# Terminator 2
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 17, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398 "2010-10-17T02:49:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/1 "2010-10-17T02:49:42Z")
Sarah Connor asks the Terminator if his wounds would heal, because he was no use to them if he can’t pass for human.
Why does he need to pass for human? Part of the problem is that nobody believes Terminators are real, because they look just like humans.
Why does his wounds need to heal to pass for human. He could just wear a shirt. Sarah doesn’t make any sense.
bonus question
Is it really possible to fly a helicopter under a bridge like that?
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### Author:  [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/2 "2010-10-17T03:01:30Z")
Funny, I’m watching that movie right now.
When you think about it, the T-1000 will find them no matter what “Uncle Bob” looks like, but if he smells like he’s “got a dead cat in there”, not only will he be unpleasant for Sarah & John to be near him, but his smell will draw unwanted attention to them.
Another point that I noticed: being unable to learn from his experiences until they manually reset the switch in his head is a minor plot point, but in the first movie he learns “Fuck You, Asshole” from Bill Paxton.
And there goes the helicopter , under the over pass and over the skywalk.
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### Author:  [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/3 "2010-10-17T03:03:16Z")
learning why we cry is a different type of learning than learning to repeat phrases like fuck you asshole
Why does the T-1000 always show up in the same disguise, as that one police officer, so that he is instantly recognizable to John and Sarah and Arnold? Why doesn’t he just imitate some random guy and then he could easily walk up and kill John.
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### Author:  [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/4 "2010-10-17T03:06:09Z")
> [@PSXer](#):
>
> Why does the T-1000 always show up in the same disguise, as that one police officer, so that he is instantly recognizable to John and Sarah and Arnold? Why doesn’t he just imitate some random guy and then he could easily walk up and kill John.
Hard to disguise those ears.
The C-130 simulator at Jacksonville Air Force Base will supposedly let you fly under a bridge over the Arkansas River in Little Rock. A helicopter should be a snap. 🙂
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### Author:  [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/5 "2010-10-17T03:06:21Z")
In the present day, nobody believes Terminators are real, but in his time , 2029, everybody knows they exist and keeps an eye out for them. Thus, they’re designed to blend in as best as possible. Though, I always wondered, even in the future, how well someone with a blank stare and emotionless Austrian accent would be able to pass a normal human.
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### Author:  [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/6 "2010-10-17T03:10:41Z")
**Joe** , in the future of the T2 timeline the terminators don’t have flesh. We see that from the flashback at the beginning of the film. Arnold’s character has flesh for 3 reasons:
1.) It’s a movie and it was easier to just hire an actor than try to film a movie with a realistic android.
2.) So that he can blend in.
3.) You can’t send things back in time unless they’re wrapped in organic material. Don’t ask me to explain the liquid metal terminator.
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### Author:  [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/7 "2010-10-17T03:17:00Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#):
>
> **Joe** , in the future of the T2 timeline the terminators don’t have flesh. We see that from the flashback at the beginning of the film. Arnold’s character has flesh for 3 reasons:
>
> 1.) It’s a movie and it was easier to just hire an actor than try to film a movie with a realistic android.
> 2.) So that he can blend in.
> 3.) You can’t send things back in time unless they’re wrapped in organic material. Don’t ask me to explain the liquid metal terminator.
Kyle makes clear in the first movie that there are indeed Terminators with flesh in the future. He seems something like they’re the latest models and really hard to detect.
Here’s the quote:
> [@](#):
>
> The 600 series had rubber skin. We spotted them easy, but these are new. They look human… sweat, bad breath, everything. Very hard to spot. I had to wait till he moved on you before I could zero on him.
Also there’s a brief scene where one of the human fleshed Terminators manages to break into the resistance’s bunker in the future.
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### Author:  [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/8 "2010-10-17T03:20:43Z")
Well, I’m going to weasel my way out of this by pointing out that the timeline changes from movie to movie and I specifically mentioned the T2 timeline. 😛
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### Author:  [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/9 "2010-10-17T03:25:49Z")
> [@PSXer](#):
>
> learning why we cry is a different type of learning than learning to repeat phrases like fuck you asshole.
True, but they didn’t reset the switch in his head so he could learn why humans cry. Sarah did it as a ruse to pull his plug for good. “Why do you cry” came about after they reset the switch; Arnold would never have thought to ask the question at OEM default settings.
Interesting that Jeanette Goldstein was in this film, Michael Bein was in the first Terminator film, as were both Lance Henricksen and Bill Paxton, all of whom James Cameron also used in Aliens.
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### Author:  [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/10 "2010-10-17T03:29:46Z")
> [@PSXer](#):
>
> Why does the T-1000 always show up in the same disguise, as that one police officer, so that he is instantly recognizable to John and Sarah and Arnold? Why doesn’t he just imitate some random guy and then he could easily walk up and kill John.
