Eh, I’ve Changed My Mind About Terra Nova
Last week I did a somewhat official review of Terra Nova, the high budget, high concept sci-fi endeavor on Fox that boasts Steven Spielberg as a backer. My general analysis after the two hour pilot was “better than expected” but also “wait and see.” But now after episode two, I’ve seen enough.
There’s just something…off about this show. The tone doesn’t fit the concept at all, and the whole thing is written, acted and shot like it’s an ABC Family series. It’s rare that things like cinematography and soundtrack stick out to this degree, but everything just misses the mark. Network TV shows often suffer from this syndrome, which allows their more gritty and/or artistic rivals on cable to shine. It’s how I felt watching V, it’s how I felt watching The Cape, it’s how I felt watching The Event. There were pieces that interested me, but the package they were put together in was just unappealing and amateurish.
This week’s Terra Nova revolved around a flock of CGI dinosaur birds that want the compound as their mating ground. Sadly, fighting CGI lizard fowl was only the third most ridiculous event of the episode, with alternate plotlines revolving around teens trying to find money for a guitar, and the wife’s old love interest showing up with a blatantly obvious agenda to get her back.
Driving a car farting out bird pheromones to lure away an angry flock is not my idea of a thrilling conclusion, and the three separate love plots cluttering up the rest of the show all felt out of place.
Perhaps the plot is too silly to function, as time traveling and dinosaurs can be a tough sell, especially when people will be questioning your special effects every step of the way. But that’s not why Terra Nova fails. It’s a creative idea with nothing compelling or remotely interesting contained within, and its lighthearted tone, cheerful soundtrack and campy dialogue are not welcome in this genre, and subsequently not welcome in my DVR either.
Well, if you are going to rip someone off in this episode, you could do worse than Hitchcock.
This is how I feel about it too. Gave the pilot ago and thought that this could be OK, but had my doubts about the lead actor (Jason O’Mara). After watching this weeks episode I won’t be watching it again.
As you said the show needs to be more gritty. The pilot had elements of this but this weeks episode just came across as a family friendly show when really it shouldn’t of. People where getting ripped apart and killed by these dinosaur birds, but when you first see them just shouting at them scared them away? Yet 3 soldiers shooting at them at the beginning got killed the same dinosaur birds?
The whole show was a mess. It was trying to deal with light hearted things like Jim Shannon trying to get his leg over (what seemed pretty bad as them walls seemed pretty thin, It would like going on a camping holiday and hearing you dad giving it to your mom. Oh the nightmares) and Josh Shannon trying to buy an guitar.
I know they have filmed at least 5 episodes. For how much this show costs and the way the show is going I think this will be another show that will die off pretty soon, and to be honest I wouldn’t be that bothered by. I don’t really see this have a strong fan base.
When I watched the pilot I thought it was pretty damn good and wondered “How could someone possibly fuck up time travel and dinosaurs with effects this good?”
I guess an overdose shot of modern family in a place it doesn’t belong was the answer.
I am gonna keep watching it cause I don’t have much other good tv to watch at the minute but I think if they kept more to the lost style mystery and added in the desperation element that Battlestar and Stargate Universe had it would be a lot better!
I haven’t bothered to watch the second episode. I watched the first one, well, I watched about 55 minutes of the first one and nothing f(expletive)g happened. It let me down…this was gonna be included in my weekly Fringe, Dexter, It’s Always Sunny, and Family Guy download list…
Things I didn’t like:
1. Too many kids. Namely the baby.
2. Both parents are there(one should be dead. I don’t care which one)
3. The scene where the dad is chopping of the vines from the fence, falls off the top with the machete in his hand but he’s totally fine. Pointless scene.
4. Their house. The other hipster teen kids.
5. A show with dinosaurs should be bad ass. The Land Before Time was more bad ass than this show.
6. Does Stargate SG-1 know they stole the portal? WTF
There’s a bunch more, but my comment is already TL;DR
I’m watching it in amusement now. I’ll probably give it one more episode.
Things I don’t like:
1) It’s too clean. It’s kind of annoying seeing “Minority Report” style holographic computers coming out of wooden desks 85M years ago. Who cares if there’s dinosaurs around? They obviously have exceedingly developed technology and plasma rifles.
