos and gives a ’30 seconds’ ultimatum. I’m glad he’s acting as paranoid as he’s supposed to be.
9. Jesse monologues about John only ever talking to Cameron. About how she has to save John from Cameron. ‘Imagine if he spends the next twenty years with her…’ Well, ya see, there’s a lot of Jameron shippers that do and you get some weird results.
10. Dr. Sherman ends up dead in the basement of Zeira Corp. I’m gonna miss him. He was fun and I loved his interactions with the Connors.
11. I know what ‘his’ intentions were, Miss T1000! Self preservation, just like in the first movie. Duh. Skynet doesn’t want to die.
12. 80s references! And Sarah gets reminded that she’s old and a fish out of time (water).
13. “It’s the hardest thing to get right. The hair.” Ok, Cameron, that’s just creepy to the viewers but damn… if you were paying attention to both episode 4 and this one, that was just… wrong.
14. Wait. I just realized. Sarah’s fake last name is Gail. Where’s Dorothy? The Wizard of Oz imagery never ends.
15. Foster parents! They actually seem nice (if a touch clueless) and Riley just disses the crap out of them.
16. The bear eating a fish poster thing with Riley. Did something just seem off about this entire scene to anyone? I understand Riley’s distraught but… someone took her perkiness out back and shot it. Probably Cromartie.
17. … and John apparently senses it too and walks away from Riley.
18. Encyclopedia Cameronica. She makes a great exposition lass. Though I have to say as I watch her and Sarah, it’s strange seeing them both all gussied up. Both of them are such beautiful women (the actresses, that is) but they dress so plainly most of the time in the show.
19. Waitaminute. Riley and Jesse? Well screw me sideways with a spoon. I had dismissed the concept that she was from the future weeks ago as ‘yeah, not likely’. Instead, she’s a co-conspirator with Jesse. Boy, did I miss that mark. It explains that ‘peaches and apples’ comment from episode 2.
20. Why the hell would Riley’s job be to, apparently, seduce John Connor? To be the girl in his life? Unless they wanted to replace someone else… Well, Jameron shippers, have fun with that bit of speculation.
21. John just stared Derek right the hell down. Derek was all wide eyed while John was all ‘grrr! Do not question my mom!’ mode.
22. Cameron: “The rules do not apply.” I think that’s foreshadowing right there. Both for this episode and beyond.
23. Cameron appears almost completely fascinated with the talk about computer chips. Followed by the ‘are you going to eat that?’ from the guy next to her. Still the comic relief, I see.
24. Riley goes off about John being crazy and goes into a ‘it’s all gonna end!’ rant akin to the old Kyle Reese tirades. I think this is the real Riley we’re seeing here for a bit.
25. And Sarah and Co. get suckered on the chip. I refer to the earlier foreshadowing.
26. Just as Mr. Akagi promises to make it up to Sarah that he lost her money to a yakuza she gets a text message from Cameron saying ‘found him’! Terminator vs Yakuza? Hmm. I’ll take the robot.
27. Babylon is named John Henry? And why the HELL isn’t Ellison freaked that they’re making an AI? He knows the story.
28. The interrogation of John Henry. Honestly, that was the most boring scene ever in T:SCC.
29. Minamoto’s an actor and gave the money to Akagi. Classic scam. Ugh.
30. Wow, Derek was harsh. But right.
31. I must say I really enjoyed watching Sarah kick Akagi’s ass. He deserved that beat down. ‘I spent a couple years in a nuthouse? Know why? Men like you. Time was I would’ve blown this building sky high!’ I loved that. Great dialog between them both. There’s the great crazy obsessive grade-A whack-a-mole we all came to love.
32. And Sarah forces Akagi to tell his son that he’s lying, cheating scum. Ouch.
33. Derek tells Jesse he’s John’s uncle. Ugh. I don’t know if he’s trying to tell her he’d never betray John, but at the same time just… ugh.
