Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman

The Sarah Connor Chronicles" begins as an intense, thoughtful, exciting, fun spectacle. The first episode will kick your ass.

USA TodayRobert Bianco

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.

Christian Science MonitorGloria Goodale

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.

Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron

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.

New York MagazineJohn Leonard

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.

Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray

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).

Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm

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."

The New York TimesGinia Bellafante

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.”

NewsdayDiane Werts

Humans vs. cyborgs in a movie spin-off that's surprisingly effective for fans of both action and character drama.

San Jose Mercury NewsCharlie McCollum

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.

Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara

Although The Sarah Connor Chronicles has gadgets aplenty, it has what "Bionic Woman" never quite acquired: a brain and a heart.

VarietyBrian Lowry

Under director David Nutter and show-runner Josh Friedman, the first two hours roll a slick brand extension off this profitable assembly line.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

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.

TV GuideMatt Roush

This show lives up to its franchise's reputation for suspenseful action.

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

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.

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

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.

Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen

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.

Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland

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.

TimeJames Poniewozik

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.

PopMattersCynthia Fuchs

This effort to bring Sarah’s Chronicles both back and forward to our current moment is both awkward and smart.

Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles happens to contain that show's most interesting character. It just ain't Sarah Connor.

LA WeeklyRobert Abele

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is a serviceable enough addition to this particular pop-culture mosaic.

Slant MagazineRob Humanick

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.

San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman

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.