How 'The Sarah Connor Chronicles' Would Have Continued…

Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles was one of my favorite shows ever. That could be due to the fact that I have a great affinity for the Terminator mythology. This is after all like the 10th article I’ve written with the word TERMINATOR in it. Among those is included my May 18th piece about the future of the franchise prior to Salvation.

In that article I made it clear I thought the show was superior to the 3rd movie, and at that time still had hope that the SCC would be renewed for a 3rd season. FOX has since canceled it, pissing me off again. And while this time may not have been as egregious as the cancelation of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT a few years back, there was still a substantial fan outcry to save this. In fact, in E!’s annual poll of shows on the bubble that deserve to be saved, SCC won by a large margin. It pulled in 53% of the vote, beating out the other 13 shows on the list. CHUCK came in 2nd with only 25% of the vote. Both of those shows are now gone, however 3rd place DOLLHOUSE, which got a 10% share was renewed for another season.

 
And apparently the fans aren’t the only ones who wanted it to continue…

James Middleton, Executive Producer of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, says that he remains passionate about continuing the story in another format, but does not want to get anybody’s hopes up. Middleton had producing credits on both the series and the TERMINATOR SALVATION.

"I feel like I don’t want to raise anybody’s expectations about what’s going to happen with those characters," Middleton said in a phone interview. "I can tell you that I love those characters. I use a business term, and it sort of belies my emotional investment in these characters, but they are a great franchise asset. My passion for them is not diminished at all, and I’ll just leave it at that."

(SPOILERS – If you haven’t seen the 2nd season, waiting for DVD)

The season finale, which became the series finale, John Connor travels to the future, where familiar faces such as Derek Reese do not recognize him.

"It was a great way for us to end the season, but we would have liked to have continued," Middleton said. "There’s no doubt about it. We liked making that show, and we all worked together really well, but the really great thing we can look back on is we’ve got 31 episodes of really good television. That’s something we can be proud of forever. That’s what we’ll have to take away from it."

One theory about the ending is that by leaping to the future, John Connor never grew up to become the leader of the human resistance. That would free him of the burden of saving humanity.

"I think that that’s the right interpretation, because in the actual footage of the show, we see that Derek doesn’t recognize him," Middleton said. "So, by jumping into this future, he has erased his existence in a certain way, and we see that. We see that nobody recognizes him."

Middleton added that leaping to the future changes John Connor’s fate.

"We would have to have explored that if we did get a third season," he said. "If we had gotten a third season, I should say, we definitely would have explored what it all meant, but I think there’s a great moment where we see Allison [Summer Glau], and John’s look to her is very meaningful. I think that also would have been a great thing in terms of dramatic potential. Like I said, the show has ended, and it would all be speculation, and I really don’t want to raise anybody’s expectations."

Whatever becomes of the Sarah Connor Chronicles timeline, Middleton wanted to leave fans with happy thoughts:

"The thing that I would say to you, and I’m sure [show runner] Josh [Friedman] would echo this, is we so much appreciated our fans’ enthusiasm for these characters," he said. "My enthusiasm for them is undiminished, and it will always be that way."

Now if you skipped the above section Middelton basically just says he would like to continue but that it doesn’t seem likely which saddens me. I was really hoping for the Sci-Fi Channel to pick this up to replace BSG or something. I had heard before that the show was relatively cheap to film and could make for a good Direct to DVD series of movies. Here’s hoping something comes of it…

The 2nd season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles drops on DVD Sept. 22, which I for one will be buying.