Well, it took long enough but finally Terra Nova manages to impress me even if it was just a little. Those of you come here often will know how utterly disappointed I have been with this show, since the season opener which was promising, this show has gone down hill big time, looking like it was just another write off. That’s the reason you are getting this review now, I have put off watching the finale so long I almost forgot where the last episode left us, but I have to say I was pretty impressed with this episode all round, it’s left things well enough if there is no second season and it’s also left the door open to do a second if that's where they decide to go. The producers, show runners etc are “optimistic” at this stage as to weather Terra Nova will get a second season but Fox have confirmed they made money on the show, they also confirmed something that I have mentioned a few times in past reviews. Terra Nova is a family show, which would explain why all us Dexter and Homeland techno’ don’t like it so much. For the first ten minutes of this 90 minute finale including episodes “Occupation” and "Resistance” I was thinking here we go back to the bore but, Terra Nova had a little ace up it’s sleeve for the finale and we very quickly learnt that a group named Phoenix from 2149 are the people trying to overthrow Commander Taylor as the head of Terra Nova, the groups personal army are on their way to shift out Terra Nova's regime in order that Phoenix with the help of Lucas and Mira can strip mine the place for all it’s worth.
Since I enjoyed this episode I’ll start with the positives, Lucas (Ashley Zuckerman) who in all honesty should have been introduced to the show earlier than these last couple of episodes, I know we have seen glimpses of him but this guy should have had a bigger part to play from the beginning, he was probably the most stand out of everyone during this 90 minute finale and if there is a second season his part in it would probably be my only reason for watching it, his allie Mira really didn’t have that much of a part to play here I’m thinking she is to be pushed aside and forgotten about by the Phoenix group, maybe she will come back to Terra Nova and join Taylor as replacement for Lieutenant Washington who up to now has pretty much been Taylor’s right hand lady.
As well as introducing Lucas earlier they really could have done with sending the Phoenix group back in time earlier, it could have made things a lot more interesting should they have been introduced mid-season, it also may well have kept a lot more people interested. You would think that they would have sent someone a little more hard nosed than Weaver (Rohan Nichol) to oversee the mining project though, this guy was popping off Brontosauruses just for the fun of it, a little bit of a stupid part in the show, one which we should be pretty much expecting by now anyways.
Although I enjoyed this episode a lot better than the others I still don’t really have anything that positive to say about the usual cast, had it not been for the major inclusion of Lucas and the Phoenix group then this finale would probably have fallen flat on it’s face just like the rest of the season. It was a good all rounder really the story that has been brewing all season finally came to a head, one thing! Anyone know who that lady was from Terra Nova who disarmed the bomb? I have never seen her before.
I don’t know if Terra Nova will get a second season or not, if it does then it really needs to keep up the action like it did in this finale, I know that’s not possible every week but every other week at least. Terra Nova should also firm up where it wants to be, family or not, it’s 8pm scheduling would suggest family and the distinct lack of blood when anyone gets shot would also suggest family, I haven’t decided if I will watch the “possible” second season just yet, I think I may just wait and see if there is anything better on offer at the time.
I really don't know what to say on Terra Nova this week, aren't TV shows supposed to get better? This is really starting to become a drag in my opinion and at this rate I can see the season finale being similar to The Event where it simply just ends, nothing is renewed and everyone just forgets about it. That really is where I think this show is headed, when you consider how much money has been pumped into Terra Nova the results are hardly in the region of Lost.
I really was not interested by anything this week, for me Terra Nova has had two good episodes "The Pilot" and I don't remember the name of the other one but it was better than the other 9 space fillers they have put out, there is no real edge to the show nothing that shouts on me to come back every week. I am at the point now, in fact I have been here a while where I just watch Terra Nova because I have seen it this far. I remember in the height of Lost it was talked about everywhere, the office, the pub you get my drift. I could not tell you one single person who watches Terra Nova.
