Ugh, I know, the backlash has been so disappointing and frustrating. I can’t believe it’s still a thing at all, let alone this strong. It’s just not fair??? All these extra obstacles for certain people.
Same anon, later that day:
I love it! Dani and Grace are amazing. The action moments where nice(car factory fight); Diego Luna a great villain. Sara amazing as usual but Dani is the boss. You’re right I was gonna be proud
Yay! I loved the action scenes, Grace was just so awesome, but yes, Dani was the star. 🙂 I can’t wait for the bluray, I have so much to rewatch.
Several asks with spoilers under the cut:
And another anon:
MORE TDF SPOILERS: I’m not sure we have to worry about Dani. Since, like you said, she knew adult Grace BEFORE young Grace, if she even has a small inkling towards liking women, I’m pretty sure her first thought (before knowing the backstory) wasn’t “OH LOOK A BABY I WANNA BE HER MOM”. Dani is all of us: her first thought was “HOLY SHIT SHE’S HOT”. The only mother-daughter dynamic I see is Sarah-Dani. Also I think Dani kind of “adopted” Grace in the future cause she was thankful of her sacrifice
(same anon). On another note, do you think Mackenzie is coming back if they do make related sequels? If so, how do you think they’re going to do it? I’m pretty sure one way to keep Grace alive would be to give her two cores instead of one, so that when she sacrifices herself she can “turn herself on” again. Even though the end hints at them wanting to stop it, I just wish they’d let JD happen, mostly because if they do stop Legion, then it’s just T2 all over again, with Dani instead of John.
Oh, for sure, when Dani first sees future-Grace in the present, all she’s seeing is a hot lady (incidentally some years older than her here) devoted to protecting her. But aside from this, in the future, she’d know Grace for some years when she’s an…older teen? It’s really easy to write around as a fic writer, but it is something to be aware of.
I honestly don’t know if we will get more sequels, the box office isn’t doing so hot. I basically want whatever Linda Hamilton wants, she is truly the person who I feel has the best idea of what’s good for this role, because it really is the story of Sarah Connor more than anything else. I don’t know if Mackenzie is willing to come back for it, it seems a punishing role and something more experimental for her than her than part of any particular ambition, but I’d definitely hope she does. If this becomes a new series, Grace is an integral part of it.
I get what you mean about the story repeating but I can’t imagine them not trying to stop something that catastrophic just because it’s inconvenient for the story, heh. The difference here might be that they don’t succeed? I mean, this was basically T1, so I don’t think they’re too afraid of repeating elements. It’s just going to be different because now it’s like they have two Sarahs and even Grace is going to be more helpful than the T-800 and well, it’s an entirely different time, in terms of tech. I’d also love to see it because it’s the US Border Patrol that took her pics and X-Rays, so there’s a possibility Judgment Day now basically stems from the US immigration policy and the fight will have to be against the US government. I kind of wish this movie took more of a stance, even though what it did was more than usual (which speaks to how terrible the “usual” is).
And another anon:
I was sad when they showed the truth about Dani/Grace. But I totally think that somehow Grace had a crush for Dani in the process. At least they weren’t related. And well both can kick ass and that’s enough for me
Heh, yeah, lol, us trying to figure out just how the dynamics could work–and they very much could. But it requires a bit more from us than, say, Deb/Lou in Ocean’s 8. If the epilogue is just a little bit after the events of the movie, then isn’t Dani like 7-10 years older than Grace? I can’t really tell how old either of them are, but Dani’s supposed to be like 18-20, right? And Grace looks like…I dunno, 10-12? I can’t judge ages at all. D: I don’t even know how old older Grace is supposed to be. It’s also worth pointing out that if the apocalypse IS stopped, resistance leader Dani will never have to “adopt” teen Grace.
And another anon:
How’d you square with Terminator: Dark Fate’s intentional downplaying of Dani and Grace’s relationship? Shipping aside bc that would have taken an actual miracle to happen, the final version of the film was edited and scene-swapped to airbrush their interactions, but for what reason if they weren’t going to go all the way with it anyway? I heard the future-Dani young-Grace scenes were shot afterwards, so no wonder it felt a little hamfisted (their whole “you raised me” deal, not Dani’s destiny)
I hadn’t heard anything about that future-Dani young-Grace scene but then it must have been replacing a different storyline, because they needed some kind of reveal for their future dynamic?
I didn’t like the downplaying at all! I can only imagine they thought even the non-canon subtext they had was too much already? Which is stupid and honestly, I think it was worse for the movie. They’re the core relationship of the movie, like Sarah-Reese, and those moments were supposed to be about Dani and Grace relating on a human level in the present, away from the future and their eventual roles in it, and they just…decided to remove them? I mean, what we had was still good because they’re both such fundamentally likable people and we did believe in their bond while, you know, fighting for their lives, but those moments (especially the shoulder touch??) could have added so much!