The Terminator, made famous by muscle man turned governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, is back, well sort of. In the “Sarah Conner Chronicles”, television’s new Sci-Fi series, the role of protective cyborg is now being played by Summer Glau. Summer, who plays Cameron Phillips, brings a fresh face, and new look to an old franchise, though the shows deviation from the original movies is not sitting well with some fans. Some earlier criticism of the show is centered around the altered time-line between the second and third “Terminator” movies, leading some hardcore fans to use the show’s webpage to express their frustrations with the direction that the story line is taking.
Yet with all due respect to the new Bionic Woman, TV needs a new kick butt heroine in the mode of Sarah Michelle Gellars “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” or Jessica Alba’s “Dark Angel,” and it looks like Summer Glau could fit that role nicely. Though she does not possess the smart-aleck wit of the two previously mentioned super heroine, Summer’s cyborg character mixes child-like awe for the human race with a cold blooded pre-programmed killer’s instinct, to offer us a new version of TV’s kick butt girl.
So who is the girl behind the role? Born July 24, 1981 in San Antonio Texas, Summer Glau is a former classically trained ballerina who moved over to acting with a good deal of success in 2002. She has appeared in shows like “CSI” and “The Unit,” and played a reoccurring character in the series “The 4400.” Summer has also gotten a chance to work with “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” creator Joss Whedon, who after seeing her in the Buffy spin off “Angel” cast the actress in the short lived futuristic adventure “Firely,” as teenager River Tam. Though not a cyborg, River Tam is nevertheless an athletically gifted and highly intelligent teenager who might as well be a forerunner to her new cyborg character. Summer went on to recreate the role of River Tam in the 2005 film “Serenity,” which though not a major financial box office success, earned the actress a few awards including a Best Actress award from SFX magazine.
As John Conner’s ever protective cyborg, Summer will get a chance to extend her acting abilities as she alternates a girl next door charm, with the more rigid requirements of a female terminator. If the first two shows of the season are any indication, she will be able to pull off the role with minimal effort. In the two part season opener, she shows she can go from a cyborg girl puzzled as to why “a diamond is called a girl’s best friend,” to blowing away a minor low life character she presumes is lying. Showing that she can handle what the role calls for as well as Geller or Alba did before her, look for Summer Glau’s Cameron Phillips to over take the Bionic Women as the next great female super heroine.