This is really the biggest plot hole to the movie, and the one that really takes me out of an otherwise kick-ass flick.
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### Author:  [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/11 "2010-10-17T03:37:25Z")
> [@PSXer](#):
>
> lWhy does the T-1000 always show up in the same disguise, as that one police officer, so that he is instantly recognizable to John and Sarah and Arnold? Why doesn’t he just imitate some random guy and then he could easily walk up and kill John.
Goddamnit, you had to go and ruin the movie for me. That’s a major plot hole I conveniently never noticed.
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### Author:  [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/12 "2010-10-17T03:54:29Z")
> [@ExTank](#):
>
> This is really the biggest plot hole to the movie, and the one that really takes me out of an otherwise kick-ass flick.
Maybe the Kill and Replace priority works better in the future? I’m guessing that “imitate random person, infiltrate and kill target” doesn’t work as well if the Resistance is smart enough to not let random people get close to high priority targets.
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### Author:  [@Sealemon2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon2.0)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/13 "2010-10-17T04:32:25Z")
> [@PSXer](#):
>
> Why does the T-1000 always show up in the same disguise, as that one police officer, so that he is instantly recognizable to John and Sarah and Arnold? Why doesn’t he just imitate some random guy and then he could easily walk up and kill John.
I always assumed that the T-1000 can only imitate a person it has had physical contact with. It seems to be implied this way, but then of course the question is why not just kill a few people here and there to have some random templates to change into to ambush Sarah and John?
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### Author:  [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/14 "2010-10-17T04:59:46Z")
> [@BMax](#):
>
> Interesting that Jeanette Goldstein was in this film, Michael Bein was in the first Terminator film, as were both Lance Henricksen and Bill Paxton, all of whom James Cameron also used in Aliens.
Cameron likes to “reuse” his actors a lot. Jeanette Goldstein and Bill Paxton were both in _Titanic_. Michael Biehn was in _The Abyss_. Sigourney Weaver in _Aliens_ and\* Avatar\*. Arnie in _True Lies_. I’m sure I’m missing some.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/15 "2010-10-17T05:03:00Z")
> [@PSXer](#):
>
> Why does the T-1000 always show up in the same disguise, as that one police officer, so that he is instantly recognizable to John and Sarah and Arnold? Why doesn’t he just imitate some random guy and then he could easily walk up and kill John.
\
Maybe it wanted to keep looking like a cop for the advantages of looking like one; the general populace stays out of its way and doesn’t call the cops when they see a cop with a gun.
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### Author:  [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/16 "2010-10-17T05:11:51Z")
It still could have looked like a different cop, so that he wouldn’t be immediately recognizable to the good guys
not that they wouldn’t have good reason to run away from any cop, but it still might help the t-1000 to be a little more blended in
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### Author:  [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/17 "2010-10-17T05:13:27Z")
not just as a cop, but that specific cop. why not switch it up and imitate a different cop from time to time, like… the dad in family matters/die hard?
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### Author:  [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/18 "2010-10-17T06:40:26Z")
Oh shit! Run! It’s carl winslow!
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### Author:  [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/19 "2010-10-17T07:18:52Z")
> [@pancakes3](#):
>
> not just as a cop, but that specific cop. why not switch it up and imitate a different cop from time to time, like… the dad in family matters/die hard?
The T-1000 suffers from lack of imagination.
The T-X in Terminator 3 has the same flaw- she’s cleverly disguised as Kate Brewster’s husband. Kate runs towards “him”. The T-X morphs back into red leather-clad Euro hottie. Kate runs away. Oops.
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### Author:  [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terminator-2/557398/20 "2010-10-17T14:57:36Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#):
>
> > [@PSXer](#):
> >
> > Why does the T-1000 always show up in the same disguise, as that one police officer, so that he is instantly recognizable to John and Sarah and Arnold? Why doesn’t he just imitate some random guy and then he could easily walk up and kill John.
>
> \
>
> Maybe it wanted to keep looking like a cop for the advantages of looking like one; the general populace stays out of its way and doesn’t call the cops when they see a cop with a gun.
This. There’s also only four points in the film where the T-1000 gets close enough to potentially kill him, and in two of those instances it’s most convenient for him to look like a cop (in the shopping mall where he’s going around with a picture of John asking people if they’d seen him, and in the Cyberdyne building where the only way he can get through the police lines is by looking like a cop). In the mental hospital, he does morph into a security guard, but fails to get to John and Sarah before Arnold. And in the last scene at the steel mill, he actually morphs into Sarah and tries to fool John that way, but then of course the real Sarah comes up behind him and blows a whole in his head.
As **DWMarch** does above, you could also argue that he has a lack of imagination.
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