34. Now I want to know what Derek did use that toothbrush for, because we know he likes brushing teeth.
35. John just hugs Sarah as soon as she walks in because she needs it and she looks like she needs it. That’s awesome. Very much ‘yay!’ for me on the repair of their relationship.
36. Riley’s all chipper. She’s apparently back on the ‘seduce John’ bandwagon.
37. Three dots of blood on Sarah’s cheek? And she destroys her mirror. Yay for crazy, boo for not explaining. I kept waiting for a sinister reveal. We got one, but it wasn’t the three dots…
38. ‘No man can stop progress’. As subtle as an anvil to the forehead.
39. And now John Henry is the machine. We meet again, Mr. Dillahunt.
Overall, I liked this episode. The John/Sarah scenes were great and the actors as much as the characters almost seem just plain relieved to just be able to be around each other and not screaming and yelling anymore.
Biggest surprise for me is Riley. Dismissed that and now I am blown away by the reveal. Well done writers. That was something they sat on hard to keep from coming out. Even the actress lied repeatedly about it. I’m actually more interested in her now than I was before.
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airofina
Refugee
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Post by airofina on Nov 24, 2008 21:59:01 GMT -5
Beautiful Episode Had me on edge from the moment it started, plenty of twists to the story line. That's one of the reasons I love this show- you never know how it’s going to play out. One of the main things that stuck out to me is Riley coming from the future. I had originally thought this when she was first introduced on the show but I let it go after a few episodes. Now that I know that she is from the future I don't trust her at all- not that I ever trusted her.. She just never sat well with me, I’m pleased to find that I was right not to trust her xDD Plus, to top that off she came back with Jessie.. I don't even know what to say about that. I don't think either of them is up to any good.. the faster Team Connor finds out about the both of em' the better.. Especially John, who knows what Riley wants with him. Sarah was kick ass in this episode ;D That scene when she beats the crap out of Akagi was spot on. The way she didn't give up on the 3 dots.. There’s gotta be more to that; I don't believe she just got "played". Even in the end, she had those 3 dots of blood on her face.. Coincidence? I think not. Cameron, like always, was amazing. =]] Her comment at that meeting when they were talking about hair was hilarious. I love when she tries to play along, then she says something and everyone goes quite. Both Sarah and Cameron looked great all dressed up too, it was a nice change from their usual gear. While John looked hot in his black jacket when he was visiting Riley. Oh, and I was happy to see Cromartie again- though it’s not really "Cromartie" now. That scene was creepy as hell but, I do love his smile. xDD Ellison better watch himself, he's getting involved with the wrong crowd. He's going to end up helping to create the thing he should be trying to stop. o.e; What really bugs me though, is that I thought Ellison would be smarter than that. I mean, he's seen terminators.. Wouldn’t be able to connect John Henry to them? Heck, he even saw Cromartie hooked up to "John Henry".. I want to see his reaction to this, wheather he'll agree to help Weaver or not. Anyways, I’ll be waiting eagerly for next week’s episode!
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Post by littleb on Nov 24, 2008 22:18:48 GMT -5
This week is ‘Strange Things Happen at the One-Two Point’. There’s an extra special, extra long ‘thoughts’ section today. 31. I must say I really enjoyed watching Sarah kick Akagi’s ass. He deserved that beat down. ‘I spent a couple years in a nuthouse? Know why? Men like you. Time was I would’ve blown this building sky high!’ I loved that. Great dialog between them both. There’s the great crazy obsessive grade-A whack-a-mole we all came to love. Y'know, it's three in the morning over here. I'm 9 hours into a 12 hour night shift and I have the biggest grin on my face I love crazy, ass-kicking Sarah. Still grinning! Maybe I'll be able to write some sense if I ever get some sleep later and then manage to watch the damn episode... So - what were the three dots?!
