Cameron Phillips
From Terminator Wiki
“What model are you? Are you new? You seem... different.”
“I am.” - John Connor and Cameron Phillips.
Cameron Phillips is a 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 unknown terminator series, admittedly different than all others. She is the most realistic cyborg yet encountered, with detailed programming of social behavior.
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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.[1] 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. When John comments on the differences between her behaviors at different points, she replies, "Fooled you." 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.
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. 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. 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.
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).
As a result of the car bomb, Cameron has suffered damage to her chip, resulting in "glitches" in her personality that make her unpredictable and dangerous. Because of this, Cameron's perceptions have changed, altering her distinction between allies and enemies, as seen in "Samson & Delilah". Interestingly, one clip shows Cameron pointing a gun at John with an expression akin to sadness. [1]
Biography
Post Judgment Day
Cameron was created by Skynet outside the blast doors in US military base Depot 37 after Judgment Day.
In 2027 Cameron was captured and reprogrammed by Tech-Com for their use. One of the soldiers, Derek Reese, first thought that she was an infiltrator until she later saved him from another terminator. She then told Derek that reprogrammed terminators sometimes turn back to their old ways, due to an unknown problem. She claims she was sent back to at least 1963 to open a safety depot box, and may even have returned to the future.[2] John Connor assigned her the current mission beginning in 1999, to protect his mother and his younger self by sending them 8 years into the future (2007).
Pre-Judgment Day Objective (Season One)
After being assigned to protect John Connor she is sent back to 1999 to look for him. Cameron searched for John and Sarah for 73 days before finally finding John at a high school and initially ingratiating herself with him as a classmate friend. She saved his life, and helped him fight against Cromartie, the T-888 sent back in time to kill him. With the Connors determined to prevent Skynet's birth, Cameron helped John and his mother break into a bank, using time displacement equipment stored in the safety deposit box room, to escape Cromartie by leaping to 2007.[3]
When arriving to 2007, Cameron takes Sarah to meet with resistance fighters from the future, who can provide them with money and weapons. When they arrive at the safe house they find all of the fighters dead and are confronted by a T-888, who is later to be known as Vick Chamberlain. During the ensuing fight, Vick scans Cameron but is unable to identify her model and, after a brief chase, Cameron is hit by a car, allowing him time to escape. Sarah later learns from Cameron that she would have died of cancer in 2005, which is one of the reasons why Cameron helped them jump to 2007, so she would be able to fight Skynet. In order to get new identification, they all go back to the safe house at night in hope of finding some money. Whilst attempting to open the safe, Cameron is knocked out by an electrical trap. Luckily John succeeded in opening it by guessing the right code. With the money, they are all able get new identities. Officially Cameron is now known as Cameron Baum.[4]
As John notices that Cameron has problems adjusting and fitting in with other students, he is able to teach her a few lessons on proper social behavior and how to not be a "freak". She later tries to cheer up Jordon Cowan, who currently seems to have problems at school and later wants to commit suicide. John tries to help save Jordan, but Cameron stops him from doing so.[5] Later Cameron informs Sarah and John that Cromartie has followed them through time after watching news footage of their arrival from 1999. Cameron believes Cromartie has something to do with a shipment of refined coltan being forced to re-route from Oakland to the Los Angeles port. As it is a key ingredient needed to construct the terminators, they decide to check out the port of Los Angeles. Here Cameron intimidates a security guard into taking them to Depot 37, a military base where she saves John from the T-888 Carter by locking him in the bomb shelter, she then drives the truck of coltan into the sea. It is later revealed that she has saved one bar of coltan for unknown reasons.[6]
At a chess tournament Cameron prepares to kill Andy Goode, if it turns out that the Turk wins the finale. The Turk doesn't win, however, and Andy Goode is found killed, but not by Cameron. The next day at school, Cameron is asked by the grief counselor what Jordon Cowan talked about before she died. She repeats the conversation and knew that Jordan was upset about the graffiti, she also guesses the counselor's involvement with the girl, which unnerves him. Cameron later helps free Derek Reese from the police and a T-888 (Vick), whom she disables by removing his CPU. She tries to help Derek, who has been shot, but does not have the necessary medical training to save him.[7] As Derek slowly dies on the kitchen table, Cameron begins writing a note, which is curious as she had previously learned from John that writing notes to the dead was a way of dealing with grief. When he arrives to save Derek, Charlie Dixon learns the truth about the terminators from Cameron whilst she is destroying the remains of the T-888 (Vick). Despite promising to destroy every last bolt of the T-888, Cameron keeps a significant portion of Vick's flesh (packed in plastic bags) and the CPU.[8]
