What Happened, Yo!:
-Lucas converses with Weaver, leader of the mercenary group they're sending in to take the colony. They have the best army money can buy and they are ready to move.
-Taylor prepares the colony for the arrival of either new colonists or an army bent on destroying them. With Washington guarding the camp, Jim and Taylor brace themselves for new arrivals.
-The first few people to come through are colonists, including Kara (Josh's girlfriend), who Jim goes to take care of. When all of a sudden...
-A guy with a bomb strapped to his chest comes through the portal, explodes, and everything gets crazy!
-Jim is knocked to the ground and comes to 3 days later. He learns that when the portal on this side exploded, it re-opened much closer to the colony allowing the Phoenix Group to come through unimpeded. 26 Colonists died before Washington surrendered and Taylor is M.I.A. Kara died at some point in the struggle.
-Jim visits a despondent Washington and assures her she did the only thing she could do. She tells him that the Terminus (the device that makes the portal go both ways) was broken by Carno's and Malcolm has been put to work fixing it.
-Malcolm is fixing the device, because they killed his assistant when he refused, but he is working as slow as he can. When the soldiers come to question Jim, they pretend he was rendered deaf and brain damaged in the explosion.
-When dead Phoenix soldiers start showing up, Jim and Elizabeth realize that Taylor has etched co-ordinates to his location on the bullets.
-Lucas forgives Skye for warning Taylor, and claims she is his sister (figuratively).
-Jim sneaks out of the colony and sees Weaver, Lucas, and company planning to blow up an area full of greenery, so they can strip mine for all it's worth.
-Jim meets up with Taylor, Reynolds, and other soliders and they proceed to deactivate one of these bombs
-Taylor gives Jim a special communicator, and Jim begins alerting Taylor's rebels to roving groups of Phoenix soldiers who get attacked and killed over the process of several days.
-Later at the bar, Lucas begins making creepy advances on Skye. So Josh (Who's been working there again to get information) punches him out.
-Lucas freaks out and prepares to make an example out of Josh, but Jim has been tipped off by Skye and comes to the rescue. Unfortunately, this means giving up his shell-shocked act and getting arrested.
-In the brig, Josh forgives his father for punching out the population control officer so long ago,
-Skye gets Josh released but Jim must stay behind to get tortured.
-Lucas reveals that the reason he hates his father is that in Somalia, when the rebels took the city, they lined up all the innocents to be executed and forced each soldier to choose one to save. Taylor picked Lucas and has supposedly blamed him for it ever since.
-Elizabeth injects Weaver with what she says is a lethal dose of a dangerous paradise, and won't cure him until he frees Jim.
-He helps get Jim out, but Elizabeth reveals that she was bluffing, that he's a hypochondriac, and that the "cure" she's injected into him is a sedative.
-The Shannons meet up with Washington, who is going to give them a chance to get out of the colony and meet up with Taylor's troops. She gives Jim a message for Taylor and then causes havoc.
-As Taylor and company rescue the Shannon family, Taylor watches Wash get executed by Lucas for not telling where Taylor is (Her last words are a comment on how Lucas has his mothers eyes).
-At the camp, Washington's death is mourned. Jim passes along her message, which turns out to be advice to blow up Hope Plaza. It means cutting them off from a future, but it'll give them more of a chance against the Phoenix Group, than they'd have if more soldiers were able to come through the portal.
-As Jim knows Hope Plaza best, he is elected to go back to the future, smuggled in through a Phoenix shipment, and blow up a bomb.
-Skye distracts Lucas, giving the rebels their chance to sneak Jim and something else through the portal.
-I forget when this happened, but at some point, Weaver sent Mira to the Badlands where they found something interesting.
-After Jim goes to the future, Malcolm (whose fixed the Terminus at this point) secretly breaks it again, so nothing else can come through the future.
-Lucas gets away from Skye and sets off to warn the Phoenix Group. Taylor heads after him.
-In the future, Weaver talks with his superiors, as Jim sneaks out of his crate. Weaver opens the crate of what they found in the badlands, but instead of what's supposed to be in there, they find an angry Carnosaurus!
-While the Carno is killing people, Jim plants the bomb and prepares his escape
-Jim confronts Lucas, who claims he only wants his father's forgiveness and breaks down. Then, when Taylor embraces him, Lucas stabs him in the back. He prepares to stab him again, when Skye shows up and shoots Lucas twice.
-Weaver attempts to prevent Jim's escape only to get eaten by the Carno because he wasn't paying attention.
-Jim outruns the Carno on an exploding bridge and jumps through the portal! That part was awesome.
-Skye is so busy helping Taylor, she doesn't notice that a seemingly dead Lucas has disappeared until it's too late.
-Jim returns triumphantly and Taylor gets word that the Phoenix Group has all left and are heading towards the badlands.
-They open the crate from the badlands that was supposed to go to the future and discover a prow from an 18th century ship. Mysterious!
