Dr. Silberman

Infobox character
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name = "Peter Silberman"


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first = "The Terminator"
last = ""
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species = Human
gender = Male
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occupation = Criminal psychologist
title = Doctor
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portrayer = Earl Boen (films)
Bruce Davison (TV)
creator =

Dr. Peter Silberman is a fictional character played by Earl Boen in the Terminator series of films, and Bruce Davison in The Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series. Silberman is the only supporting character to have appeared in all three films and the television series. Boen and Arnold Schwarzenegger are the only actors to have appeared in all three films. Boen also makes a cameo in "". ("Silbermann", is a German surname translating to "silver man".)

"The Terminator"

In "The Terminator", Dr. Silberman, a criminal psychologist, is brought in to question Kyle Reese, the soldier sent from the future to protect Sarah Connor from the Terminator machine that hunts her. He downplays Reese's story as delusional and constructed in such a way that it cannot be refuted (such as how there is no evidence of advanced technology, because the time machine can only send things back that generate a bio-energy created by living tissue). He leaves the police station seconds before the Terminator attacks.

"Terminator 2: Judgment Day"

In "Terminator 2: Judgment Day", Dr. Silberman returns, as one of the staff at Pescadero State Hospital, where Sarah Connor is held, now imprisoned as a mentally unsound patient. It is revealed that although he has her best interests at heart, he has made little headway with her, and has constantly been a victim of her attacks when the opportunity presented itself: at some point before the movie's events, she had stabbed him in the knee with his pen. Sarah briefly uses him as a hostage to try and get out of the asylum when he refuses to have her transferred to minimum security- she breaks his arm, and threatens to inject him with cleaning ammonia. During Sarah's escape attempt, Dr. Silberman witnesses both the T-800 and T-1000 Terminators, and is stunned when the latter machine uses its shape-shifting powers to step through a barred gate in a humanly-impossible fashion, effectively proving the truth of Sarah Conner's "delusions". He is ultimately left alone in the corridor with the unconscious guards as the two Terminators travel down to the parking garage.

An unused intro to the "Nice Bike" scene shows Silberman being wheeled away on a gurney, babbling about how everything Sarah said was true.

"Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"

In "", a police force has followed the Terminator, John Connor, and Katherine Brewster, when the Terminator retrieves weaponry from Sarah Connor's grave. Kate is believed to be a hostage, and the sheriff SWAT unit attempt to rescue her. Among the police force is Dr. Silberman, as a post-trauma counselor, who takes her aside and, quite unlike before, expresses some measure of self-doubt, possibly stemming from having seen the two Terminators in the previous movie in Pescadero (although he still seems to partially attribute it to stress from the traumatic situation).

When he spots the Terminator robot, which resembles the one he has seen before in the hospital, he flees on foot.

His fate is unknown, but in an extended scene of "Terminator 3"'s 'Judgment Day' scene, he was shown to be killed. This scene was later cut from the movie, making it unknown whether or not he will return in the next installment.

"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"

In the ' TV-series Doctor Peter Silberman is seen in episode seven: ' and is played by Bruce Davison.

Following Sarah Connor's escape, Doctor Silberman entered into retirement along with the majority of the Pescadaro staff. He has become a recluse and has purchased land among the mountains. In his solitude he gardens and works on a book about his experiences as a psychiatrist. While being interviewed by FBI Agent James Ellison in reference to Sarah Connor, Doctor Silberman drugs and takes him hostage, as he believes him to be a new model Terminator Infiltrator sent to find Sarah Connor. After injuring Ellison in a series of tests to confirm him as a human, Ellison shares with him that he has brought the hand of a Terminator with him as evidence (which Silberman refers to as The Hand of God). To protect Sarah Connor, Silberman sets his home on fire with Ellison still inside and is going to leave with the artifact when Sarah Connor arrives. He apologizes for doubting her, just before she knocks him unconscious (to ensure his safety) and takes the hand.

Following Sarah's departure, Agent Ellison wakes Silberman demanding the hand with Silberman revealing to him that Sarah Connor took it. The FBI Agent arrests the Doctor and he is incarcerated at the same psychiatric hospital he once ran: the very same cell that once held Sarah Connor.

ee also