Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles 2.03

The Mousetrap

Charlie Dixon, Sarah's ex from the past is fleeing town with his wife Michelle. Now known to be connect to the Connors, they've been advised to make themselves scarce. Upon a routine stop for gas and soda, Cromartie arrives at the desert gas station and absconds with Michelle leaving Charlie stranded as he watch his wife disappear into the distance. Not knowing what else to do, Charlie contacts Sarah and pleads for her help.

In the meantime, John is helping their new landlord ("Freaks and Geeks" Busy Phillips) steal cable in her bedroom. Once complete he is set upon a mission from his mom to take Cameron to go and pick up new computers for the new house. Being the emo future leader of mankind, John's hormones override his mother's programming as he ditches Cameron to go and hang out with his new high school squeeze.

Cut back to Sarah and Reese who are now on their way to assist Charlie in retrieving his wife. They find her wired to a bomb in an abandoned desert warehouse, Cromartie nowhere in site. Reese eventually discovers that the whole setup is a trap to lead them away from John as Cromartie blows the building while heading back to L.A. on the hunt. Soon Cromartie and John are fighting on the boardwalk, Charlie's lovely wife is now bleeding profusely, and Summer Glau walks around looking all robotic and...hot.

It took three episodes, but the writers of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" have finally caught on to a key concept; "The Terminator" was an action flick. They finally decided it might be time to add some action!

It's a nice change to see Sarah and Reese actually get down to business and show the 'cold soldier' side that they're supposed to be known for. So far this season, Sarah has shown nothing but signs of being a depressed soccer mom dealing with an angsty teen child. Reese pretty much followed in her footsteps because he had nothing else to do but whine about Cameron. Finally we are shown the hard core side of Sarah and it makes the show all the more exciting.

Unfortunately, they still haven't figured out what to do with John Connor. Managing to do nothing but rebel against his mother and look constipated, the future leader of mankind is pretty much nothing but a brooding teenager. Sure, that's what he's supposed to be at this stage in life, but he's also 'John Connor'. He's jumped through time, been hunted by various killer bots and has been attacked numerous times. I can buy into his whole sideline of being into girls and wanting a girlfriend. What teenage boy doesn't? At the same time he's making some rather stupid choices knowing his predicament and is showing no spark to his hard edged future persona.

It's still not amazing, but "The Mousetrap" went a long ways to making the show interesting once again. Where I was getting annoyed with the direction of the first two episodes, I now have a smoldering hope that they may be able to restore my faith and make for another action packed season. If they can fix the pace, continue to show the hard nosed side of Sarah Connor and give John a spine (and a laxative), all may still be okay.

In other news, the show still has great eye candy!

Sonya Walger who plays Michelle Dixon