Season 2 picks up right where the abbreviated season 1 left off, just after a bomb goes off in Cameron's Jeep. Considering how indestructible the Terminators have proven to be from their very first iteration, it wasn't much of a cliffhanger to assume that she's going to survive a rinky-dink explosion that barely singes her clothes. It seems to scramble her circuits somewhat, enough to give supposedly the real Sarkissian and a heretofore-unseen-henchman time to burst into the Connor compound and take Sarah and John as prisoners while they look for the computer John was hacking.
Rather overdoing the slow-motion dialogue-free action sequence, Cameron hobbles into the house and takes out one baddie downstairs while Sarah and John free themselves upstairs, John killing Sarkissian. While spilled kerosene ignites, Cameron walks in on Sarah and John, identifies John, and she now apparently thinks her mission is to terminate him. Before she can, however, the house's nitroglycerin storage unit explodes, knocking Cameron down and giving the Connors an opportunity to run for it.
Elsewhere, remember, Chrome Artie is declining to execute Agent Ellison after laying waste to the FBI's finest in a motel courtyard (and probably ruining Ethel Johnson of 4D's upcoming weekend pool party in the process), and Charley is arriving on scene just in time to stand around looking even more stunned than usual.
Afterwards, an FBI agent gets Ellison to identify the body of the real Lazlo as the shooter, while wondering how a "mope" like that took out twenty of their best agents. Charley can't believe Ellison wants them to believe this mope was responsible. "They gonna believe a machine from the future stole his identity and did it?" is Ellison's response. He may have a point. He apologizes to Lazlo's corpse for having to shoulder the blame. Lazlo's corpse seems indifferent.
John and Sarah have managed to steal a minivan that doesn't seem to handle very well, but then again the testers probably never put it through the "flee from an unstoppable killing machine" test. John appears to be shell-shocked and isn't answering his mom as she yells at him to find out if he's OK. She takes her eyes off the road and hits a car, which finally wakes John up, and they turn the accident into a literal hit and run, with John limping, thanks to a gash he suffered when jumping through a Connor Compound window. And elsewhere, not attracting attention at all, is Cameron, bloodied and hobbling down the street.
Charley is back out driving his ambulance again. Wow -- for having been an apparent eyewitness to a murderous rampage, the FBI didn't make him stick around too long, did they? His scanner squawks out some information about a fire at the Connor Compound, and he flicks on the siren and heads over to get in everyone's way. He's relieved to see the charred corpses aren't the Connors, and then happens upon Derek Reese, who, posing as a firefighter somehow, has snuck into the back of the ambulance. Derek fills him in on the search for the bad-ass chess-playing piece of tech known as the Turk. The radio comes to life again, saying something about a stolen vehicle and a hit and run. Charley listens intently, but Derek points out that Sarah could be anywhere. Charley points out that his is a special scanner, one that only alerts him to relevant plot points.
They pull away in the ambulance behind a reporter already doing a live report. The same kind of live report that was NOT happening at a scene where twenty FBI agents were killed, despite much more time having elapsed.
But the report from the Connor Compound has to be on the television screen of one Shirley Manson, who's on the phone with a "Mr. Walsh," asking him if he has it. He does, and it's a "modest little mouse" for $300,000, in his opinion, so it better be able to checkmate Bobby Fischer. Shirley Manson's not interested in his opinion, and tells him so. They arrange to meet in an hour, once Mr. Walsh is satisfied he's "clean," and Manson signs off by telling him, "Bobby Fischer's dead." Mr. Walsh stares at his phone, all "I was just kidding, you moron."
Manson, in her fancy-pants office, buzzes an apparent secretary and orders a meeting of department heads for tonight. "But, ma'am, Justin Tuck is in Palm Springs for the long weekend," says the assistant. Manson waits. "I'll get him back," sighs the assistant.
Having figured out that robotically limping down the street isn't much use in finding the Connors, Cameron stops off in a little corner store for some baby wipes to clean her face. And a staple gun for some impromptu facial surgery. Not too concerned about attracting attention, is she? Meanwhile, Derek and Charley are at the scene of the car accident, finding out that two people fitting the Connors' description are heading south. They pull out. Cameron watches them go.
The Connors hobble, walking wounded. Cameron hobbles, which is understandable, since she was not shut down properly. She should probably check her hard drive for potential problems.
