Terra Nova (The best show you're not watching)

I watched the first couple of episodes, but they've been piling up on the DVR, as I've had things to do that night.

Lately, I've gone back and watched them, and got caught up, and it's really a pretty good show. It actually gets better towards the end of the season, when they get away from the "mysterious death of the week" type plot, and focus more on the Lost-esque parts of the show's mythos.

I have to say, it's now become one of my don't miss shows. Of course, the season finale was recently, so I'll give out a spoiler alert too.

The show is about a distopian future, where the air is so bad people wear gas masks to breathe, etc. They discovered a time fracture back to the past (dinosaur times, Jurassic I believe, from the T-Rex), but the portal is only one way (back).

So, Terra Nova (new Earth in Latin) is a settlement for colonists from the future, now living in the wilds of dino land. Neat concept, but the show is actually more a bit like Fringe meets Lost meets Jurassic Park. Usually, there's a mysterious crime of the week, and an understory of a group (the Sixers, from the Sixth pilgrimage there) that is trying to thwart the settlement.

We later find that a corporation from the future wants to make the portal go both ways and strip the past of resources. Apparently in this show's mythos, changing the past does not affect the future (probably a different timeline kind of thing....).

SPOILER



So, for those that saw the finale (and the finding of the old ship figurehead in the Badlands), what do you think it means?

Personally, their writers aren't as clever as Lost, so I think there is simply another time fracture in the Badlands, and the mercs went there to try and find a way back to the future. There are likely numerous such time fractures...just a matter of how they can actually USE it. In the future, they needed a particle accelerator to access it. The ship simply came through when the fracture was active at that point in the ocean, I imagine.

There is another fracture, it is the "Bermuda Triangle".

reply to post by DarthMuerte


Most likely, good supposition.

Terra Nova is one of the worst written shows there is. I started watching it so I could look for the agenda that is being pushed in it. Withing the first few mins there was the classic Global Warming lie/depopulation agenda smacking us in the face...then, it just got bad...very, very bad...


Taking my researchers cap off for a sec, and looking at this purely as a TV critic, they literally don't have a clue what kinda series they want to produce...I mean, is it sposed to be a family show?, a mystery series, in a Lost style format?, or pure Sci-Fi? Even comedy! And I say comedy because, at times, the writing is just that.

I've never heard so many chesey one liners in my life.

Off the top of my head, I'd have to say it's the biggest flop in TV for a while now.

reply to post by TheUnusualSuspect


Agreed! I was really excited for terra nova, enjoyed the first 2 episodes, and tottally spaced out/ got lost, after that.

Where's the dinosaurs?! Oh look! There's one!.. And there it went.. Back to sneaking off in the forest... No real reason.. Or walking around with a gun in the camp..

Dud.

My boyfriend really likes Terra Nova. I've watched some but just haven't really gotten into it that much. I think it's because he records too much stuff and it's kind of become media-overkill. Sometimes the shows run into each other in my head. I do like Dexter and Game of Thrones though. We've also started watching Homeland, so far it's pretty interesting.

I hate this show.
I watched a few episodes since the trailers looked cool, but once I watched the first episode, my opinion was fixed... It was boring, moralizing, anticipable... and the plot isn't as subtile as I though... So... I watched ep 2 and 3 to let it have a second chance, but my opinion was the same (if not even worse) after 3 episodes. It goes in all directions and all it makes when put together is a whole piece of non-sense.

What's with the horrible acting in shows lately? Everybody is some over the top caricature of an already caricatured stereotype.

Fringe stands out as a terrible offender of this. Terra-Nova takes it even further. I got through the first three hoping to see it hit a stride and it just got worse.

Dump the cast and get all new writers and maybe you can save it. But at that point you may as well just start a whole new show.

And Losts writers werent clever. When everybody is dead you can make up all kinds of pseudo-intellectual garbage that doesnt go anywhere or mean anything. Lost is like modern art. Worthless on it's own but of untold value if you just know how to pitch it to the right sucker.

Originally posted by Gazrok
reply to post by DarthMuerte

 

Most likely, good supposition.

It isn't a guess. Google Terra Nova Badlands

Like Flash Forward, it had a lot of potential. Unfortunately, they blew it pretty quick.

I watched a few episodes last night on Hulu (I don't have a tv at home) so because of this, I could only watch the most recent episodes (think I started with episode 7) which puts me pretty far into the series already, without knowing much of the background and with that, my impression was that it wasn't very good. I was bored. Too bad (remember Earth II) that was a good one.

*Grimm, on the other hand, had me hooked from the get-go.

Originally posted by FrozenMist
I watched a few episodes last night on Hulu (I don't have a tv at home) so because of this, I could only watch the most recent episodes (think I started with episode 7) which puts me pretty far into the series already, without knowing much of the background and with that, my impression was that it wasn't very good. I was bored. Too bad (remember Earth II) that was a good one.

*Grimm, on the other hand, had me hooked from the get-go.

edit on 23-12-2011 by FrozenMist because: (no reason given)

Terra Nova

reply to post by Gazrok


I made it up to episode 6 and then i gave up.
There is no reason for this show to exist and everything that happened up to ep.6 could happen in 2011,they didn't have to go back 85 million years in the past...
It's a waste of money if you ask me.I hope they cancel it and give the money for a REAL sci-f show.

reply to post by Gazrok


I would like to watch it but it airs on monday night
where I live.I have two choices on monday night...
Terra Nova/Football you know which choice I made.

Who makes a choice anymore? Simply DVR it...

Anyhoo...

they literally don't have a clue what kinda series they want to produce...I mean, is it sposed to be a family show?, a mystery series, in a Lost style format?, or pure Sci-Fi? Even comedy! And I say comedy because, at times, the writing is just that.

I'll admit, that it did have a bit of an identity crisis early on. But, I think the last few episodes of the series were pretty decent, and if they continue in this route, they have a good chance of making it. Of course, whether or not it will get renewal, who knows. Towards the end, I think they are taking more of a LOST like tact, and going in that direction, and I think that's the right way to go.

Sure, it isn't the best sci-fi show that's ever been, far from it, but recently, there simply aren't that many options, and of those, this one is decent enough.

reply to post by DarthMuerte


Thank you.

reply to post by Gazrok


It is a diversion of a Sci-fi show. No deeper than SeaQuest of the 90s. A far cry from B5 or ST:TNG. The Sci-fi shows of the 90s were the heydays of the time- similar to superhero movies of the past decade. I expect, for or against the hero movies, they can't pull the big theater numbers much longer.
Anyway, The figurehead has to be another portal. I would suspect that there would be multiple portal to this time, and perhaps portals to other times as well. (Spinoff if this show is big enough?)