The finale of the season is now on us which means there are pretty much two possible outcomes that I can think of, I'll get to those in a moment firstly lets tell you what happened this week, briefly. Basically this week was all about Jim Shannon (Jason O'Mara) catching Terra Nova's mole, a role he carried out with very little entertainment, eventually catching up to the Skye who we all found out about a week or two ago, they didn't exactly find her quick though considering she was on her way back to tell Taylor (Stephen Lang) what she had been doing all these months. Then you have a little more involvement from Taylor's son Lucas (Ashley Zuckerman) who is working on his genius mathematics to make the portal go both ways, again this was just boring hence my brief summary, I just don't remember what it was all about.
So like I said above we now have the Terra Nova finale to look forward to and we know that at some point during that episode the eleventh pilgrimage will be coming through the portal to make their home in Terra Nova, only problem is Lucas went back to 2149 so we don't know who will be coming through the portal, and quite frankly I don't care. If the army he suggests turns up then I would imagine it will be a battle royale to the end of the show capping off the story of Terra Nova. If it is the eleventh pilgrimage and they are going to roll out a second season then maybe there will be a couple of new more wise to the world spies in the camp that could spice things up a little, I really can not think of anything else they can do.
Terra Nova has been a massive let down for me and I have to say that I watch week on week more because I have to rather than wanting to, I never fell like that with anything else that I watch. Terra Nova in my opinion will prove to be nothing more than a passing fad which may roll into a second season for the minimal viewing figures around the world. Do you watch Terra Nova? If so let me know what you think in the comments below.
Sorry! I have been prattling on about the finale, Terra Nova will finish off with a two part finale on Monday 19th December 2011 at 8pm on Fox (can't wait) and I still have not heard anything official about a second season.
So onto the ninth episode of Terra Nova now and I have to be honest up to this point I really have not been to impressed, “Now You See Me” showed some refreshing promise and for me really brought Terra Nova back to where it started from and more importantly the reason I started watching it in the first place, it still had it’s dull moments don’t get me wrong but all in all this was the best effort since the premiere.
Terra Nova remained on lockdown this week following the security team uncovering the fact that the mole in Terra Nova is starting to provide the Sixers with more prominent intelligence. In light of that Commander Taylor (Stephen Lang) is off out to do a little intelligence gathering of his own hoping to get onto the track of his son Lucas who it seems is getting close to reversing the portal.
Taylor’s trip over the gate of Terra Nova saw him team up with Mira, leader of the Sixers, after knocking lumps out of each other the pair eventually became allies when the were tracked by a pair of raptors looking to mark out their territory. The pair came together well realising that they were ultimately fighting for the same goal, Mira has come through the portal to help her child back in 2149 and Taylor came through to give his son a better life.
Lucas or course is Taylor’s son, he had other ideas on coming through the portal and was charged with doing the physics to make the portal work both ways, this is to bring people to Terra Nova that want to overthrow the leadership of Commander Taylor. They don’t want to colonise Terra Nova though, their only idea is to suck the land dry and make money, maybe they get their way and Terra Nova becomes a show like the Flintstones. Jim could be Barney Rubble whilst Commander Taylor would be Fred Flintstone, they could both work in the opencast mine that the ruthless company would probably open, there is me off on a tangent again, I really don’t think that will happen.
The reveal of the week came about in finding out who the mole in Terra Nova is, if you hadn’t guessed already it’s Skye (Allison Miller). She kind of has a good excuse though her mother is at the Sixers camp as they have the cure for some illness/fever that sweeps through the area every now and again. Skye trades secrets to ensure her mothers survival, she passes info they give her mother the medication she needs.
The reveal wasn’t terribly exciting in any way but has thrown in the angle that we now know who it is, weather it makes the show any more interesting remains to be seen. As far it being like Lost is concerned, well it’s still not that good but the fact that Lucas is becoming more involved is making things a little more interesting. This was the best episode since the premiere in my opinion and I look forward to next weeks instalment hoping that they keep up the pace.
Terra Nova Is beginning to terrify me, not with fright but the shear fact that this is one TV show that does not appear to be going anywhere fast, what do I want from Terra Nova? Probably the same thing everyone else does lot's of Dinosaur action, and some sort of gritty storyline between the Terra Nova inhabitants and the Sixers who live outside the compound gates.
