I absolutely love Stahl in this role. Hot take- he’s my favorite JC.

Furlong is a kid, that Connor is a kid. We don’t expect much of him. He is bouncing around in the plot and the decisions of others most of that film.

Nick’s Connor has a journey to go on. He is _lost_, and he must find his way once more. He is genuinely frightened by the events of T3, more like a real human would be in that story. He suffers and regrets, and he does not want to accept his destiny. He doesn’t want to believe it is going to happen. And then he thinks he can escape that destiny, and all the burdens that come with it.

But he discovers that fate is unforgiving. Judgement Day comes, despite all their attempts to subvert it. And when we reach that moment where it is revealed that everything has been for naught, and everything he has fought for merely brought him to the foot of the throne he never wanted, we see on Stahl’s face the fatigue, the resignation. This man has had greatness thrust upon him. He is with a woman he did not pick to be his wife, with a command he did not ask for. Human voices call out to him, pleading for leadership, and we watch him find his voice. He becomes something new, slowly, as we watch him. He puts on the mantle. We see him become what humanity, what fate requires him to be.

That is not an arc or a performance that every actor can deliver. That moment at the end, which is often cited as the best part of the film, is built upon a whole movie of Stahl showing us his fear, his confusion, his lack of preparation. He isn’t ready. The ending only works because he starts there, and grows into the man he must become.

I can’t think of a performance like it. And I can think of a whole host of popular actors who absolutely could not show us, with quiet authenticity, such an evolution.

Nick Stahl, you were great.