Hmmm, could heroine Sarah Connor be getting a new villain already?

That's the way it appears, anyway, thanks to a new casting notice that's gone out today concerning the midseason drama The Sarah Connor Chronicles. The FOX actioner, a weekly TV spin-off of the Terminator franchise, has secured the talents of Garret Dillahunt (Deadwood) as a character named Cromartie, a substitute teacher at the high school where John Connor attends.

And, oh yeah, SPOILER ALERT time: the "mysterious" Cromartie is a Terminator unit sent back in time to kill Sarah (Lena Headey) and John Connor (Thomas Dekker). Dillahunt is no stranger to playing a time-displaced villain; after all, he played the Machiavellian Matthew Ross on The 4400 for 11 episodes.

What's the problem? Well, in the pilot that had been shot for Sarah Connor Chronicles, Cromartie was played by The Nine's Owain Yeoman and I actually thought he did an admirable job, considering the pilot itself was rather dicey.

So, is Yeoman off The Sarah Connor Chronicles? It would appear so, but no mention was given in Hollywood Reporter that Dillahunt would be replacing him in the role. Curious.

Dillahunt can be seen right now on the big screen in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and will appear in a multiple-episode storyline on FX's Damages.

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Jace is an LA-based television development and acquisitions exec who watches way too much television for his own good and would love a TiVo for every room in the house. (He’s halfway there.) His blog, Televisionary, can be found at televisionaryblog.com.