-Everyone returns home to Terra Nova. At night the Shannons all gather to watch a meteor shower.
-The End! For now.
I Liked This: Oh, man. Before I talk about anything else, I just have to bring it up again: Jim running away from a Carnosaur on an exploding bridge! Holy crap, that was awesome! I liked everything involving the Carnosaur in the future, but that was the best part. Anways, this was a great, action-packed finale and a good way to close the season. I liked the introduction of the Phoenix Group, who proved to be formidable threatening antagonists and should continue to do so if the show is renewed for a second season. I also liked Jim getting taking out of commission for a few days, so we could jump right ahead to a Phoenix-controlled Terra Nova. Josh was actually a likeable character this week, and I liked him finally forgiving his dad for punching out the population control guy way back when. I also liked that his girlfriend comes through the portal only to die, like almost immediately, even though it renders that whole storyline with him stealing medicine somewhat pointless. It's effective.
Speaking of effective death's, Washington's was a sad one, but I liked how it was handled and how her sacrifice ultimately leads to the destruction of Hope Plaza and Terra Nova getting cut off from the future (A cool development by the way). I already mentioned the Phoenix Group, but I really liked Weaver as the central antagonist of the finale. I was almost sad to see him get munched on by a dinosaur. I am glad that Lucas is apparently still alive, though. He's a fantastic character, and just as I was getting disappointed that his conflict with Taylor seemed to be resolved so fast, he goes and stabs the old man in the back. I also enjoyed his creepy fascination with Skye, and her character made up for being underused for much of the season. I also liked the introduction of the prow from the badlands, which brings up brand new issues, mysteries, and ideas for a potential season 2 to work with.
With all this stuff, and probably even more that I'm forgetting to mention, this was an incredibly effective Finale and probably the highlight of the season.
But...: Mira was really underused in the finale. We didn't get to see her menace any of our main characters at all, though she'll probably be back with a vengeance if season 2 happens, now that she's forever cut off from the future. And as well done as it was, I found some things in this episode predictable, which is a bit unfortunate. I called the portal being destroyed the moment they introduced the idea that that could happen last week.
The Bottom Line: Great Finale! Here's hoping for a season 2!
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
-Dinosaur Scene Count: 3, but the last two scenes were Carnosaur scenes and those were awesome!
-Best Dinosaur Moment: I've already mentioned this but I'll mention it again. Carnotaur chasing Jim across an exploding bridge!!!
-This Week in Adorableness: Zoe's whole scene with Taylor.
-Well, That Was Stupid: Weaver, how did you forget that you had to be on the lookout for a freaking Dinosaur that just killed all the guys you work for?!
-Oh, and I liked the fake-out with it looking like Maddy and Reynolds were about to get attacked, only for Jim to walk in on them instead.
Showing posts with label Terra Nova. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terra Nova. Show all posts
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
Tuesday, 13 December 2011
Terra Nova: Within
What Happened, Yo!:
-We get an establishing shot with Dinosaurs and then no more Dinosaurs for the rest of the episode. Oh well.
-With the 11th Pilgrimage upon them, and the imminent threat of Lucas being close to finishing his calculations, Taylor is increasing secuirty near the portal. He also informs Jim that the portal was built to control where new colonists would come out.
-Jim is interviewing all the girls with access to the med centre. Skye claims that she was playing chess with Josh. She later tells Josh to cover for her, saying she was actually swiping some copper or something.
-Skye is still spying and is leaving the colony through a secret access gate. She finds herself having to do some work for Lucas, who threatens to kill her mother if she doesn't help him. He also does some crazy ranting.
-Jim finds out through secuirty footage near the route Skye uses that Skye is probably the traitor. He confronts Josh, who reveals he was in fact lying.
-Taylor is naturally angry about this, but rather than striaght-up arrest her, they feed her information about a convoy.
-Skye the spy goes to The Eye and gets the last bit of info Lucas needs.
-When the convoy isn't attacked by Sixers, Jim deduces that she isn't feeding Mira any information that could hurt the colony.
-They also figure out that she's been using hacked maintenance cards to access an old power station.
-Skye is threatened by Mira for not telling them about the convoy.
-Skye gives Lucas what he needs, and he tells her that thanks to her, his work is complete and he can make the portal go both ways. He tells her never to go back to Terra Nova, because his employers will be shortly coming to destroy it.
-Skye breaks down to her mother (who was unaware of Skye's activities as a spy.). Her mother tells her to go back and confess everything she knows and not to worry about her anymore.
-Skye approaches Taylor and Jim, who are at their station. She tries to warn them about Lucas, but Taylor is too angry to believe that she's telling the truth again. Until she mentions a specific day in August 2138, that Lucas had mentioned during his rantings.
-Lucas approaches the portal and uses it to take out all the guards nearby, who are unwarned due to a garbled transmission.
-Lucas waits for Taylor to show up, stands close to the portal so they can't shoot him (shooting the portal will cut them off from 2149 forever), rants about winning and heads back to the future.