Sarah and John crash a baptism, and they look so awful that the priest rushes over, presumably to perform the last rites. He asks if they need a hospital, and Sarah tells him they need sanctuary. "We need someplace to hide, now." The priest agrees, and also agrees to kick out the poor couple who only want to ensure their child's soul does not burn in hell for all eternity.
Derek and Charley, stuck in traffic, enjoy some male bonding, consisting mainly of Derek acting like an ass and making fun of Charley for wanting to "join the team." Charley snaps that he's married, and loves his wife. "So you say," says Derek. Charley insists he just wants to know the Connors are OK, and if they're not, he'll make them so. You know, like he did for that ingrate Derek.
Cameron spots some fresh blood on the street, analyzes it just by looking at it, and heads off with renewed purpose.
Mr. Walsh meets with Shirley Manson, who tells him his money will be in his account in thirty minutes. Why half an hour? Because that's how long it will take for Shirley Manson's diatribe, in which she marvels at the orderliness of the pedestrians below her, and talks about how up close, individuals don't follow the rules, unlike computers, which will rigidly follow the rules they are given. But it's rare to find a computer that'll cross against the light.
Over at the church, Sarah is glaring out the window at anyone else who might want to come in, and then she presses John into a chat about how the explosion has flipped a switch in Cameron. John's worried because Cameron knows everything about their contingency funds, aliases, etc. "We have to kill her, John," says Sarah, and John angrily yells, "I know!" and stabs this wee little paring knife into the table. I think you're going to need a bigger knife, John.
Over at the FBI, Ellison's being debriefed by a superior who dances around some of the problems with the facts as outlined in Ellison's report, chiefly that a) Lazlo had previously been cleared as a suspect in multiple murders, and b) that Ellison doesn't really know a lot of the details of the assault at the motel, including, crucially, how he survived. The FBI wants him to take six weeks' paid leave. Ellison is reluctant, and I hope in vain for a "You're off the case!" "No, you're off your case!" exchange.
Cameron's tracked the blood trail to the church, where she tries out an unconvincing looking-for-my-family story on the skeptical priest. He tells her there's no one there, and she firmly says she's going to look around. He follows the blood droplets to a font covered with a towel. Submerged is an alarm clock, which is then plugged in by a hiding John and Sarah. Cameron, zapped, falls over, and Sarah and John spring into action, while the completely horrified priest looks on. While John fiddles with Cameron's head, Sarah tells the priest to go away. He does, but John's not able to shut Cameron down in time, and the Connors flee just ahead of Cameron waking up.
They steal a Jeep as Cameron slowly strolls out into the middle of the street behind them, and then, after John and Sarah zip around a whole lot, Cameron manages to wind up in front of them as they try to head into a drainage culvert (because John thought it worked so well in T2?). Cameron swipes at the Jeep as it passes by, causing it roll over.
After coming to, John reluctantly, as per Mama Connors' orders, skedaddles, as Cameron limps towards them. Sarah painfully pulls herself from the overturned Jeep, and Cameron orders her to call to John. Sarah refuses, and Cameron realizes that's a dumb plan anyway, and continues after John, easily swatting Sarah aside.
John stumbles into a warehouse and hides behind a cargo truck. Cameron follows, and turns on her infrared, but not her super-hearing, as she can't hear John scuffling around and grunting. John hops into a truck and tries to hotwire it, giving away his location. Cameron hobbles over, helping herself to a massive wrench and then chucking it through the windshield after John gets the truck started.
Just then, Sarah comes roaring into the warehouse, having already come to, found a truck and sussed out the situation inside. She slams into Cameron and pins her between the grilles of the trucks. John scrambles out the windshield to deactivate the immobilized Cameron, and it takes him half an hour to do so because Cameron begs him not to do it. She claims to have run a test, and she's fine now. She says she's sorry, and turns on the waterworks. And when that doesn't work, she tells John she loves him. John finally pulls out her chip, which is going to make things awfully awkward. I've been there, man. Tell someone you love them, and they deactivate you. Classic. I recommend Disintegration by the Cure.
Derek examines a prone Cameron, and goes over to commiserate with Sarah, being tended to by Charley. Seems Sarah finally got around to giving Unky Derek a call. Finding out John's been witness to (and participant in) some traumatizing events lately, Derek wanders over to have a heart-to-heart with his nephew, mainly consisting of "I told you robots are no good." "She was different," says John, meaning "hot." "She's not different," says Derek. John insists that there's physical damage to her chip, which means she can be repaired. "I need her. She saved my life," he says.
