Cameron

Canon: Level 3 | Timeline: Sarah Connor Chronicles ^[2]

"What model are you? Are you new? You seem... different."

- John Connor.

Cameron is a reprogrammed Terminator sent from the year 2027 to protect John Connor and his mother, Sarah Connor. She first appeared in the Pilot of the TV series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Cameron is from an unspecified Terminator series^[3], admittedly different than all others.^[4] Cameron's living tissue model template was based on Allison Young, a human Resistance fighter close to John Connor; this allowed her to replace Allison in an attempt to infiltrate John's camp.^[5] Cameron is the most realistic cyborg yet encountered, with detailed programming of social behavior.

Personality

"Thank you for explaining."

- Cameron.

Although Cameron was capable of pretending to be a human when approaching John in the pilot episode, befriending John and even flirting, she no longer displays this behavior. Since Cromartie's attack on John in the pilot episode, she has remained relatively emotionless and has thus far proved to have poor social skills when she and John return to school in the third episode. This regression of abilities is explained as her "mission" in "Pilot" was to acquire and ingratiate herself with John, having done so the majority of her time is spent as a protector, and her "girlishness" is an extraneous factor.^[6]

She has been shown mimicking the behavior of others, such as the Latina lookout from the second episode, providing a baseline for her current behavior. This is also shown in the fifth episode when she impersonates the voice of a distressed student she met just prior to the girl committing suicide. Cameron's initial interactions with John were part of a program designed specifically to get close to him. Therefore, once her identity was revealed, she was no longer required to follow the program and reverted back to her base settings.¹⁰¹

When John comments on the differences between her behaviors at different points, she replies, "I fooled you."¹⁰³ At times she also displays awkward humor, such as in the fifth episode when she and John are entering a vehicle driven by Sarah. John, wanting to ride in the front passenger seat, calls out "I call shotgun," to which Cameron responds, "I call nine-millimeter." In the episode "The Demon Hand," despite both Sarah and Derek's insistence that she is only a soulless machine, Cameron is shown performing a complex ballet dance for no apparent reason, a feat that even moved a watching Derek to tears. This, coupled with a line in the same episode by a ballet teacher that "dance is the hidden language of the soul", indicated that Cameron may be much more than the soulless machine that Sarah and Derek has claimed her to be. 200px|right|Cameron adopts a new demeanor

Cameron damaged — Cameron reverted to Skynet's programming: Terminate John Connor

File:Cameron ballet.jpg

Cameron practices ballet

Cameron bar — Cameron displays human behavior

Despite her display of human characteristics, Cameron remains a machine following programming, and as such often displays behavior that would be considered cold-blooded or callous in humans, such as her killing of Enrique Salceda in "Gnothi Seauton", in "The Demon Hand" allowing Dmitri Shipkov and his sister, Maria, to be murdered (it is implied that since she had no instructions to either kill or protect the two, she did nothing), in "The Turk" she prevents John from preventing a girl from committing suicide, and in "What He Beheld" she kills and stuffs the false Sarkissian's goon in the trunk of his Mercedes to protect John.

Sarah Connor is shown on several occasions having to order Cameron not to kill people and reprimanding her when she commits acts of violence.¹⁰² There have been, however, moments in which Cameron has shown signs that she may be learning the value of human life; in "Vick's Chip", she senses that she has offended Sarah when she refers to a murder victim as being just "bones and meat" and in "What He Beheld" she chooses not to kill Carlos' girlfriend.

Cameron is often called "Tin-Miss", referencing the Tin-Man from L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz.^102/105 The Tin-Man's journey to find a heart reflects Cameron's growing understanding, and emulation, of what it means to be human. At the conclusion of Baum's story the Tin-Man discovers that he had a heart all along, from Cameron's point of view this might suggest that she is already capable of being human but has yet to discover this fact.

