Terra Nova: A Hodgepodge of Sci-Fi Clichés.
Unless you live on the Moon or if you have a DVR you’ve heard of Terra Nova. You know what, scratch that, I think Fox put a few ads on the Moon, in caves, and even under rocks. You could smell the desperation. They wanted it to succeed.
The premise is a cool idea, if just a little bit lifted from Sliders (make sure to pronounce in a hushed whisper). There is a dimensional portal that goes from the year 2148 to 65 million BC. Instantly your geek bullshit detector should around Roland Emerich levels. The question is, if they go into the past, won’t they change the future? It’s the classic Grandpa Paradox. If you leap into the past to kill your grandfather before your father is born, how can you be born to go into the past to kill your own grandfather? They handle this with one line of forced dialogue. It appears that they are not going directly into the past; they are going into the past of an alternate dimension. Like I said, cheesy fix. They might as well have said a wizard did it.
Lets move beyond concept phase, which at least bolsters some creative though. If a million monkeys at a million typewriters take a million years to recreate the works of Shakespeare, then Terra Nova’s scripts were produced by about a dozen monkeys over a 2 week period. You can actually see Fox’s executives mapping out their demographics with a checklist.
Hunky male lead that’s British but does a perfect American accent? Check
Attractive woman that’s British with a British accent? Check
Tween drama? Check
Nauseatingly cutesy child? Check
That dude from Avatar? Check
Communistic undertones that demonize capitalism? Oh boy that’s a check.
The overarching story is interesting enough to keep you watching from episode to episode. The problem lies in the character’s interactions. The actors across the board do the best they can with the clunky dialogue and ham fisted situations they are given. No doubt each of them keeps a copy of their paychecks in their pockets as motivation to not mail it in. I imagine the only series running right now that has more backstage groans is the Walking Dead … not for the subpar quality there, but actual actors practicing their zombie moans.
So what is the story anyway? Well, in 2149 the world is a mess. Pollution and population control have made it so families can only have two children. You can already stop asking if religious wars have broken out because of what I assume would be forced contraception or sterilization, they don’t say. The Shannon family has decided they are better than the law and can have a third. This child then grows up and heads off to battle school … oh wait, that’s Ender’s Game, sorry.
The Shannons get their hands caught in the cookie jar and get raided by the police. Low and behold, papa Shannon is a police officer too. So if anyone should know the law, its him, but lets skip that. Mama Shannon is a doctor, so if anyone should know the sociological impact of over population and the psychological impact of forcing your family to live secret lives, it should be her, but lets skip that too. So during the search Jim Shannon (the father) punches a cop and earns a one way ticket to Azkaban … shit, that’s Harry Potter, whoops.
While in jail, Mama Shannon, lets call her Elizabeth (Because that’s her name) is chosen for the 10th pilgrimage to Terra Nova. However, she’ not allowed to take the third child, lets call her McGuffin (Because that’s what she is, nothing more than a plot device). Following an exhilarating prison break and a leap through time our hero finds out that his arch nemesis has also been unfrozen, but has been programed to be a superhuman … wait, nope, that’s Demolition Man, my bad.
Onces through the time portal and out of the reach of the law, the Shannons come face to face with Commander Taylor, or as I like to call him, Bright Eyes … yea I know that’s planet of the apes, but this time I don’t give a shit. Realizing that Jim Shannon isn’t on the list, and told that there is no need for a cop, he’s sent to the manual labor pool. However when he solves the first ever crime in the history of Terra Nova the commander places a huge spotlight on the roof the main hall to summon him when needed … wait, that’s Batman, my apologies.
We are then let in on the overarching subplot, which is the only quality idea about the show. The sixth pilgrimage was hijacked by a wealthy investor looking take over Terra Nova, engineer a way to make the portal go both ways, and strip mine the entire place. The two villains we meet are Mira, the leader of the Sixers and Lucas, son of Commander Taylor (what a twist!) and brilliant pysisistengineeriologyemist. After being let in on the secret, Jim Shannon is promoted to Sheriff and made pretty much third in command of the whole damn colony. It’s a far cry from maddening solitude and shower rape he had to endure a week ago … and yes I realize that is also Ender’s Game, but this time it applies to both, I swear. Each episode deals with what I call a “Monster of the WeeK” with the subplot driving the narrative.
Overall the show is as formulaic as a 9th grade algebra class and about twice as fun. If TV shows were junk food, Terra Nova would be popcorn. Sure its good enough to shove your face into, but I’d prefer something a little more sweeter. The announcement about a second season hasn’t come yet, but if it does, I’ll give it another season. If it is cancelled, I won’t shed a tear, and will most likely forget about this show until I see it sold in a three pack with Earth2 and Space: Above and Beyond.