For me Terra Nova is spending way to much time on all the little backing stories that no one really cares about, the Shannon’s kids for example. I am really not interested about the younger two their story lines only seem to be there to fill in the gaps, their son Josh (Landon Labiron) can be forgiven a little, at least he is proving to be a bit of a risk taker mixing it with the Sixers, owing them a favour or two. Mostly just rebelling against his parents pretty much in a similar fashion that you would have expected his father Jim (Jason O’Mara) to do when he was younger, only problem is Josh’s light rebellion is quickly apologised for at the end of an episode especially when he has done something really bad, like say stealing from his own mother. That landed him with being grounded this week, the perfect opportunity to rebel but he chooses to stay in the house.
Jim’s main problem with his son is that he associates with Tom who owns the only bar in Terra Nova, he is directly linked with the Sixers but on a business level only. Commander Taylor arrested him this week and put him through torture Terra Nova style wanting to know why he was informing on Terra Nova to the Sixers, little did Taylor know the Sixers technology is a lot more advanced than his, thanks largely to his son Lucas Who he banished from Terra Nova 5 years ago.
During the interrogation Jim was able to find out that Commander Taylor has a little secret of his own, a skeleton that’s buried under a tree which Jim decides to investigate on the QT, as you would in a Dinosaur infested wilderness, rigtht? This story did eventually lead to a little meat being put on the bones of Terra Nova this week and has opened up a new (ish) element to the show which could progress into a second season should it get one.
In probably the only Lost comparison I can think of in this show Taylor finally admitted to Jim that he knows his son Lucas is still alive and communicating with 2149, he works for people back there who want Taylor overthrown as Terra Nova’s commander, Lucas and the Sixers are the people to make that happen. Lucas leaves drawings on rocks (taking us back to the second episode I think) around Terra Nova for his father to find, antagonising him for ruining his work when he was still living behind the safety of the walls.
That really is about as interesting as things got this week and like I said lst week I'm struggling for a reason to keep watching this show other than I have seen it this far already, all in all Terra Nova has ben going down hill since the pilot and it's not showing any signs of improvement just yet.
What is going on with all the American TV shows this week? They all seem to have taken a detour from their main story lines, Terra Nova was no different and although the other shows seemed to work out pretty good Terra Nova failed miserably and in my opinion was a little pointless this week.
After last weeks convincing ending with the Sixers retrieving Lucas’ work from Terra Nova HQ, it set up what should have been an interesting premise for this week, unfortunately the writers seemed to take us off on a little side line and we didn’t get any of the main beefy (ish) story line and were instead treated to a pointless part of the story which seems to have no relevance at all.
The storyline focused on the Shannon’s genius daughter Maddy (Naomi Scott) and her fixation with the colony’s greatest scientist who has just returned following six months in the wilderness. Maddy has been fixated on this guy since she was a kid even writing to him and managing to get a reply. The scientist (who’s name I don’t know, or can’t really remember) looked a little like Anthony Hopkins in Zorro, anyone else get that? Anyway Maddy was so fixated on the guy that it didn’t take her long to figure out that he was a fake, not the real scientist she thought he was, or claimed to be. She soon finds her life in danger as she goes on her own personal mission to prove that he’s an impostor.
In the mean time, Commander Taylor (Stephen Lang) seems to trust Jim Shannon (Jason O’Mara) more than anyone else in his entire security team, kind of surprising considering the guy has only been there five minutes, although he did save Taylor’s life. This week Taylor took Jim on a prehistoric fishing adventure, yet another pointless little storyline which bared no relevance to where we left off last week. Watching Jim Shannon attempt to do battle with a very CGI looking giant prehistoric fish really isn’t my idea of fun. If I wanted to watch people wrestling with giant fish then I’d watch a fishing program.
There was only one slightly interesting inclusion in this weeks episode which didn’t directly follow on from last weeks show but a little was explained. Josh Shannon (Landon Liboiron) still owed the Sixers leader Mira a favour, this week that was called in and he had to steal from his own mother, again there was nothing particularly interesting surrounding that, it wasn’t even that gripping. The fact that Josh was going to come clean to his parents in the end wasn't particularly hard to figure either. The only interesting bit like I say is that we now know that Mira has been true to her word in that she can communicate with 2149.
