"We're Back".

Tonight was the first of the two-part premiere of Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, and I must say, I'm quite intrigued.

The series completely erases the canon established by the 3rd Terminator movie, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, so forget it ever happened.

In the year 1999, Sarah Conner (the beautiful and talented Lena Headey) and her son, John (played by Thomas Dekker... you'll remember him as Claire's ambiguously gay best friend on Heroes) are constantly on the run. John is now 15 and full of pubescent angst, struggling to come to grips with the life he lives and the life he will someday live as the leader of the human rebellion against the Terminators, cyborgs created by the computer conglomerate, Skynet. Remember all this, kiddies?

A new Terminator is hunting the Conners down, and let me tell you, bitch is crazy. He's not quite the T-1, which -- if you'll remember -- was made out of liquid metal and was so bad ass that I get chills every time I hear someone say, "say... That's a nice bike." Of course, this new Terminator throws a wrench into the whole 'We need to stay quiet and keep running' thing that Sarah has going.

Another Terminator, a good one sent from the future to protect the young John Conner, comes to help in the form of Cameron, played by the ethereal Summer Glau, who made headlines as the psycho genius from the short-lived but amazing show Firefly and its big-screen success, Serenity. Note also that Nathan Fillion were in both. ::drools::

In the first part of the two, Cameron saves them from the crazy Terminator by transporting them into the future: September of 2007. In order to stop Skynet.

O.M.G. This show is like a light at the end of a really long tunnel that was built upon striking writers (whom I'm 110% in support of). With the inkwell of television shows bone dry, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles is just what we need. In fact, even if the writers weren't on strike, this show would stand out and up with the select few that were fan favorites and just generally good, quality entertainment (ie: Dirty Sexy Money, Heroes, etc.).

Pilots can sometimes be awkward, trying to establish all the characters and their lives, but since the characters are already known and loved it's easy to just jump right in where T2 left off. Lena Headey is a revelation as Sarah, a desperate mother with the world literally riding on her keeping John safe. Summer Glau has grown since playing River Tam, filling the part with the poise and confidence she's known for. Thomas Dekker hasn't had enough time to really delve into John, but I liked him a lot on Heroes so I have no doubt that he'll do just fine. The crazy Terminator I really hope to see more of. He's frightening and creepy and has a great twitch that reminds the viewer that he's a robot, not a human.

Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles totally has my viewership! I can't wait for tomorrow to see the second part.

The show will air regularly every Monday night, 9pm, on FOX.