2) Out of place characters and tech like the guy that lost his leg selling a “guitar”. So they can bring back holographic computers but not guitars? Why is this guy such a bum moving around in some rickety wooden wheel chair? Did they really choose a couple of degenerates to go back in time to restart humanity?
3) Made up dinosaurs. I’d be more immersed if there were historically accurate creatures. Why make up animals? Dinosaurs are about as badass as they come.
4) Hipsters…. ffs.
5) Absolutely no subtlety. Maybe if the characters were well written and the development done well I’d be more forgiving. But the plotlines are idiotic. Wizards of Waverly Place does a better job of character an relationship development.
6) Did they model the family after the Simpsons?I think you mentioned this last week.
7) wtf it goes on and on. This show’s going the way of The Cape.
These were the thoughts I posted on ‘my’ site:
“Watched the Terra Nova pilot and it was…..eh. I think there’s a lot of potential but I felt like they should’ve expanded the first hour and cut the second for the next episode. It felt rushed, even at two hours, and I wanted more backstory on the Earth of that era other than some text during the opening. I hope they cut back to it, at some point. There were also some weird, and jarring, editing choices that drew me out of the show, and I didn’t like how many severe plots holes there were. I get that the show had to move foward and the hows and whys aren’t that important, since we all just want to see Terra Nova but man…it was difficult to get past them.
I like many of the characters, even if they’re a bit cookie cutter (bitter, rebellious son; nerdy, hot daughter; cop that can’t stop being a cop; Lambert’s pretty interesting though) so I’ll stick with the show and see where it goes. The hints and foreshadowing at the end are definitely interesting.”
Your second paragraph finishes this thought for me perfectly. I haven’t seen the second episode yet, so I’m a bit disappointed that you’re already giving up on it. Meaning: since we have similar feelings about the show, I’ll probably give up on it, as well.
Did anyone stick around for the “Scenes from the next episode”? I almost threw something at my tv and my girlfriend starts just laughing at the premise. An evil mind erasing virus is loose! Main character to Dr. Oldflame, “You better cure this fast!” Goofy doesn’t even begin to describe it.
I’ve just seen the pilot yesterday (I’m in Perú) and it left a weak taste in me too. I was thinking in Lost and Terranova: Both shows started a mithology early in the show (the smoke monster, the sixers or whatever), both went to rare locations (the island, the past), both deal with adventure, misticism and Sci-fi… But Lost based their narrative in their characters, in very interesting characters (even Michael and Walt, even the pretty stepbrothers that i can’t recall) that had a second oportunity, that survived. Terranova has survivers too but their conflicts lay in inmediate problems, not in a bigger plan laying ahead (yeah, they’re starting a civilization but all I got to see is teenagers being saved and that was he high stake of the pilot). I’ll see it again (In latin america, cable has too few things right now, tv season starts the next month and i’m bored of House reruns.
I’m thinking this is starting off similar to the way that Eureka started off — a lot of high-budget effects and trying to get a lot of storylines in place. I say give it time and it will eventually become something worth watching, the same as Eureka did. It just needs to get over the hump, lay out the groundwork, and find its niche.
@thenottakenname
I hope so, too, however Eureka is on Sci-Fi (not spelling it the new, moronic way) and I’m sure has a lot more leeway and support. Terra Nova is on network, Fox, which hasn’t showed much patience for shows that are actually good. I’m thinking the show has a short leash and will do what it can to pull numbers, which, unfortunately, probably means simplistic and outrageous plots and more dinos versus character development and engaging plots. Why make something great, when you can make it stupidf and easy to follow for all the mouthbreathers?
I felt the same way! I really enjoyed the first three episodes, but literally 1 minute into the 4th, I felt it jumped the shark.
It felt like a Star Trek:TNG or Voyager episode. Now I loved TNG, but that would not play on today’s television. And I was bored 1/4 of the way through this episode.
Bummer. I was hoping (and still hold out a sliver of hope) that this show can recapture the mythos and “unknown world” deficit left by LOST, but I don’t think that this will be the case.
I wish they could have focused more on the survival bit, starting from the beginning instead of coming to some already built compound.