Terra Nova

Okay folks,

I get it that for most of you high and mighty reviewers Terra Nova seems to be dumb. but I honestly do not feel this way.

People complaining about some holes and everything is just ridiculous with a series that is sending people 80million years in the past. come on people, give them a chance. (if anyone is going to mention the asteroid again I'm going to scream ... 16 million years until impact you geniuses out there. that's enough for a thousand civilizations to rise and fall so stop whining and use your oh soo awesome brains)

so let me tell you that yes, the first 4 episodes a rather drama heavy with long character plots to get to know them. and yes, the CGI is not the best on the market. but that did not keep me from Doctor Who or LEX and it's sure as hell not going to keep me from anything else.

I really love the direction of the later episodes when the meta plot gets going and we get a broader picture of what is wrong with Terra Nova, Commander Taylor and the Sixers.

The acting still ranges between average and sometimes very good. episode 9 had a nice Stephen Lang moment.

give the show a try, maybe jump in the later episodes and forget about the CGI.

suspend the disbelief and just enjoy it. it's better than most of the other crap out there, and you can watch it with the whole family.

and dammit, it has Dinosaurs!

The whole family thing has the wrong feel for the situation. It's like they just moved there from Orange County. The teens are petulant babies. I doubt that would be the case if they had really just left an overpopulated, dangerously polluted world run by a harshly militaristic government. Why can't there be some original thinking about how people might behave in such a precarious situation with an uncertain future, dinosaur threats, and a competing population. Maybe this is a world where teens use their capable brains in new and interesting ways, rather than as trite selfish brats who need babysitting. I doubt that teens would act like that if they were in this situation. Yes, it's good to have varying levels of behavior; not everyone has to be brilliant or saintly. But behavior is influenced by situation and it should bring unique fears, force some creativity, plus there is an obvious ability to have impact in such a small population. What are the relevant issues in this world and how do they impact the inhabitants?

I am only here because I gave La Brea a try. I made it through 8 episodes and I started to think of Terra Nova while watching it. Terra Nova had its problems, mostly the teenage anger that had to be worked though. Both shows have the problem of overabundance in that regard. Enough about La Brea, I mention only to demonstrate how intangibles can make or break.

I watched this show some 11 years ago so my memory is not perfect. My kids were nearly 10 and 12 at the time. We could watch this as a family and we all enjoyed it. It could have done with better writers and it is a shame they didn't get them.

Yes the kid characters were a tad annoying. Teenagers just won't be constantly angry with their dad with dinosaurs around unless that dad commits a serious transgression. My kids got surly but never anything severe and they didn't have the danger or a dinosaur eating them.

The story line worked well (keeping in mind this is science fiction) and a interesting premise. There is what I expect is a glaring plot hole. We know it is amazingly expensive in terms of resources to send people from the future to the past and we have to assume it is similar going from that same past to the current day. It just won't be cost effective to send resources forward to the present. If it were a good option I suspect they would send a lot of modern heavy machinery back to make Terra Nova easier going.

I was disappointed this did not get 5 seasons. My wife was disappointed. Worst, my kids were disappointed and this kept it between the lines and we could enjoy it as a family. I think it would still be a good option for Netflix/Amazon/Any of them to pick it up and run with it but I don't think that will happen.

Oh, and La Brea gets dumber and dumber with every episode.

Loved the series, I just wished they gave it another season or two :(

It still saddens me to this day that this show was never picked up for a second season. While it's far from perfect, it had a genuinely interesting concept and some fun ideas, though the execution could have used some work. I would have loved to see them potentially work some of the issues out with a second season, but unfortunately it seems we'll probably never get one.