While most of the remains of the T-888 is destroyed, Cameron looks for the missing hand by disguising herself as a cop and infiltrating the police station. She finds out that Agent Ellison is the person who currently has the missing hand. Sarah orders Cameron to find Dmitri (who took the Turk) through his sister Maria, who teaches ballet classes. Cameron enrolls in the ballet class and finds out that she is not the only one looking for Dmitri, when a russian gangster demands that Maria reveal his whereabouts. Cameron offers to help Dmitri, who provides her with information about the person who has the Turk. After retrieving the information, Cameron walks away as the russian gangsters arrive and kill Dmitri and Maria.[9]
Cameron is accused of treachery when Derek finds the T-888 chip in her room. Cameron defends herself, saying the chip may have valuable data they can use. Despite the breach of trust, they agree not to destroy the chip and for John to hack into it, to learn about the T-888's mission. It is revealed that Cameron has an unknown agenda, wherein she can tell lies if the mission requires it. At school Cameron is able to stop FBI agent Kester (Cromartie) from finding John, by convincing another student (Morris) to pose as him. Cameron is about to follow agent Kester, but is interrupted by John. Whilst hacking into Vick's CPU they find out about a traffic control system called ARTIE that Vick has been assigned to preserve. John decides to insert Cameron's CPU into the traffic control system so she can shut it down. [10]
In the season finale, Cameron and Sarah enter an Internet cafe where they are contacted by the owner of the Turk, a man named Sarkissian. Whilst at a science museum with John, Cameron notices someone following them and manages to sneak away from the group before attacking and killing the man. Suddenly the dead man's cell phone rings and Cameron uses her voice impersonation ability to answer it. On the other end is the man Sarah and Derek believe to be Sarkissian. The next day, Cameron is sent to get a birthday cake for John. As Cameron gets into the car, she notices the real Sarkissian walking away from the house. Just as she turns the ignition the car explodes.[11]
Pre-Judgment Day Objective (Season Two)
Cameron is rendered offline by the explosion, but quickly reboots and staggers out of the burning jeep, bearing several cuts and burns. One of her legs has also suffered damage, causing Cameron to limp away whilst running a self-diagnostic, which reveals that her chip integrity has been "compromised".
Behind the scenes
Cameron is portrayed by Summer Glau. 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.
Production photos and an official promo trailer from Season 2 confirm Cameron's survival of the car bomb. She seems to have suffered very little damage, other than a few cuts and a damaged leg. The promo shows Cameron in a much more sinister light, revealing that she has gone rogue and is apparently trying to kill John. [2] [3][4]
Relationships
John Connor
When they meet for the first time Cameron attempts to befriend John who, not wanting to make attachments, subtly gives her the brush-off. She is not deterred however, and continues to show an interest. The next day he decides to tell her the truth about his father (whom he’d lied about the previous day), which seems to strengthen their friendship. Following Cromartie's attack however, their friendship takes a different turn. With the revelation that Cameron is a Terminator, John finds himself somewhat curious about her and has difficulty accepting that she is a machine, due mainly to Cameron’s near-perfect human behavior. In the second episode Cameron strokes the back of John’s neck, which he takes as a sign of affection, but later turns out to be nothing more than a biomarker scan. When Cameron is incapacitated by a blast of electricity, John shows genuine concern for her and attempts to wake her despite knowing that she has a 120 second reboot factor. He is also shocked when Sarah carelessly throws an immobile Cameron out of a window in order to escape a nearby T-888 (Vick).
In "The Turk" Cameron casually walks past John in just her underwear, which makes him uncomfortable. Cameron often embarrasses John at school due to her awkwardness and her “bodyguard” act, forcing him to teach her proper social behavior. Their relationship suffers when Cameron prevents John from stopping Jordan Cowan committing suicide. For most of the fourth episode he is resentful towards her and snidely comments on her “density” and shares a private joke with Sarah, at Cameron’s expense. All is forgiven however, when Cameron saves John from Carter, a T-888. In "Heavy Metal" Cameron finally understands why John took Jordan’s death so hard and believes him to be grieving, a concept John previously assumed she could never understand. When Cameron is later overpowered by Vick, John is willing to risk his life to save her despite the fact that there is little he can do to help. When Derek accuses Cameron of treachery, John defends her despite her admission that she frequently lies to him about important things.
Whilst hacking Vick’s CPU, Cameron comments on the T-888’s “effective” methods, which prompts John to ask why she acts the way she does. Cameron simply replies that she is making conversation and that it is something she feels she should do. She then informs John of Cromartie's school-by-school search, but reassures him by saying that she (as Cromartie) would not return to their school again. John is upset by this statement as it reminds him that she is, at her core, the same as Cromartie. When Sarah interrupts their conversation, Cameron leaves, winking at John as she passes. While removing Cameron’s CPU, John hesitates. Cameron reassures him, saying that “this isn’t the first time we’ve done this”, thus hinting at a close relationship between the two in 2027. After re-inserting her chip, John shows his growing feelings for Cameron by stroking her hair affectionately until she re-activates.