When someone explains something to Cameron that she is unfamiliar with, such as mourning one's death, the human imagination, or phrases that don't take their literal meaning, she responds with "Thank you for explaining."¹⁰⁰ Another aspect of Cameron's personality that has yet to be explored is her apparent fashion sense, as she is seen in a wide range of outfits during the series (as opposed to most previous terminators who generally wore a single outfit).¹⁰⁰ But from the point of view of the television show, to present a female, teenage terminator with a wide range of outfits is simply the logical thing to do - her charm would be greatly diminished if she only wears a black biker/military outfit throughout. It may also due to her condition of living with the Connors rather than embarking on a short mission with them(as the T-800 in T2 and T3 was doing).

As a result of the car bomb, Cameron has suffered extensive damage, resulting in compromising the chip integrity leading to "glitches" in her personality that make her unpredictable and sometimes dangerous. Under the glitches, she would experience memory loss, delay in decision making and in worse cases reversion into her former mission of terminating John Connor. During the brief reversion to her Skynet settings, Cameron demonstrates her near-perfect mimicry of human behavior by tearfully begging John not to remove her chip, even going so far as to say that she loves him. Though it is likely that this was just a ploy to deceive John, it is not a stretch to consider that Cameron was genuinely concerned for her own well-being.²⁰¹ Cameron also appears to have adopted her "Pilot" demeanor as she is seen to be more in touch with her human characteristics after the events in "Samson & Delilah", bringing her full circle.²⁰²

Although Cameron probably just rebooted normally the second time after the explosion and so her reprogramming is loaded correctly, she may have made the conscious decision to not kill John, despite the demands of her Skynet programming. John is unable to repair her chip in any fashion, which rules out the possibility of outside interference. For Cameron to be able to override her own pre-programmed settings, it would show that she is quite possibly above any restriction enforced upon her and that it is her desire to protect John.

Another interesting observation is that Cameron appears to be developing a sense of pride in her accomplishments. This is seen most predominantly during the "pool scene" in "Automatic for the People", after which she smiles with smug satisfaction at having won a $50 bet. This can also be seen during her and Sarah's initiation into the Seranno Point nuclear power plant, wherein it is implied that Cameron hacked the employee database and created two vacancies for herself and Sarah. When the personnel manager comments on this, Cameron smiles faintly.²⁰²

Cameron has also started to demonstrate dissatisfaction with her recent duties, which have included menial tasks such as grocery shopping, something that makes very little use of her skills. Her mild annoyance is often expressed towards John, as she gives him several looks of aggravation when he treats her as subservient.^203/204

When she loses her memory in "Allison from Palmdale", Cameron demonstrates that she is capable of appearing to show genuine emotion as she is seen crying when talking to the social worker, anger towards John when he tries to remind her of what she is, and multiple instances of joy while in Jody's company. She also displays fear when confronted by a man who threatens to assault her and Jody, resulting in Cameron begging him not to and giving him a stack of money. As her machine side starts to resurface, it becomes apparent that Cameron's ability to express emotions is controlled by her programming.

Due to her parroting nature, Cameron seems to base her personality on those around her, taking aspects from various subjects and combining them to create her own unique persona. When she was pairing with Derek Reese, for example, she mirrors his personality by being more curt and reckless. When she was near Sarah, she was kinder and warmer. Another interesting observation is Cameron's overall demeanor as influenced by her current mission. When she was programmed to protect John, Cameron was more inclined to emulate positive behavior and emotions; an example being her habit of reassuring others, be it John or an upset student. On the flip side, when programmed to terminate John; Cameron is more devious and manipulative, displaying negative behavior and emotions, including anger and even slight sadism. After overriding her directive to kill him, however, Cameron seems to be developing a balance between the two personas.

