18 Years Later, This Sleeper Hit Sci-Fi Series Is Quietly Climbing the Streaming Charts

After all the subpar Terminator sequels to hit theaters in the past few decades, it’s easy to forget that there are other franchise installments out there that actually work. While the movies are often hit-or-miss, television has been one medium that has elevated the James Cameron-created concept to something more philosophically engaging than any of the action-focused sequels. One such series, in particular, has recently begun to chart on the Apple TV Store, proving that audiences are hungry to see the war against Skynet continue. If you guessed Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, you’re right on the money.

‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ Went Beyond the Typical ‘Terminator’ Plot

The two-season Terminator continuation hit Fox at a weird time. The first season aired in the midst of the Writers’ Strike of 2007-’08, only a few years after the previous film installment, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, tried and failed to recapture the magic of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Even stranger, another sequel, Terminator Salvation, was in the works at the same time The Sarah Connor Chronicles hit the network, so the program had a lot stacked against it from the get-go. But truth be told, the series is the best (and certainly the most creatively engaging) entry in the larger franchise after James Cameron’s initial two films. Rather than use its connections to T2 as a crutch, trying to endlessly recreate the 1991 classic as was the case with most sequels, The Sarah Connor Chronicles uses it as a stepping stone to build something new, something that none of the films were able to accomplish — and all without overly subverting what made The Terminator and that first sequel great in the first place.

The premise is quite simple: In the years after T2, Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) and her son John (Thomas Dekker) are on the run after their actions at Cyberdyne, at least until a new Terminator sent from the future, designated “Cameron” (Summer Glau), is sent back to the ’90s to protect them. Given John’s desire not to have to live in a post-apocalyptic future, Sarah convinces Cameron to take them forward in time to 2007 for another shot at stopping Judgment Day (now set for 2011) and ensuring that Skynet is never created in the first place. Instead of just repeating the same old antics, their world is made further complicated by FBI Agent James Ellison (Richard T. Jones) and Kyle Reese’s (Jonathan Jackson) previously unknown brother Derek (Brian Austin Green), who each threaten the Connors’ well-being by bringing new T-888s to their doorstep. With an expanded cast and a more complex mythology, The Sarah Connor Chronicles balances fan expectations with new creative avenues crafted just for the series.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles took great care to explore both Sarah’s psychological instability and John’s struggles in accepting his destiny. Headey played Sarah a bit differently from Linda Hamilton, trying to merge the two incarnations of the character from the first two films into a well-rounded, psychologically complex individual. She certainly succeeded, presenting a case study in what bleak news of the future can do to a mother who truly wants what’s best for her son. Likewise, the show is perhaps the greatest adaptation of John Connor, acting as a bridge between the kid we met in T2 and the soldier we know he may one day be. Issues of fate and whether one can change their intended path were woven intimately throughout while simultaneously offering answers to long-wondered questions about how the Terminator timelines work.

‘The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ Will Likely Never Return, but the Series Deserves High Praise

Unfortunately, The Sarah Connor Chronicles was cancelled before it had the chance to appropriately conclude its divergence in the larger Terminator timeline. The impromptu series finale, “Born to Run,” ends on a pretty big cliffhanger, though one could arguably work it out in their mind as to how it might work as a circular conclusion meant to bookend the tension between John’s fate and Sarah’s hopes. But no matter how you view it, the journey is worth undertaking. Too many Terminator sequels have either decided that John Connor is no longer relevant to the Future War against Skynet or that Sarah Connor’s sacrifices in preventing Judgment Day meant nothing, but The Sarah Connor Chronicles doesn’t fall into either of these traps. Instead, the Fox drama reminds us of the importance of these characters while still making them feel deeply human and relatable, no matter the apocalyptic stakes at hand.

When it comes to Terminator media, fans have been burned one too many times. It’s sadly just par for the course these days. While we eagerly await James Cameron’s anticipated return to the franchise, there’s truly no better time to revisit Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Even in light of the controversial ending, it’s one of the few post-T2 installments actually worth the effort.