For now though, let me ramble about what I thought of the inaugural episode of the short lived new series, "Terra Nova".
Well, it's not cancelled yet, but let's just say Fox has a certain modus operandi.
[Slight Spoilers] After watching the two hour premiere (a few days later), I gotta say, I'm intrigued. When I first heard about the show, I got excited. How could you not look forward to Jurassic Park the Series? Then reality slowly started to seep in through that crack in my mind called logic. How is a series like this supposed to grow and develop? You can't pull a Jurassic Park. Halfway through the first season you would already have the complex destroyed and half the cast killed in bad-ass or hilariously silly ways.
Think this, but with a Carnotaurus, and Stephen Lang shooting it from the crapper.
But I think the route they chose is actually a pretty good one. Again, slight spoilers may be headed your way.
I'll give a basic overview of the story. The show starts in the future, where we horrible human beings have destroyed the planet, as is our prerogative. The little details here and there do a great job in selling it: the rebreathers, the awe of seeing an orange, the two child limit all set the scene very nicely. We meet our main family, the Shannons here.
Without giving too much away, there is plot conflict, and our main characters end up in Terra Nova, our world 85 million years in the past. We find that even though it seems like paradise, there are a few problems. Again, it's the details I love. The over oxygenation of the people from the polluted planet, the stars in different places, the moon being closer are all little points that help sell this universe and make it interesting.
There seem to be a few key plot points that will run the show, and they are all pretty interesting. [HEAVY SPOILERS] start here. The breakaway sect of settlers, the "sixers" seem to be the main protagonist in this show. There is an air of mystery surrounding them, almost reminiscent of Lost's "Others" that I find intriguing. There is also the writing the teens found near the waterfalls which seems to be setting up some kind of Psychohistory angle involving Stephen Lang's Taylor character. And finally, of course, the dinosaurs. All in all, the show gives off an almost Lostian vibe, and in a good way. [End Heavy Spoilers]
As this is an impressions post, I will give my impressions. I'll start with the good. The story here has grabbed me. As I said before, there is a sense that there is more going on than the teasers have led the viewers to believe. I'm thankful that this is more than just a story about survival. After Battlestar Galactica and, to a lesser extent, Lost, I don't think I need another show about people struggling to get by. In fact, the settlers seem to be very well off. I do however expect that to change at some point in the series.
The acting was good all around. Most of the characters are likable, except one that I'll get to later. I like that Stephen Lang wasn't Avatar-over-the-top Oh Rah marine guy again. Taylor is a very reserved and soft spoken man. That's not to say he doesn't have some bad ass moments, but I like the restraint. He also has an aura of mystery about him, and I can't quite get a read on his true intentions. It's good to have characters who don't have their intentions awkwardly monologued to the audience as if we were common reality show viewers (the worst).
Now for the bad. The effects were...lacking. I find it odd that Jurassic Park had better CG than this, and that was 18 years ago.
I'll give a basic overview of the story. The show starts in the future, where we horrible human beings have destroyed the planet, as is our prerogative. The little details here and there do a great job in selling it: the rebreathers, the awe of seeing an orange, the two child limit all set the scene very nicely. We meet our main family, the Shannons here.
Without giving too much away, there is plot conflict, and our main characters end up in Terra Nova, our world 85 million years in the past. We find that even though it seems like paradise, there are a few problems. Again, it's the details I love. The over oxygenation of the people from the polluted planet, the stars in different places, the moon being closer are all little points that help sell this universe and make it interesting.
There seem to be a few key plot points that will run the show, and they are all pretty interesting. [HEAVY SPOILERS] start here. The breakaway sect of settlers, the "sixers" seem to be the main protagonist in this show. There is an air of mystery surrounding them, almost reminiscent of Lost's "Others" that I find intriguing. There is also the writing the teens found near the waterfalls which seems to be setting up some kind of Psychohistory angle involving Stephen Lang's Taylor character. And finally, of course, the dinosaurs. All in all, the show gives off an almost Lostian vibe, and in a good way. [End Heavy Spoilers]
As this is an impressions post, I will give my impressions. I'll start with the good. The story here has grabbed me. As I said before, there is a sense that there is more going on than the teasers have led the viewers to believe. I'm thankful that this is more than just a story about survival. After Battlestar Galactica and, to a lesser extent, Lost, I don't think I need another show about people struggling to get by. In fact, the settlers seem to be very well off. I do however expect that to change at some point in the series.
The acting was good all around. Most of the characters are likable, except one that I'll get to later. I like that Stephen Lang wasn't Avatar-over-the-top Oh Rah marine guy again. Taylor is a very reserved and soft spoken man. That's not to say he doesn't have some bad ass moments, but I like the restraint. He also has an aura of mystery about him, and I can't quite get a read on his true intentions. It's good to have characters who don't have their intentions awkwardly monologued to the audience as if we were common reality show viewers (the worst).
Now for the bad. The effects were...lacking. I find it odd that Jurassic Park had better CG than this, and that was 18 years ago.
One is from a 1993 motion picture, the other one has goofy eyes.But, I won't rail on that too much. It's TV, they have a budget. I mean, the guns they use are nerf guns painted black. You gotta cut corners somewhere.
Battlestar Galactica took that advice literally.
My only problem with any characters in this show is Josh. Teenage angst never really made sense to me, and maybe it happened to other human beings, but when I watch this kid introduce that whole, "you weren't there for me dad!" plot I want to punch my screen. His dad was gone 2 years. That's it. And it wasn't like he walked out on the family for selfish reasons. [Spoiler] He punches a cop trying to steal his baby daughter [End spoiler]. It was a really shoehorned plot point that thankfully seems to have been resolved by the end of the pilot.
Overall Impressions: I liked it. As the hype grew and I became more wary of the show (more hype = higher expectation + increased chance of letdown. It's science.) I got worried that this show wasn't anything more than it's obvious and shallow plot: people vs. dinosaurs. Having watched the pilot now, I can safely say it is deeper than you may expect. I look forward to next Monday to see where they take this series next.
Arbitrary Rating: 12. It's a very TL;DR internet these days, and people love to skip to the rating. I will invent my own arbitrary rating system that, I feel, sums up the post. Enjoy trying to figure this one out.
This is your only hint....
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