What does Cameron the Terminatrix do all night when she’s not sleeping? Sarah has a suggestion, but John scoffs. “The most efficient killing machine ever invented–you got her doing laundry.”

It turns out she brings donuts to the wheelchair-bound night guy at the library so she can research anything and everything. In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Episode #2.12, “Self Made Man,” she spots a Terminator in a chance glimpse of an old photo from the 1920s. “I need to know what happened to him,” she decides.

Over the course of an evening, Cameron and her friend piece together the life of Myron Stark, a ruthless 1920s businessman with a singular goal. Her friend’s reluctant at first, but gradually gets into Cameron’s project. As he does, he learns more than he wants to about her, finding the gun she always carries and discovering her not-quite-human bluntness. Cameron also seems to be learning about people and being human. She seems genuinely concerned about breaking into a locked room to continue her research, a move that could get the librarian into trouble. “We’re friends. I don’t really have many friends. Actually, I don’t have any friends,” she says. Summer Glau handled Cameron’s learning experience nicely, gaining the audience’s sympathy but leaving just enough of a question mark at the end to make us wonder.

The flashback scenes of Myron Stark in the 1920s had a faded quality that evoked old-time photos. I suspect it was done with newfangled computer adjustments, ironically.

Better yet, a sign has the name of the California governor on it, and in Sarah Connor universe, he’s not named Arnold. That must be the first inside lack of reference I’ve ever seen.

A final twist that reminded me of a Torchwood episode and a weak B-story that sent John and Riley to a wild party kept it from being perfect, but “Self Made Man” was a great episode.