TV Show Review

TV Show: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Season 2, Ep.4: Allison from Palmdale

I watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Episode 4 – Allison of Palmdale last night then watched it two or three more times later that evening after Prison Break and the season premiere of Life. A very exciting episode for T:SCC, full of action. I knew that modified voice interrogating Allison (Summer Glau) was Cameron. The fact that an aircraft carrier is being used by Terminators as a detention center is badass and bleak, especially when you consider that it is not being used as an offensive weapon by humans.

Allison from Palmdale was one of the better constructed T:SCC episodes I’ve seen in the series so far. A few logic hiccups aside, the flash backs (or flash forwards to be technical) were very well done during Cameron’s counseling sessions. A Terminator in counseling. Hilarious. That damaged CPU was a master stroke.

It’s unfortunate that Allison was unarmed in the future. You would think a Resistance fighter would have a rifle of some kind. It would have been cool to see her use on some Terminators before getting captured. The weakness of Allison from Palmdale were the Jodi and Cameron segments. All throughout these segments you are just waiting for more future scenes with Allison, future Los Angeles and the prison ship. I hope there are more segments with Allison in the future in T:SCC since she hasn’t been born yet as well as Cameron’s attempt to infiltrate Connor’s Camp before being reprogrammed.

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I didn’t like the cop-out at the end of Allison from Palmdale (by letting Jodi live) but I’m starting to get used to them. PC Terminators are not as interesting to watch as the killer variety. Oh, if only Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was on F/X or SpikeTV. And has anyone noticed that the phrase Terminator is not used. They are always referred to as machines.

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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