Terminator Zero’ Episode Three Review

Episode three of ‘Terminator Zero’ brings more action, more philosophy, and the Easter Egg everyone’s been waiting for.

The highlight of this episode is the action, which mostly takes place in the dark corridors of the abandoned underground city. It’s the perfect setting for these kinds of tense scenes, with little light, in a confined space, and no one around to help. There’s also a scene which shows the Terminator trying a different tactic, acting concerned when it finds Reika lost and alone. I can’t remember any other T-800s doing something similar, and it seems a strange thing to try, considering how intimidating and expressionless they are. It’s no surprise then that it doesn’t work.

Most of the scenes with Eiko are reminiscent of things we’ve seen in other ‘Terminator’ movies, particularly the original, as she steals cars and fights police officers, and she even gets to make a variation on the classic line, saying “He’ll be back” after throwing the Terminator down an elevator shaft.

Meanwhile, Kenta has found a group of brand new Eno robots being stored in an abandoned shop until they can be sold. He manages to activate one and learns that they can be centrally controlled, allowing them to work in unison, which could definitely be a useful weapon against the Terminator, if he’s able to gain control of them.

At the other end of the story, Malcolm Lee is still having philosophical debates with Kokoro, which provide a contrast to the action and tension of the other scenes. He’s trying to convince her to help humanity against Skynet, while she isn’t convinced, she should, considering their effect on the planet, and their long history of violence, war, and suffering, as well as their tendency to turn every new invention into some kind of weapon. This is the first time the franchise has considered that an AI could be an ally to humans, rather than just their enemy, which must surely be in response to the current questions of emerging artificial intelligence and our relationship with it as it becomes a bigger part of our lives.

Aside from that, the episode drops a few more questions that need answering, most importantly, how did Reika know what a Terminator was? She’s never seen one before, so there must be some bigger explanation. 

The show is doing a good job of dropping plenty of hooks to keep you wanting to watch the next episode, though sadly a lot of this is wasted on the binge drop format, where there’s no build up from week to week.