Since suffering damage to her chip, Cameron appears to be contemplating suicide (self-termination). In "Automatic for the People" she asks Sarah if she is going to explode one day, which she later references in "Self Made Man", likening her faulty chip to a bomb waiting to go off. She asks her friend at the library, Eric, if he has ever considered suicide, revealing that she may be considering it due to her chip damage. In "The Tower Is Tall But the Fall Is Short" Cameron tries to remove the chip from a modified Terminator, only for it to self-destruct upon removal. She is later seen examining the chip whilst reading a leaflet for suicide prevention. In "Ourselves Alone" Cameron somehow manages to attach an explosive to her skull next to her chip, and gave the remote detonator to John in the event that she becomes a threat (confirming that she is incapable of self-termination).

Cameron has started to develop a new glitch which manifests as a twitch in her left hand, resulting in her accidentally killing a bird. She at first believes it to be the result of physical damage and swaps out a part in order to fix the problem. This did not resolve the issue, however, as she started twitching again while struggling to decide what to do with Riley, and again whilst talking to Sarah about the reasons why Future John sent her back in time. It is implied that this glitch is caused by a conflict in her chip between her pre-programmed directives and her emerging self-awareness. This glitch has since ceased to be an issue, as she is now able to hold a pigeon with both hands without harming it.

Biography

Cameron's Biography (Post Judgment Day)
Timeframe: ???? - 2027.
Cameron is created as a dedicated replacement for Resistance fighter Allison Young. Her purpose: to terminate John Connor. ^{[citation needed]} She fails her mission, however, and is reprogrammed by the Resistance to follow John's commands, who sends her back to the year 1999 to protect his younger self.

Cameron's Biography (Season One)
Timeframe: 1999 - 2007.
Cameron travels back to the year 1999 with the objective of finding and protecting a 15 year-old John Connor. She saves him from multiple assassination attempts and uses time displacement equipment to send John, Sarah, and herself to the year 2007 where they endeavor to prevent the creation of Skynet by hunting down a computer system called the Turk.

Cameron's Biography (Season Two)
Timeframe: 2007 - 2009.
Cameron is damaged by an explosion and temporarily becomes the very thing she was programmed to protect John against. She is fixed, however, but is plagued by glitches as she struggles to find her place in the world while keeping the increasingly reckless John safe from Skynet's assassins.

Behind the scenes

Cameron is portrayed by Summer Glau, who was Josh Friedman's first choice for the role. A trained ballet dancer before she became an actress, Glau's dancing skills were transferred to the character of Cameron in the episode "The Demon Hand".

The scene used for Summer's audition involved a crying Cameron discussing with John the future in which she meets him, how he saves her life and "how [she] feels about [him]", even though, as a robot, she is technically incapable of any true emotions at all.

Cameron's origins have remained a mystery throughout the first season and the opening episodes of Season 2. However, her story is partially revealed in "Allison from Palmdale", wherein she is revealed to have her living tissue infiltration sheath Model based upon a real human called Allison Young. Cameron was created as a dedicated infiltrator human replacement whose goal was to infiltrate John Connor's camp. Allison was terminated by Cameron once her usefulness had ended.

Characteristics

SCC 107 camerons hud2 — Cameron's original full colour HUD

Cameron noHUD — Cameron's "human" head-up display

Cameron HUD reboot — Cameron's reboot screen

Eating: Cameron is the first Terminator to be seen consuming human food as though eating. Whether or not Cameron is able to extract energy from it remains to be seen. In the first season she is shown eating a potato chip and a pancake, and reference is made in the finale episode to her eating two slices of pizza. Her eating food may be due to the fact that she has been active for far longer than previous Terminators, and so needs to periodically nourish her organic components.

Crying: Cameron is also the first known Terminator to possess fully functional tear ducts, as she is seen crying in "Samson & Delilah" and "Allison from Palmdale". Note the tear ducts are necessary for eye lubrication and protection, so it's logical to assume all T-8xx have them, otherwise their eye tissue would quickly degrade to the point when it would be obvious they're not human. Of course that does not imply they're all programmed with the ability to cry. The Series 800 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day told John Connor, "I know now why you cry. But it is something I can never do.", which strongly suggest that earlier models do not have the necessary connections and/or software for their emotions (or their equivalent) to trigger crying.

