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Andy, having spent every moment since the fire rebuilding his chick-magnet chess-playing computer, gets back in touch with Sarah, because he thinks inviting her to his robot chess tournament might finally get him laid. Sarah tags along, after finding out the winner gets a military contract. She's cheering for the Japanese to win in the final, because if Andy wins, Cameron's going to kill him (side note: if the Japanese win, shouldn't Sarah kill them? No, because the Japanese names weren't found in the resistance safehouse, apparently). When Andy's computer loses the tournament, Cameron argues in favour of killing him anyway. Sarah finds Andy dead shortly after the tournament, though, and gets into a scuffle with a scruffy stranger played by none other than Brian Austin Green, who is the other remaining resistance fighter! He gets thrown in the pokey, and when a Terminator (another one!) finds out about it, he manages to get himself arrested too, which is, really, a smarter plan than Arnie's "destroy entire police station" tactic from the first movie. Sarah goes to visit David Silver in the clink, and David says he didn't kill Andy. Andy was dead when he got there, and the Turk was stolen. Oh, and one another thing: the name's Derek Reese. Kyle's brother. John's uncle! Sarah's kind-of brother-in-law! The Connor Crew busts him out of a prisoner-transfer van, and save him from the T-888 on his arse. Unfortunately, Derek takes a bullet to the gut. After getting him back to the Connor Compound, Sarah prepares to go out and kidnap herself a doctor, but when John finds out that that's Unky Derek dying on the kitchen table, he goes out himself and comes back with...Charley Dixon, whose response time in attending to the gutshot Derek suffers since he stands there for seven hours mooning at Sarah.
As usual, Ellison is sniffing around all episode, and is getting closer to his Tommy Lee Jones The Fugitive "I don't care!" moment: in the aftermath of the prison breakout, Ellison finds a severed hand that is filled not with bones and tendons and muscles, but gears and hydraulics. Elsewhere, Chrome Artie passes himself off as an FBI agent, sharply turned out in a dark suit, to try to find Sarah. And John delves a little more into the mystery blonde at his high school, named Cheri, who is "damaged goods," according to the 98-pound weakling in the Smiths T-shirt in John's auto shop class.
So who killed Andy? My money's on Cameron. Want more? The full recap starts right below!
Oh, god, not another dream sequence to open the show. Here we have Sarah, outfitted with some kind of automatic weapon, traipsing through the jungle, and -- oh, wait, it's not a dream sequence; it's a flashback. Sarah voiceovers that of all the training John got in some L.A. park that's passing for the jungles of South America, nothing prepared him for combat like learning to play chess. Well, what a great steaming load that is. time he's up against a Terminator, he can try the Ruy Lopez opening and see how far that gets him. Maybe his training should have involved less chess and more driving lessons, huh? As we cut to the present day, with Sarah doing chin-ups on a swing set, she explains how chess taught John that to win, you must be patient, bold, calculating, and willing to sacrifice.
After swallowing a barrage of pills, presumably the cancer-preventing kind, Sarah's cell phone rings. It's Andy. Sarah's mildly surprised to hear from him. Hey, I wonder what that mysterious woman who asked a bunch of questions about my chess-playing computer right before that computer was destroyed in a fire is up to? She just kind of disappeared right after my computer was destroyed. Think I'll give her a call. He says that his house burning down was a blessing in disguise, and he wants Sarah to come meet him at the chess tournament he's entered in Pasadena. Chess tournament? thing you know, there's a puff of smoke and a Sarah-shaped hole in the wall, because who could resist that?
Elsewhere, good ol' Charley Dixon, who is apparently just heading to work or coming home from work, because he's in his uniform, opens his front door to find Chrome Artie standing there, sharply turned out in a dark suit. Or, as Chrome Artie introduces himself, "Agent Kester" of the FBI. He says he needs to ask Charley a few questions about Sarah Connor. Charley glances furtively behind himself, then invites "Agent Kester" inside.