-Skye learns that Curran has recovered her mom from the Sixers, along with some of her medicine. This means the Terra Nova doctors will be able to copy it, and her mom will be fine.
-Taylor organizes the colony, asks for their assistance, and then prepares for WAR!
-Meanwhile, Maddy's Flex blows a core and she goes on a filler adventure to get a new one, because her whole life was on it.
I Liked This: Within was pretty much all about setting the stage for next weeks 2-hour finale and resolving the Skye spy story, but it did it all well. We got to see lots of Lucas, who is proving to be a fascinating antagonist. I liked that we also now know the basic reason why Lucas hates Taylor so. Hopefully, we'll get more background on how Taylor is responsible for his wife's death next week. The episode resolved Skye's storyline well enough and Taylor's reaction to her was well done, knowing what we already know about their relationship. And Curran's storyline paid off too, which was good to see.
But...: What was the point of Maddy's storyline this week? Unless it somehow ties in to the finale next week (which I kind of doubt), it's just pure filler. It wasn't that bad, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about some random subplot with Maddy at this point in the game. Sorry, Maddy.
The Bottom Line: Within does a good job setting the stage for what's bound to be an action packed finale next week.
Grade: Awesome! (Good)
Memorable Moments
-Dinosaur Scene Count: 1.
-Finale Predictions/Guessing: So, now that Lucas has told them that shooting at the portal will cut them off from the future, I'm guessing that they shoot at the portal at some point in the finale. Also, either Washington, Reynolds, or Skye will die. I also predict lots of crazy dinosaur action.
-Liked the origin behind Skye's mother's pet name for Skye: Bucket. Adorable.
-Lucas is overdramatic when it comes to his relationship with Taylor. “The two of us, we suffer from a Shakespearean relationship that borders on Greek tragedy.”
-We get an establishing shot with Dinosaurs and then no more Dinosaurs for the rest of the episode. Oh well.
-With the 11th Pilgrimage upon them, and the imminent threat of Lucas being close to finishing his calculations, Taylor is increasing secuirty near the portal. He also informs Jim that the portal was built to control where new colonists would come out.
-Jim is interviewing all the girls with access to the med centre. Skye claims that she was playing chess with Josh. She later tells Josh to cover for her, saying she was actually swiping some copper or something.
-Skye is still spying and is leaving the colony through a secret access gate. She finds herself having to do some work for Lucas, who threatens to kill her mother if she doesn't help him. He also does some crazy ranting.
-Jim finds out through secuirty footage near the route Skye uses that Skye is probably the traitor. He confronts Josh, who reveals he was in fact lying.
-Taylor is naturally angry about this, but rather than striaght-up arrest her, they feed her information about a convoy.
-Skye the spy goes to The Eye and gets the last bit of info Lucas needs.
-When the convoy isn't attacked by Sixers, Jim deduces that she isn't feeding Mira any information that could hurt the colony.
-They also figure out that she's been using hacked maintenance cards to access an old power station.
-Skye is threatened by Mira for not telling them about the convoy.
-Skye gives Lucas what he needs, and he tells her that thanks to her, his work is complete and he can make the portal go both ways. He tells her never to go back to Terra Nova, because his employers will be shortly coming to destroy it.
-Skye breaks down to her mother (who was unaware of Skye's activities as a spy.). Her mother tells her to go back and confess everything she knows and not to worry about her anymore.
-Skye approaches Taylor and Jim, who are at their station. She tries to warn them about Lucas, but Taylor is too angry to believe that she's telling the truth again. Until she mentions a specific day in August 2138, that Lucas had mentioned during his rantings.
-Lucas approaches the portal and uses it to take out all the guards nearby, who are unwarned due to a garbled transmission.
-Lucas waits for Taylor to show up, stands close to the portal so they can't shoot him (shooting the portal will cut them off from 2149 forever), rants about winning and heads back to the future.
-Skye learns that Curran has recovered her mom from the Sixers, along with some of her medicine. This means the Terra Nova doctors will be able to copy it, and her mom will be fine.
-Taylor organizes the colony, asks for their assistance, and then prepares for WAR!
-Meanwhile, Maddy's Flex blows a core and she goes on a filler adventure to get a new one, because her whole life was on it.
I Liked This: Within was pretty much all about setting the stage for next weeks 2-hour finale and resolving the Skye spy story, but it did it all well. We got to see lots of Lucas, who is proving to be a fascinating antagonist. I liked that we also now know the basic reason why Lucas hates Taylor so. Hopefully, we'll get more background on how Taylor is responsible for his wife's death next week. The episode resolved Skye's storyline well enough and Taylor's reaction to her was well done, knowing what we already know about their relationship. And Curran's storyline paid off too, which was good to see.
But...: What was the point of Maddy's storyline this week? Unless it somehow ties in to the finale next week (which I kind of doubt), it's just pure filler. It wasn't that bad, but I just couldn't bring myself to care about some random subplot with Maddy at this point in the game. Sorry, Maddy.