Feeling: Cameron is capable of feeling her environment to the same degree as humans, with the exception of pain. She claims to be able to feel heat and is shown to feel the rush of wind against her skin, which opens the door in regards to other such sensations. In "To the Lighthouse" Cameron was doused in water and was visibly surprised and shaken by the rapid change in temperature, suggesting she was uncomfortable with getting wet. She can also perform biomarker scans via skin-to-skin contact, measuring a person's stress level and medical condition. In "Complications" she is seen putting a foot out the car window while John drives. When John asked why, she replied she wanted to feel free, and the wind running through her toes. She informs John that she feels much more than he thinks, which is probably because John's sole reference point for a Terminator's senses was a T-800 series, and she would be worth quite less if she couldn't. In "Born to Run" Cameron seemed to display discomfort when John cut into her chest, and then a moment later she demonstrated a pleasurable response when John examined her power source.

Reboot: Cameron is similar to Cromartie in which she also has the "120 second reboot" factor, as demonstrated in the "Gnothi Seauton" episode. However, as demonstrated in the events of "Alpine Fields", excessive damage can force a longer period of offline time as self-diagnostics and automatic repair and rerouting subroutines work to reactivate the unit.^[7]

Endoskeleton: Cameron's endoskeleton is made from Coltan. A heat resistant alloy, more advanced than the T-600 models titanium alloy endoskeletons.

Weight: Cameron is much lighter than one might expect, as are other Terminators. Though it is shown that she is heavy enough to require the combined efforts of both Sarah and John to lift her into a chair. She also claims to be too heavy to swim, which is true for other Terminators.

Series/Model/Class: Cameron's terminator series is unknown. A promotional poster lists Cameron as a "TERMINATOR CLASS TOK715"^[8]. Terminator "classes" are a new concept, and it remains to be seen how (and if) they tie to series and model numbers. Cameron does refer to herself in the colloquial "we" when discussing the reprogramming of terminators by the resistance and that she was wiped after capture to help insure success in the reprogramming. Although Vick analyzes her as an "Unknown Cyborg" that could simply be a factor of her Infiltration sheath being a model not developed for use by Skynet prior to his deployment into the past. It would have no knowledge of updates and advances post-time travel. There are several elements ruling her apart from pre-existing terminators, such as the ability to eat, possess a full color HUD, and crying. She was able to override her Skynet programming when her chip malfunctioned, something that only one terminator has done before (The T-850 in T3). She may be of a similar model to Rosie (who was never identified either), but Cameron easily overpowered her in combat.

HUD: Cameron's head-up display is in full color (Pilot, The Demon Hand) with text and targeting overlays, rather than the traditional "all red" as shown in the T-800s, T-850s, T-888s or the "all blue" as seen in the T-X. Prior to the Jeep explosion, Cameron's HUD was identical to the T-888s, except for having a turquoise hue as opposed to red. After the explosion, however, Cameron's HUD overlay changes to a darker shade of blue and is seen to possess a different layout than the original. Whether this is the result of software self-modification or restructuring of damaged systems has to be seen. Cameron's HUD is also capable of "hiding" during infiltration missions, as seen in "Allison from Palmdale", allowing her to see the world as humans do.

Name: Cameron has a name that she self-identifies herself with. This differs from Cromartie who only used that name briefly as an alias (although the Connors and Cameron continue to refer to him by the name) or Carter, who similarly appears to be using an alias. However Vick Chamberlain also uses a distinct name for the purposes of his mission, and may have been intentionally crafted with that identity to replace the "real Vick" during the car crash it uses to now cover his behavioral shortfalls. The origin of Cameron's name has yet to be revealed; it's not yet known whether she created it as an alias when she went back in time, or if she was given the name in the future (presumably by the older John Connor).

