[X] My Assistant

[BookWyrm]

In the premier episode, the fem-terminator said her name was Cameron (no doubt a nod or dig to James Cameron)

[Kyrn]

My vote's on both a nod and a dig.

Decent series though. It's going to have to get really weird though. Time travel does that to a series.

[mfb]

i dunno, thus far it just feels like it's going through the motions. Lena and Summer are appropriately hot, Summer is appropriately quirky and badass, Skynet is doing appropriately bad things--it's all really predictable. the few interesting elements--John pushing to become the badass he's supposed to become, the mystery of what's so different about Cameron--have, so far, just been kinda folded in as plot elements.

[ Spoiler ]

regarding Cameron, for instance, both Sarah and John seem inexplicably uninterested in the major hooks she's dropped concerning what she knows about future-John. and John's wacky exploits in ep4--they're just kinda there. he came up with a solid plan, he made a few mistakes in executing it, he found out some interesting facts about how terminators work... but the script doesn't make any real reference to the process of learning he's going through. the characters, the plot, it's all just kinda flat.

[Spike]

mfb: Glad I'm not the only one who noticed the oddball shift in behavior on behalf of 'Cameron'... though I did miss ep 3... arg!

[Jame J]

I've watched this and liked it. The shift in Cameron's behavior both was kinda predicted (inconsistencies in earlier behavior) and is kinda lessening the impact of the show for me.

I'll still continue to watch it though. Summer Glau is quite cute.

[nezumi]

mfb: Glad I'm not the only one who noticed the oddball shift in behavior on behalf of 'Cameron'... though I did miss ep 3... arg!

http://www.fox.com/fod/player.htm?show=tscc

That said, I can't understand why these people know how to hotwire cars, but not how to pick locks.

[SoyKaf Adict]

I've watched this and liked it. The shift in Cameron's behavior both was kinda predicted (inconsistencies in earlier behavior) and is kinda lessening the impact of the show for me.

I'll still continue to watch it though. Summer Glau is quite cute.

Watch "Firefly" and the movie that came out for the series "Serenity." Summer Glau plays another interesting role, but the show is dynamite... Only it was canceled after the 13th episode, first season. So don't watch it if you like Fox as a channel.

[Ed_209a]

mfb: Glad I'm not the only one who noticed the oddball shift in behavior on behalf of 'Cameron'... though I did miss ep 3... arg!

It happened in the Pilot too.

Cameron is every bit the typical teenager until Cromartie pull the pistol. Then two full episodes of "Ahhhnold".

All they have to do is have her say that she has advanced personality simulation code, but she can't run it and her tactical code at the same time. So, she either flirts and gossips, or kills people, not both at the same time.

[Hocus Pocus]

i didn't get to watch all of it. my wife was switching back and forth between 3 shows. So on terminator looks like an actor or something? i'm getting lost.

[Ravor]

I don't know, other then when she was first introdiced I didn't think she was really that "human-like" in any of the episodes, but I might be missing something.

[Ed_209a]

You aren't. There was about 90 sec of "real girl", then utter deadpan from then on.

It is still very early in the series to comment on character interaction.

Cameron has already lasted longer as a plot object than any other terminator. All 3 Arnies were destroyed after just a few days. Ditto the Lokken and Patrick terminators. Perhaps with extended human contact, she will become human-like, not just act human-like.

[Shrike30]

That said, I can't understand why these people know how to hotwire cars, but not how to pick locks.

I could teach someone off the street how to hotwire most cars and explain why and how it works in about five minutes. Picking locks is a fiddly finger skill that takes a while to learn.

It's worth noting that when you're hotwiring a car, you're bypassing the part that involves a key... which you could, in theory, pick.

[Backgammon]

After last show's foreshadowing, I will bet you anything John and Cameron end up accidentaly buildin skynet. Appropriately ironic, in a "Fox Network no imagination" sort of way.

[hyzmarca]

I could teach someone off the street how to hotwire most cars and explain why and how it works in about five minutes. Picking locks is a fiddly finger skill that takes a while to learn.

It's worth noting that when you're hotwiring a car, you're bypassing the part that involves a key... which you could, in theory, pick.

That depends on the lock. A tubular lock, such as that found on drink machines and arcade games, can be picked by taking a Bic pen apart, shoving the body into the lock, and turning it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9bN0zfMFW4

[nezumi]

I could teach someone off the street how to hotwire most cars and explain why and how it works in about five minutes. Picking locks is a fiddly finger skill that takes a while to learn.