The Bottom Line: Within does a good job setting the stage for what's bound to be an action packed finale next week.
Grade: Awesome! (Good)
Memorable Moments
-Dinosaur Scene Count: 1.
-Finale Predictions/Guessing: So, now that Lucas has told them that shooting at the portal will cut them off from the future, I'm guessing that they shoot at the portal at some point in the finale. Also, either Washington, Reynolds, or Skye will die. I also predict lots of crazy dinosaur action.
-Liked the origin behind Skye's mother's pet name for Skye: Bucket. Adorable.
-Lucas is overdramatic when it comes to his relationship with Taylor. “The two of us, we suffer from a Shakespearean relationship that borders on Greek tragedy.”
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
Terra Nova: Now You See Me
What Happened, Yo!:
-Taylor is going OTG for the next day. He and Skye talk about how the anniversary of her parents death from some serious disease I've forgotten the name of is very soon, and how when he gets back they'll walk to some memorial area.
-Heightened security measures are in place until the spy is caught. Because Washington is away, Jim is left in charge while Taylor is gone and hopes to track down the mole.
-Zoe's pet Ankylosaur is getting big and will have to be released soon. Zoe isn't happy about it.
-Skye still isn't happy that Josh ignored her and stole from his mother.
-Oh, and Skye is also the spy! And she accidentally left a blood sample for Jim and Reynolds to find!
-Taylor is examining the latest equations Lucas has left behind when Mira gets the jump on him and captures him.
-Skye volunteers to go on a detail with Josh so she can sneak away and meet up with her Sixers contact.
-It turns out that the Sixers are keeping her mother alive with a cure but will stop giving her the cure if Skye stops getting them information.
-Taylor and Mira trade info as Mira marches Taylor to her base. Lucas is apparently close to completing his work and hates Taylor because of something he did in Somalia.
-Mira is startled by a dinosaur, giving Taylor a chance to turn the tables and make her his hostage, but we see slashers are stalking them.
-Jim strong arms Malcolm into getting the DNA from the blood sample and the computer begins computing it.
-The Slashers attack and Taylor and Mira have to dive over a waterfall where they lose their guns.
-Determining that the Slashers are a young male and female who are staking out their region and being territorial, Taylor and Mira team up to fight them off.
-Reynolds tells Jim he intends to marry Maddy. Jim points out that she's only 16, so that's kind of creepy (well he doesn't use the word creepy. But it's kind of creepy.)
-Skye, who has the night shift on her medical internship, notices her DNA being computed. Later on, she sneaks into the lab and destroys it.
-Though the sample has been destroyed, by determining who had access to the centre, and using the info they could get from the DNA to narrow down gender, Jim narrows it down to 47 suspects.
-Mira and Taylor successfully fight off the dinosaurs.They admit they could've been a good team if they were on the same side and go their separate ways.
-Jim tells Reynolds he's a good kid and that he's a lot easier on him than Elizabeth's father was on Jim.
-The Shannons release the Anklyosaur into the wild and it quickly finds a bigger Ankylosaur.
-Skye and Taylor set off on their walk to the memorial area, with Taylor still unaware that she is the spy.
I Liked This: This episode continued the trend of pushing things forward towards a big conclusion. I'm fine with the reveal that Skye is the spy, because she's been underused these past few weeks and the justification of the reveal was well done. I had a feeling that Skye's mention that she hoped a cure for the disease that killed her parents would turn out to be significant, but the reveal that her mother was actually alive was an unexpected one. Plus Terra Nova made up for the past couple dino-sparse weeks with the Taylor/Mira plot (which was a pretty solid plot in general). And the dinosaurs all looked real good too. Way better than that swordfish from a couple weeks ago.
But...: The Taylor/Mira plot was mostly solid, but it suffered from some pretty clunky dialogue in parts. Also, Taylor and Mira were so casual with each other, it robbed the plot of a lot of it's urgency. Skye destroying her DNA sample also just seemed like a way to drag out the spy plot for another week. And while the Anklyosaur story was sweet, since this was only the second time we'd seen this thing, the emotional impact of it leaving didn't really land.
The Bottom Line: A rather solid episode with some issues as things begin to ramp up for the finale. I'm getting psyched as to where we're going with this.
Grade: Awesome! (Good)
Memorable Moments
-Dinosaur Scene Count: 7!
-Best Dinosaur Moment: Taylor and Mira versus the Slashers.
-Reynolds continues to be awkward around Jim. It's good to see them interact more this week and their relationship develop, but I'm still hoping this is leading up to something.
-Oh, and how could Reynolds think that the middle of a spy hunt is the proper time to declare his intentions for Maddy? Silly Reynolds.
-Taylor is going OTG for the next day. He and Skye talk about how the anniversary of her parents death from some serious disease I've forgotten the name of is very soon, and how when he gets back they'll walk to some memorial area.