Cameron and John are doing homework in the kitchen. John asks Cameron if she's good at math. She says yes. "You want to do mine?" asks John. Again: "Yes." So John hands it over as Sarah stomps in to say Andy rebuilt his computer. John says he thought Sarah "napalmed" the Turk, and Sarah explained that Andy has spent every waking moment since the fire in a coffee shop rewriting the code from memory. John understands this: "Good code is like a good song in your head: it's gotta come out." Cameron's response is just as poetic in its own way: "You should have killed him when you had the chance." Sarah snaps that she's surprised it took Cameron so long to bring that up, and Cameron explains she's busy with John's homework, earning John a reproachful look. Give him a break; she's just like a big fancy calculator.
Anyway, Sarah orders John and "the Tin Miss" to go to school and join her later at the chess tournament; John can't be absent, or he'll be "on their radar." Of course, he'd be in much less danger of being on anyone's "radar" if he DIDN'T SPEND ALL DAY AT A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL, but let's not split hairs. He asks for money for lunch, and Sarah hands him a brown paper bag instead. The fact that the future hopes of mankind rest on your shoulders doesn't mean I'm wasting money on chicken nuggets and Red Bull, young man.
At the tournament, which appears to be as much robot expo as chess tournament, an increasingly uneasy Sarah strolls around looking at the displays. A giddy Andy strolls up, thrilled that she showed up to see him in all his nerd-tastic glory. "God, I love robots," he says, having no idea that each word he says gets him closer to a bullet in the head. He's pretty terminally dorky, but at least it's in that endearing sense when people are so passionate about something. Like how I feel about booze!
Up they go to his hotel room, where he shows off Turk II, which is different from its predecessor in a few ways. It's more adaptable, less predictable, that kind of thing. Sarah says it sounds like it's more human than Turk I. Andy fails to catch the waves of nausea rolling off of Sarah, and offers the analogy that Turk I had matured into a brooding teenager, while Turk II is still a precocious child.
An older, bearded man strides into the room. Andy introduces him as Dmitri, but Dmitri's cell phone is apparently permanently welded to his ear, and he can barely be bothered to say hello. He does, however, take a moment to inform Andy that Sarah will never sleep with him. Never. Then he gets back on the phone and strides right out again. How does he know? Can he see the future? Is he FROM THE FUTURE? Andy says Dmitri's just wound up about the military contract. Sarah's all, who in the what now? And Andy explains that the winner gets a military contract. This is far more egregious than Andy's robot love, and I'm kind of surprised he ends the scene still alive.
Meanwhile, a frustrated Charley, being questioned by Chrome "Kester" Artie figures the FBI should get its story straight as to whether Sarah is still alive or not. After Chrome Artie is momentarily bewildered by a ringing cell phone (set to "vibrate"), he admits that the FBI only just figured out Sarah and John are still alive.
And then along comes Penny, who's somewhat surprised to be awkwardly questioned by the FBI agent about her husband's ex-girlfriend. "John wanted to marry Sarah Connor before you," Chrome Artie informs her, and that's why he thinks Sarah might be hiding out here. Charley glares at him all "Dude! NOT cool!" He tells Agent Kester with "all due respect" that the Sarah he knew, who was Sarah Reese, blew herself up in the bank eight years ago. "I never knew, and I do not know, Sarah 'Connor.'" Chrome Artie considers this, then reaches in his pocket for a card to hand to Charley. "If you ever see or hear anything, give me a call. Anytime. I never sleep."
Over at Terminator High School, a memorial to Jordon is threatening to take over an entire hallway. There's a picture of Jordon in a cheerleader's outfit. A teacher, played by Neil Hopkins, also known as Charlie's older brother Liam on Lost, reminds everyone dropping off bad poetry and stuffed animals that he's available for grief counseling in his office. I got ten bucks says it's the same office where Jordon got herself into trouble. Cameron is absolutely mystified by the memorial. Join the club, Cameron. John explains that people are writing notes to Jordon, which only confuses Cameron more, since Jordon's DEAD and all. "Yeah, I remember watching her fall," snaps John, whose sarcasm is completely lost on Cameron, who says, "Me too." She wants to know how Jordon's going to get the notes. John explains that sometimes things happen that are so bad that people don't know how to handle it, so they put it in a note. "But I thought people cried when they're sad," says Cameron. Sometimes that's not enough, says John. Don't you know that tears are not enough? I suppose it's understandable that John felt if he saved the cheerleader, he'd save the world.
