Catherine Weaver is a fictional character in the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which aired on Fox from 2008 to 2009. The character, portrayed by singer Shirley Manson, recurs throughout the second and final season, debuting in its premiere episode.
Weaver is a Terminator, a fictional line of androids featured throughout the eponymous franchise. She is identified off-screen as a T-1001. Like the T-1000, she is made of a liquid metal which allows her to shapeshift into other people or objects. These effects were achieved through computer-generated imagery, created by Entity FX.
In the series, the character has taken the place of Catherine Weaver, the co-founder of ZeiraCorp who died some time prior to the season's events. Under her new identity, the Terminator becomes CEO and commences development of an artificial intelligence, later known as John Henry.
The character marked Manson's acting debut. She had grown tired of musical performing and took on acting as a new challenge, though she initially knew little about her character's intentions, and was surprised at how large the role turned out to be. Manson found that portraying a machine was harder than expected, and was initially overwhelmed in her new role, but ultimately enjoyed the experience. Her acting received a mixed reception.
Character overview Abilities The character is a Terminator, identified off-screen as a T-1001. Commonly known as Catherine Weaver, she is made of a liquid metal, allowing her to shapeshift into other people. Her human name comes from the woman who she most frequently impersonates. In addition to copying humans' appearances, she can mimic their voices as well, although she has trouble expressing natural dialogue and human emotions, regardless of who she is impersonating. Besides people, she can also morph into various objects, for instance turning her arms into bladed weapons. A portion of her body is disguised as an eel and kept in a fish tank at her office.
Weaver shares her mimicking abilities with the T-1000, who appears in the film Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Shirley Manson, who portrays Weaver, said of the two characters that "it's almost like an upgrade from one television set to the other." Stunt coordinator Joel Kramer said of Weaver, "She's the same liquid metal model, basically. She can morph into whatever she wants, to a point. Any inanimate object as long as there are no moving parts."
Background story Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is set around 2008. Before the T-1001's arrival from the future, Catherine Weaver and her husband Lachlan had founded ZeiraCorp, a technology company. Lachlan, a helicopter pilot, publicly died in a 2005 crash, and Catherine died around the same time, both events occurring off-screen. However, Catherine continued to live on through the T-1001, which copied her appearance and replaced Lachlan as CEO of ZeiraCorp. The T-1001 (commonly known as Weaver) uses this position to pursue her goal of developing an artificial intelligence.
The Weavers left behind a young daughter named Savannah, now raised by the Catherine Weaver doppelganger, who struggles with human emotions and interaction. Savannah is unaware that her mother is now a machine, although she does notice a change in her behavior after Lachlan's death. The new Weaver is initially unsure of how to parent Savannah, who seems frightened and uncomfortable around her.
In 2027, humans are led by John Connor in a war against machines. The latter are led by Skynet, an artificial intelligence that launched a nuclear attack on humanity in 2011, an event known as Judgment Day. Several episodes include segments set during the future war. In a two-part episode, Jesse Flores and other human resistance fighters are sent to retrieve a package in Skynet territory, purportedly for John. However, they question the mission and the contents of the package. They open it to investigate and wind up unleashing the T-1001. The machine tells Jesse to relay a message: "Tell John Connor the answer is no." Cameron, a reprogrammed Terminator who is John's closest ally, later informs Jesse that the T-1001 had been asked, "Will you join us?"
Later, Cameron travels back in time to protect teenage John and his mother, Sarah Connor. The trio work to prevent Judgment Day; Weaver seems unaware of their existence for much of the series, and vice versa.
Season two As the second season begins, the Weaver doppelganger acquires the Turk, an advanced computer created by the late Andy Goode. She diverts company resources to develop an artificial intelligence known as Babylon, using the Turk as a starting point. As part of the project, she also recruits FBI agent James Ellison to find and capture a Terminator for research, while suggesting to him that one was responsible for Lachlan's crash. Until the series finale, Ellison is unaware that Weaver is a machine. On several occasions, she secretly uses her shapeshifting ability to impersonate other people and further her goals. For instance, she briefly takes on a new identity as a business executive and purchases several nuclear power plants, one of which will later be used by the human resistance as a base.
Early in the season, unsure of what to do with Savannah, Weaver takes her to see Dr. Boyd Sherman, a family psychologist. Savannah confides that she misses her "old mommy", and Sherman relays this to Weaver, believing the latter has become emotionally withdrawn as a result of Lachlan's death. Weaver then makes an effort to learn more about her human counterpart, to improve her impersonation and parenting.