From that Commander Taylor was able to figure that his son Lucas, who is a genius, must be responsible for that technology, and there for must have been captured by the Sixers. Of course we all know that’s not the case his son works alone camping out in the jungle, I presume.
I’m really struggling to come up with any justification to keep watching this show other than I have seen it this far already, it’s is loosing my interest and fast. People compare it to lost but, other than it being set in a jungle I really don’t see it. What do you think of Terra Nova? Is it keeping your interest? Or have you already lost interest?
"Terra Nova HQ, this is Foster". "Terra Nova command, copy that". "I just pulled up at communications station 19a" I'm thinking it's extremely dark, creepy and wet I'm in the middle of a prehistoric jungle full of Dinosaurs and am undoubtedly about to be eaten, no shit! There has been a murder in the seemingly peaceful community of Terra Nova and I have a feeling that the person who is ultimately responsible is yet to be caught.
Terra Nova is back from it's week break and it has reverted to the promise it showed during it's pilot episode "Genesis Part 1 and 2". This episode really opened up a few avenues for break away story lines and was definitely good enough to get you watching next weeks show.
First this week you have to take off your hat to the Dinosaurs who seem to have come back from extinction, since the pilot there really haven't been to many of them kicking around. Maybe that's the writers idea, like in Lost you didn't see the polar bear every week, or the mist for that matter. Terra Nova's security finally managed to kill one this week too as they needed to recover the futuristic USB pen from the Raptor's stomach that is used by citizens to keep personal photos.
Jim Shannon also seemed like a fully fledged member of the security team this week, finally slipping into the Terra Nova issue combat equipment. He was told this week to do his job by Commander Taylor and find the person responsible for the murder of his soldier Foster, it seemed at first that this was all going to be a bit of a bore once again as the murderer was found and banished very quick. Then come all the little twists and turns.
It was clear even to me that Howard Milner (Steve Rodgers) was not responsible for the murder of Foster, something a lot more sinister and deep rooted is going on here, and clearly Sixers leader Mira is not the only person who has issues with Commander Taylor leading Terra Nova. We may finally have figured out who is Mira's informant inside the Terra Nova gates, and there may well be more than one.
The investigation into Foster's murder lead Shannon to Boylan (Damien Garvey) the owner of Terra Nova's only bar, his character has been touched upon briefly and if it wasn't clear then that he doesn't like Commander Taylor, then it is now. Boylan is into some pretty shady stuff, other than the illegal gambling who allows to take place at his bar he is clearly in contact with Mira but, is he her informer? Maybe he is but my money wouldn't be on him as the main contact.
From this episode I'm gathering that Mira is the only person who has contact with 2149, that's why Boylan is in contact with her. For money he will arrange to have certain people from 2149 sent back to Terra Nova, his latest mission is to get Josh Shannon's girlfriend to Terra Nova. Mira had issues though and needed to speak with Josh first, informing him that he has to be available for a favour when ever she asks, no questions asked he must carry out what ever her request is. That probably won't go down to well with his dad but like any teenager (or man) young Josh really isn't thinking with his head.
We finally found out that Mark Reynolds (Dean Geyer) a fellow soldier of Foster's was the person responsible for the murder. Was he acting alone though? No way, there were way to many shifty looking people this week and Boylan would come top of that list.
So this episode went back to basics if you like and I have to say I really enjoyed it, fair enough it's not prime time gold but the potential came back this week. Terra Nova's mask is starting to come off and the seemingly peaceful new world has all the problems of 2149.
Terra Nova continues Monday November 7th at 8pm on Fox (US) and Sky 1 (UK).
Did you catch last weeks review or Terra Nova? If you just want a quick re-cap then I'll give it to you, it went along the lines of the show being nothing more than a early evening show for parents to watch with their teenage kids. Did it improve any this week? Yes would be the short answer but I still stand by my review from last week.
This week did have a good little twist that may keep people watching but for me it was nothing like the preview promised, of course there you only get two and a half minutes. In that they cram the weeks best bit in. I remember reading about this show before it came out, it came with a pretty hefty budget. From that you would expect great special effects which is what you get where the dinosaurs are concerned but clearly that's as far as it stretched. I was expecting to see something like Lost, you know people running round the jungle chased by polar bears, well dinosaurs at least.