John's finished explaining, because his mysterious lab partner is standing looking at the memorial, so he ditches Cameron to go stand by her looking all sensitive and distraught. "Are you going?" she asks him. "I didn't really know her," says John. I didn't either, says the blond. "I liked the note part," she says, before moving over to sign the condolence book, which is hopefully a little reverent for the sake of Jordon's parents than the online tribute. So...was the blonde listening to the conversation? She heard that? John and Cameron need to work on their indoor voices.
Later, John tinkers with an engine in auto shop class. Nearby, a skinny spiky-haired kid wearing a black Smiths Meat is Murder T-shirt asks (in Spanish) for the diagnostic unit from a couple of other guys (noticeably bigger than he is), since they're hogging it. John steps in a with a little Spanish of his own and says if they're all going to stand around talking, he'll take the diagnostic unit. How this didn't end with a lug wrench in John's skull, I have no idea. "Nice accent, white boy," says one of the big bullies. Ah. John's earned his grudging respect. They hand over the diagnostic unit to John, who immediately passes it off to the Smiths fan, who introduces himself as Morris, and decides to repay the favour by leveling with him on Cheri Weston. "Maybe no one told you because you're new, but she's damaged goods," says Morris, based solely on hearing that something "crazy" went down at Cheri's old school, and now her dad has her locked down tight. "Pretty boring rumour," says John. "Just looking out for you, bro," says Morris, walking away. "Yeah, you and everyone else," says John.
Off to the chess tournament. I know that when I heard there was going to be a television series based on The Terminator, I just knew chess tournaments would be involved somehow. Sarah watches the on-stage match with Andy against some Japanese, as well as the gentlemen in military uniforms taking in the "action." Entering through a side door is none other than Brian Austin Green. When I saw he was going to be on the show, I hoped against hope that he'd be a Terminator, and that his name would still be David Silver. That will not turn out to be the case. But Ron Silver? Call your agent!
Outside, Cameron is mingling with all the other robots. One of them looks like a less violent version of Robocop, and it smiles and waves at her. And, hilariously, a robot dog barks at her. Not even robot dogs like Terminators, it appears.
John joins Sarah watching the match, and he's really excited because of all the Grandmasters who are there. Unless one of them is named "Flash," I am not similarly thrilled. Sarah says Andy's in the finals, and tells John there's a military contract at stake. "Are you serious? What do we do?" asks John. "Cheer very hard for the Japanese. Or Cameron will kill him," says Sarah. As if to emphasize this, Cameron strolls into the auditorium. Sadly, she doesn't make a throat-slashing gesture.
When we return from commercial, there is more rock 'em sock 'em robot chess action to watch. The Russian's making the moves while Andy works the computer. The Russian makes a move that sets the chess crowd atwitter, and Sarah asks for an explanation. "That bishop at C5 totally hammered him. Black's in total zugswang," says John, and Sarah needs a translation. John says Black just lost his queen, and is in big trouble. Zugswang actually means when any move you make will leave you worse off than if you didn't move at all. "Andy's gonna win," laments Sarah, looking over at Cameron, standing there waiting for the go-ahead.
Over in the Dixon household, Charley's wife wants to talk about the "little speech" he gave the FBI agent. "That wasn't a speech," says Dixon, for once not wearing his work clothes. Careful, guy. Every man has to have the awkward "why is the FBI interrogating you about your former girlfriend" argument at least once in his life. She says she knew he was lying about something, because he has a "tell." "If that woman is alive, if you've seen her, this is important," she says. He cops to seeing John in their house. "In our house? In our house? What did he want?" asks Michelle. Charley says he thinks John just wanted to see him. He doesn't know what to do about it. "They're fugitives, Charley!" yells Michelle. She says Sarah killed a man, but Charley's skeptical of it. But you're just not going to win an argument with your wife over whether your ex could have committed murder. Just take my word on that one.
Back to the chess match, where the ridiculous, breathless play-by-play person is telling everyone that "victory seems imminent" for the Americans, Dmitri makes another move. The Japanese make another move, and Dmitri knocks over his king. Checkmate. Wow. From imminent defeat to a shocking Japanese victory in just two moves. "It's over. Andy lost," says John, although I'm sure his mom, even if she's no chess expert, can suss out what's going on up there. John says the Japanese set a trap by sacrificing the queen, and the Turk fell for it. Cameron shows up, hopeful, as John asks, essentially, if they're going to have to take out the Japanese now, and Sarah says their names weren't among the documents at the safehouse.