-Heightened security measures are in place until the spy is caught. Because Washington is away, Jim is left in charge while Taylor is gone and hopes to track down the mole.
-Zoe's pet Ankylosaur is getting big and will have to be released soon. Zoe isn't happy about it.
-Skye still isn't happy that Josh ignored her and stole from his mother.
-Oh, and Skye is also the spy! And she accidentally left a blood sample for Jim and Reynolds to find!
-Taylor is examining the latest equations Lucas has left behind when Mira gets the jump on him and captures him.
-Skye volunteers to go on a detail with Josh so she can sneak away and meet up with her Sixers contact.
-It turns out that the Sixers are keeping her mother alive with a cure but will stop giving her the cure if Skye stops getting them information.
-Taylor and Mira trade info as Mira marches Taylor to her base. Lucas is apparently close to completing his work and hates Taylor because of something he did in Somalia.
-Mira is startled by a dinosaur, giving Taylor a chance to turn the tables and make her his hostage, but we see slashers are stalking them.
-Jim strong arms Malcolm into getting the DNA from the blood sample and the computer begins computing it.
-The Slashers attack and Taylor and Mira have to dive over a waterfall where they lose their guns.
-Determining that the Slashers are a young male and female who are staking out their region and being territorial, Taylor and Mira team up to fight them off.
-Reynolds tells Jim he intends to marry Maddy. Jim points out that she's only 16, so that's kind of creepy (well he doesn't use the word creepy. But it's kind of creepy.)
-Skye, who has the night shift on her medical internship, notices her DNA being computed. Later on, she sneaks into the lab and destroys it.
-Though the sample has been destroyed, by determining who had access to the centre, and using the info they could get from the DNA to narrow down gender, Jim narrows it down to 47 suspects.
-Mira and Taylor successfully fight off the dinosaurs.They admit they could've been a good team if they were on the same side and go their separate ways.
-Jim tells Reynolds he's a good kid and that he's a lot easier on him than Elizabeth's father was on Jim.
-The Shannons release the Anklyosaur into the wild and it quickly finds a bigger Ankylosaur.
-Skye and Taylor set off on their walk to the memorial area, with Taylor still unaware that she is the spy.
I Liked This: This episode continued the trend of pushing things forward towards a big conclusion. I'm fine with the reveal that Skye is the spy, because she's been underused these past few weeks and the justification of the reveal was well done. I had a feeling that Skye's mention that she hoped a cure for the disease that killed her parents would turn out to be significant, but the reveal that her mother was actually alive was an unexpected one. Plus Terra Nova made up for the past couple dino-sparse weeks with the Taylor/Mira plot (which was a pretty solid plot in general). And the dinosaurs all looked real good too. Way better than that swordfish from a couple weeks ago.
But...: The Taylor/Mira plot was mostly solid, but it suffered from some pretty clunky dialogue in parts. Also, Taylor and Mira were so casual with each other, it robbed the plot of a lot of it's urgency. Skye destroying her DNA sample also just seemed like a way to drag out the spy plot for another week. And while the Anklyosaur story was sweet, since this was only the second time we'd seen this thing, the emotional impact of it leaving didn't really land.
The Bottom Line: A rather solid episode with some issues as things begin to ramp up for the finale. I'm getting psyched as to where we're going with this.
Grade: Awesome! (Good)
Memorable Moments
-Dinosaur Scene Count: 7!
-Best Dinosaur Moment: Taylor and Mira versus the Slashers.
-Reynolds continues to be awkward around Jim. It's good to see them interact more this week and their relationship develop, but I'm still hoping this is leading up to something.
-Oh, and how could Reynolds think that the middle of a spy hunt is the proper time to declare his intentions for Maddy? Silly Reynolds.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Terra Nova: Vs.
What Happened, Yo!:
-We discover that Mira's method of getting info about Terra Nova involves a bigger than normal, but not dinosaur-huge dinosaur.
-Taylor is interrogating Boylan, who claims to know nothing and that his only business with Mira was trading.
-It's almost time for the Harvest Festival and Zoe has landed the part of Commander Taylor in the kid's harvest play, which Maddy is overseeing.
-A drugged Boylan mistakes Jim for Taylor and tells him some cryptic thing about knowing about what's buried underneath the Pilgrim Tree. Jim finds a one-armed skeleton.
-Elizabeth is examining the skeleton.
-A soldier hits the dragonfly as it flies by the kid's rehearsing their show and Maddy finds that there's a microchip on it.
-Malcolm tells Taylor the dragonfly was like a prehistoric carrier pidgeon and tries to figure out how it's being controlled.
-Boylan is released and tells Jim he helped Taylor bury the body the night before he left the service and that's all he knows.
-Elizabeth finds through a time signature that the body apparently came between the second and third pilgrimage.
-Malcolm discovers the body and alerts Taylor. Jim claims a note led him to the body and that he suspects it was killed by a dinosaur. Taylor lets it go fornow.
