I think the prequel "flaw" everybody always talks about, it hardly as much of a flaw as some would have you think. Like, has already been said, it isn't the destination, it is the ride. Sure, we knew Anakin would be Darth Vader, and we knew Obi-Wan would survive and Mace Windu would die. Some people use this as a arguement "well of course the SW PT couldn't be good, you already knew what would happen!" Of course you did, but the ride could have still been enjoyable.

Who here went to the theater to see Terminator 2 and wondered if John was going to be killed by the liquid metal terminator or not? Of course he wasn't, just about anyone who knows anything about Hollywood movies knew that wasn't going to happen, yet they still enjoyed it the first time, and the second time, and the third time, and so on, that they watched it.

Have you ever been to a James Bond movie and honestly felt that Bond was in any real danger? You knew he would escape, you just never knew how. And yet those scenes still had a lot of tension to them. Still everytime I see Goldfinger's lazer heading toward Bond's crotch I squirm in my chair, just a little.

We know John will live, but actually, Sarah and everyone else are fair game. I do not think this hurts the show any, this season the show has had plenty of other problems, but knowing thar John will survive isn't one of them, IMHO. However, I must say, I really enjoyed the last episode, maybe it will be uphill from here. I am kind of thinking a full twenty some episode season was a bad idea, nine epiosdes is a little too short last seasn, but we are already seeing a lot of filler this season.