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Terra Nova

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Cast

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Reviewer

Paul Asay

TV Series Review

When most folks talk about “getting away from it all,” they’re imagining a trip to the mountains or a week on the beach. If they’re really fed up with everything, they might research the feasibility of ranching chickens in Peru. But the Shannons are not most folks. When they get away, they travel through time. Like, 85 million years through time.

Let me explain. Back in the distant future (the year 2149), the Shannon family—policeman Jim, doctor Elisabeth, teens Josh and Maddy, 5-year-old Zoe—lived in that fetid, polluted cesspool still called Earth. Plagued by overpopulation and deteriorating air quality, the planet seems to be wheezing its last, and most of the human race seems destined for a slow, sad demise.

But thanks to some weird rupture in the space-time continuum, a few lucky souls have the opportunity to get zapped into the far, far distant past. And butterfly-effect advocates need not worry; that little theory doesn’t fly here.

The Shannons were a few of the lucky ones. But it’s not all rainbows and kumquats in this garden of Eden colony known as Terra Nova. On the up side, they get to see things they’ve rarely seen before. Like the moon. And clouds. And they don’t have to wear gas masks wherever they go anymore.

But Josh and Maddy don’t have anyone with whom to text. Zoe can’t watch new episodes of Sesame Street. Colonists squabble with separatists in the past (present) and with greedy businessmen back in the future (present) who’d like nothing more than to strip-mine this new-old world,  Avatar style.

Oh, and have I yet mentioned the dinosaurs? Yeah, stay away from the ones with big teeth.

Terra Nova ultimately feels like a mishmash of VMelrose Place and Land of the Lost. Intrigue spatters this fresh new land like so much tropical rain. Leaders scheme and glower. Teens cast googly eyes at one another. People sometimes serve as bloody hors d’oeuvres for the aforementioned largish reptilian beasties. It can be dumb. It can be gory. It can be crass. It can suggest that dinos were the species to be (or beat) 85 million years ago.

But in the midst of all this Cretaceous-era drama with a capital D, we still have the Shannons—a traditional family that, in spite of a few pubescent pressure points, is trying to live together and love one another as best they can.

Sure, sometimes the Shannons go to outlandish (and even morally dubious) lengths. Sometimes the attitudes or the parenting skills aren’t all that they could be. But we still get the strong impression that, when plans go astray or hopes go awry or you’re being chased by a dinosaur with three-inch fangs, your family will be there for you.

Hopefully with a tranquilizer gun.

Episode Reviews

TerraNova: 12192011

“Occupation/Resistance”

Terra Nova closes its first season with a two-part bang. Lucas, Taylor’s estranged son, takes over the colony with the backing of deep-pocketed developers and a private army. Taylor is forced to flee while intrepid colonists, led by Jim, foment resistance. The endgame finds Jim going to 2149 to blow up “Hope Village,” the only link between the new world and the old one (bringing along a dinosaur just to spice things up).

That dino snacks on three people. There’s no obvious blood, but we do see it thrash bodies around like chew toys and throw one against a wall. Several folks are shot; one’s executed by a bullet to the head. There are fistfights, one of which leaves Josh bruised and bloody. Jim is tortured. Elisabeth blackmails and threatens someone, telling him that she injected lethal parasites into his system. (She’s lying.) We hear that in a battle for the colony, 26 people died. A character is, literally and figuratively, stabbed in the back. There are loads of explosions.

Couples kiss and make out. Jim and Elisabeth engage in foreplay in bed. (We see Jim’s naked torso.) Lucas flirts with his “sister.” (The two aren’t related by blood.) People drink alcohol. We hear them say “h‑‑‑” about 15 times, “d‑‑n” four or five times, and “b‑‑tard,” “b‑‑ch” and “a‑‑” twice each. God’s name is misused.

Family, as it has been for most of the season, is still key here, though. “We’ve been through a lot together,” Jim tells his. “We’ll get through this too.” People make sacrifices (some of them heavy) for one another and for the colony.

TerraNova: 9262011

“Genesis”

After punching a police officer for trying to take Zoe away, Jim breaks out of prison to join his family in Terra Nova—smuggling Zoe in with him. But while past civil misdeeds are forgiven in the colony, all is not well with their family: Josh, in a fit of rebellion, skips orientation (bad), yells at and disobeys his father (bad), sneaks out of the compound (bad) with some fellow teens who all live together (bad), and drinks some sort of homemade alcoholic beverage (bad) in dino country (really bad). Eventually, they require rescue.

Dinosaurs attack adults and teens, eating one Sixer (the dino grabs him by the torso), slashing through the midsection of another (blood dribbles from the man’s mouth) and severely injuring three teens (gnawing on one of their legs). In return, dinosaurs are shot (but don’t die). A would-be assassin tries to kill Nathaniel. Elisabeth treats a patient with a gigantic leech. A shirtless Jim falls on his back after being scared by a giant centipede. Characters say “d‑‑n,” “h‑‑‑” and misuse God’s name. Jim and Elisabeth kiss. A girl strips down to her bikini. Maddy encourages a boy to stay with her, unsupervised, while her parents rescue Josh.

People risk their lives for others.

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Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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