These writers cannot seem to help themselves but repeat the same story beats.

The show primarily takes place in Japan in the year 1997, on the cusp of Judgement Day, the pivotal moment when Skynet’s military A.I. network becomes self-aware leading to a decades-spanning war between an endless army of machines and the human survivors. There are still the familiar Terminator beats: A soldier from this hellish future is sent back in time to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee, who is working to launch a competing A.I. system to Skynet. An unrelenting machine assassin in the guise of a human is hunting him, which also puts his three children in harm's way.

@elder I don't know why they can't let go of the time travel and it can't just take place in the future war.