The developing Babylon A.I. is deemed to have the mind of a young child, and Weaver soon hires Sherman as a consultant, believing him ideal to teach it. Cromartie, a T-888 sent from the future to kill John, is eventually disabled by the Connors. Ellison later retrieves the body and delivers it to Weaver. Meanwhile, Sherman renames the A.I. project "John Henry", after the folklore character. Some time later, a power outage traps Sherman in the ZeiraCorp basement, where John Henry is located. The A.I., in control of the building's electrical systems, redirects power and ventilation for its mainframe. John Henry shows no remorse upon learning that these actions inadvertently led to Sherman dying of heat exposure.
Weaver has Cromartie's body hooked up to John Henry as a physical embodiment. She also convinces Ellison, a religious man, to replace Sherman and teach John Henry morals and the value of human life. Weaver views John Henry as a second child, later calling him "our boy" when talking with Ellison. John Henry, though still confined to the basement, is connected to the Internet and begins learning at a rapid rate. The A.I. quickly identifies Weaver as a machine, but obeys her instruction not to tell anyone, stating that everything she does is for his benefit. She proceeds to massacre employees at a warehouse and then destroys it with explosives. The facility had been operated by the Kaliba Group, which is connected to Skynet.
Later, John Henry is temporarily hacked by Skynet, and he soon wishes to learn more about his counterpart. In the series finale, Weaver sends Ellison to ask Cameron the same question posed in 2027: "Will you join us?" Although Cameron denies having knowledge of what this means, she is visibly upset and orders Ellison to leave. Sarah and John, who suspect that Weaver is building Skynet, go with Ellison to meet her at ZeiraCorp. They soon discover Weaver's true nature when she uses her shapeshifting abilities to form a shield, protecting them from a flying enemy drone. Weaver reveals to the Connors that they actually share a common enemy in Skynet, which John is destined to fight with the help of John Henry. The group soon learn that John Henry has traveled to the future, having gained full mobility with Cameron's CPU chip; though she had been sent to kill John Henry, she instead voluntarily gave him the chip.
Weaver and John jump forward in time to find John Henry; Sarah and Ellison decline to go with them, and Weaver instructs the latter to pick up Savannah from her gymnastics class. John and Weaver arrive in a post-Judgment Day future in which he is not known to the human resistance. Although they arrive naked, Weaver forms clothing a moment later. After briefly talking to John, Weaver retreats as the resistance approaches, leaving her whereabouts unknown.
Production background Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles was created by Josh Friedman. It was produced by Warner Bros. Television and aired on Fox.
Casting and portrayal
Shirley Manson, the lead singer in the rock band Garbage, was cast as Catherine Weaver in May 2008, while the band was on hiatus. Actress Sigourney Weaver was initially envisioned in the role, inspiring the character's surname. Outside of music videos, Manson had never acted before, and her casting was met with skepticism. She had wanted to act for years, but up to that point had never found a project interesting enough for her to sign on.
Manson was friends with Friedman's wife, who told Manson that he was interested in casting her as a Terminator, the only role she would be interested in playing. Manson did not realize it would be a recurring role, instead expecting it to consist of a fight scene with another character. As a fan of the first two Terminator films, she agreed to try out for the role: "It was a trigger response because I'm a big Terminator fan. I auditioned the next day and got the part before I really understood the full implications of what I'd gotten myself into."
Between 50 and 100 women had auditioned for the role, with Manson and two actresses becoming finalists. The three women auditioned for the head of Warner Bros., who was unimpressed with Manson and became quickly convinced that she would not get the role. Manson and Friedman were also in agreement that she gave a "terrible" performance. However, because of her status as a rock star, the head of Fox wanted to meet with her during a second round of auditions, this time for the network. After Friedman had a motivational talk with Manson, she arrived to the second audition and gave a commanding performance which got her the role.
Initially, Manson only had the script to the season premiere, and knew little about the character: "I wasn't told where she would go and I didn't know what she was there for, which is kind of hard – particularly for an inexperienced actor." The writers themselves had yet to determine the character's full storyline. Manson gradually learned more about Weaver and her intentions as filming progressed. Savannah Weaver is introduced several episodes into the season, and this helped Manson to better understand her character. She would later be surprised by how big of a role Weaver had in the show.
Initially, Weaver is suggested to the audience as an antagonist trying to build Skynet. Friedman sought to avoid a stereotypical portrayal by making the character a Terminator: "I didn't want to do just the basic evil corporate type." Speaking of Weaver's affiliation with Skynet, Friedman said that she came from a moderate faction of the A.I. that sought alternative solutions to the future war. However, the dissenting group's proposals, such as a human alliance, eventually led to infighting.