No Fate But What We Make

My Soon to be Sent Letter to FOX -

To Whom It May Concern,

First off, let me congratulate you on another excellent season of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles." I think you know by now that it is one of the best written, acted, and directed shows on television. It is genuinely without parallel, and I am happy to see it has been nominated for some major Saturn Awards. Season two has consistently offered up an incredible mix of action and mystery and drama, and the season finale was most certainly one of the best hours to grace network television in years.

But more to the point, the finale was a mind-blowing cliffhanger which I and countless other fans do not want to be the final exclamation point for the series. That would be a tragedy not only to the people who make the show and have poured everything they have into it, but for those of us who love it as well. I know there has been a lot of talk of cancellation due to the low ratings that seem inevitable when a show moves to Friday night, but this program is simply too good to lose. And the fans who are scrambling to make online petitions and video polls and firing emails your way by the thousands obviously feel the same way.

It is somewhat ironic that the show features an underground resistance movement in the future that is vastly outnumbered and outgunned by an army of relentless machines determined to snuff the burning flame of what's left of humanity out of existence when we fans of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" feel much the same way. Only in this real life scenario, we are worried that our favorite show is going to be snuffed out simply because not enough people are watching it, regardless of the seamless quality and incredible story-telling it offers up week after week. From such a vantage point, I suppose it was inevitable that we would have to form our own resistance to keep it on the air.

Of course, we are doing more than resisting the cancellation of our favorite television show. We're simultaneously resisting a corporate agenda that dictates mindless reality shows are easier and less expensive to produce and shove on the air waves, so that's just what we're going to have to watch. We're resisting a network mindset that is largely dominated by outdated Nielsen ratings and the like. And first and foremost, we are resisting a machine mentality that insists on boiling everything down to numbers and decimal points and quantity.

The relentless march of a world ruled by numbers is really what is at stake here, not to mention a life that is perpetually threatening to become nothing but one long, never-ending assembly line. If we as television viewers and you as television producers refuse to at least consider the quality of a show regardless of the quantity of eyeballs watching said show, then the machines have already won. There's no need for Judgment Day and exploding bombs, because the machine mentality has already subverted much of what it means to be human. For to be human means to recognize a kind of ineffable, incalculable creativity at the very heart of things, a sort of poetry that refuses to be pinned down and quantified.

Joseph Campbell found much of this poetry in the world of myth. He realized that myths were the stories told since the dawn of time and that, far from being simply outdated scientific theories about the world and the universe, they contained within them the inner drama of the human race. Myths explore the questions too deep to explore through other mediums, questions about life and death, birth and time, dreams and reality. In short, the very themes that are the main ingredients behind the saga that is "The Sarah Connor Chronicles."

In the opinion of the resistance, this is one of the few programs to deal with such things in a properly mythic context. Despite the technological wonders of time travel and sentient robots, "Sarah Connor" is a tale as old as civilization. It is the tale of the hero's journey, a journey we all make, only it is powerfully dressed in the postmodern metaphors that best reflect our dreams and nightmares about the world we now inhabit. Trips to the underworld may have been replaced by odysseys into the dark future, and tricksters of old may have been replaced by shape-shifting liquid metal robots, but at its ancient root it is the story of a family with an epic, world-shattering destiny.

It is also a multi-dimensional love story that bridges the past, the present, and the future. It echoes across a war-torn timeline, exploring the love between a parent for a child, between brothers, between man and woman, and even, perhaps, between man and machine. Despite the perils and pitfalls lurking in a mercurial future that constantly shifts like the sands, it cites love in all its myriad forms as the redeeming, regenerative energy that makes humanity something worth saving.

And love is not only the powerful force inside the context of the series, it is also the basis for the art that has created the series itself.

Yes, we do consider "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" to not only be an art, but a remarkable blending of multiple art forms. Look no further than the fabulous musical montages in episodes like "What He Beheld," "Samson and Delilah," and "Adam Raised a Cain." It is here where choreography, cinematography, sound, editing, and directing come together with all the force of something one would expect to see in a movie theater.

Of course, the writing on the show is some of the smartest out there, a remarkable balancing act of just the right amount of personal drama and epic excitement. It is very literary, with even the names of episode titles ranging from Robert Graves to Virginia Woolf to the book of "Genesis." Just top notch storytelling that leaves so much to the imagination and so much good food for the intellect to graze on. This show weaves a fabulous tapestry of philosophy and art and religious symbolism, when it could have just been robots exploding every week.

All of this is brought to life through the incredible talents of a cast without peer. We honestly haven't seen an ensemble this gifted on network television in ages. There really is too much to be said about all of them.

Lena Headey owns the role of Sarah Connor, evoking not only the mother goddess of old who gives birth to the world savior but blends that perfectly with the strong, independent modern woman. She is a character capable of surviving anything yet still desperate to maintain her own innate humanity. Thomas Dekker likewise brings such weight and gravitas to the role of John Connor it is astounding, particularly in a performer so young. His performance is so measured and thoughtful, balancing both the teenager he is now with the man he is going to ultimately become. And Summer Glau as Cameron, the terminator send back in time to protect him, has been simply superb in every single scene since the pilot. The role of Cameron is by definition a terribly difficult one to play, as it is shrouded in mystery and an almost alien agenda that we don't really understand. Through a careful mix of quirky mannerisms and comments, Glau has succeeding in making her character one of the most intriguing of any that has ever appeared on television. The camera simply adores her, and she alone is reason enough to tune in every week.

