Terra Nova - Pilot - Recap

(He's so pretty!)

Terra Nova was definitely one of the most anticipated new shows of the fall. Dinosaurs, time travel and a dash of Steven Spielberg is a recipe for success in my opinion. We follow the Shannon family, struggling to live on Earth in 2149. Earth is on the brink of environmental collapse and things pretty much suck. Things we take for granted today like, fresh air and an orange, are rare things in the future. Humans are required to wear Rebreathers to filter the air so they can breathe and you can't even see the sun or moon in the sky. Population control is also severely enforced. "A family is four." If you have more than two kids, your ass will be carted off to jail. As is the fate of our lead man, Jim. (Oh, hi, his shirt is off.) Although, as his beautiful son points out, he probably would have just gotten a fine if he hadn't decked the cop in the face when his third child was discovered.

The world has discovered a way to save humanity. Through some form of advanced technology that makes my brain hurt, they were able to start a colony 85 million years in the past. This place is called Terra Nova and the Shannon's are one of the lucky recruits. Jim breaks out of jail to join his wife and children in Terra Nova.

You know what I'm noticing? Humanity has not changed it's fashion sense one bit in the future. There's no shoes that lace themselves or shiny silver robot suits. I am observing that plaid is still the go to fashion choice for teenage boys. Not complaining at all.

The family has to adjust to food and all the fresh air Terra Nova has to offer before they can settle in. Oh, and there's just that pesky little thing about dinosaurs roaming around the gates of their little town. I don't know about you but i'd totally love to feed a branch to a brontosaurus (brachiosaurus?) in my spare time. But those darn carnivores are a problem.

Some people might be asking, why choose a time period where you know there are carnivorous dinos ready to eat you at any moment in time? Why choose a time where you know an asteroid is going to hit earth and wipe them all out? To you I say, read an encyclopedia. That asteroid isn't going to come for like 20 million years so, these people have time to relax and perhaps technology will advance itself during that time. Also, from what I gather, they didn't choose this time period. A break in the timeline was discovered and this is where it lead to. As far as changing the past/future? According to the brainy daughter, this is a new timeline. A new alternate universe of sorts so all those pesky problems like wiping out their own existence isn't an issue.

The second half of the show is action packed and I am enjoying the changes from the Pilot episode I previously saw. Dinosaur attacks aplenty! On top of that, there is a second group of people that have broken off from these people to live elsewhere and cause trouble. They're the bad guys. What's their beef? Why struggle and have to hold people hostage for medical supplies and such? For whatever reason, they hate Taylor, the leader of Terra Nova. They hint that he's hiding his real purpose for being there.

We get a glimpse into what this may be. Josh, the Shannon's son, sneaks out of the compound with his new friends to go swimming. They show him equations that have been written on some rocks where they're not allowed to go. Their party is interrupted when dinosaurs surround them and start slashing the crap out of their group. People are bleeding all over the place. Bet Josh wishes he listened to his dad. Remember when the big ol' T-Rex in Jurassic Park was blind? Bring on the raptors! They continue to be a dino's chew toy until the search party arrives to save them. I wonder if life at Terra Nova will always be this eventful?

Questions:

What is Taylor hiding?
Where did his son disappear to?
Is his son the writer of the rock equations?
Who are the sixers?

Did you like the premiere? I loved it. LOVED it. And we love Jason O'Mara and Landon Liboiron. I'm happy Landon moved on from Degrassi to something with a little more wiggle room for his acting chops. He's great. And I just love Jason on screen and off. If you haven't checked out his website, please do. He loves his video camera and I love that he loves it.

I will probably cry if it ever gets canceled. I would actually really enjoy seeing more of the future. Maybe in some sort of flashback? Or maybe a family friend that's still living there until they make their way to Terra Nova. I just really found things like the rebreathers, population control and the orange really interesting.

Will you be tuning in again?