Built Date: According to the official FOX website of Sarah Connor Chronicles "Completion date: January 13, 2007" is displayed when hovering the mouse over the unfinished cyborg Cameron Phillips. It is unknown if this is intended for the build date of terminator Cameron Phillips or a mistype and meant for the air date of the show (which is actually January 13, 2008). It seem hard to make the date fit into the storyline of the show if this is actually a build date of Cameron Phillips.

Eye Color: Cameron's glowing blue eyes seem to indicate a similarity to the T-X in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. T-888s usually have red eyes, as do all T-8xx series terminators. The only other terminator seen with blue eyes is the T-X, and she has been shown to bleed, something T-X model terminators are not able to do, due to their "liquid metal" nature. Her blue eyes appear to have changed since the first season, possibly the result of her swapping damaged parts with a T-888. As of "Born to Run" her eyes, or at least her left one, has a red glow when exposed by gunfire.

Combat: Cameron's physical abilities are somewhat diminished compared to larger endoskeletons, due to her greater sacrifice of overall mass and reach. To her credit, she seems to be far more flexible than the other Terminators so far, and is endowed with comparable pure strength. She seem to have a better grasp on combat skills compared to most other terminators, and relied a little more on finesse than on brute force in comparison. She also employs tactics and utilise the surrounding environment more than her rivals, such as in the Pilot episode using an electric fuse to bring Cromartie offline. While she was shown to be powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with Cromartie and disable him in single combat with surprise on her side in the pilot episode, she has been outmatched when fighting other T-888s (such as Vick and Greenway) in more straight up battles and only defeats them with external help from the Connors. Despite her trouble with larger machines, however, Cameron has shown to be able to defeat another model of comparable dimensions as herself. Her fight with Rosie demonstrates her full combat prowess as she physically contorts the other machine, even applying enough force to drive a heel into its eye socket, a fight Cameron left with only a few scratches. (See: Terminator vs. Terminator for details) In "Self made man" Cameron had a short battle with a T-888 terminator, and easily emerged victoriously. In "Ourselves Alone" John Connor, however, said that Cameron was not designed to combat other terminators.

Infiltration: Though Cameron is somewhat lacking in her physical capability, she is shown to possess infiltration skills that easily surpasses those of the T-888, an advanced model infiltrator. In the "Pilot" episode, Cameron displays the ability to pose as a curious and friendly student, without any tell-tale irregularities that are common amongst other models. It is feasible that John may never have learned the truth about her had Cromartie not intervened. In "Allison from Palmdale", Cameron suffers a software glitch that traps her in "stealth/infiltration mode", but as she does not remember that she is a machine; Cameron comes to believe that she is Allison, the human she was created to replace. Interestingly, Cameron is shown to be capable of genuine emotion in this state, which would suggest that a contributing factor in her success is due to Skynet's allowance for emotions in her core programming. So far, Cameron is the most advanced infiltrator to date, perhaps more so than the T-1000 series.

Promotional imagery

Character concept

Creation and development

"Terminators—and this is from James Cameron's vision of the mythology—are actually infiltrators. If that is the case, then what better infiltrator than a beautiful, petite teenage girl?"

- Josh Friedman.

Josh Friedman referenced franchise creator James Cameron's original concept for Terminators as he formulated ideas for the character. James Cameron envisioned Terminators as robotic, humanoid infiltration units "that could blend in with humanity." In keeping with this idea, Friedman introduced Cameron as the most advanced model of Terminator whose ascendancy over other models was defined by her ability to mimic human behavior. The decision to make the character a teenager, female and of a small physical stature was also influenced by the original Terminator character concept; Friedman believed that such attributes were ideal for an infiltrator. Another factor that prompted Friedman to characterize Cameron as an adolescent female stemmed from the desire to add a "coming-of-age" aspect to the narrative by incorporating the story of how John Connor becomes a man. He has stated "eventually, John has to let go of his mother. This requires a third leverage point... another girl." The decision of Cameron's age and gender were, therefore, also made to satisfy the conditions that the role of the "third leverage point" entailed.

