Catherine Weaver is a fictional character in the television series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which aired on Fox from 2008 to 2009.

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.

In a two-part episode, Jesse Flores and other human resistance fighters are sent to retrieve a package in Skynet territory, purportedly for John.

[10] 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.

[13][14] 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.

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that she misses her "old mommy", and Sherman relays this to Weaver, believing the latter has become emotionally withdrawn as a result of Lachlan's death.

They soon discover Weaver's true nature when she uses her shapeshifting abilities to form a shield, protecting them from a flying enemy drone.

[30][31] 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.

[5][35][36] She found the gradual unveiling of her character and backstory to be beneficial in retrospect, as it reduced pressure on her by concealing the importance of the role early on.

[7] Manson believed that audiences had a preconceived view of her as a beginning actor:[26] "I realized that I was opening myself up for a lot of criticism and I knew, myself, that my work wasn't perfect.

"[27] Manson had significant screentime with Richard T. Jones (Ellison) and Garret Dillahunt (John Henry), who both offered acting tips and support.

[26][7] Her portrayal was inspired by the character Patty Hewes in the series Damages, and by British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, both of whom she viewed as powerful women.

[7] Manson described Weaver as "a very subversive" and "incredibly self-assured, empowered" character in a male corporate environment, making her "a scary individual" as a result.

"[38] She modeled her robotic acting on the performances of Terminator film actors Arnold Schwarzenegger (T-800) and Robert Patrick (T-1000), and said of her own character, "I wanted to bring a sort of silliness to her and that was a deliberate choice of mine.

[27] Weaver (the human and thus the machine doppelganger) was written as Scottish, incorporating Manson's real-life accent like the films did with Schwarzenegger's Terminator.

[25][39] In one episode, Manson briefly portrays the human Catherine Weaver through an old interview alongside Lachlan, marking their only appearance on the show.

[5] Weaver is revealed to the audience as a Terminator in her first episode, when she takes the form of a urinal to eavesdrop on two employees, Mr. Murch and Mr. Tuck; the latter disagrees with her decision to divert his department's resources to her A.I.

[38][43][44] Manson enjoyed the scene,[44] and said that Friedman found it amusing as "every man's nightmare, sort of a male bastion, if you like, of security in the urinal.

Manson acted out the scene with real actors standing in as Weaver's victims, while CGI blades were superimposed over her arms in post-production.

Club called Manson a "terrible actress",[55] but partially changed his position upon airing of a subsequent episode: "At the very least, she finally gets something to do beyond make snide comments and fail to be menacing."

"[57] He stated that scenes between the machine and Savannah "are always chilling",[58] a view shared by Gem Seddon of Inverse, who later called them "some of the most shuddering sequences in the whole series".

Regarding her attempt to express sympathy about the late Lachlan Weaver, Handlen wrote that "watching something without emotion trying to puzzle its way through grief is entertaining".

[61] About halfway through the season, Doug Norrie of CinemaBlend expressed uncertainty about whether Manson was the best or worst actress on the show: "She seems so robotic and creepy which makes me think she is awesome.

"[62] SFX subsequently wrote, "If there was one failsafe role a pop-star could be trusted not to screw up it should be the emotionless, expressionless killing machines of the Terminator franchise.

Manson believed that her brief performance as the human Catherine Weaver "helped people realize that I wasn't a complete imbecile and totally talentless.

[64] Cynthia Fuchs, an associate professor at George Mason University, wrote in 2008 that Manson brings "exactly the sort of shiny coolness that she perfected as the vocalist for Garbage", and called Weaver "visibly malevolent in her crisp white future-suit and frighteningly sculpted red hair", viewing her like an "evil stepmother" in the overall storyline.

[65] Lecturer Bronwen Calvert in 2017 wrote that the urinal scene functions not only as a Terminator reveal but also to emphasize Weaver as "a woman in a corporate environment, as someone who must assert herself continually."

Calvert observed that Weaver initially has no interest in mimicking human behavior, and wrote that her demeanor early in the season could be explained as her "adopting strategies suitable to women in power and connected with the stereotype of the 'bitch'," noting her "severely styled red hair and tailored, monochrome clothing."

[66] Lecturer Eve Bennett in 2019 wrote that Weaver "cannot be described as a thoroughly 'good' character because she ruthlessly massacres many humans in the course of achieving her aim", citing the warehouse sequence as an example.

Nevertheless, she noted that Weaver's role – as a "powerful and soberly dressed" executive who turns out to be on the protagonists' side – "certainly contrasts with traditional representations of the female cyborg as a malevolent yet sexy 'tool'.