"Alpine Fields," the 12th, season two "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," uses the series' storytelling strengths to teach a valuable lesson about life and survival, especially as it relates to the future war against SkyNet.
It must be difficult to be constantly developing new ideas for a science fiction series such as "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" grounded in a relatively contemporary Los Angeles setting. There are only so many times, after all, that a human portraying a cyborg suffices to convey that the main characters are fighting a futuristic threat.
A continuing storytelling tool utilized is comparing the circumstances of their lives with those of people who do not know that an artificially intelligent computer network will one day trigger a nuclear holocaust. "Alpine Fields" does this by having Lena Headey's Sarah Connor and Sumer Glau's Cameron Phillips protect a family that is being hunted by a Terminator.
Using the aforementioned plot device in the episode allows Sarah to explain the premise of the TV series when she is explaining to the family why they are being chased by a machine.
In addition, the device provides her with the opportunity to make a temporary leg cast, use a door handle as an electric conductor and do things that few normal people know how to do.
Uniquely used in this instance, the device in "Alpine Fields" introduces normal characters into the mix to demonstrate how Sarah is perhaps not substantially different or worse than they are.
Anne (Rebecca Creskoff) in particular, the family's pregnant mother, is shown to have been involved in an extramarital affair that the threat of imminent death makes her realize was a mistake and that her children's survival is much more important in the long run. Whereas Sarah remembers this priority on a daily basis. Otherwise, she would be doing something as seemingly frivolous as making birdhouses.
Sarah relates most of this lesson to Anne's daughter Lauren (Samantha Krutzfeldt), who in many ways has to live out a life very similar to her incidental teacher's once the episode ends.
A parallel is made when Brian Austin Green's Derek Reese remembers Jesse (Stephanie Chaves-Jacobsen) telling him in the future that she was aboard a nuclear sub with a cyborg captain because none were left alive after Judgement Day, stifling his strong distrust of the machines.
Perhaps the lesson of the episode is that the frivolous details of life do not matter in the long run so long as it continues, and this is essentially how Sarah and her son live their lives. Though, Sarah mentions that this is not necessarily a happy way to live, but it works. Also that surviving through it all is natural and not as difficult as it might at first seem.
Jesse's story about Australian rabbits, Sydney's immunity, the restarted growing of vegetables in the post apocalyptic future drives this point home.
Aside from these storytelling tools, the episode offers interesting insight into the future war such as that it extends beyond American shores and that SkyNet fails to use psychological warfare against humanity.
Everything comes full circle in the end, making "Alpine Fields" an interestingly poetic addition to "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."
Popcorn rating:(4 1/2 out of 5 pieces)
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