-Malcolm hones in on the frequency used to control the dragonfly, fixes it's broken wing and releases it during the play to figure out where it was going.
-During the play, Jim and Elizabeth realize that Taylor's superior was a one-armed man who went missing around the same timeframe the man appeared. They deduce that he was probably coming to relieve Taylor of his command.
-The dragonfly goes to the Shannon's house, implying the spy is from there. Jim is arrested as the spy.
-Taylor tries to get him to drop the investigation but Jim won't and Taylor eventually tells him the truth.
-The people who sent the Sixers to Terra Nova want to drain it of it's resources, much like they ruined the future. They sent Taylor's son to work on two-way travel between Terra Nova and the future so this would be possible.
-Taylor found out and destroyed Lucas' research. A couple days later the general (also working with the guys from the future) appeared to relieve Taylor of command. Taylor won't relent, so he tries to kill him. Taylor kills the general first and banishes his son from Terra Nova. His son still carries on with his work and leaves equations for Taylor to find.
-Jim agrees to help Taylor fight and is released.
-Later it is implied that Taylor set the whole confrontation with Jim up.
-At the evening part of the Harvest Festival, Taylor welcomes a baby to Terra Nova and says how thankful he is for the colony.
-As fireworks go off, we see Lucas in the forest watching the fireworks.
I Liked This: This was a rather solid installment. We got a lot of answers this week and I liked them. The idea of corporations wanting to stripmine Terra Nova's resources is an interesting one, though I wonder if there's more to the story than what we heard. The whole mystery with the one-armed general was also well done (with the exception of one thing which I'll mention shortly), as was the latest development in the Jim/Taylor relationship. And Zoe playing Taylor in the play filled the adorable quota for the week.
But...: The dinosaur quoto this week went completely unfilled. They didn't even have other big prehistoric creatures to fill the void! Not even an establishing shot or a check in with that Anklyosaurus Zoe is supposed to be raising! What's up with that? On a more legitimate complaint note, though I liked the answers, I'm a bit disappointed in the manner we got them. I can accept that we basically got an info dump, with everything given in one monologue followed by one flashback, but I didn't feel that the show had earned that info dump, with the way the story was set up. Maybe if Taylor and Jim had had one more confrontation, before the arrest sequence, but oh well. And the fact that the play revealed the identity of the skeleton felt a bit too convenient for my tastes.
The Bottom Line: The answers could've been better delivered, but this was a rather solid episode of Terra Nova with plenty of answers, and a good way to start the lead-up to the forthcoming season finale. If only there were dinosaurs.
Grade: Awesome! (Good)
Memorable Moments
Dinosaur Scene Count: Zero!
Best Dinosaur Moment: None!
-I also think the "Harvest Festival" was Terra Nova's sneaky way of doing a Thanksgiving episode.
-They have to reveal the spy next week. Right?
-The soldier who hit the dragonfly claimed he was doing it because he thought it was scaring the children. Sure. The children.
-Next weeks episode looks to make up for these past couple dino-sparse weeks. Excellent.
-We discover that Mira's method of getting info about Terra Nova involves a bigger than normal, but not dinosaur-huge dinosaur.
-Taylor is interrogating Boylan, who claims to know nothing and that his only business with Mira was trading.
-It's almost time for the Harvest Festival and Zoe has landed the part of Commander Taylor in the kid's harvest play, which Maddy is overseeing.
-A drugged Boylan mistakes Jim for Taylor and tells him some cryptic thing about knowing about what's buried underneath the Pilgrim Tree. Jim finds a one-armed skeleton.
-Elizabeth is examining the skeleton.
-A soldier hits the dragonfly as it flies by the kid's rehearsing their show and Maddy finds that there's a microchip on it.
-Malcolm tells Taylor the dragonfly was like a prehistoric carrier pidgeon and tries to figure out how it's being controlled.
-Boylan is released and tells Jim he helped Taylor bury the body the night before he left the service and that's all he knows.
-Elizabeth finds through a time signature that the body apparently came between the second and third pilgrimage.
-Malcolm discovers the body and alerts Taylor. Jim claims a note led him to the body and that he suspects it was killed by a dinosaur. Taylor lets it go fornow.
-Malcolm hones in on the frequency used to control the dragonfly, fixes it's broken wing and releases it during the play to figure out where it was going.
-During the play, Jim and Elizabeth realize that Taylor's superior was a one-armed man who went missing around the same timeframe the man appeared. They deduce that he was probably coming to relieve Taylor of his command.
-The dragonfly goes to the Shannon's house, implying the spy is from there. Jim is arrested as the spy.
-Taylor tries to get him to drop the investigation but Jim won't and Taylor eventually tells him the truth.
-The people who sent the Sixers to Terra Nova want to drain it of it's resources, much like they ruined the future. They sent Taylor's son to work on two-way travel between Terra Nova and the future so this would be possible.