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Post by ga5speed02 on Nov 25, 2008 0:03:57 GMT -5
i dont get the 3 dots. im not sure if it symbolizes anything. but i think maybe sarah saw this kreations.kaptainmyke.com/cp/cpimg/headers/nakatomi.png LOL all kidding a side i found this. A tattoo of three dots in a triangle, usually found between the thumb and forefinger, or the bottom corners of the eyes, stands for "mi vida loca" ("my crazy life"), or the three major connections of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Along with the pachuco cross, it is a popular "generic" tattoo among Latino teenagers, and may or may not be direct connection to gangs. The tattoo has also been adopted by Vietnamese teenagers, along with the similar interpretation of "tôi không cần gì cả" ("I need nothing"). A teardrop tattoo is said to indicate that the wearer has killed someone, or a friend of his/hers was killed in prison. It is worn by the eye. Other common tattoos are names of relatives or gang members, symbols of aggression (such as skulls), tattoos advertising a particular skill, or (among Latino prisoners) religious imagery.[1] A tattoo of a clock with no hands is often found on the upper arm of a convict, meaning "until the end of time" (life sentence). Source en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_tattoo under the north american section
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Rift
Refugee
Posts: 44
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Post by Rift on Nov 25, 2008 0:18:49 GMT -5
Absolutely fantastic! That is all that comes to mind about this episode. I loved Sarah tonight. Everything involving Sarah in tonight’s episode totally makes me forget the fact that I haven’t been overly thrilled with her as of late. The very fact that a large part of the episode was devoted to her makes me smile.
John was much better than usual as well. He stuck by his mom instead of siding with Derek. The entire “Cyberdyne was a small company at one time” speech was pure gold in my eyes. It was refreshing to see him act more like John Connor instead of just whining and acting stupid.
I also love the fact that my dislike of Riley has been further justified! I always thought there was something off about the some of the things she says, but I chalked it up to her being an annoying and socially awkward teenager, giving up on the future idea a while ago. The writers did a very nice job with this one. The fact that Dr. Sherman was killed off by none other than the Turk was another surprise I didn’t see coming.
As for Derek…I don’t really know what to say. I know I am in the minority when I say I’m not really a Derek fan and never have been. However there are times when I thought he wasn’t too bad and I almost liked him. Pulling the gun on Jesse for instance. Then he had to go and make all nice with her at the end, seemingly trusting her when he has no real reason to do so. He even revealed the fact that he was John’s uncle, something that is so tactically dangerous even Cameron, the one being John is apparently close to in the future didn’t know.
All in all I really liked this episode. The groundwork was laid for very interesting future episodes and I am more psyched than ever to see how it all plays out.
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Post by gothamite66 on Nov 25, 2008 0:23:00 GMT -5
Wow, I really enjoyed this episode.
I just did not see the Riley angle. Surprised the heck out of me.
The Turk talking through Cromartie's body = cool and creepy all at the same time.
Finally, Sarah gets to hit someone and boy did she beat the daylights out of him. I'm happy now! ;D
Jesse is so up to no good.
It was nice to see John and Sarah together again. That was a long separation. I'm happy now! ;D
Now I need to watch it again!
