History Series / TheSarahConnorChronicles

Set after the [[{{Terminator}} first two films]], and while it acknowledges some plot elements of the third movie, it goes in a different [[AlternateContinuity direction.]] Sarah and John are still on the run from both the FBI, a new Terminator, and their own sorry social lives. That is, until [[SummerGlau Cameron]] shows up to [[TimeTravel bring them from 1999 to 2007]] in order to stop [=SkyNet=] from being built.

** TheLancer: John
** TheSmartGuy: Cameron
** TheBigGuy: Derek

** John - TheHero
** Sarah - TheLancer
** Cameron - TheSmartGuy
** Derek - TheBigGuy
** Charlie - TheChick

* JustAMachine

->''"In the future, my son will lead mankind in a war against [=SkyNet=], the computer system programmed to destroy the world. It has sent machines back through time, some to kill him, one to protect him. Today we fight to stop [=SkyNet=] from ever being created, to change our future, to change his fate. The war to save mankind begins now."''

** Any Terminator: "We'll see."

* HeroicBSOD: Cameron -- quite literally -- goes through several of these in "Allison from Palmdale."

* HotSubOnSubAction: The USS ''Jimmy Carter'' vs. the [=SkyNet=] Kraken.
** Mostly consisting of the ''Carter'' spotting the Kraken and then '''running like Hell.'''

** It ''really'' doesn't help that Garret Dillahunt also played a creepy NAMBLA-type pedophile on [[LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit SVU]].
** Plus that kid-eating cannibal in TheRoad
** And in the remake of TheLastHouseOnTheLeft, a psychopath who tries (unsuccessfully) to force his own son to rape a girl, and then rapes her himself while his brother forces his son to watch.
** And Simon Escher of ''Burn Notice'' (former government assassin/agent who started killing for fun instead of business), ''Life's'' Roman Nevikov (a Russian mob boss, need more be said?)... how 'bout we just say "it doesn't help that JH was played by Garret Dillahunt"?

* FullFrontalAssault: In the pilot, Cameron obtains clothes for her, Sarah and John by walking up naked to a car full of guys and beating the crap out of them while Sarah and John full frontal cower nearby, probably rather closer together than they would prefer all things considered.

* HeroicBSOD: Cameron - quite literally - goes through several of these in "Allison from Palmdale."

** Ellison, repeatedly demonstrates this, though only later does he learn the actual ''truth''.

** [[spoiler:The T-1001 impersonating Catherine Weaver eventually makes a similar claim. What it's really doing and who it's really working with or for is never clarified, since there will be no third season.]]

* EvilDetectingDog: All dogs hate Terminators; even the robot dog in "Queen's Gambit" barks at Cameron.

** The end of "Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep".
** And earlier, in "The Turk"; ''"It took his eyes, James. It took his freakin' eyes."''

* FlashBack: Monkeywrenched - -Derek has a FlashBack, but since he comes from the future--or one possible future--it's confusing what to call it.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: "Mr. Ferguson Is Ill Today" is filled up the gills in little clues as to [[spoiler: Riley's origin from the future.]]

** John's mentors: Sarah (id), Cam (ego), Derek (superego)

* CrazyPrepared: The Connors as a whole, including the shotgun in the umbrella stand and the recliner filled with kevlar.

* DeadpanSnarker: Cameron and Derek seem to take turns at this, though John and Sarah have been known get a few in too.

* DeathGlare: "Its not safe for you here."

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Riley]] Except, maybe not. It may have been a BatmanGambit. Also, Cameron suggests this is the cause of John's gun 'accident'. Derek also contemplates suicide.

* DysfunctionJunction: Find someone on the main cast who ''isn't'' screwed up.

* {{Anti Hero}}es - Definitely. The whole cast, pushing the envelope as far as they possibly could without quite making a show about {{Villain Protagonist}}s. Sarah Connor even tells somebody at one point, "Yes we ''are'' some kind of terrorist group." For fans of the [[DarkerAndEdgier Dark And the Edgy]] this show was far far TooGoodToLast.