You do get the chasing of course but, it's not anywhere near the same level of excitment you had in Lost, I know this show is probably aimed more at kids but like I said above with the money they have spent you expect more.
This week saw a young orphan girl come looking for asylum in Terra Nova, or at least that's how it seemed at first, the little twist there didn't really take to long to work out, in Lost they may have dragged that out the whole episode and managed to keep you guessing all the way. The girl was of course sent to Terra Nova by Mira, the leader of the Sixers. Her mission, to retrive something from the house where Mira lived before her and her 6th Pilgrimage followers left Terra Nova to form their own colony.
Was this girl telling the truth, did she get fed on scraps? She did seem to tuck into the food on offer over at Terra Nova which makes you think that what she was saying is true, she doesn't want to live with the Sixers. She told the truth about her brother and seemed genuinly sorry for what she done to the Shannon family. Would it be to easy to think that she has conned Jim Shannon, Commander Weaver and all of the Terra Nova residents once again? Maybe this was Mira's plan all along to get both of them into Terra Nova, have them looked after by the supposed spy she has there, they could be laying foundations for the take over that Mira has planned.
Mira and her clan did of course have the chance to cause some of the Terra Nova police harm this week, she captured Alicia, Carter and even Shannon at one point she had them ready to kill if she wanted to but that's not her mission as she told Shannon in the big reveal. Commander Weaver has cut some bridges back in 2149, people there want him over thrown but, who? She wouldn't give that away and she clearly left a little seed in Shannon's mind as he nefglected to share that information with Weaver when he got back.
All in all I would say this was better than last weeks Star Trek esque episode but it's still not grabbing me, this week I didn't watch the show until Thursday, I normally watch on a Tuesday, it doesn't help with all of the other TV shows on right now that are better than this. I probably will keep watching more for the who should be running Terra Nova colony story than anything else but I just not to excited that this show is going to come up to scratch of what's already on TV.
What does remain? That's a pretty good question. Can I ask one of my American readers does this show air at 7pm or 8pm on Fox? The 8/7 thing they promote confuses me. If it starts at 7pm then in England it would just say aires at 7pm, saves any confusion. I only ask this as the show goes out in the UK at 8pm on Monday night, after watching this episode I am wondering why.
I really wanted to like this show, a completely unknown cast (almost) just like Lost, unfortunately for Terra Nova it's not Lost, well it is Lost actually. Lost in the ether of TV and can not grant itself with any comparisons to J.J. Abrams hit TV show. You may remember last week when I reviewed the third episode (wrongly titled it was actually the second episode) I said I didn't enjoy that to much, it really drew away from what was a pretty impressive two part premiere, like any TV show I thought that may just be a thing for one week. Turns out not as this episode was terrible in my opinion, I can't say I enjoyed it at all.
I tell a little lie, I did laugh at one point when Commander Taylor and Dr Shannon were at the scientific out-post, he went out looking for a missing doctor and reported back to Shannon that they "found his boot" her reply "so he is out there bear foot" Taylor says "nope his feet where still in the boots"
Funny, after last weeks review Ruben mentioned in comments that the show reminded him of Star Trek Next Generation, I have not seen that show, I have seen bits and pieces though and can say from what I have seen in any Star Trek movie or show is what I saw during this whole episode.
It did remind me of Jurassic Park at one point, the very beginning where the DR ran out into the jungle and was eaten by that Dinosaur, it kind of reminded me of the scene where the guy was on the porta potty in the movie.
Following this weeks episode I am reminded of a UK TV show named PrimeEvil, very similar to Terra Nova it works on the idea of portals but, instead of the characters going back to prehistoric times the Dinosaurs come into the modern world with the occasional visit to cave man times from the cast. I didn't watch that show to intensely, it's ok but is on here in the UK at 7pm on ITV, not great, especially when you have kids.
