TERRA NOVA’s Genesis Does Everything Right

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I’m not ashamed to admit I’m a huge sucker for science fiction shows with an air of mystery to them. That’s not to say that I tune in to every single one of them. I never watched The Event, for instance (thank goodness). I keep my eye out for intriguing stories, making particular effort to ignore any show that tries to be the next Lost. When Terra Nova was announced, I was mostly interested in seeing how well a show about dinosaurs with a TV budget could do. I honestly wasn’t expecting there to be any mystery to it, just a family living 85 million years in the past.

The two-hour pilot, “Genesis,” sets up so much for the series’ first season. What’s impressive is it sowed the seeds one at a time throughout the premiere and then tied them all together right at the end. It’s rare to have these types of shows give you answers so quickly, so I was very surprised to learn this early that Taylor’s son is alive and was the writer of the math equations on the rocks. But those were just a couple answers. We’re still left wondering what the equations really mean, besides a quick throwaway mention that Terra Nova was created to control the future. And what about the Sixth Pilgrimage? Who sent them? My curiosity is piqued thanks to the careful placement of these mysteries.

As a network show, this is by far the most visually stunning series I’ve ever seen. Even Lost, with it’s tropical setting, doesn’t come close to what Terra Nova shows us. We open in 2149, where the world’s ecosystem is near collapse. The skies are covered in a cloud of dirt, brought on by humans. The scenario is terrifying. It’s not an unlikely future for our race. But the dying planet serves another purpose: juxtaposition for when we finally go back in time. Going from dark and gritty future to bright and luscious green past gives us a sense of what it must be like to actually go from one to the other in real life. As soon as we arrive in Terra Nova, we get beautiful location after beautiful location. This easily one of the biggest selling points for this series.

Another big draw in is the dinosaurs. You have to keep in mind this is TV. Anything you see on here won’t be as good as what you might see at the movies. That being said, the CG dinosaurs still look really good. They’re a long shot from blending perfectly with the live action footage, but this is the very best work you can get for television.

As for the characters, it’s tough to say. Everyone did fine jobs acting, but the only real stand-out was Stephen Lang as Nathaniel Taylor. He has a great presence and really looks like he belongs in the jungles of prehistoric Earth. The drama with the Shannon family worked well enough, but I really hope it doesn’t last much longer. It was fine for the pilot, but I could grow tired of Josh’s (Landon Liboiron) teenaged rebellion if goes on too long.

As far as pilots go, this is the best one I’ve seen so far this fall. It looks good; the plot was tightly written and appropriately tense or touching when it called for either. This is the show to beat this year.

16 Comments

1. 

   Jay Tomio

   September 28, 2011 at 11:30 am

   Wanted to really love it, was excited for months about it, was horribly disappointed.

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     Brody Gibson

     September 28, 2011 at 12:00 pm

     That’s funny, because I was going in to it out of vague interest not expecting too much and wound having a great time.

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       Jay Tomio

       September 28, 2011 at 12:20 pm

       I hated the family dynamic, especially the son/father. Let’s make a big budget awesome SF show with sweet dinosaurs and ground it with a dynamic I can get from any 15 cent show. Kid, you just traveled in time, fucking dinosaurs are around, it’s a new, life, your father just busted out of the pen to come with you, cut the dude some slack or at least make me believe it. As soon as he pulled that” Like nothing ever happened/one happy family” line, the show took a turn that would just be blah.

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         Brody Gibson

         September 28, 2011 at 12:27 pm

         Yes, that family nonsense was a tad grating, but I can accept it as long as the show doesn’t drag our faces through it more than it already has. If it comes up again next week I might be singing a different tune about Terra Nova.

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         Damon Cap

         September 28, 2011 at 12:36 pm

         Still didnt like the little kid dino scene. Boo it took me right out the game.

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       • 

         brandon

         September 29, 2011 at 7:12 pm

         That’s exactly what i was saying to my wife while we were watching! i found that part of it is what ruined the whole thing. too much time wasted on scenes like that which would never happened….especially traveling back 80 million bloody years. The kid needs to be written off. or he needs to pull up his big boy pants really quick otherwise the show will lose alot of viewers. I heard a bunch of teens talking about the show at the bus stop the day after. i couldnt tell you how many times people where saying the word Lame. They thought the teen age kid was a bug suck.

         The other part was the “Slashers” dumb name. thats like calling the T-rex the “Chompers” or the Pterodactyl “The Flyers” very grade school name for a dinosaur. Anyways the scene when they were banging against the vehicle showed lack of originality. it was a complete mix of 2 scenes from Jurassic Park mixed in one. the scene with the T-rex banging around the big Bus and the Raptors chasing the 2 kids. Ya its like Stephen Spielberg just thought hey lets mix the two scenes it will be cool!…..not.

         I was also kind of hoping they would show how they put everything together and showed how much of a shock it would have been when the very first person arrived.

         Anyways overall there is still time to redeem the show. as long as they can get more into original ideas. i was hoping those drawings at the falls were maybe drawn by aliens or something totally cool. but instead its the Leader of the 6ers reminding his father about something…boooooooring.

         i hope it takes a turn for the better. i love sci fi and i love dinosaurs. the look is great…no complaints. Luckily they have that guy from Avatar…he is the one that makes the story worth watching. He makes everything look less cheesy.

