"Know thyself and thou shall know all the mysteries of the gods and of the universe."

On a whim, I picked up Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles first season last week, for something to watch until the fifth season of NCIS came out Tuesday. There weren't but a handful of episodes in the first season, and it was relatively inexpensive. I wasn't expecting much, especially after the the forgettable third movie, but I was wrong. It was fantastic!

First of all, Summer Glau plays the same creepy/gorgeous chick we've all come to know her as; being typecast sometime works very, very well. And because this is a television show, there's not a lot of budget for over-the-top action scenes or cut-rate CGI, leaving plenty of time for good plot development. The stories were well-told and believable, falling just after the events of the second movie. And if you're like me, you were wondering just WTF the casting director was thinking with the milktoast dude they chose as John Connor in the third movie. While the actor in the series doesn't yet seem comfortable in his role (or even as a good actor) he does manage to pull off the duality of teen angst coupled with the global responsibility he carries.

Another treat was the score - during the first episode I paused it and closed my eyes; bringing an invisible baton up and recreating what I'd just heard. "Sounds like Battlestar." I said to my wife (with heavy Brad Fidel overtones, to be sure). She agreed and I was surprised to see that the composer was indeed, Bear McCreary! Bonus.

Now, this isn't Cameron's Terminator but I greatly enjoyed the pace of the show, the new characters, and the actors quickly grew on me. And with Summer Glau a prominent part of the cast, its a great watch and I thoroughly enjoyed it.