I’m telling you, if you’re on the fence about Chronicles, hop off. Just make sure you don’t catch your jeans on the way down, as its very likely you’ll run into a Terminator going through his own Extreme Makeover: SkyNet Edition.

I will readily admit that I grinned my face off when I saw that slug of a thing come out of the pool of blood at the end of the episode. And I cackled when the wanna-be Einstein slit open its eyes to reveal the glowing red cybernetic eyes below. Gotta love that. You also have to love the symbolism of the tub full of blood after seeing the single drop in Sarah’s bathtub earlier in the episode: a non-subtle but nevertheless effective way to parallel the atomic bomb imagery throughout the episode with the inevitable, post-Judgement Day world the Connors are working towards preventing.

Speaking of preventing, I must admit that I was pleasantly surprised when River-Nator stopped John from stopping the jumper. Contrast that with the way West and Claire acted on Heroes during this season: night and day. It was smart writing that once again reminded us, “tight” gifts aside, River-Nator is a cold-hearted badass. (Also, who knew how smart a decision it would be for Thomas Dekker to leave the established hit Heroes and join this show? Looks like he jumped ship just in time.)

Loved the touch with the fingerprints yielding a child: clearly this is the only record 2007 has of the future freedom fighter, the one seen only by the tattoo on his left arm to date. Between this, the FBI investigation, and the re-skinning of the Terminator, things are moving quickly but not TOO quickly. Also, it’s far too early to make Sarah a true killer just yet: burning down Andy’s house is a start, but proves she still wants to maintain distance between herself and the River-Nator. Still can’t see how a show like this lasts a year’s worth of episodes, but the show’s far from blown their narrative load so far.

Minor quibbles? Why on earth does John need to go to high school in the first place? Keep him home-schooled, damnit. No reason River-Nator can’t function as a sexy Wikipedia. And why Sarah wouldn’t research modern electronics before casing Andy Goode’s store? Weak.

Still, minor quibbles. Three episodes in and I’m hooked so far. Then again, these days it’s this or Strap Your Butt To a Lie Detector and Ruin Every Relationship You Have For $500,000, so my compass for exemplary television may be a bit off.