"Born to Run" is the twenty-second episode of the second season of the American television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and the thirty-first episode of the series. It was written by executive producer Josh Friedman and directed by Jeffrey Hunt. The episode was first broadcast on April 10, 2009 on Fox in the United States. It is the last episode of the program's second season and it also served as the series finale. "Born to Run", like the previous episode, "Adam Raised a Cain", is named after a Bruce Springsteen song
The episode takes place shortly after events depicted in the preceding episode, "Adam Raised a Cain". In that episode, Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) has been captured by the FBI while returning Savannah Weaver to James Ellison (Richard T. Jones), Derek Reese (Brian Austin Green) has been killed during the termination attempt on Savannah Weaver's young life, while John Connor (Thomas Dekker) and the Terminator Cameron (Summer Glau) are in hiding, and the liquid metal Terminator Catherine Weaver (Shirley Manson) reveals that her intentions are quite different from what anyone believes them to be. In "Born to Run", John and Sarah finally meet Weaver, and the ensuing events alter the course of the series dramatically.
Plot
Sarah (Headey) is questioned by FBI Agent Auldridge (Joshua Malina), who lists the charges against her and asks where her son is. Sarah claims that John (Dekker) died in the bank vault explosion (from the first episode of the series), but Auldridge states that he doesn't believe her. James Ellison (Jones) visits her, telling a largely unconvinced Sarah that he had no part in her capture and encourages her to tell the FBI the truth about Skynet and the future. Sarah points out that the last time she did that, it landed her in a psychiatric ward. After learning that Savannah Weaver (Mackenzie Brooke Smith) has been returned to her mother, Sarah stresses that the child is not safe, an exclamation observed via CCTV by Agent Auldridge as well as by John Henry (Dillahunt) and Catherine Weaver (Manson). Later, Auldrige changes his interrogation tactics, telling Sarah that he believes her about the machines, but Sarah insists that John is dead. As he departs, Auldridge reveals that Danny Dyson, son of Miles Dyson, has been missing for the past three months. Sarah sends a message to John, ordering him not to attempt a rescue.
Meanwhile, John and Cameron (Glau) are in hiding, and when John states that he needs to research whether his mother's cancer might be caused by being around Cameron's nuclear power cell. Cameron states that internal sensors would be able to detect any radiation leakage. Frustrated, he asks about them, Cameron states that they cannot be seen. John points out that machines are not perfect and, underneath it all, Cameron's original programming is to kill him.
Weaver has Ellison arrange a meeting with John, and destroys a terminator (Pierce) as it attempts to break into ZeiraCorp. Its processor chip is recovered but found to be coated in a phosphorus solution, which destroys it when extracted. Weaver asks John Henry if he can recover data from the damaged chip to find out who sent Pierce. Ellison delivers Weaver's message, and when John appears unconvinced, Ellison relays the additional message from Weaver to Cameron, "Will you join us?". An affected Cameron quickly claims not to understand and immediately asks Ellison to leave. John observes that Cameron appears upset, but is told that machines are not capable of emotional response. Cameron removes her shirt and bra, explaining that John needs to understand that while reprogrammed, terminators are created with only one function, and that can never be undone. Cameron then gives John intimate access to her mechanics, so that he can see for himself that the power source is not leaking. Afterwards, Father Bonilla is contacted to tell Sarah they are breaking her out anyway. Elsewhere, Weaver learns from Murch (Shane Edelman) that moving John Henry to a more secure location might not be possible, as any change to the hardware, even something as minor as replacing a damaged wire, alters who John Henry is.