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Post by aceplace57 on Nov 25, 2008 0:24:55 GMT -5
A few observations... The whole chip scam would have fallen apart if Cameron would have looked at it before the money changed hands. It only took Cameron a glance (in the office) to realize they had been ripped off. This makes the second time in just a few weeks that Sarah lost her money. First the diamonds get stolen. They get "most" of them back. Now they sell them and nearly get the money stolen. Now, they're stuck with a big briefcase of money and no diamonds. Riley is nothing but a worthless traitor hired by Jesse to spy on John and the Connors. I bet Jesse promised her some major $$$$. Boy, do I feel like a total idiot. I wasted the last 6 weeks defending Riley against all the haters. I won't waste any more time defending her. I got played on this one. The writers totally got me. Congrats to Sarah and her butt kicking. She really tore into mister smooth tonight. I got the impression she was attracted to him. I bet she feels used. No more Doctor. I guess Sarah and John will have to find another shrink to lie to. This entire story arc with the Doctor just fizzled. Weaver's daughter never saw him again. He didn't really help the Connors. What the heck was he doing in the story? Was he invented so Pretzel girl could get killed trying to infiltrate his office? Ellison my man. Can he smell the horse shit yet? Has he figured out the Turk aka John Henry is bad news? Does a bear crap in the woods? I think Ellison must strongly suspect he's working for the wrong side. I'm not sure he really cares. Maybe he'll preach to the Turk and make him good. Yeah, and maybe it'll rain hail & brimstone too. Ellison can't be this dumb. Can he? I hope we've seen the last of the three dots story. Does anyone care anymore? Everywhere you look there's clusters of three. Unfortunately, I know we're in for lots more. No telling how many false leads Sarah will follow before she finds Weaver's company.
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Post by ga5speed02 on Nov 25, 2008 0:34:27 GMT -5
I hope we've seen the last of the three dots story. Does anyone care anymore? Everywhere you look there's clusters of three. LOL well said
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Post by richardstevenhack on Nov 25, 2008 0:51:54 GMT -5
Well...well...well...
Clearly I hit the nail on the head when I said Jesse came back to off Cameron!
And somebody else hit the nail on the head when they said Riley would turn out to be a traitor! THAT ONE I really doubted! But I was VERY wrong!
Now we KNOW Cameron is in danger, and Riley needs to be kicked out and Jesse needs to be OFFED!
Meanwhile, Sarah once again proves that she's completely worthless in all this. She gets sidetracked by some company that has nothing whatever to do with Skynet and just barely manages to not lose their entire operating funds in the process!
God, someone get this woman a brain!
Meanwhile, Derek, blinded by his infatuation with Jesse, gets lied to AGAIN! And now, blinded by his hatred and fear of Terminators - especially Cameron - he's going to do the ONE THING that will get John Connor killed - remove Cameron as his protector.
We now have a series which appears to be bent on teaching the same lessons as the movie "V for Vendetta" - that "fear is the root of all evil."
They're ALL - with the exception of Cameron - going off half-cocked and literally marching to their own destruction.
Ellison is sitting there with a computer that just killed a guy with no comprehension of the fact - and he STILL doesn't see a future Skynet in this situation? Is he a TOTAL moron?
Then he walks in and see a REBUILT Cromartie channeling "The Turk" and he doesn't instantly freak?
These people are all doomed. I can't see how anybody is going to pull them out of this mess - unless somehow John gets his head right - possibly with Cameron's help if she somehow exposes Riley's involvement with Jesse - and can somehow overrule both Derek and Sarah and off Jesse.
And that STILL gets them no closer to Skynet to boot.
Let's look ahead. As I suggested, all they apparently did with Cromartie's body was hook him up to "John Henry" (formerly "The Turk"). This does nothing but anthropomorphize the AI . The whole bit with the images and the lights was really nonsense - somebody get a real AI expert on this show quick! I mean, they just HAD another Turing Test expo in England a few weeks ago and while none of the AI programs even got better than 20 percent, clearly they can interact a hell of a lot better than this supposed Skynet program! Although all those programs are basically "tricks" of one sort or another.
So we can expect Garret Dillahunt to hang onto his contracted performances for a couple more episodes anyway.
I find it hard to comprehend how they were able to hook up "John Henry" to Cromartie given that it's likely nobody except Weaver could know how enough of Cromartie's systems worked to make the linkage between John Henry and his hardware. I mean, Cromartie was not a Lego toy here! He doesn't operate on some sort of video and audio standards used by Media PCs! He doesn't have a USB slot to plug John Henry into! Well, maybe he does have an Ethernet port on him somewhere - maybe Skynet thought that would be useful in the past...doubtful!
