Terminator Zero Season 1 Review – the Terminator is back!

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Season 1

 

 

Episode Guide

Model 101 and First Impression
Model 102
Model 103
Model 104
Model 105
Model 106
Model 107
Model 108 + Ending Explained
BONUS: Terminator Franchise Watch Order

The Terminator is back with a new post-Judgment Day variation

Released on Judgement Day 2024, Terminator Zero picks up where Terminator 2: Judgment Day left off, as many Terminator-verse story does. Terminator Zero (Netflix Worldwide) is set in Japan, featuring new characters and, of course, spanning two timelines. The English language version features the voices of Timothy Olyphant and Rosario Dawson.

The action centers around a soldier, Eiko, sent back in time to save humanity and warn about the dangers of AI as Skynet declares war on humankind. She leaps from 2022 to 1997 to protect scientist Malcolm Lee and his family as he works to launch a new AI that could compete with Skynet. But will a new machine successfully defeat another machine? Or is it more likely to reach the same anti-human conclusion?

The eight 25-ish minute episodes zip us into the same old conundrum but proposes a slightly different map. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of gunfire and indefatigable fighters. But there’s a new more cooperative go-big-or-go-home possibility here. What if machines had emotions?

Even if they don’t show them, maybe there’s more than just ones and zeros going on in there. I mean.. humanity is an anomaly as it is. Why not tech? So, let’s suspend disbelief and go with it. If so, could we give AI the opportunity we wish we’d be given in a similar circumstance? The chance to see for ourselves and make an educated choice? This is where the tech ‘self-awareness’ comes in. And good old-fashioned trust. Japanese stories are often so good at bringing this ‘opportunity to choose’ theme to life.

Created by Mattson Tomlin (Project Power, Batman Part II) and directed by animator Masashi Kudō (Bleach franchise, Tower of God), the anime is a joint production between Skydance (Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Japanese animation studio, Production I.G (Ghost in the Shell, Haikyu!, Psycho-Pass).

For the purists, it’s worth noting that you can watch in Japanese with English subtitles as well as with English dubbing by these voice artists:

  • Timothy Olyphant (The Mandalorian, Live Free or Die Hard, Rango) as the Terminator
  • Rosario Dawson (Dopesick, Daredevil, Lego Batman Movie) as Kokoro, an advanced AI
  • Andre Holland (Selma, 42, Moonlight) as Malcolm Lee, a computer programmer
  • Sonoya Mizuno (Annihilation, Devs, Ex Machina) as Eiko, a Resistance soldier from the future
  • Ann Dowd (Philadelphia, Hereditary, Lorenzo’s Oil) as Prophet

Japanese voice artists include:

Each episode drops us on a cliffhanger, weaving in age-old Terminator information with elements unique to the new storyline. It once again flips the roles, from gender to human/machine, adjusting the aperture as we go and giving us a chance to look at things differently.

Surprisingly, this terminator advocates for AI, giving it a chance. I guess that’s where we are in 2024. AI is here and now we’re waiting to see how helpful or detrimental it is. As a writer, there are certainly multiple ways of looking at it. Could it write better ‘Kristen content’ than I do? Jeez, I hope not. Would we fight over the Oxford comma? Completely possible.

In any case, Terminator Zero, once again, turns what we know on its head, making it strong storytelling. In addition, there are plenty of great moments and explainers. Like that bit in ep 6 when Prophet explains the time travel paradox – more clearly than I’ve ever heard before. Or Kokoro’s quote, “Human beings seek to divine meaning out of natural occurrences. Birth. Life. Death. You divine narratives for yourself out of the chaos in life.” Ain’t that the truth? I’m so over hearing comments like ‘everything happens for a reason.’ Can I write ‘bollocks’ here? I’m with Kokoro on this one.

In short, Terminator Zero is an enlightening extension of the story in a tight, gruesome package with a cerebral edge. It didn’t take long to forget about anime and focus on the characters and storyline. Neither did the format make it feel any less poignant. It is certainly as dark as Mattson Tomlin promised – see the full quote in our Watch Order story. I say, give it a watch for yourself. Get past the first episode or 2 and I bet you’ll find yourself burning through it. Let me know your reaction in the comments below. 

 

Think T Zero is worth your precious viewing time? Carve it on a postcard or in the comments below. If you’d like to see episode-by-episode reviews, you know what to do. We’ll need a few positive comments to get us going, so don’t hesitate if you’re keen.

For more, check out: Terminator Watch Order or Terminator Zero Ep 1 Review  or the Terminator Zero Finale Review + Ending Explained

 

READ MORE: Anime reviews or Full Season Reviews.

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  • Verdict - 8.5/10
    8.5/10
8.5/10

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