Summer Glau

Terminator Cast Dishes on New Season

Tick...tick...tick...Hear that? It’s the sound of the clock slooowly inching toward the new season of Fox’s Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Sept 8). It’s also the wicked-hot sound of the show’s resident bot-beauty Summer Glau, who just took the stage at the Saturn Awards to claim the trophy for best supporting actress on television.

Terminator’s cast and creator were also on hand and ponied up some dish on the new season, which they’re currently shooting. Click in for the goods! Garret Dillahunt

Full-Time Troublemaker: A certain model T-888 terminator we love to hate will continue to make his presence known. According to the always-gracious Garret Dillahunt, "Cromartie’s back big-time. They made me a series regular." (Yay!) And Garret’s spin on his killing-machine character remains positive. He said, "I like him. They’re really not bad guys—they’re doing their job. He has no hate in him. He’s like: ’Look, it’s my job, sorry...Gotta snap your neck.’ " Summer Glau, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Hit That Reset Button: According to Summer Glau, in season two Cameron won’t be the same seriously hard-core but sweet robot we knew last season. "Cameron definitely has some issues after the explosion," she said. "And everybody changes after the first episode." Oh, gee. Anger-management issues? Wires on the fritz that lead to twitches and seizures? I’m curious but concerned.

Girl Power: After talking briefly with Summer Glau and being reminded about what a lady she is, I asked Terminator boss and creator Josh Friedman if Cameron had any sense of human femininity. "I think sometimes she does when it suits her," he replied. "Last year she learned how to paint her nails, and she’s learned how to wear miniskirts and exploit her legs for attention." As for her using her power, feminine or otherwise, can Cameron access the power that comes from human emotions like jealousy? According to Josh, "I think if there were somebody else in John’s life that could cause strategic problems, I think that’s almost like jealousy, and she would work to eliminate that threat. I think we may see some of that this year." Hmmm...

What’s to Come: Though he’s tight-lipped on specifics, Josh did say that his original plan for the story is still in place. He says, "I had a pretty good idea of where the first season was going, and we’re still using a lot of that material in the second season—we’re in the frame work I thought about two years ago." Sign of a good plan. Shirley Manson

Bring In the Garbage: How did Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson come to be a part of the show? Well, according to Friedman, "Shirley and [my wife] Christine are actually old friends, so it’s kind of cheating. I would tell Christine, ’Oh, you’re having lunch with Shirley, tell her I want her on the show.’ We had no idea what to do with her. We just thought it’d be fun to have her. Then this year, I had written this part and I thought, let’s see if she can come in and do it. But it’s a pretty big part, so Shirley—like anybody else—had to go through the whole audition process." Thomas Dekker

Ding-Dong, the Bangs Are Dead: Josh confirmed Thomas Dekker’s new haircut has been "tied in" to the story of season two, and no one is happier about that buzz cut than Josh himself. He said, "Every time Thomas would see me on the set, he would walk up to me and all I would do was stare at his bangs. He’d say, ’You hate them,’ and I’d say, ’I do.’ "

Hello, Shirley, goodbye, bangs! What else are you hoping comes or goes from T:TSSC in season two? Post your wish list in the comments.