Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
FOX | Release Date: January 13, 2008
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
23
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
Season 1 Review: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" begins as an intense, thoughtful, exciting, fun spectacle. The first episode will kick your ass. Read full review
88
USA TodayRobert Bianco
Season 1 Review: As much as the show recalls the movies, it also recalls some of the best work ever done in the genre for TV: the Buffy universe of Joss Whedon. Most every blast of portent and bombast is lightened by a throwaway joke; scenes of intense action and violence give way to equally well-realized scenes of domestic life that root the fantasy in emotional reality. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorGloria Goodale
Season 1 Review: Lean and breathless, just like its all-business star (Lena Headey of "300" fame), this time-travel tale starts fast as bad robots from the future chase good humans in the past. Read full review
80
NewsdayDiane Werts
Season 1 Review: Humans vs. cyborgs in a movie spin-off that's surprisingly effective for fans of both action and character drama. Read full review
80
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum
Season 1 Review: Still, "Chronicles" is worth an early sampling, particularly given the current TV landscape where scripted drama and comedy is at a premium. Certainly, there is some promise to the opening episodes. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara
Season 1 Review: Although The Sarah Connor Chronicles has gadgets aplenty, it has what "Bionic Woman" never quite acquired: a brain and a heart. Read full review
80
VarietyBrian Lowry
Season 1 Review: Under director David Nutter and show-runner Josh Friedman, the first two hours roll a slick brand extension off this profitable assembly line. Read full review
80
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: British actress Lena Headey makes Sarah into the heart and soul of this series. Without Headey and her maternal magnetism, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles would probably deteriorate into a nonstop series of effects-laden fight scenes that's as cold and grim as NBC's "Bionic Woman" remake. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: Director David Nutter gets the series off to a rousing start, practically packing every frame with suspense, special effects and an urgency that drives this show like an incessant drumbeat. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)John Leonard
Season 1 Review: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is mostly chase scenes. And very nicely staged they are, by director–executive producer David Nutter (Supernatural, Smallville), an adrenaline junkie equally adept at terrorizing a classroom, blowing up a city, rebooting a cyborg, or time-warping a bank vault. Read full review
80
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: I was kind of jazzed by the estrogen-fueled drama of The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which, when you set aside the robots from the future, is really just a story about a woman (Lena Headey) trying to protect her only son (Thomas Dekker). Read full review
80
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: Glau's the best part of Chronicles, playing the robot who seeks to understand human stuff with a beguiling bemusement reminiscent of Jeff Bridges in "Starman." Read full review
80
The New York TimesGinia Bellafante
Season 1 Review: One of the more humanizing adventures in science fiction to arrive in quite a while, the series is taut, haunting, relevant and an exploration of adolescent exceptionalism rendered without the cheerleading uniforms and parody of “Heroes.” Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: This show lives up to its franchise's reputation for suspenseful action. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: Happily, viewers have less of a challenge in picking up the somewhat complex story line that continues from the "Terminator" movies. Newcomers won't be any more confused than they are by any time-travel adventure. Read full review
70
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 2 Review: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles returns with a solidly enjoyable action-oriented outing. Read full review
70
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 2 Review: The transformations aren't complete by episode's end--though at least Dekker chops off his floppy Emo bangs--but it's a step in the right direction for a series that struggled to live up to its potential and pedigree last spring. Read full review
70
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Some die-hards may be frustrated by inconsistencies in the timeline with "Terminator 3," but unless you get overly wrapped up in the details of time travel, tonight's pilot is an intense adventure. Read full review
70
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: The show’s pace is brisk and efficient, and Headey (“300”) and Glau bring welcome intelligence and energy to their roles as very protective women. Read full review
70
PopMattersCynthia Fuchs
Season 1 Review: This effort to bring Sarah’s Chronicles both back and forward to our current moment is both awkward and smart. Read full review
70
Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
Season 1 Review: While it's hard to predict how this new chapter will play among deeper fans of the "Terminator" mythology, the rest of us have to ask ourselves if watching reboots of robot battles once a week is worth our time. Read full review
70
TimeJames Poniewozik
Season 1 Review: So far, it's carried mostly on the scary-eyed charisma of Summer Glau as John's robo-protector. This grim Chronicles needs to put some flesh on its humans. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn
Season 2 Review: My interest ebbs and flows depending not on the plot but on which character is in the action. Read full review
60
PopMattersCynthia Fuchs
Season 2 Review: As the series continues to complicate the relations among past, present, and future, Ellison’s part in any of them is increasingly difficult to frame. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Season 1 Review: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a serviceable enough addition to this particular pop-culture mosaic. Read full review
60
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles happens to contain that show's most interesting character. It just ain't Sarah Connor. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineRob Humanick
Season 1 Review: Despite lacking the trashy allure of "House" or "24," its sporadic inventiveness within the realm of the Terminator universe makes it agonizingly interesting--moderately brilliant in spurts before reverting to the same old clichés. Read full review
38
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: By the time the second hour comes on Monday and tries to give these characters some dimension, you already know that the talent on both sides of the camera simply isn't there to make this a worthwhile trip. Read full review
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