So I think someone will die next week. The producers of the show promised us a major character would die. On the podcast I speculated that the show could continue without John, but I don’t think it will really be him. So who do YOU think is fair game? Charley Dixon? John’s “Cat Fancy” girlfriend? Cromartie? The pregnant neighbor? Derek? Cameron?

This episode starts out with Ellison answering his door only to see… himself! Ut-oh. The Ellison at the door knocks down a terrified Ellison and aims his gun, but then something goes through the standing Ellison’s chest. It was a terminator and he was killed by Cromartie! Cromartie tells Ellison that SkyNet doesn’t believe in him like he does. He is sure Ellison will lead him to the Connors.

Meanwhile, the Connor trio of Sarah, John, and Cameron return home to find that their house has been robbed. Losing their money and diamonds is one thing, but the bigger problem is that their credit cards and IDs have been stolen. If that ends up getting to the police, it could attract undue attention. Cameron is particularly upset about her leather jacket being stolen. Ok, she isn’t upset, but she does mention it. Cameron tattles on John, saying Riley had visited and snuck out and it was she who did not set their alarm system. Sarah is justifiably upset with John over this security breach.
Sarah calls Derek because he’s not home or with them so where is he? He was sleeping with Jesse at a hotel but says he’ll be right there. This is the first time I’ve watched this show on a large HD tv so I notice that Derek has some pretty severe scars on his body. Ouch.

A quick setup scene at either the halfway house from a couple episodes ago shows that a woman is behind on scanning in recent photos of their residents and the next one in her stack is Cameron. As soon as it enters the database, it pops up on Cromartie’s computer and he heads straight there, claiming to be her uncle. Jody from the “Allison from Palmdale” episode is there and recognizes Cameron. She bears a grudge and tells Cromartie she knows her and will help him find her.
Ellison has another knock at his door and sees two police officers outside. Still rattled, he tests them on the latest football game and grudgingly opens up to them. They promptly arrest him for murdering a guy named Peter Meyers.

To track down their missing diamonds, Derek takes the fam to a diamond broker he knows named Moeshe. Moeshe mentions Derek’s friend Jesse. Cameron scans a diamond and says they are theirs. Moeshe doesn’t believe she can tell but in an attempt to avoid any trouble directs them at a man he says he got them from. Outside, Sarah asks Derek who Jesse is but Derek lies and says it was one of his dead resistance fighters.

Jody takes Cromartie to the grocery store she knows Cameron shops at. Cromartie very nearly comes face to face with John, who is doing the shopping with Riley, but Jody accidentally knocks over a pyramid of cans, distracting Cromartie at a critical moment. But he’s getting very, very close to John.
Ellison is placed in a police lineup and a witness fingers him. Ellison is interrogated by a police officer and figures out that his terminator twin must have murdered someone but he obviously can’t explain that one so he just asks for his lawyer.

Sarah, Derek, and Cameron track down the lead from Moeshe and it’s a crooked dentist. He makes a run for it but Cameron catches him. Sarah figures out that he’s not the guy that robbed them, just a guy that owes Moeshe. Sarah’s upset that Derek’s lead sent them out on a collection job but Derek says it’s because John’s not acting like the John he knows. Testy!

They head back to Moeshe and Cameron knocks his guard across the room and very nearly through the wall. They convince him to point them at the right person this time.

Cromartie and Jody are driving through their neighborhood and Cromartie is asking each person if they’ve seen Cameron. Jody is getting bored and whiny and Cromartie throws her out of the car. She’s lucky to be alive, not that she knows that.

Derek visits Jesse, who is enjoying the sun poolside. Derek warns her not to let Moeshe drop her name so freely. She convinces him to rub her down with suntan lotion. She sure is enjoying the pre-apocalypse. By the way, she’s in a bikini while Derek is wearing all his usual layers including jacket. There’s something about how wrapped up he is that shows how damaged he is. Jesse says she’s planning on watching the sunset and the two kiss. Awww.