In the season finale, Cameron is caught in a car bomb which seems to radically change her behaviour. Cameron mercilessly hunts John who, despite suffering multiple injuries at her hands, is determined to restore her original persona. He apparently succeeds in this endeavour, as the latest trailer shows him and a benign Cameron together. A level of tension soon grows between the two, as John is suffering from PTSD and comes to resent Cameron's constant presence. Cameron also develops some form of jealousy towards John's new girlfriend, Riley, and at one point states that he (John) "Can't be trusted anymore".
Notes of interest:
- Cameron seems to be closer to John in 2027 than anyone else, as she is one of the few to have regular contact with him.
- Cameron often senses when John is looking at her when her back is turned, and she herself gazes at him in a similar manner.
- John's devotion to Cameron is such that he viciously beats Sarkissian for planting the car bomb and causing Cameron's reversion, revealing a side to John that we have not seen before. He is also willing to risk his life to save Cameron from her murderous pursuits.
Sarah Connor
Sarah’s treatment of Cameron is similar to her behavior towards the T-800 in T2. She is, at first, indifferent about Cameron, and does not see her as anything more than a machine. Due to Cameron’s small stature and seemingly innocent appearance, Sarah feels somewhat superior to her and does not hesitate in displaying her authority, both verbally and physically. Sarah often berates Cameron for her callous actions, such as the murder of Enrique, after which she slaps Cameron across the face. Since then Sarah has tried to teach Cameron the value of human life. In "Dungeons & Dragons" Sarah threatens to destroy Cameron if she so much as touches Charley Dixon. She also resents John’s growing attachment to Cameron, which she sees as unhealthy. Despite Sarah’s derogative treatment of her, Cameron has tried many times to befriend Sarah, but her own merciless actions keep them at a distance. Sarah does however; display a pseudo-mother-daughter relationship with Cameron at home and often calls her “Tin-Miss” in reference to the Wizard Of Oz, but still views her as a machine when in dangerous situations and is willing to abandon Cameron in order to get John to safety. Sarah appears visibly distraught when Cameron begins hunting John and struggles to keep him from confronting his former protector.
Notes of interest:
- Sarah remains cautiously neutral in relation to Cameron, trusting John's judgement over Derek's vindictions.
Derek Reese
Derek harbors a deep distrust of Cameron after a strange event in 2027 where it is implied that Cameron (or a machine of the same model) tortured Derek. He continuously accuses her of being a liar and refuses to believe that she will ever be a force for good, despite all evidence to the contrary. In "The Demon Hand" he warns her that she doesn't fool him and strongly advises Sarah to get rid of her. He does not feel safe with Cameron around and sleeps with a gun nearby, just in case. Ironically, Derek's suspicions prove correct when Cameron goes on a rampage.
Notes of interest:
- For reasons unknown, Derek watches Cameron perform ballet in her room and is brought to tears at the scene.
Aliases/Nicknames
- Cameron Phillips
- Cameron Baum
- Tin-Miss
- T0K715 (unconfirmed)
Characteristics
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.
Cameron is similar to Cromartie in which she also has the '120 second reboot' factor, as demonstrated in the "Gnothi Seauton" episode.
Cameron's endoskeleton is made from Coltan. A heat resistant alloy, more advanced than the T-600 models titanium alloy endoskeletons. - The Sarah Connor Chronicles, "Heavy Metal"
Cameron's terminator series is unknown. A promotional poster lists Cameron as a "TERMINATOR CLASS TOK715" [12]. 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 discussuing the reprogramming of terminators by the resistance and that she was wiped after capture to help insure success in the reprogramming. Although Vick analyses 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 knowlege of updates and advances post Time travel. She may indeed be a "715" skin sized 888, or an as yet unrevealed Series. The differences physically between the 888 and Cameron's CPUs may be stock manufacture, or an element of the resistance reprogramming and modification.
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.
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).
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.
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 most T-8xx series terminators. However, to date Cameron has not exhibited any of the shape-shifting characteristics of the T-X.
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 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 ascendency over other models was defined by her ability to mimic human behavior. The decision to make the character teenaged, 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. This has been acknowledged by both Friedman and Glau. 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
References
- ↑ Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 1 DVD Episode Commentaries
- ↑ Cameron states she opened the deposit box her self. Sarah Connor Chronicles: "Pilot" This is as yet unverified due to her admission in "Vick's Chip" that she occasionally lies "about important things".
- ↑ "Pilot"
- ↑ "Gnothi Seauton"
- ↑ "The Turk"
- ↑ "Heavy Metal"
- ↑ "Queen's Gambit"
- ↑ "Dungeons & Dragons"
- ↑ "The Demon Hand"
- ↑ "Vick's Chip"
- ↑ "What He Beheld"
- ↑ Cameron's model promo poster