It's worth noting that when you're hotwiring a car, you're bypassing the part that involves a key... which you could, in theory, pick.

Not in any car newer than about... 1992. Since then they've changed the electronics because, well anyone off the street can hotwire a car. Now to hotwire it you have to be able to move the engine block. Since I don't generally see a lot of cars around that are older than 15 years, there's a certain amount of suspension of disbelief.

A car lock is a double-sided wafer lock. I've never picked one myself, but I understand it's reasonably difficult (which is why if you call a lock-out, the person who responds will almost never use that option). This is compounded by the fact that most medium to high-end new cars use the car transponders, which require the appropriate, encoded RFID chip in addition to the key to open. It is possible to spoof that, but not with a set of lock picks.

However, the lock that John used on the bunker appeared to be a standard, low-grade wafer lock (I'm a little surprised myself, I would have figured that a lock on a nuclear bunker would, at minimum, use a high-end medecco with the side-bar. Now that is a sucker to pick.)

That depends on the lock. A tubular lock, such as that found on drink machines and arcade games, can be picked by taking a Bic pen apart, shoving the body into the lock, and turning it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9bN0zfMFW4

Not any more. Most vending machine owners realized 'hey, people can pick these locks with a bic pen!' and have since upgraded. The vending machines at my office both have the tri-lock (I know I misquoted the company name) which are pretty tough to pick. I haven't tried it for obvious reasons, however. I picked the circular lock on my computer fairly easily (although since I winged it and don't actually have a circular pick, it was not as fun when I realized I had to pick it again to close it and be able to insert it in my computer). The standard ones, including what you see on steering wheel locks, are great fun and I highly recommend them for any starting lock-picker, since they illustrate how tumblers work very well, but the ones beyond anything holding money is almost always going to be far more secure and a serious pain to pick. Of course, if your machine is ten years old though...

[apollo124]

You aren't. There was about 90 sec of "real girl", then utter deadpan from then on.

It is still very early in the series to comment on character interaction.

Cameron has already lasted longer as a plot object than any other terminator. All 3 Arnies were destroyed after just a few days. Ditto the Lokken and Patrick terminators. Perhaps with extended human contact, she will become human-like, not just act human-like.

I'm thinking that she may not just be "human-like" but actually incorporate more actual human organs and such. I mean other than just the artificial skin that they need to time travel. That's my guess on the whole "eating a potato chip" thing in the pilot episode. I do wish she would shift back into "real girl emulation" mode. She's a lot cuter that way.

[Ed_209a]

I'm thinking that she may not just be "human-like" but actually incorporate more actual human organs and such.

You certainly could be right, but from the POV of designing a more convincing infiltration droid, it is mechanically much simpler to just store food, compress it then excrete it. That gives you two more convincing human behaviors.

Sure, it's poo would still look and smell like food, but who actually checks poo?

[hyzmarca]

You certainly could be right, but from the POV of designing a more convincing infiltration droid, it is mechanically much simpler to just store food, compress it then excrete it. That gives you two more convincing human behaviors.

Sure, it's poo would still look and smell like food, but who actually checks poo?

Food would be necessary to maintain the living skin.

[Backgammon]

Cameron builds skynet. Called it. You'll see.

[mfb]

ep5 is definitely an improvement over the last few eps.

[ Spoiler ]

the last few eps have been severely lacking in the cool plot department. killing off the computer geek was a nice twist, and the Reese brother was an even better one. neither of them were, y'know, anything close to the level of (say) Heroes season 1, but at least it's a sign of life.

[Backgammon]

[ Spoiler ]

OMG, they blew up Summer Glau so they can make the next season without her if she argues about salary too much! They can just say she has a new skin job, new actress, bam. That's fucking dirty. Good last 2 episodes though.

[nezumi]

[ Spoiler ]

Okay, I gotta admit, holding the little girl hostage and using that as a distraction to nail the bad guy in front of her was very shadowrunny. I approve![/quote]

[Jeremiah Legacy]

Response to Backgammon's spoiler

[ Spoiler ]

Possibly. But I checked the producer's blog, and this episode was not supposed to be the season finale. It ended up that way because of the writer's strike.

[Ravor]

Wouldn't be the first time that a series had planned on trading talent from the very begining either...

[Drogos]

I wil be very upset if they replace her. She was the only thing that peeked any interest from me.

Long Live Firefly...damn dirty bastards!!!!