Cromartie knocks on Kacy the Landlord’s door and says he’s looking for Cameron. Kacy says she doesn’t know her. Cromartie isn’t giving up so easily and comments on the house for rent behind hers. Kacy calls ahead and warns John, who is putting away the groceries with Riley. Cromartie knocks on the door and while John orders Riley not to do anything, she thinks she can get rid of a creepy guy and answers the door. John grabs a shotgun and hides behind a wall between the kitchen and living room. He slowly pumps it and the click makes Cromartie enter. Riley continues to tell Cromartie to get out as he enters the kitchen and scans the random photos (not of the Connors) on the fridge. He asks why she isn’t in any of them and she says she took them. Cromartie gives up and leaves.
Sarah and Cameron speak with the parents of the lead they got from Moeshe. The parents are disappointed in their layabout son who is a dreamer and does nothing. They’re grateful not to involve the police and tell the duo about how their son hangs out with his loser friends but that they don’t know where he is right now.

Catherine Weaver visits Ellison in jail and he insists he didn’t commit the crime. She asks him if he has anything to tell her that only she would believe and he says he does but not here. That’s enough for her to understand and she takes her leave.

Riley presses John on who Cromartie was but John reveals nothing, saying he won’t be back because that’s not how he works. She thinks she was a badass and eventually gets John to crack a smile and admit she is a badass.

Cameron and Sarah drive to the bowling alley and Cameron goes off on her odd interest in religion, talking about her favorite Bible passage, which involved guys getting mass circumcisions and then slaughtered. Before Sarah can even begin to formulate a response, she is called by the credit card company that someone tried to use her card at a nearby bowling alley. Cromartie also gets the update on the credit card that is used and heads there himself.

At the police station, the police officer interviews the witness of the murder by terminator-Ellison. He records the entire thing and gets the witness to describe the whole story, which of course includes an energy bubble forming and Ellison appearing out of nowhere. So which one is Catherine Weaver? I’m taking bets. About to reveal it a ways down.

The dude that stole from the Connors is bowling after hours with two of his buddies and tells them his awesome movie idea involving Abraham Lincoln having to fight zombies on his way to the Gettysburg Address. Sarah and Cameron, at gunpoint, demand their stuff back and get it. Sarah counts the shoes at the bowling counter and asks where their fourth friend is. She heads for the men’s room for him and Cameron shoots the other three dead, saying “They knew where we live.”

Sarah finds the fourth kid hiding in a bathroom stall. He’s younger, just a kid really. She hasn’t killed anyone yet, and she’s not prepared to start now. She’s hard though, telling him if he ever mentions seeing them or them being there, she’ll hunt him down and kill him. He agrees. Sarah tells Cameron there was no one else.

The police officer lets Ellison go, with his apologies. The witness was a nut. Outside, the police officer morphs into Weaver. She just got the witness to admit the ACTUAL story on tape which everyone will now assume is the rantings of a nut.

Ellison stops at his ex-wife’s house and stares at them having dinner. She comes outside and talks to him, trying to help. He admits that he misses his old life. I think he really misses his past when he didn’t know about robots, not her specifically.

Sarah confronts John over dating Riley and he argues for his right to a normal life. She says it’s her job to protect him and for the first time he says out loud that where was she when he had to kill Sarkissian. Yes, it’s true that John’s been distant and weird, but it’s because he had to kill someone with his bare hands and now that we understand where his angst is coming from, I don’t find it annoying. I feel for the guy. He was protecting his mother and had to do something awful.

Ellison has a meeting with Weaver. He feels like he’s being tested. Weaver asks if he knows the Bible’s story of Job. Of course Ellison does. A man who had everything taken from him by God except his life, but he kept his faith.

In the final epilogue, Cromartie has captured the kid at the bowling alley. Chances are, he’s going to get the kid to spill on where the Connors are.

Solid episode. Nothing to really complain about except I’d dig some more action scenes. I give it a 3 out of 5 terminator heads.

photo credit: dklimke