You're listening to Imaginary Worlds, a show about how we create them and why we suspend our disbelief.

I'm Eric Mollinsky.

So a couple years ago, I was really into the show called Terminator Sericonicronicals.

And in the show, the Terminator was actually this really attractive young woman,

played by Summer Glau, who was sent back in time to protect John Connor when he was a teenager.

Come with me if you want to live.

The network knew that she was the big selling point.

The ads had her naked airbrush torso and head hanging by wires, like she just come off an assembly line.

If I'm damaged, we should know.

Even John Connor had confused feelings about his protector.

Right here. Reach down.

Into the breastplate. There. What does it feel like?

Cold. That's good, right?

That's good. It's perfect.

Summer Glau has become kind of a big crush for a lot of geeky guys like myself,

because she was in other sci-fi shows, like Dollhouse and Firefly.

But I realized that I actually found her character really attractive,

like the killer robot from the future.

And this is something I would not normally admit to other people

and sure as hell not to admit on a podcast.

But it is a perfect way into the subject.

So around this time I started dating my wife Serena.

...