Yet because of the unique nature of this series, Summer Glau has also played more than one character. By some counts, she plays as many as four different versions of herself in the phenomenal "Allison from Palmdale," an episode which should have earned her an Emmy. And the surprise stand-out since season one has also been Brian Austin Green, who plays Derek Reese, a rough and tumble war veteran from the future. Again, his performance in the equally powerful "Goodbye to All That" was equally deserving of an Emmy. Richard T. Jones has been solid from the pilot episode, emanating pure magnetism in every scene he's in. And this may have been Shirley Manson's first real acting job, but her role as an ambiguous T-1000 has been consistently creepy and fascinating. Not to mention Garrett Dillahunt, who began as the murderous terminator Cromartie and evolved into the innocent, childlike John Henry who spends most of his time playing with "Bionicles." He's also become a fan favorite.

Quite frankly, once you start complimenting all the cast and crew of this show, it is very difficult to stop. And I would like to give one final shout-out to Josh Friedman, who has done a great job creating and producing a show that is so rich and fertile and has so much to say about the human condition. Probably in the hands of just about anyone else, season two would have devolved into one long chase scene with killer robots hounding our protagonists at every turn, but I am very glad to say it evolved into something so much more layered than that.

I truly hope Josh gets all the accolades he deserves for this one day.

So obviously, we absolutely love and adore this show, and we believe it deserves a place on airwaves that are becoming increasingly cluttered with the flotsam of silly sitcoms and rancid reality programming. Otherwise, there is simply going to be no reason for people who enjoy complicated characters and engaging storylines to ever turn on a television program at all. Countless people purchase this program on iTunes, watch it online, and are planning on re-buying it when it comes out on DVD, yours truly included.

And might I also add that most of them do not have Nielsen boxes plugged up to their television sets, also yours truly included.

But speaking of the frustration over the ratings, we of the resistance are mostly unsympathetic to such things. It doesn't matter in the slightest that the next crop of super popular reality shows will probably be stuff like "Who Wants to Survive on an Island With Schizophrenic Stars from the Seventies" or "Marry a Millionaire Amputee Bachelorette for a Day." Nor will it matter that they are easy to produce, cheap to make, and score huge in the ratings. While they may have their place, they speak to nothing deep and lasting inside us.

Shows such as "Dancing with the Stars" or the imminent "Pole Vaulting across Alligator-Filled Lagoons With the Stars" may score twenty million viewers a week while "Sarah Connor" only gets three and a half million or so, but that's neither here nor there. We don't care if the probably soon-to-be-produced "Eating Salad with the Stars" wins thirty million viewers a week, or fifty million a week, or even a hundred million viewers a week, it still is not saying anything to the human condition. It simply cannot compare with the kind of mythic, archetypal stories like those on "Sarah Connor," stories that make you feel and think and wonder at the possibilities of the human imagination.

And on a side note, isn't three and a half million viewers a LOT of people? Honestly, how many viewers do you need? Simply congratulate yourselves for having three and a half million of the most intelligent, dedicated viewers in the country, and leave it at that.

In closing, we can only stand and respectfully ask for a third season of "The Sarah Connor Chronicles." Josh Friedman only has two more seasons planned out anyway, and so many really and truly want to see his vision fulfilled. So we very much implore you not to let this show die, to let quality win out over quantity just this once. If not, well, thank you for two excellent seasons, and keep in mind that many people liked the first few episodes of this show only to stop watching because they feared they would get too attached to it and then it would be canceled anyway. Pity, but perhaps they were right.

Until then, though, we will keep fighting and, in the eloquent words of Dylan Thomas, "Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light." Or in the words of Sarah Connor herself in the pilot episode, until then "It's gonna be one helluva dogfight."

Thank you so much for your time,

Paul F. McDonald

A "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" Fan


So yes, if anyone has read this far, let's please, please get a season three for "The Sarah Connor Chronicles." Buy the show on iTunes, download episodes on FOX, and pre-order those DVDs. A decision will not be made until May 18th regarding the fall line-up, but we do not want to lose this one the way we lost "Dark Angel" and "Firefly." And besides, whatever they replace it with they'll just cancel anyway, so why not leave it on?

Please write letters and sign petitions and do everything you can. Tell them how you feel. Let them know you love the show. Feel free to even print off my letter and send it in with my name attached, or better yet write your own. Just make it from the heart. Here are some addresses -

FOX Broadcasting
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
10201 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035

WB
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
4000 Warner Blvd
Burbank CA 91522

Or email them at: askfox@fox.com c/o Fox President Kevin Reilly
Scott.Rowe@Warnerbros.com

You can also keep up with all "Sarah Connor" news at the awesome official blog-

www.fox.com/blogs/terminator

Also, don't forget to listen to the best "Sarah Connor" podcast around with the ever-great Steve and Derek, Skynext -

www.skynextpodcast.com

There is even a video petition that you can burn and send it copies to FOX on YouTube. This is awesome.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntjOODNKGyc

And last but not least, "Sarah" is in the lead at this EOnline poll, but it couldn't hurt to run over and vote one or two or six times -

"http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/watch_with_kristin/b107874_save_one_show_help_your_fave_see.html"

And just to remind you of why this show is so awesome, here's that wonderful four minute trailer for the last half of season two that was shown at Wondercon -

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid14602162001?bclid=14539929001&bctid=14624346001

Remember, there is No Fate But What We Make.