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2. 

   Damon Cap

   September 28, 2011 at 11:49 am

   So I felt it was just so so myself but the odd thing is Im really fiending for episode 2 so they must have done something right

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3. 

   Damon Cap

   September 28, 2011 at 11:51 am

   So here are some questions I had. Is this new timeline altogether new or does it have any impact on the future (that line about controlling future). Im intrigued by the sixers. How as security so bad he can jump through the portal? The fact the teens snuck out just to drink? Weak. My worst moment of the show, the fact the little girl feeds the dinosaur, that was horrible.

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     Brody Gibson

     September 28, 2011 at 12:04 pm

     I figured the best way to approach this particular pilot was to try not and analyze it too much right from the get go and just try and enjoy myself. This series wants to be rightfully huge, something that just can’t be done on a TV budget, so there’s naturally going to be issues right?
     The whole teen drinking thing didn’t even blip on my radar. I just accepted it, didn’t find all that unlikely. That’s what they do after all, 85 million years in the past or not

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     brandon

     September 29, 2011 at 7:24 pm

     ya exactly… also if i was a teen 80 million years in the past. i wouldnt need to drink to have fun. just looking at those dinosaurs would give me a natural high. Also did you see the size of those centipedes and the bug that was sucking blood on that guys back. i don’t think any teen would want to go out in the jungle and take a change of being eaten alive.

     that giant security fence….lol if they have the technology to use the sun to power the lighting and vehicles don’t you think they would have made it so that there is some sort of power going through wires and also not use wood. i am sure that in the year 2160 or whatever they would have had some really light titanium or carbon fiber like material that would have been alot stronger. The fence was straight out of swiss family Robinson but the guns and vehicles were straight out of Starwars. I wouldn’t feel safe sleeping within those security gates with massive T-rexes around.

     I love how easy it is to complain about a show…we all think we would make better directors and writers. i guess i’m sure they thought of these things and thought your basic dumb couch potato gets easily excited over basic plots. They want to hit a large demographic i guess. same thing goes for music on radio.

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4. 

   Billyd1953

   September 28, 2011 at 12:33 pm

   I was looking forward to it, but it was very disappointing. It’s not written at an adult level. Maybe kids or teenagers would like it. It’s not serious sci-fi. Not really worth one’s time. Doesn’t grab me at all.

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     Jay Tomio

     September 28, 2011 at 12:37 pm

     Exactly. I don’t hate it for that if that’s what it was going for, but as somebody looking for something a bit more meaty I found it lacking. I appreciate the sense of wonder and family – I LOVE Jurassic park – but for a series? That’s tough.

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5. 

   Chuck Anziulewicz

   September 28, 2011 at 2:27 pm

   Action! Adventure! Conspiracy! Gunplay! Futuristic Hummers! Muscles! Surly teens! And some of the most clichéd dialogue I’ve ever had to sit through. I was hoping for something more than just a mash-up of “Jurassic Park” and “Lost.”

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6. 

   Damon Cap

   September 28, 2011 at 2:47 pm

   Well the other thing I did not like about it was they either pulled people that are known in sci fi/fantasy or portrayed them like other characters already in sci fi, I felt like I was watching Sheriff Carter a fair amount of the time. Teen age girl reminded me of Summer G. instead of Allison Miller.

   I also thought the biggest action scene with the dinos and the car was eh and looked a bit fake. Also how did that girl not get stomped out by the slashers? Either you make it scott free or you dead.

   Still Im looking forward to episode number 2. Kinda like falling skies where I think it was kid friendly (focused) early but later episodes not as much. The cut scenes like the darn skateboard one in Falling Skies.

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7. 

   brandon

   September 28, 2011 at 11:51 pm

   I thought the story was ok. i thought the budget really showed. no matter what people say…the sets are huge the CG is done with live action.. unlike Star-trek or any of those other sci fi shows. lots of work in this show. I found the commercials made it so annoying because right when the action starts…the commercials start and then when the show comes back on it’s lost momentum. I’m going to download it for now on.

   they definitely copied jurassic park though. they mixed the scene of the T-Rex banging around the bus and the scene of the Raptors chasing the 2 kids and made it the one scene in Terra Nova with the “Slashers” (dumb name by the way.

   I think the most annoying part of the show was the teenage kid who hates his dad. i was really hoping he would have had his head slashed off by the slashers and just end that guy off the show. if i had problems with my dad and went back in time to the dinosaur age…the last thing on my mind is prolonging a dumb grudge with my dad. His dad hardly did anything wrong anyways, its not like he sexually or physically abused him.

   i hope that whole part of the kid and his dad gets settled and just go on with something more interesting. its the same whole story with Spielberg “falling skies” a kid and his dad keep having power struggles. oh wait a minute that’s the same story with “Super 8″, hmmm i think Spielberg just likes that whole idea too much. Very 80′s if you ask me.

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     Jay Tomio

     September 29, 2011 at 7:18 pm

     YES! I was more hoping he got killed during the initial escape/run to the portal (on hindsight of course), maybe as something the father/family had to live with (though knowing TV he would have survived, and later show up as some lame antagonist!)

     Reply