-Taylor found out and destroyed Lucas' research. A couple days later the general (also working with the guys from the future) appeared to relieve Taylor of command. Taylor won't relent, so he tries to kill him. Taylor kills the general first and banishes his son from Terra Nova. His son still carries on with his work and leaves equations for Taylor to find.
-Jim agrees to help Taylor fight and is released.
-Later it is implied that Taylor set the whole confrontation with Jim up.
-At the evening part of the Harvest Festival, Taylor welcomes a baby to Terra Nova and says how thankful he is for the colony.
-As fireworks go off, we see Lucas in the forest watching the fireworks.
I Liked This: This was a rather solid installment. We got a lot of answers this week and I liked them. The idea of corporations wanting to stripmine Terra Nova's resources is an interesting one, though I wonder if there's more to the story than what we heard. The whole mystery with the one-armed general was also well done (with the exception of one thing which I'll mention shortly), as was the latest development in the Jim/Taylor relationship. And Zoe playing Taylor in the play filled the adorable quota for the week.
But...: The dinosaur quoto this week went completely unfilled. They didn't even have other big prehistoric creatures to fill the void! Not even an establishing shot or a check in with that Anklyosaurus Zoe is supposed to be raising! What's up with that? On a more legitimate complaint note, though I liked the answers, I'm a bit disappointed in the manner we got them. I can accept that we basically got an info dump, with everything given in one monologue followed by one flashback, but I didn't feel that the show had earned that info dump, with the way the story was set up. Maybe if Taylor and Jim had had one more confrontation, before the arrest sequence, but oh well. And the fact that the play revealed the identity of the skeleton felt a bit too convenient for my tastes.
The Bottom Line: The answers could've been better delivered, but this was a rather solid episode of Terra Nova with plenty of answers, and a good way to start the lead-up to the forthcoming season finale. If only there were dinosaurs.
Grade: Awesome! (Good)
Memorable Moments
Dinosaur Scene Count: Zero!
Best Dinosaur Moment: None!
-I also think the "Harvest Festival" was Terra Nova's sneaky way of doing a Thanksgiving episode.
-They have to reveal the spy next week. Right?
-The soldier who hit the dragonfly claimed he was doing it because he thought it was scaring the children. Sure. The children.
-Next weeks episode looks to make up for these past couple dino-sparse weeks. Excellent.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Terra Nova: Proof
What Happened, Yo!:
-There's a big establishing shot with Dinosaurs in it, and then no more Dinosaurs for the rest of the episode. Lame! And no, the Swordfish and the Komodo Dragon don't count as dinosaurs.
-Taylor and Jim are out fishing and Jim almost gets pulled into the ocean by a swordfish.
-A group of scientists are returning from a 6-month expedition, including Maddy's idol, Dr. Ken Horton. Since Elizabeth is testing him to make sure everything's OK, she lets Maddy meet him and he soon lets her become an intern for him.
-Some of the Sixers are quite sick so Mira calls in the favour she needs from Josh: he must steal a very rare, very protected medicine from the infirmary.
-Josh is reluctant to do it and Skye tries to persuade him not to, but Mira shows him proof that she can get Kara to him by letting him talk to her for a moment so he breaks in and steals the meds.
-On their way back from fishing, Jim and Taylor notice a makeshift campsite and stumble into an injured Curran (the exiled soldier from Bylaw). Taylor stays back while Jim heads on home.
-Jim thinks a drug addict has taken the medicine. Josh learns that without the medicine, a patient of his mothers will die. Josh starts feeling bad about what he's done, even though he gets word that Kara coming back is a sure thing now.
-Boylan gets a barfly who owes him money to look like he's the one who stole the medicine, but Jim quickly gets him to reveal that Boylan put him up to it.
-Meanwhile, Maddy begins to get concerned when Horton forgets some things he wrote in his books and in a letter he had sent her. When getting the letter so he can make a copy for his archives, she also notices that his signature is different on it than it is on the book he just signed for her. Elizabeth believes it's just because of the stroke he suffered, but Maddy isn't so sure. Zoe just thinks Horton is a vampire.
-Maddy gets more suspicious when she finds out her letter has been burned and gets some of Horton's DNA so she can test it with the DNA from the envelope his letter came in, but the DNA is a match. Horton has secretly seen her do this however.
-Maddy begins to think that maybe Horton had an assistant who mailed her letter and stole Horton's identity. So she goes to The Eye and figures out that Horton did have an assistant who disappeared right before Horton went to Terra Nova, and an unidentified body was found around that time too. Uh-oh.
-Fake Horton finds her, but Maddy escapes. So Fake Horton checks Zoe out of school so Maddy will have to go find him.
-Maddy sends Zoe off with a coded message for Jim, who comes in to save the day just as Fake Horton is about to kill Maddy, by use of a poisonous spider. Disappointingly, Jim uses his fists to rescue Maddy and not the "Go Away Spider" song.
-Taylor saves Curran from a Komodo Dragon and then sends him to infiltrate the Sixer's and indentify the mole, promising to let him back in if he succeeds, and threatening to kill him if he fails.