It has been noted that Cameron has been written differently from the pilot episode to the series, with the character acting much more human in the former and more like a machine in the latter. Both Friedman and Glau have acknowledged this. In a February 2008 conference call, Glau stated "We were experimenting with Cameron quite a bit... In the pilot, she does act very human. And then as she goes through the series, it appears that she's taken steps back and that she is acting more like a Terminator would." Friedman stated in an interview with IGN that he views the pilot, in which Cameron acts "very mannered and strange," as a learning process and that when he began writing the second episode, he became interested in exploring a new side of the character. He continued "Cameron has been programmed to come back for a particular purpose or purposes. Her behavior may seem inconsistent to a viewer, but it doesn't mean it's inconsistent for what her goals are."

Appearances

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
- Season 1
  - "Pilot"
  - "Gnothi Seauton"
  - "The Turk"
  - "Heavy Metal"
  - "Queen's Gambit"
  - "Dungeons & Dragons"
  - "The Demon Hand"
  - "Vick's Chip" (centric role)
  - "What He Beheld"
- Season 2
  - "Samson & Delilah"
  - "Automatic for the People"
  - "The Mousetrap"
  - "Allison from Palmdale" (as both Cameron and Allison) (centric role)
  - "Goodbye to All That"
  - "The Tower Is Tall But the Fall Is Short"
  - "Brothers of Nablus"
  - "Mr. Ferguson is Ill Today"
  - "Complications"
  - "Strange Things Happen at the One Two Point"
  - "Self Made Man" (centric role)
  - "Alpine Fields"
  - "Earthlings Welcome Here"
  - "The Good Wound"
  - "Desert Cantos"
  - "Some Must Watch, While Some Must Sleep" (dream appearance)
  - "Ourselves Alone"
  - "Today Is The Day, Part 1"
  - "Today Is The Day, Part 2"
  - "To the Lighthouse"
  - "Adam Raised a Cain"
  - "Born to Run"

Trivia

Cameron has been shown speaking five languages: English, Spanish¹⁰², Russian¹⁰⁷, Armenian¹⁰⁹, and Japanese²¹⁰.
Cameron seems to enjoy listening (and dancing) to Chopin's Nocturne in C-sharp minor¹⁰⁶. She has also an apparent affection for pop music, as she inexplicably changes the radio station on John's car to one of these and smiles in satisfaction.
Cameron's been seen using three weapons: a Glock 17 pistol¹⁰², a Remington 870p combat shotgun²⁰⁸ and a M4A1²⁰⁵.
Cameron has two catch phrases: "That's tight"¹⁰¹ and "Thank you for explaining"¹⁰⁷. Other terminators have been seen to have similar "thank you" catch phrases, such as Cromartie's "Thank you for your time" and the unidentified terminator guarding depot 37's "thank you for your service".

Relationships

References

↑ "Born to Run"
↑ This is not canon to the films and any assumptions made based on the character articles involving TSCC is to be taken as such. The films state a clear and present timeline that does not interfere with the TV show in any way besides the "what if" factor of Sarah Connor not dying of cancer in 1997.
↑ She may be a small-frame edition of a Series 888 with specialized Resistance modifications (blue eyes, target override, modified CPU).
↑ In the Pilot, John Connor asks Cameron, "What model are you? Are you new? You seem... different." She eats a potato chip and says, "I am."
↑ "Allison from Palmdale"
↑ Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 1 DVD Episode Commentaries
↑ Damage bypass re-routing was first seen from a terminator's PoV in the final battle of T2, where the T-800 reactivated after being defeated by the T-1000.
↑ Cameron's model promo poster