Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was never a show that was going to have a happy ending... And it seems the end is nigh and not a moment too soon. Some might blame the Writer's Strike... but really, that should have given the producers time to sit back and think.

Because this show was in need of a dire rethink. Granted, it may have effectively retconned Terminator 3 out of existence (T3 wasn't... horrible - it was just an unnecessary addition, the next logical step was post-Judgement Day) but beyond that it was less than useful. On a TV budget, you're just never going to be able to recreate the kind of special effects that made Terminator the success it was.

Stargate is the obvious parallel to draw... but Stargate was a much easier concept to adapt. With a few minor tweaks to the continuity, it became a dial-a-plot device. Terminator never afforded a TV spin-off that kind of oppurtunity - nor should it have. Yet, we had SCC anyway... but it seems clear that the exact notion of WHAT was going to be done in the show was less than clear to those involved in its production.

They did have a recurring nemesis in Chromarty but really, he was as inconsistent as Cameron. No disrespect to Summer Glau but does she really do anything else except the monotone scary ass kicking girl? She's ok at it but really, it did not help the seeming aspirations of this show and it's conspicious desire to be Whedonesque... at least, one has to hope that this show was trying to immitate Buffy... because, if they just stuck in the high school element for no reason - then the show was even more listless than it appears.

There were no definite concepts... in fact, the obvious reason for the retcon of Terminator 3 was that T3 stated what seems fairly obvious... that the conflict between man and machine IS inevitable - as a consequence of John Connor AND the Terminators being created by predestination paradox. SSC essentially tossed that out the window and said Skynet was just some random assortment of chess programs and traffic cameras.

We were spared the "Terminator of the week" but thus far there have been... four in total. None of them really that inspiring of terror - mostly because they seem to take about ten seconds to decide that it's a good idea to kill John Connor... which is, just about enough time for some to hit them with a car or something... because you know what? They're fighting GOD DAMNED ROBOTS FROM THE FUTURE WITH 9MM PISTOLS!

Those things aren't even that great at killing people, so is it any surprise their efficacy against time travelling killing machines is akin to that of a water pistol?

With a plot that didn't know where it was going, a bunch of characters who didn't resemble in the slightest their big screen equivalents, a low budget "Terminator vision lit" that looked awful... This show had a future about as rosy as that of humanity in it's own continuity.