Meanwhile, Andy and Dmitri bicker about the loss, each blaming the other. John says no one's going to want Andy's program now. "It could still be a threat. It could still become Skynet," says Cameron, who is just itching to kill someone. "It could also become Pong," says Sarah, who forgets that Pong very nearly did take over the world. Sarah decides she's going to sit down with Andy and tell him everything. Uh...why? What possible purpose could that serve? It looks like we've averted disaster, so maybe I should tell the guy who's way interested in artificial intelligence about Skynet.
Sarah walks down the hotel hallway, which is as busy as a college dorm but with fewer pizza boxes and speakers pointed out the window. The mysterious, stubbly Brian Austin Green bumps into her walking the other way down the hall. Which undoubtedly means: so much for Andy.
Sure enough, Sarah finds Andy on the floor of his hotel room, dead from having a bullet in the middle of his forehead. Sarah heads back out into the hallway, and BAG, despite presumably coming from a room with a dead guy, can't muster up a pace faster than "amble," and is still in the hallway. He looks back, and then ducks down some stairs. Sarah takes the ones closer to her.
Somehow, despite following him, she manages to get in front of him and ambush him, and they tussle. Well, it's not really an even fight. BAG is getting his ass kicked. Sarah gets on top of him. "Who are you?" she yells, and BAG pushes her off, and runs away, which is right when at least three police cars arrive and surround him. I know it seems like a really quick response time since neither Sarah nor BAG, I assume, called the cops, but I'm pretty sure that police usually station a few extra units at a hotel when there's a computer chess tournament on, since things tend to get a little rowdy. Near enough that the police cars' red-and-blues are lighting her up in bright colours, Sarah watches BAG get arrested. She slumps against a wall. "I'm so sorry, Andy," she says. How about you feel guilty a little farther away from the cops before you get arrested?
Sarah is furiously doing chin-ups on the swing set. Cameron strolls over to her and gives her a pencil. "You should write Andy a note, because you can't cry," she says. Sarah wordlessly snaps the pencil in half and hands the pieces to Cameron and walks inside.
Inside, Sarah says, "It doesn't bother you that he's dead, does it?" Sarah, sweetie, she's a cyborg. Cameron just says the world is safer without him, which is probably not what Sarah needs to hear. But they're interrupted by John, who comes in with his laptop and says the LAPD's firewalls really blow. He's found the arrest report for the guy, who doesn't have a name yet. One of the photos on the report shows his bar code tattoo. "He's one of them," says Sarah, leaving the room. Cameron says this guy is the fourth resistance fighter. "So you know him. From the future," says John. "So do you. He's one of your best soldiers," says Cameron. "Who is he?" might be the logical question to ask Cameron. Instead, Sarah walks back in with the surveillance photos of Andy, and says the group must have been watching him, just like the Connor Crew was. John says the big difference is that this guy killed Andy. And you know that...how? And also, wasn't killing Andy something you guys might have had to do? Cameron says killing Andy wasn't this guy's mission. "You sent him here to wait for us," she says. "Well, I guess he changed his mind. A lot," says John. Once again, I think a little more proof than "this guy was at the hotel" is necessary here. Sarah says she needs to talk to him, and John points out that the guy's in lockdown. Sarah doesn't respond.
Elsewhere, looking at the exact same arrest report, is the Terminator from the safehouse. His POV shot analyzes BAG's face. "ID Confirmed. Objective: terminate."
And how does the Terminator plan to achieve this? He stomps up to a pair of police officers standing and chatting. He knocks one of them to the ground, and then makes a "You wanna make something of it?" face at the other one, who draws his gun.
Over at Degrassi High, Cameron and John sit down at a table in an outside courtyard, John cracking the books to learn math, because even though Cameron did his homework for him, he still needs to know the material for the test. "So why did you ask me to do it for you?" says Cameron. John whines that it's hard to concentrate on geometry when people keep dying all around him, which I get the sense is going to be his excuse for everything. "You're grieving," says Cameron. "How do you know what grieving is?" asks John. John, the Microsoft Word program I'm typing this on knows what grieving is, so I don't think it's all that impressive that Cameron's got access to a dictionary. "I read all the notes," says Cameron.
