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The following contains MAJOR SPOILERS for the "Queen's Gambit" episode of Fox's "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles."

No good deed goes unpunished ... that should have been the subtitle for this week's "Sarah Connor Chronicles," in my opinion.

Following a chess theme throughout, this week's episode follows up from the third episode, "The Turk."

Andy Goode, creator of the chess-playing computer, hasn't let Sarah destroying his machine keep him down. He's back, and he's made a new Turk that he has entered in a chess computer championship that will award the winner with a big government contract.

Andy gets to the final round only to lose to a Japanese team. That's a good thing because Cameron is standing in the wings, just waiting for Andy to win so she can finally kill him should he have won.

Meanwhile, Cromartie (now looking like George Laszlo) appears at Charlie Dixon's home passing himself off as an FBI agent. Charlie doesn't give him any answers, but his wife knows that her husband is lying when he tells Cromartie he hasn't seen his former lover.

Back at the chess competition, Sarah has decided to fill Andy in on all that's going on. Before she can do that, though, she finds Andy dead on the floor and a mysterious stranger running away from the scene. Police catch the culprit before he gets too far.

At John and Cameron's school, grieving for the student who committed suicide is taking place. A counselor calls Cameron in to talk about her grief, but being a machine, she has none. She repeats her final conversation with the student, then says she feels much better and leaves. Concerned, he calls Sarah and tells him she needs more counseling.

In prison, always-behind Agent Ellison is interrogating the culprit from Andy's murder. He becomes convinced that the prisoner knows more than he's saying, and wants him transferred into FBI custody. Before that takes place, the Terminator Trio (Sarah, John and Cameron) have discovered the distinct barcode tattoo on the culprit's arm. Sarah masquerades as a lawyer and interrogates him, only to discover he's actually Derek Reese, John's uncle and Kyle's brother. However, another Terminator is after the prisoner, and attacks during the transfer.

Terminator fighting ensues, including truck fu and the bad Terminator's head getting partially ground into dust. (My favorite part, of course.)

Derek is shot during the rescue, then taken to the Trio's home. While there, John learns that this is his uncle and that Sarah wants to kidnap a doctor to help him. John appears upset, then rushes out of the house. Cameron examines the wounds and declares that she cannot help him.

John soon returns with Charlie in tow, who is a medic, and he begins to work on Derek. An awkward moment begins as Sarah and Charlie look at each other.

Ellison feels he's finally gotten some good fortune when he finds a robot hand in a pile of rubble near where the rescue took place. Given Ellison's luck, the hand will grab his private parts and never let go.

What Worked

Yes, there was lots of action and punching and good stuff. Head banging was particularly fun.

Also, though, I found the character bits enjoyable as John continues to move into his future role and Cameron still acts like a machine. Sarah's guilt really does work as she has to deal with the consequences of her actions.

One of my favorite moments was when Cromartie has finished his interview with Charlie and his wife, and he reaches inside his coat. Given Cromartie's past behavior, I was sure he was going to pull out an AK-47 and blow the married couple away. Instead, he pulls out a business card. Loved that surprise.

Also liked Cameron looking at her predecessors during the chess/robotics tournament, including toy dogs, Herbie Hancock robots and the like. Her expression was great.

What Didn't Work

As much as I love the action, I am beginning to sense a trend. Every week at about 45 minutes into the show, Cameron pounds on another bad Terminator. Granted, I love how she does it, but they should vary that pattern some. Have her beat up Ellison once, for example. Hey, he needs something to do.

"Queen's Gambit" was written by Natalie Chaidez and was directed by Matt Earl Beesley.

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" stars Lena Headey, Thomas Dekker, pouty-yet-adorable Summer Glau and Richard T. Jones. The series airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on Fox.