Cameron needs to start taking security more seriously. She needs to start independently investigating all these events on her own. Investigating Derek not hanging out at the house would lead her to Jesse. Following Jesse would lead her to Riley. Following Ellison would lead her to Weaver.
Clearly John and Sarah are too spazzed out and distracted to be doing anything competently. Derek is now part of the enemy, as is Ellison.
That leaves Cameron as the only one left who could conceivably save this crowd from their own self-destructive impulses.
If there was any reason WHY John would have sent Cameron back with no directive to follow orders, THIS would be it! Because future John should know just how screwed up his past self and his mother actually were.
That was my original speculation - that the only reason Cameron would be sent back not following orders would be because she is the only one who could pull them out of a jam where both past John and Sarah were useless in dealing with the situation.
I still think it would be more interesting if Cameron came back on her own agenda. And of course, that's exactly what Jesse's plot suggests the agenda actually is.
But this situation indicates that BOTH of these facts are true. Cameron came back on her own agenda - and this is precisely why - to stop these idiots from destroying themselves and her.
By end of the season, we may find that John and Cameron have united to save the day - thus setting the tone for their future.
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Post by aceplace57 on Nov 25, 2008 1:20:00 GMT -5
I was disappointed Derek didn't remind Jesse that she comes from a different timeline that was shaped by stuff Derek and the Connors did. I always hate it when characters go through eye opening events and then act like nothing happened in the next episode.
I think Jesse is lying about the future. She said tonight that John was making bad decisions, getting people killed and letting Cameron run things.
I think, a future alliance between John and Cameron is kicking skynets butt and Jesse came back to kill Cameron.
Cameron was the best part of tonights show. Loved the scene poking the ground with the steel rod. The evening dress was adorable. Summer's performance was a high point tonight.
Anyone bothered that Cromartie was perfect and damage free? Are we supposed to assume he regenerated skin? A neat trick for a Terminator without his chip.
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rossbondreturns
Corporal
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Post by rossbondreturns on Nov 25, 2008 1:24:59 GMT -5
All I have to say is curiouser and curiouser.
Brill.
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Post by aceplace57 on Nov 25, 2008 1:33:34 GMT -5
I did enjoy the episode. It was entertaining and it did move the story along. We know about Riley working for Jesse. Derek is obviously thinking with the wrong head. He probably will betray Cameron and he'll put her in Jesse's hands.
The stage is almost fully set for the big mid season finale. There's just a few more missing pieces to fill in.
I'm very curious to learn the consequences of Derek telling Jesse about his nephew John. That one event could end John's existence in some timelines.
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terrasj
Sergeant
Rossbond Connor Crew
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Post by terrasj on Nov 25, 2008 2:23:21 GMT -5
Well, to clear a few things up...
It was me who guessed Riley was living with foster parents, (In the Riley shipper thread) a twisted homage to the younger John Connor in T2. Might be a double twist there - possibly she's still an orphan, just one sent back in time (came along with Jesse perhaps?) and to live with foster parents as a cover while trying to hookup with John?
But that dosn't quite make sense. If Riley was from the future, then why get freaked at the gunplay in Mexico? She should be strangely used to getting shot at... My only guess is that Jesse somehow got to her, and is paying her to get to John.
Another thing - plugging the Turk into Cromartie's body... If anyone remembers from season 1, John was able to fashion an electronics circuit board socket to plug in Cameron's chip into his laptop. These Terminators still use a general circuit board socket and connecto, and a chip ala silicone wafers on a small finger sized pcb (printed circuit board) with a male end.
From those 2 facts, its not hard to imagine Weaver was able to fashion the reverse type of connector that John / Cameron made to plug the Turk into Cromartie's body. If Triple 888's actually do have secondary and tertiary processors, it would back up the evidence that at least one of the remaining two are still functional. A processor is just a 'dummy' processor that'll run the body when theres no present Terminator O/S. So in essence, Cromartie's reduced to being a talking mannequin interface for The Turk...