They're interrupted by the high school equivalent of a process server, who hands a note to "Cameron Baum," saying, "Mr. Harris wants to see you."
Mr. Harris is the school counselor who hangs out at solemn memorials for suicidal high school students and yells at people to come for therapy. Sitting across from Cameron in his office, he says he knows this is difficult for her, but people have been saying she was the last one to talk to Jordon before she killed herself. "Is that true?" he asks her. "I don't know. Are you asking me if people say I was the last person to talk to Jordon? Or are you asking me if I was the last person to talk to her?" Of course, the answer to both questions is "I don't know," isn't it? He asks her what they talked about, and Cameron does a pitch-perfect imitation of Jordon's talking about the "freaking big" paintings, to the point that I thought Cameron was unwisely actually replicating Cameron's voice with her Terminator technology. Harris stares at her, and then looks at a photograph of the painting. "It's freaking big," points out Cameron. Harris then asks her if Jordon mentioned anyone by name who was upsetting her. Cameron's answers: Her parents. The hall monitors. Harris keeps asking "Anyone else?" to the point that Cameron notes he asks it an awful lot. I think we're safely looking at the other silhouette in the painting here. Cameron cocks her head: "Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Harris, bewildered, says he doesn't think he told her anything. Cameron asks if she can go: "I'm done with grief counseling, and I feel much better." Harris dismisses and watches her go. Scouting out a replacement for Jordon, perhaps.
Brian Austin Green paces his tiny cell, C-7. A guard knocks on the door and tells "John Doe" that he's got a visitor. It's Ellison. They sit across from each other. Ellison asks if BAG's manacles are too tight, and then explains it's a common ploy for the shackles to be put on too tight so the interrogating officer can loosen them, thus establishing a connection with the prisoner. It doesn't work if you tell the prisoner, agent! Ellison is like the cop version of that magician who kept going on FOX to expose tricks of the trade. "But we already got a connection," says Ellison. He whips out some photographs, of bar code tattoos and dead people. He talks about the safe at the crime scene, which was emptied by someone who knew the combination. BAG stays silent. "So, we've got you running from the scene of Andrew Good's murder. And we've got you living at, and disappearing from, and most likely returning to, the scene of these three murders." But that's not all! Ellison's got forensic evidence that connects the triple murder to more murders! BAG stares at all the photographs and asks what the forensic evidence that connects them all. He speaks! And, sad to say, David Silver's voice has still not broken. Blood, says Ellison. "Not my blood," says BAG. No, and technically not actual blood, says Ellison: "Some kind of synthetic." That gets BAG's attention. Ellison asks BAG to tell him something he doesn't know. BAG stares at Ellison for a few moments. "We're all gonna die."
Ellison, who gets great cell phone reception inside the prison, tells someone that he wants the prisoner transferred today, since BAG's got something to say, and Ellison wants him on federal turf when he says it. Ellison wouldn't have much reason to notice the nearby group of prisoners walking single-file down the hall. But there's one more connection to the triple murder: the Terminator who committed it, shackled and in an orange prison jumpsuit, at the end of the line.
Ellison leaves the prison just as Sarah's arriving. Not that he'd recognize her in a straight bob wig, sunglasses, and miniskirt. If she's trying to keep a low profile, I'm not sure the Sexy Lawyer look is the way to go. Not that I'm complaining. She's on her cell phone with Mr. Harris about Jordon's suicide. "When I spoke to Cameron about it, she seemed strangely unaffected," says Harris. Can someone point out to Harris that Cameron -- apart from being a cyborg -- had been at the school, what, two days? Not every teenager needs to bawl in front of a trauma team. Sarah says things have been tough, what with the "tornado" (another Wizard of Oz reference) and then the move. She kind of trails off, but that's because she's distracted by nicking someone's security pass as they leave. Harris perks up at the mention of a tornado, but as soon as he says "post-traumatic stress disorder," Sarah tells him he'll need to speak up, and she snaps her phone shut and proceeds through the security gate.
