or maybe all of them believe it would be a better world if John had never been born. that's somewhere they could go with it. by trying to stop the evolution of machines, John is sacrificing himself and no one will remember him or the possible future when that happens...

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Ah, but if Kyle Reese doesn't go back in time and warn Sarah Connor about Skynet, then Judgement Day happens anyway because nobody was trying to stop it.

Basically, in order for the story to work, time has to do a loop-de-loop where the "first" time through, Skynet evolves unencumbered and the future happens the way it's described in T1, and then we start sending shit back in time and changing things and continue into the (new) future on an alternate timeline that nevertheless depends on the first one happening the way it originally did in order for causality to remain intact.

IOW, look! Shiny robots! Nice arms!

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It takes some handwaving and retcon, but it's clear Friedman is prepared to do that, to tell the story he wants to tell.

If Friedman were doing Manimal, 2007, I'd be a lot more willing to give him leeway than I am with something as well known as Terminator.

I can usually shuffle around a lot, but there's no way I can buy the events of T2 happening in 1997. Fanwanking them to 1995 if John is indeed 10, as the police file shows in T2, is as far as I can go.

And I have to say, I find the producers' statements I've seen to the effect that the films aren't all consistent, so the show doesn't have to be, somewhat lazy. If I can use Wikipedia to figure out dates from the movies, so can the show writers. Of course people are going to be harping on things like "Did you notice the day? June, 1997?" If sci-fi geeks are going to ask why Buffy didn't get cramps whenever she was around vampires, like she did in the movie, giving a 1997 date for that scene is definitely going to raise a fuss among Terminator fans.

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IOW, look! Shiny robots! Nice arms!

I gave up trying to resolve time paradoxes after I saw the Sealab 2021 where Stormy and Quinn keep going back to try and prevent Sealab from blowing up (and creating mutiple iterations of themselves in the process).

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the Sealab 2021 where Stormy and Quinn keep going back to try and prevent Sealab from blowing up (and creating mutiple iterations of themselves in the process)

I have massive love for that ep.

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Invader Zim had a Terminator-esque episode, where GIR's head exploded when he tried to understand a time paradox.

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I have massive love for that ep.

I think it was the first Sealab I ever saw. I was hooked immediately.

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Ah, but if Kyle Reese doesn't go back in time and warn Sarah Connor about Skynet, then Judgement Day happens anyway because nobody was trying to stop it.

mmmm...good point.

And I have to say, I find the producers' statements I've seen to the effect that the films aren't all consistent, so the show doesn't have to be, somewhat lazy.

this.

giving a 1997 date for that scene is definitely going to raise a fuss among Terminator fans

also this.

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I loved the scene at the end with Derek watching Cameron dance.

Also, the name of the episode was "The Demon Hand" - clearly it should have been called "Evil Hand" or "Evil Hand Issues."

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if they DO stop Skynet and prevent Judgement Day, Kyle Reese will never be sent into the past & John Connor will never be born in the first place

Hush, that's the final episode where Sarah Connor is a mild mannered accountant with 3 daughters.

I love time travel wonkiness. Just love, don't overthink.

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