Was it just me or was Cromartie's face fully reconstructed and the flesh damaged repaired? I can see it saved on the FX budget, but I'm wondering just how possible in-show time that would've been... We at least know Ellison got to Cromartie fast enough before the shelf life of the living tissue had begun to decay without proper refrigeration and sustenance support from being deactivated...
....
I too can't believe how stupid Derek is. Demanding the truth and all the secrets Jesse has was good. Same with finding those surveillance photos she took of them. But Gah... All she had to do was bring up one detail from the past about his toothbrush, give that goofy grin to Derek's response and Derek is so easily sidetracked... The look on Jesse's face pretty much told how thinly and narrowly she just pulled that one off - when she was neatly pulled into Dereks arms there, facing towards the camera. This possibly can't end in a happily ever after relationship. Yep, we now know she's gonna try take out Cameron, and convince Derek in the processes. Jesse's got to have been a Anti-John Connor / Connor separatist camper.
This is the one time I actually think Derek would've been better off trying to put the moves on Sarah to get into her pants.
And I'll echo everyone else who said Yay for the John and Sarah moment there. John giving Sarah a hug there, and for once asking if she's alright. As well as Riley's at the door, if thats alright. Again, like I said in the Sarah shipper thread, if they both give a little, reach a little bit of middle ground without tearing off eachother's head in the process, things might yet be alright.
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Post by richardstevenhack on Nov 25, 2008 2:31:57 GMT -5
Derek doesn't know for sure whether he comes from a different time line - and neither do we. It's merely a possibility. More importantly, if he DOES come from a different time line than Jesse, then clearly everything he thinks he knows about the future is now WORTHLESS! So his decision to buy what Jesse tells him as gospel is simply stupid. But Derek is not a rocket scientist. This level of self-introspection seems to be past him. Not to mention that he's blinded by his infatuation with Jesse and his hatred and fear of Cameron. Thus it is ironic to hear him ask John if JOHN is thinking clearly. Compared to Derek, John is as clear as glass. Jesse may not be actually "lying" about the future. What she is saying is what she and her faction of the resistance may actually believe - that John Connor has gone too far in "embracing the enemy" as Middleton put it. They may believe that Connor has "jumped the shark" and needs to be replaced by someone else as leader of the Resistance. Or maybe they really think that merely eliminating Cameron would be sufficient. Either way, Jesse and Derek and Riley are now on a direct collision course with John Connor - and probably Sarah as well, even though Sarah doesn't like Cameron, either. Someone is not going to survive that confrontation. At the very least, I see Jesse going down. Riley may survive if John feels sorry for her - and restrains Cameron who will kill her given the chance. Derek probably will survive if he ever realizes that he's being used by Jesse. Aside from Sarah's continuing mental incapacity and incompetence at getting involved with a company that has nothing to do with Skynet and almost losing all their operational funds to boot, this episode was very valuable at moving the overall story arc along. The next two episodes - the last before the hiatus since one of the episodes has been moved to mid-season - should be really powerful. Presumably the back nine - now ten - episodes will resolve the cliff hanger and possibly lead to a confrontation with Weaver. But I hate the notion of waiting two months to find out what happens! Doesn't bother me too much that they managed to hook up "John Henry" to the Cromartie. As you say, John managed the - probably much more difficult feat - of actually interfacing a modern day PC to the much more advanced Terminator chip. I accepted that for the sake of the story, so I guess I can accept this. No problem. I'm a bit surprised they allowed this "Babylon" machine to control the building power. Any IT guy worth his salt would see that as stupid. However, with Catherine Weaver in charge, presumably there were no complaints. They probably all remember how the last AI department head went missing...
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Post by aceplace57 on Nov 25, 2008 2:36:20 GMT -5
Poor Cameron. Most fans think Weaver wants her as the "one that crosses against the light" and now we learn Jesse wants to kill her.
What's a pretty cyborg supposed to do? ;D
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