Which, BTW, was just an AWESOME throw-away detail. 
The finale has added even more layers to the mystery called Cameron.
a) Why didn’t she tell John what Weaver meant by asking: “Will you join me?” (Btw, I think, it’s significant, that the roles were reversed with regard to the question, who is going to join whom)
b) Why did she change her mind and freed Sarah? She didn’t want to at first, but agreed to fulfill John’s wish, after they had met Ellison and heard his message.
c) Why did she add her chip to Cromartie’s body?
Let’s take a look at the “facts”:
[ul]
[li]Terminators can be reprogrammed to serve other means,[/li][li]but sometimes they revert back and start killing again, the reason for this is unknown.[/li][li]Cameron was constructed to mimic in detail a specific person who was/will be close to John Connor.[/li][li]Her programming as John’s killer is at odds with the programming that makes her “Allison”.[/li][li]Cameron said she was reprogrammed by the resistance; the flash forwards seem to confirm that.[/li][li]Cameron worked within the resistance but we never see her with John, in fact, John is never seen at all by anyone anymore and she has already become his sole conduit, when we see her in the future for the first time.[/li][li]Nevertheless, she returns to the past to, as she says, protect John and stop Skynet. [/li][li]And though she seems to act in John’s interest, we also know that she has lied to him repeatedly, kept secrets, made sure that a new timeline was established by their jump forward and wasn’t willing to destroy any terminator parts if she could keep them.[/li][li]After her chip was damaged, she tried to kill John but also told him, she loved him (another lie or a sign that two programs were giving conflicting orders?)[/li][li]Since then she has developed a conflicted personality that might have established some sort of free will. Free from what? [/li][li]She deliberately does not tell John, what Weaver’s message means; instead, she goes to John Henry and “joins” with him.[/li][li]John Henry tells us, that he doesn’t want to die; he resembles Skynet is this respect. And though Cameron gave John the means to “kill” her, we don’t know if that wasn’t a lie. And anyway, she has already left her body – the body she deliberately maneuvered into a situation, where it would be damaged.[/li][li]John Henry existed as this specific entity only within the exact setup that was already established. Is this true for all machines, Cameron included? [/li][li]Cameron’s chip is now in Cromartie’s body, who was the manifestation of the John Henry persona – so, who is this new person? Is it “just” Cameron in another body, a hybrid of them all?[/li][/ul]
For some time, I’ve toyed with the idea that Cameron was still (or again) some physical representation of (a) Skynet. Her mission statement to “protect John, stop Skynet” doesn’t include an answer to the “why”. And the why is still unknown, now more than ever.
On the plus side, this episode provided a pretty clean break for me.
I’d be happy to see the show come back, but I wouldn’t feel that I’d been deprived of answers and closure if it didn’t.
There are questions, but the jump through time with John feels like an effective disconnect from the previous events of the series.
Something else I thought about. In The Terminator, Kyle tells Sarah that John Connor more or less just appeared one day and took charge.
It’s possible that TSCC is setting up John’s arrival in the future as his arrival into leadership during the war. Making the whole thing come full circle.
I would have preferred Cameron to have said “hasta la vista” instead of “hasta luego”.
I liked seeing the chola chick again, though I would’ve preferred she say nothing to keep with how I remember her from the first season.
John seemed to be getting a little too excited fondling Cameron’s power cell.
I’m sure the dumbest terminator ever made appreciated her “shine someone on” line.
After the 3/27 episode, the ones for 4/3 and 4/10 were collectively referred to as the two final episodes; “season” was left out. 4/10 wasn’t specifically referred to as a season finale until the next week.
I have now seen it, and my reaction is a combination of 
and 
. As in, I liked it, but where the hell is the story going from here? I’d sure like to find out…
It felt to me like when someone supposedly dies and goes to heaven and meets up with all the people he loves.
I’m wondering why Sarah’s health is still in question. I thought they’d tried to quell those concerns in the last episode, when she learned the source of her breast lump. Why did they leave the weight loss detail unresolved?
What did Derek mean when he said “my brother’s back and you’re wearing his jacket”. My brother’s back? I wondered if he had skipped from the past to this timeline somehow, maybe before his death in Sarah’s timeline.
I think Sarah stayed behind, and as always with her affection, she offered too little, too late.
Far, far too many questions left for this to work as a series finale for me.
I agree though, reabsorbing the eel was pretty cool.
I took her twitch to be non mechanical .
He meant Kyle Reese came back in the room and would be annoyed that somebody stole his jacket. This was a new timeline, one in which John never was part of the resistance, because he time travelled to the future. Therefore Kyle and Derek never were sent back in time and are still alive. And I’m guessing “Cameron” is actually Allison, the human that Cameron was based on.
I would take that as being indicated by Allison bending down to pet the dog. Animals can detect terminators (at least the solid metal ones) from humans. If it were Cameron, the dog would not have gone anywhere near her.
Yeah, a hint with bells and a neon sign above it. 
Summer Glau’s body language also indicated that we saw a human and not a machine: Allison came into view with a half smile, that she still held while patting the dog; she also moved more smoothly and didn’t show that blank stare that Summer Glau let Cameron have most of the time.
Summer really knows what she is doing.
eta: In this scene, I was also impressed by Dekker who managed to convey a wide emotional range subtly and silently.
Eh. Right before the finale began Fox played a little teaser that said something like “The season finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles begins RIGHT NOW!”
They have been very clear that this is only the end of the season, which to me means that no decision has been made yet.
Very enjoyable episode. May or may not be cancelled, but at least there is another reason for tearing down the sets - they ain’t exactly gonna need them anymore.
When I heard about the sets thing I was like - what sets? They already moved out of the house so they aren’t using that set anyway. I guess the only real standing sets on the show would be the Weaver Corp ones.
And those got blown to hell in the finale. Striking the sets for a show like TSCC doesn’t really mean much because the only three (four if you count Jesse’s hotel room) major sets they had were all written out of the show in the last few episodes of the season.
I really hope it comes back next year.
Anyway - I interpreted the ending as John’s arrival into the resistance - that over time, he will become the leader. I assumed that in the next few years year will rise to the leadership role, he will send back Kyle, and Derek, and Cameron. He won’t tell Kyle that he is is father.
Weaver, though - I still don’t get that part. Maybe she’s from an even more distant future, from an even more evolved, benevolent Skynet. Kind of like the superevolved beings in AI. Maybe John Connor was key to her own eventual existence, he job was to get him there.
How to we get Fox to bring the show back ?? !!