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“Terminator” and “Jericho”–Science Fiction as a Preparedness Motivational Tool

The new science fiction television show “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” [1] will premiere in the US on Sunday (January 13, 2008) at 8 p.m. (and will be repeated the following evening.) Thenceforth, it will air on Mondays at 9 PM.
I watched an early reviewers’ edit of the pilot episode, and I was impressed–particularly with the special effects. Oddly, I found the Terminatrix “Cameron” played by Summer Glau more captivating that the lead characters–Sarah Connor and her son John. (You may remember Summer Glau as “River Tam” from the short-lived but highly-acclaimed “Firefly” [2] television series and its spin-off “Serenity” [3] movie.) I also thought that Richard T. Jones [4] –who plays the FBI agent “Ellison” did a great job. In my opinion Jones absolutely nailed it with his delivery of his “Its the robots!” explanatory monologue. (The character name is doubtless an homage to sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison.)

All in all, the shows has a great cast. I hope that the script writing holds up as the series progresses. (Hopefully it won’t degenerate into one Terminator peril/chase and McGyvered escape after another.) I have hopes that this series (along with “Jericho” [5]), will in some small way help get people to “think outside the box” about the fragility of our modern society and motivate them to prepare for more inimical times. But perhaps I’m putting too much faith in the “bread and circuses” TV-viewing crowd. OBTW, for anyone that wants to chat about either series, there is both a The Sarah Connor Chronicles Yahoo Discussion Group [6] and a Jericho Yahoo Discussion Group. [7] Both of these are edited by a SurvivalBlog reader. Also BTW, I should mention that “Jericho” will return to the small screen on Tuesday, February 12th.