T2 Is Back in Theatres — Its Best Sequel Was a Show That Got Cancelled Too Soon

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is heading back to the big screen this August. StudioCanal, Fathom Entertainment and Rialto Pictures announced a 35th anniversary re-release in 4K, RealD 3D and premium formats, rolling out across the US, UK, Europe and Australia from August 27. Tickets are already on sale, which makes this the perfect excuse to revisit the only Terminator sequel to T2 that actually lived up to it — and no, it’s not one of the movies.

Sometimes the anniversary re-release of a classic is the best reason to talk about what came after it, not just the film itself. Over the last few years, the Terminator franchise has been in a bit of a mess. With all the reboots, prequels and sequels, fans have turned to new ideas about how to fix the franchise. Some have called for director Zack Snyder to reboot the Terminator franchise for Netflix. Others would like to see Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as a T-800 in a film set in the future after Judgement Day. However, what most fans seem to be forgetting is that we actually did have a good sequel to T2: Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Why the Terminator Timeline Keeps Getting Rewritten

It’s not easy being a Terminator fan. Every time you think you’ve got the timeline figured out, a new movie comes along to retcon the established canon. It’s almost impossible to agree on a single timeline when it comes to Terminator, doubly so if you count the comics and books – though their canonicity had always been shaky.

Now that we know James Cameron is working on yet another secret Terminator project, we have no choice but to brace ourselves for the inevitable retcon. Maybe Sarah Connor was never a waitress this time, or John Connor had a twin sister. In any case, that’s what you usually get when your franchise deals with reality-altering time-traveling: many possible scenarios.

Still, if there’s something we can all agree on it’s that the Terminator series changed drastically after Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. The film was polarizing with fans, as it was the first entry in the series that deviated heavily from the established canon. That’s also the point where it became clear Terminator peaked with Terminator 2.

However, for Terminator fans, the one true sequel to T2 was just about to come.

How The Sarah Connor Chronicles Nailed the Perfect T2 Sequel

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was released in 2008, five years after the last Terminator film came to cinemas. This was the first time the franchise released a TV show – and they nailed it on the first try.

For starters, The Sarah Connor Chronicles retconned the events of Terminator 3. The series was a direct sequel to T2, featuring Sarah and John Connor on the run after seemingly destroying Skynet before its creation. Needless to say, that never works, and the machines are still on course to world domination, only this time, Judgment Day takes place in 2011 instead of 1997.

The show stars future Game of Thrones talent Lena Headey as Sarah, while Thomas Dekker plays her son, John, the future leader of the Resistance. In many ways, Headey and Dekker play their characters just like Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong did, making the show feel even more like a true sequel.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Terminator show without Terminators. The Sarah Connor Chronicles takes a page out of Terminator 3‘s book and introduces a new female Terminator, Cameron, played by Summer Glau. The show’s main bad guy is a T-888 codenamed Cromartie, predominantly played by Garret Dillahunt.

Why Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Got Cancelled Too Soon

The Sarah Connor Chronicles garnered strong positive reviews, but not even that was enough to save it from its demise. The show was released during the heyday of the Writer’s Guild of America’s strike, leading to complications during its production. With viewership dwindling by the end of Season 2, the studio cut the cord before the series could get a proper ending.

That same year, 2009, Terminator Salvation came to theaters. If Terminator 3 was unlike the previous two films, then Salvation was a whole different genre. The film looks more like a Transformers movie than anything else. To make matters worse, it kept the same continuity introduced by Terminator 3, which already made die-hard fans question just how good the plot could be.

Salvation introduced a new era for the world of Terminator – one of continuous rehashes and rewrites of the series’ beloved lore. We’re still trapped in that trend, with films like Terminator: Dark Fate sullying the memory of timeless classics like Judgment Day.

It would be nearly impossible to produce a series like The Sarah Connor Chronicles at this point – as impossible as it would be to create a movie as flawless as T2. For that, it’s safe to say that, as brief as it was, The Sarah Connor Chronicles remains the last great piece of Terminator media.

Where to Watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Now

As of writing, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles isn’t sitting on a major subscription service in South Africa. It’s available to buy or rent per-episode in select regions via Prime Video, Apple TV and Google Play. If a local subscription option surfaces, update this section rather than the archived table above.

In the meantime, T2 itself is easiest to catch on the big screen this August — or explore more sci-fi anniversary coverage while you wait for a proper streaming home for its best sequel.

Tell us, do you think Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ended too soon?