BY DAVID KRONKE >TV CRITIC

Season two of "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" begins mere seconds from where its first season (which was truncated by the writers strike) left off: with Cameron (Summer Glau) blown up in her truck.

What's to worry? She's a Terminator - you can't kill them - and after she staples her face back together with a staple gun, she's back in the hunt. But it turns out that even if you can't kill them, you can knock a screw or two loose.

Tonight's season premiere is basically a nonstop chase, opening with a violent melee played over a cover of the Grateful Dead's "Samson & Delilah." And while Sarah Connor (Lena Headey) and her son John (Thomas Dekker) are defending themselves, a building does get burned down, a decent-size body count amasses, and Sarah discovers that her driving skills leave a little to be desired, as she causes at least $100,000 in vehicular damage in just a couple of hours' time.

Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson has joined the cast as Catherine Weaver, the head of a computer company who might want to consider softening her severe look if she doesn't want to exude evil.

Catherine speaks direly of a computer "that will cross against the light." Destroying the planet, presumably, comes in version 2.0.

It's a splashy, eye-popping return for a show some fans wished had more action in the first season; they get it here. And last season ended on John's birthday, remember? It's one he won't likely forget.

David Kronke, (818) 713-3638 david.kronke@dailynews.com

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TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES

>What: Second-season premiere of the "Terminator" spin-off, in which Sarah (Lena Headey) must protect her son John, Earth's future savior (Thomas Dekker), from a vast conspiracy hoping to kill him.

>Where: Fox (Channel 11).

>When: 8 PM Monday.

>In a nutshell: An exciting return, though Sarah really should work on her driving skills.