She's ushered into the interview room, where she sits down across from a stunned BAG, who says, "You shouldn't be here." "I know who you are," she says. Well, of course you do; otherwise why would you be there? BAG says he knows who she is too: "Who else but Sarah Connor would have burned down that poor kid's house?" Hey, at least Andy's voice has cracked. Sarah says BAG was the one on Andy's porch that night; he's been watching: "You wanted to kill him, the 'poor kid,' and you did." BAG says he only wanted the Turk, and Andy was already dead when he got there. "He was dead and the Turk was gone, and I'd hoped you did it." So the Turk is out there, then. BAG still wants her to get out of there, because he's got a "T-888" on his ass. Well, I'm sure you can get a shot to clear that right up. "Now if you could find me, it will too." BAG suggests going to find Andy's partner, the Russian. Sarah wants to bust him out: "You're dead in here," but BAG insists she go: "I won't be the bastard who brings metal down on the Connors, so just go." Even more hated would be the bastard who brings bluegrass down on the Connors. She realizes he's right and gets up to leave, only he makes a last-ditch attempt to turn this into a conjugal visit. "You're prettier than your picture," he says, giving her pause. He says his brother used to carry her snap for luck. "Who's your brother?" Sarah manages to say. BAG says it doesn't matter: "You don't know the Reese boys and you never will." Again, Sarah can barely get the words out: "'Reese boys'?" "Derek Reese," says BAG. "Brother's Kyle." Sarah looks like she swallowed a mosquito.
As Derek gets ushered away to his transfer, Sarah recaps the first Terminator movie in far fewer words than I could have ever hoped to. Meanwhile, the T-888 in cell D-10 decides he's had enough of confinement, and knocks open the door. He stomps over to cell C-7, and knocks that door in as well, but there's no one in there, which he could have seen if he'd bothered to look through the little window.
Derek's loaded up for his transfer, while his nephew makes his way through the halls at the end of the school day. He spots Cheri standing outside, and strolls over to say hello. "John, walk away," she says, not even looking at him. He's all, whuh? But she just says it again, and then walks over to a waiting car, glances over his shoulder, gets in, and rides away. John, she's pretty and all, but STAY AWAY. This will not go well. Morris strolls up. "Lock and key, bro. Lock and key," he says.
Then, Morris's eyeballs just about fall out of his head when Cameron walks up to say, "Mom's here." He slimily introduces himself as "your brother's new best friend," because there's nothing a girl likes more than when a weasely friend of her brother's can't stop panting in her presence. Besides, Morris, if you think John's "sister" is hot, wait until you meet Mom. John can barely suppress a smile. "Watch yourself. Just looking out for you," he says to Morris as they walk away and get into Sarah's waiting Jeep. "Field trip," announces Sarah. "I call shotgun," says John. "I call 9-millimetre," says Cameron. Heh.
Ellison's on the phone, checking on the ETA on his prisoner transfer. Hanging up the phone, he takes a pen and pointlessly circles the picture of Derek's forearm, with the barcode tattoo. But that's so we take note of it as we jump to inside the van, where Derek's putting the tattoo to more practical use: behind one of the large stripes in the bar code, under the skin, is a sliver of metal -- fucking awesome is all I have to say as he extracts it from his arm and uses it to pick the lock on his handcuffs.
Just at that moment, the Connormobile rolls up behind the prisoner van, and Cameron climbs up onto the back seat, and jumps onto the van. She climbs up onto the roof, then hops down onto the hood, prompting the driver to slam on the brakes. Cameron punches through the windshield and pulls the guard in the passenger seat out through the broken glass, tossing him to the pavement. Sarah and John pull up in front of the van, and Sarah tells John to follow them with the Jeep. They're going to take the van? Yeah, no way would driving a police van attract attention. She points her gun at the driver, and orders him out of the driver's seat.
Cameron opens the door to the hold, surprising Derek. When she does the telltale Terminator head-cock, Derek springs to his feet: "You metal bitch!" he spits, but Sarah, getting in the van, tells Derek Cameron's on their side.