I will watch Terra Nova again next week in the hope that it does develop into something but, if I'm guessing right that it aires in the US at 7pm then I can't see it doing to well or getting any better action wise. Since the premiere it's got a little more corny and if I were you then I wouldn't expect me to be able to come up with to may words to say about it every week.
Three episodes in now and just like I said last time out there are still so many comparisons that can be made to Lost in this show but, if you didn't like Lost then you shouldn't let the comparisons put you off because this show stands on it's own two feet very well indeed. Following the impressive two part opener, this episode really put the brakes on a little in my opinion.
This installment was pretty much about migrating birds, kind of Pterodactyl (Pterosaurs) looking things but on a smaller scale with a lot more of a vicious appetite. The only comparison to Lost here would be that no one new of this species, remember there was a Polar bear on the island in Lost. The migrating birds in this episode kind of reminded me more of the Event, there was some construction in the middle of a desert there which brought a lot of Crows down, ok not the same but you can see what I mean, birds migrating.
Like I said above this episode really saw the brakes coming on, we do have 13 episodes to get through this season so that doesn't worry me, I'm not saying it was boring just that is wasn't as good as the first two parter. Having said that I still intend on watching this every week.
This episode concentrated a little more on backing stories, firstly with the Shannon's son Josh (Landon Liboiron) and the girlfriend he left behind in the year 2149 but, mostly with Elisabeth Shannon (Shelley Conn), a Kate (from Lost) lookalike, only hotter! Her story is that she was brought to Terra Nova at the request of Dr. Malcolm Wallace (Rod Hallett) her high school sweet heart. There is definitely going to be a Jack v Sawyer thing going on here later in the show between Jim Shannon (Jason O'Mara) and Dr. Wallace. I need to stop with the Lost comparisons I know but I just can't help it.
There were no Sixers involved this week, that didn't disappoint me to much, as yet we don't really know to much about them other than they don't like the rule of Commander Taylor (Stephen Lang) and have formed their own colony away from Terra Nova. There really is space for something to develop here, are they just some disgruntled former Terra Nova residents? Or should we go with the opinion of Commander Taylor and believe that they have been sent on purpose by someone in the year 2149 to upset the colony of Terra Nova?
So all in all the episode was a little bit of a bore but was enjoyable leaving you wanting more from next week. I for one can't wait, I said last week it was more than Humans v Dinosaurs and apart from this week I'm sure it will be.
Terra Nova continues on Fox Monday October 10th with the 4th episode and the 3rd episode premiers on Sky1 the same night, both showings are at 9pm.
I have been going to write about this show for a while now and I figured that since I have nothing else to put out today then this would be a good start, I'm hoping to fill the Monday void with a Movie review every week so watch this space.
Terra Nova is a new TV show from Academy Award winning director Steven Spielberg, who is currently delighting our screens of FX with the show Falling Skies. As with Falling Skies Spielberg has not ventured far from the movies we all know so well. Tarra Nova is due to go out in the US on September 26th with a two hour premiere on Fox, the show will then come to Sky 1 in the UK for Autumn. Take a look at the trailer below then we'll discuss it.
So as you have guessed the show begins in the year 2149 and the Human population is facing extinction due to a dwindling air quality. Scientists discover a fracture in time which allows them to create a portal that enables time travel. The idea is to settle the Human population 85 million years in the past, prehistoric Earth. The show centers around the Shannon family who join the tenth pilgrimage of settlers to Terra Nova a seemingly idyllic world. The tenth pilgrimage however are not alone, the camp is set in the middle of carnivores Dinosaurs and they also have a splinter colony to contend with.
The show will star Jason O'Mara as Jim Shannon (Life On Mars, Monarch Of The Glen), Shelley Conn as Elizabeth Shannon (Mistresses, Strike Back, which is due a second season), Landon Liboiron as Josh Shannon (Degrasi: The Next Generation, Life Unexpected) and also Naomi Scott as Maddy Shannon (Life Bites).
The show of course draws comparisons to Spielberg's Jurassic Park movies the fourth of which is still being talked about but, for me the show also draws comparisons to lost, ok there not dead but you can see the similarity and he portal thing is kind of like Stargate only better. If the trailer is anything to go by then the show looks set to be a smash hit in both the US and UK.
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