Things blow up. Someone you think is a human turns out to be a shape-shifting Terminator. There are confusing forays through time and discussions about what happened when in which version of the past and/or future. But really, the second season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles--unfortunately the final season of the series--is about family, connections, and the things we do to protect the ones we love. Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) has an especially rough road, nearly dying and becoming obsessed with a three-dot symbol and detours through a world of UFO obsessives. John Connor (Thomas Dekker), a.k.a. the guy who will grow up to lead humanity's resistance to the hated machines, gets tough and gets a girlfriend. His uncle Derek (Brian Austin Green) gets a girl as well, and the women in their lives turn out to have a surprising connection. Cameron (Summer Glau), the Terminator sent to protect John, suffers some damage and reveals some surprisingly human secrets of her own as her relationship with John gets more emotional and complicated. Shirley Manson (lead singer of Garbage) joins the cast as Catherine Weaver, an icy executive ,suffice it to say that a familiar (and threatening) face shows up in her company. This is a fitting sendoff for an ambitious show. -- Stephanie Reid-Simons