After the snooze-fests of the past couple of weeks, it's nice to get back to basics. "Ourselves Alone" has the return of Riley, Jesse, and Cameron's post-explosion twitchiness, and while it's not exactly a thrill ride, at least we're not wasting our weekly forty with characters we've never seen and conspiracies that continually fail to resolve. Anything that gives Cameron more screen is an improvement, and for once Sarah gets to do something beside be angst-filled and mopey. Best of all, we actually get some forward motion on a plot that's been dragging at our heels since last fall. We have to wait most of the episode for this to happen, but at least it's something.
One of weird side effects of spending two episodes in what can charitably be described as a cul-de-sac o' plot is the way Riley's suicide attempt went off the radar for a while. It was addressed some way back in "The Good Wound," but there wasn't any serious discussion; for a show that likes to swim in misery like Scrooge McDuck in his money bin, this was something of an oversight. But then, Terminator has always had a habit of raising plot points and then tossing them to the side for no clear reason. "Alone" tries to fill the hole by dealing more directly with the nearly-broken-beyond-repair Riley. The attention she receives isn't exactly what you'd call therapeutic, but it's nice that Sarah, John, and Cameron are putting time into the problem. (Of course, the only real reason Sarah's putting in the time is that Riley's apparently developed a nasty habit of spreading around privileged, potentially dangerous information.)
Riley isn't the only one breaking down. In one of the best cold opens we've had in ages, Cameron has a chat with the pigeon that lives in the Connor house chimney. As with a lot of the best Cam scenes, this one starts off funny ("That's a window, bird.") but gets spooky fast, as River the Robot accidentally squeezes the bird to death while attempting to release it outside. Again we're reminded of Cameron's chip issues; it's a thread that, once raised, hasn't cropped up nearly often enough. The series has been suffering from a distinct lack of dramatic tension for a while now, as the writers seem to be operating under the impression that grim facial expressions, sluggish pacing, and endlessly silly psuedo-poetic narration all adds up to Hitchcockian suspense. Despite the fact that our heroes are struggling to save the world, nothing much ever seems to be at stake. Cameron's potential unreliability is exactly the kind of thing that needs more attention, as it's easy to understand, and easy to get nervous about; unlike, say, the mystery company that Sarah and Derek are still working to track down.
Yeah, hey, Derek's back this week. He and Jesse get in some friendly target practice, and Derek starts pushing her involvement in the current mission. (I understand the need for our heroes to be active, but I can't remember a single point this entire season when I've given a rat's ass about their goals. A clear statement of purpose would be nice—at the very least, it would indicate that the writers actually have a plan for all this.) Jesse shows her usual reluctance to commit to anything, but Derek won't have it, essentially ordering her to step up. There's a nice bit here when Derek reveals the date of his Judgment Day (April 21, 2011), and tries to get Jesse to do the same; this isn't the first time the two have discussed that they may be from different futures, and it's still a very cool idea.