They're going to need her, too, because running up the street like a BALCO athlete is the T-888. "Lose him," Sarah orders Cameron, tossing her some kind of automatic weapon (I'm not very good with guns; it's not a shotgun, not a handgun, and I'm sure if you hold the trigger down it will fire many bullets). Cameron fires off about a million rounds, which do nothing to slow the T-888. If automatic weapons won't stop him, maybe try closing the door! That's what Cameron does, as the van pulls away. The T-888 hops on the back and opens the door, and he gets a face full of Cameron's foot. They wrestle in the back, Cameron tossing the T-888 from side to side like a stuffed toy, but the force is sufficient to make the van veer from side to side. Cameron manages to slam the T-888 through the wall of the van, holding him so his torso is sticking out into the street. Sarah pulls over to a tractor-trailer, close enough so that the T-888 gets a completely different kind of buzzcut. Sparks fly. He reaches up with his hand, and a cable on the truck shears it off.
We got a great big convoy! Sarah pulls the van around a corner, John following. Derek and Sarah hop down from the van to get into the Jeep, and maybe somebody could explain why THEY DIDN'T JUST DO THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE. John doesn't want to go without Cameron, even though his mom is ordering him to. Oh, there she is -- getting thrown from the back of the van by the T-888, who then straddles her and starts whaling the shit out of her. Sarah fires off a few rounds from her gun, which is about as effective as poking a beehive. The T-888 gets up, holding a gun, and turns toward the Connor Crew. John and Sarah duck for cover. Derek stands there staring like he wants to get shot. The T-888 IDs him and prepares to terminate, raising his gun. As he fires, though, Cameron whacks him in the legs with a piece of pipe, and the shot goes wild. Still hits Derek, though. Cameron gets the T-888 on the ground and wraps the pipe around his head. "Bring me the toolbox!" she yells. John grabs it from the back of the Jeep, while Sarah comforts Derek, sinking to the ground. "Switchblade," says Cameron to John, who grabs it from the toolbox. Switchblade? What the hell kind of toolbox is this? She uses the knife to pry off a circular patch on the T-888's skull, and then pliers to unscrew and pull out a computer chip. The T-888's eyes wink out. Sarah stares at the chip.
Sarah and John carry a bloody Derek into the Connor Compound kitchen, and lay him down on the table. He won't let Cameron near him, which might be a first for Summer Glau. "Keep that thing away from me!" he yells. "Please stop moving. You're increasing your blood loss," she says. She puts her hands on his stomach, and her POV analysis says "Vital signs critical" and the cheery "expiration imminent." "I can't fix it," she says. He needs proper medical attention, which prompts Sarah to go grab her stun gun and head down to the nearby ER. "Anybody need anything while I'm out and KIDNAPPING DOCTORS?" "This is crazy, all right, even for you. It's insane," John tells her. We have to save him, she says. John wants to know what happens if she gets caught. "You don't even know who this guy is!" he says. "He's your uncle!" Sarah yells, adding that Derek doesn't know. Well, Derek didn't get shot in the ears, so I bet he knows now. John stares at her for a moment, then runs out the door.
Agent Ellison is on the scene of the worst prisoner transfer ever, talking to one of the van guards. "Two females, approximately five-six, a hundred and twenty pounds, overpower you and your partner, ambush your secure vehicle, and kidnap my prisoner. Is that an accurate summation of what happened out here today, officer?" Well, when you put it that way, of course it sounds bad! "Yeah," says the officer. Ellison walks away in disgust, muttering "five-six" to himself. He's about to get in his car, when he notices something. Over in the ditch, a severed hand. A severed hand, filled not with bone and sinew, but machinery.
Back at the Connor Compound, Sarah comforts a dying Derek, while Cameron sits at the table. Sarah's voiceover brings it right back around to the chess theme, and the whole chess tournament seems a million years ago at this point. She says the main difference between chess and war is that the rules of chess are constant. I would add that war also consists of people actually killing each other instead of just pushing pieces around a board. ["Seriously! I would not trust her as my ally in war. Or chess." -- Miss Alli] "You will never win the heart of a rook or the mind of a knight. They are deaf to your arguments. And so be it." At the table, Cameron picks up the broken pencil and starts writing. Sarah keeps blah-blahing about chess. Thankfully, the voiceover gets interrupted when Derek stops breathing. Oh, wait. That's bad.
Fortunately, just at that moment, John runs into the house, followed closely by Charley. He and Sarah stand and stare at each other for about five hours before Charley checks on the DYING GUY ON THE TABLE. If Derek doesn't make it, I hope that smouldering glance was worth it, you guys.