Discussion: An episode worth being impressed with

"The jet engines are actually the most obvious thing, once we saw there was a set of them all running simultaneously, all surrounding a spherical time bubble/vortex/thingy. Modern jet engines have built in electrical generators in many designs, to provide electricity while in flight; even if a jet engine doesn't have a generator, one can certainly be attached to the central shaft. Either way, a jet engine can be used to generate a stupid amount of electrical power, especially if efficiency isn't necessary.

Considering that the time travel Skynet is doing is purely a desperation move, and always has been (Kyle Reese says as much in T1), it was probably expedient for Skynet to obtain a bunch of jet engines and use jet fuel, all to generate the stupendous amounts of energy necessary to bend space-time. A nuclear reactor probably would have been better, but given time constraints and the probable difficulty of obtaining nuclear fuel after a nuclear war, the more conventional, turbine-based power generation trick was warranted.

As for Cameron's apparent lying and scheming... that worries me a bit, as well. I wonder if her hanging on to the CPU of the T-888 she was supposed to destroy was her way of testing limits, or if she's got some kind of nefarious agenda as you suggest. We know John sent her back in time, and he reprogrammed her. We also know that she is loyal to John in the future, and whatever mission he tasked her with -- not to the John or Sarah of the present.

Testing limits? By that, I mean saying she'll do one thing (or being ordered to, by Sarah, to whom Cameron is not loyal), while secretly doing something else, to see if she gets caught, and what the consequences might be. Little kids and even some animals do this sort of thing. Since her personality is still developing, she might have the emotional maturity of a child... thus this behavior might make sense.

Clearly, we need more information!"

"Could be that Cameron jumped to the past on her own. We don't see John at all in the future, so far, and just Cameron. Maybe he's out of commission and Cameron has jumped to the past to keep John safe all the way through. "

"1. Derek is going to be a bad guy. His capture was assisted by Hunter Killer flyers, and SkyNet let them go. The Resistance does not have access to air superiority. He was captured by SkyNet, and probably reprogrammed. It's a balance thing; the Resistance reprograms, Cameron, and SkyNet reprograms Derek. Derek was brainwashed. SkyNet was able to go around the patrol and straight for the base shortly after their capture; somehow, it was able to get into the minds of the captives.

2. Cameron saved John's life, and if Cramartie had killed him at the school, it'd be game over for the human resistance. She's not a bad guy. The series is going to have her achieve human-level emotions, and Cameron will become essentially human. She's a good guy. Cameron's keeping the coltan and the processor chip forshadows her imminent identity crisis."