* BigBad: Cromartie assumed this role for season one and much of season two, though [=SkyNet=] is obviously an ever-present threat. [[spoiler:Subverted with Catherine Weaver, who seems to be set up as an evil, ruthless force sent back to create [=SkyNet=] - but she's actually creating an equivalent AI to stop it.]]
* BloodstainedGlassWindows: A couple of episodes in second season, complete with booby-trapped baptismal fonts, crossfire (no pun intended) ambushes in front of the altar, and [[CrucifiedHeroShot crucified villain shots]].

* BreakTheCutie: Monkeywrenched. Allison Young comes pre-broken, and Cameron's brief time as Allison shows her breaking down too. Riley also breaks over the course of the second season, though that's because [[spoiler: she's a resistance fighter from the future, and the stress of everything going on around her rapidly wrecks her already fragile psyche.]]

* [[{{Cancellation}} Cancelled]] by the Network (yep, it's officially done).
* CassandraTruth: Practically everything Ellison says is dismissed by the FBI, but is ''completely'' true.

** Played straight between Cameron and that other terminator who she twisted up like a pretzel.

** Actually averted in the episode ''Self Made Man'' in the second season, when a Terminator is sent back targeting the Governor of California, what little we see of him makes it clear that it's not Arnold.

** Similarly, John is slowly - very slowly - edging away from his whiny teenager phase and into a real leader, especially after [[spoiler: Riley is killed]].

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Weaver appears to be, then turns out to be a Terminator, ''then'' turns out to be on John Conners side.

* CruelMercy: It's our ''heroes'' of all people, who actually leave a mook stranded in the middle of a mine-field.

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Sarah: In the shoot out in the first episode, Cromartie shoots at Sarah and she dives behind a chair. Later, when police are investigating the scene, Ellison comments that [[CrazyPrepared the chair was lined with Kevlar.]]

* AndIMustScream: John Henry gets turned off [[spoiler: after being controlled remotely by a rival AI]], and feels himself powering down, slowly and painfully.

* DanceBattler: [[TheCastShowoff Cameron.]]

* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: Sarah: In the shoot out in the first episode, Cromartie shoots at Sarah and she dives behind a chair. Later, when police are investigating the scene, Ellison comments that the chair was lined with Kevlar.

* TemporalSickness: [[ToSayNothingOfTheDog Time-lag]].

* DeadExMachina: When Kyle Reese appears to Sarah.

** The intro states Cameron will protect John at all costs. They're not kidding, she is perfectly willing to kill anyone who threatens him. [[CareerKiller Or even some who don't]]. She even scolds John for not killing her when she goes bad and demands that he do so if it happens again.

The first season deals with Sarah (LenaHeadey) , John, and friendly machine Cameron on the run from the killer cyborgs. They are soon joined by Derek Reese, John's uncle, who introduces himself by murdering a man who may have helped contribute to the design of his future's [=SkyNet=]. This marks the start of the show's headlong dive into [[GreyAndGrayMorality murky morality]]. The foursome set up shop in Los Angeles, where they try to stop the future war and hide from FBI Agent Ellison.

The show then takes a quick swerve with Ellison's growing awareness of the machines and the introduction of a love interest for John. The BigBad Terminator Cromartie, who has been hunting the Connors since the first episode, is re-appropriated for another, possibly sinister use. The second season started with a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Terminator of the Week]] style, but soon grew more philosophical, eventually turning DarkerAndEdgier. After completing its second season, it was subsequently canceled. Whether the final season's evolution was to the [[GrowingTheBeard show's benefit]] or [[SeasonalRot otherwise]] is an ongoing matter of debate.

*** "Aimbot" thing is more of an [[InformedAbility informed ability]]. Terminators suck really badly at shooting moving targets and even stationary targets at medium range.