Derek gives up, so Mom comes in to be the good cop and tell John she's proud of him for what he's done today. But she can't let him try to fix Cameron. "So burn her," says a cold John. "Let's get the hell out of here."
They get the hell out of there, but with Cameron strapped down in the ambulance instead of a pile of charred ashes. John fiddles with Cameron's chip while Sarah tells him that everything Cameron told him was a trick. "They don't have feelings. They don't know love." "I know that, Mom," he says.
So I guess he gives up? Because now Derek is preparing Cameron's body for burning. He asks John for the chip, and John folds her hands over her stomach, and places the chip between her fingers. He asks for the flare, but when he gets it, he pulls the chip from Cameron's fingers and inserts it in her head, pulling a gun on the rest of the crew to keep them from stopping him. "She'll kill you!" yells his Mom. "There's only one way to find out," says John, which might be one of the dumbest things the future savior of all mankind could say.
Cameron opens her eyes and sits up. She looks at John, pointing the gun at her. "Are you here to kill me, John?" she asks. He says no. Which is lucky for her, because that gun would totally stop her, right? He asks if she's going to kill him. "No," she says. He gives her the gun and says, "Promise." We watch her analysis overlay as TERMINATE flashes red on her screen as she looks at him, followed by "Termination Override" in white. She gives him back the gun. "Promise," she says. Yeah, for NOW, you idiot. He tosses the gun back to his mom and then uses the flare to ignite the thermite anyway, totally wasting it.
It's dark. Ellison pointlessly stares at the former Connor Compound, when Chrome Artie strolls up. "I'll never lead you to her," says Ellison, adding that if that's why Chrome Artie left him alive, he might as well just kill him right now. "I'll never do the devil's work," he adds. "We'll see," says Chrome Artie, creepily, and he strolls off.
Shirley Manson strolls up to the assembled department head meeting to announce the creation of a new department that will cross disciplines and require hard work from each of their groups. One department head -- the vacation-missing Justin Tuck -- gripes about how he doesn't have a man to spare in the AI division, meaning either artificial intelligence or (and I cheerfully admit that this is implausible) American Idol. "Your department will be hard-hit," says Manson amiably, adding that the new project will be called Babylon. Wow, a surprise Bible reference. Tuck wants to know what Babylon will do, besides steal team members. "It'll change the world," says Manson. Seems to me that this meeting could have been handled with a group e-mail, but I guess that's why I'm not the head of some vague high-tech operation.
Back at the church, Derek has managed to sneak in and out of the former Connor Compound without being noticed by the FBI or the Terminator, for some supplies that'll mean they don't have to start completely from scratch. "Wouldn't be the first time," says Sarah, like THANKS FOR RISKING YOUR LIFE AND ALL. Derek tells her she's made too many sandwiches, because Charley took off: "Guess he really does have a wife."
Sarah strolls into the nave to see Cameron staring at the massive crucifix. "Do you believe in the Resurrection?" she asks Sarah. "Would you if you'd seen what I've seen?" asks Sarah. Cameron says faith isn't part of her programming. "I'm not sure it's part of mine, either," says Sarah.
She turns to go, and Cameron tells her not to let John do that again. "If I ever go bad again, don't let him bring me back." Sarah doesn't say anything, even though Cameron's preaching to the choir.
Sarah knocks on the bathroom door with some clothes and food for John. He calls out that he'll be out soon. She says she needs him to know that everything they did today just happened the way it did. "And there's nothing we can do to change it," she says. "Whatever happened, we're alive, OK? We're alive." She says she knows he needs more from her right now, but that's all she's got. She asks if he's listening.
All dramatically we see tufts of hair in the sink. John's cut his hair! He's totally serious now! He's got to focus on protecting humanity, and if that means his My Chemical Romance tribute band goes on hiatus ... well, everyone has to make sacrifices. Happy birthday, John.
Justin Tuck and one other dorky-looking department head are in the men's room, with Tuck complaining about never knowing what Shirley Manson's on about, with her Zen koans and Bible quotes. All delivered in her adorable light Scottish brogue. The other department head points out that their options have tripled since she took over the company. He leaves Tuck alone to use the urinal. "God, that bitch pisses me off," he complains. Only the urinal morphs into some liquid metal right before his eyes, taking the form of Shirley Manson.
He's understandably nonplussed. "Sorry I piss you off, Mr. Tuck," she says, but between you and me, I don't think she means it. She points at him, and her finger morphs into a poker that she rams through his skull. "The feeling's mutual," she says, as his corpse slumps to the floor.
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