-Maddy wonders if Fake Horton's claims that the real Horton was a bad person were true, but Elizabeth reminds her that no matter who the real Horton was, he took the time to write to a little girl who was a fan, so how bad could he have been?
-Josh confesses his crimes and explains everything. Jim confronts Boylan who insists that Mira can contact the future.
-Taylor reveals to Jim that his son was working on a way to contact the future before he disappears. Jim suggests Mira may have in, but Taylor implies the truth may be more complicated by that.
-Later, Maddy picks up an apple that Fake Horton had helped prepare to harvest and we're done.
I Liked This:
Lots to like here. First and foremost, I liked that Maddy finally had a major storyline that did not involve teenage romance (her medical internship was not a major story.). I liked that the idea of the favour introduced last week came into play this week and that the major characters became aware of what Josh is up to, because it shows once more that Terra Nova is not going to drag out all these mysteries and is going somewhere (assumedly) interesting with this. So I also liked watching more pieces of the puzzle come together this week. I actually didn't mind Josh this week and felt his plotline was handled well. And I liked the scene of Taylor facing off against the Komodo Dragon, because it was often (even if it wasn't a dinosaur he was facing off against.).
But...:
Still have a few minor complaints. The swordfish CGI at the beginning was horrible. I didn't really buy that Zoe's teacher would release her to Horton without proof that Maddy had sent him. Plus, why would Zoe even willingly go with Horton if she thought he was a vampire? And they kind of ran the whole "Zoe thinks Horton is a vampire" thing into the ground by the end of the episode (though it was really enjoyable for most of the episode.) I also feel they could've made more use of Skye this week.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
Dinosaur Scene Count: 1. I still refuse to count the Swordfish or the Komodo Dragon. Those aren't dinosaurs! They're prehistoric creatures!
Best Prehistoric Creature Moment: The Komodo Dragon/Taylor face-off.
Boy, That Was A Stupid Idea: C'mon, Zoe's teacher. Don't they have "Stranger Danger" in Terra Nova? If you had let something like that happen in 2011, you'd have gotten in trouble.
-There's a big establishing shot with Dinosaurs in it, and then no more Dinosaurs for the rest of the episode. Lame! And no, the Swordfish and the Komodo Dragon don't count as dinosaurs.
-Taylor and Jim are out fishing and Jim almost gets pulled into the ocean by a swordfish.
-A group of scientists are returning from a 6-month expedition, including Maddy's idol, Dr. Ken Horton. Since Elizabeth is testing him to make sure everything's OK, she lets Maddy meet him and he soon lets her become an intern for him.
-Some of the Sixers are quite sick so Mira calls in the favour she needs from Josh: he must steal a very rare, very protected medicine from the infirmary.
-Josh is reluctant to do it and Skye tries to persuade him not to, but Mira shows him proof that she can get Kara to him by letting him talk to her for a moment so he breaks in and steals the meds.
-On their way back from fishing, Jim and Taylor notice a makeshift campsite and stumble into an injured Curran (the exiled soldier from Bylaw). Taylor stays back while Jim heads on home.
-Jim thinks a drug addict has taken the medicine. Josh learns that without the medicine, a patient of his mothers will die. Josh starts feeling bad about what he's done, even though he gets word that Kara coming back is a sure thing now.
-Boylan gets a barfly who owes him money to look like he's the one who stole the medicine, but Jim quickly gets him to reveal that Boylan put him up to it.
-Meanwhile, Maddy begins to get concerned when Horton forgets some things he wrote in his books and in a letter he had sent her. When getting the letter so he can make a copy for his archives, she also notices that his signature is different on it than it is on the book he just signed for her. Elizabeth believes it's just because of the stroke he suffered, but Maddy isn't so sure. Zoe just thinks Horton is a vampire.
-Maddy gets more suspicious when she finds out her letter has been burned and gets some of Horton's DNA so she can test it with the DNA from the envelope his letter came in, but the DNA is a match. Horton has secretly seen her do this however.
-Maddy begins to think that maybe Horton had an assistant who mailed her letter and stole Horton's identity. So she goes to The Eye and figures out that Horton did have an assistant who disappeared right before Horton went to Terra Nova, and an unidentified body was found around that time too. Uh-oh.
-Fake Horton finds her, but Maddy escapes. So Fake Horton checks Zoe out of school so Maddy will have to go find him.
-Maddy sends Zoe off with a coded message for Jim, who comes in to save the day just as Fake Horton is about to kill Maddy, by use of a poisonous spider. Disappointingly, Jim uses his fists to rescue Maddy and not the "Go Away Spider" song.
-Taylor saves Curran from a Komodo Dragon and then sends him to infiltrate the Sixer's and indentify the mole, promising to let him back in if he succeeds, and threatening to kill him if he fails.
-Maddy wonders if Fake Horton's claims that the real Horton was a bad person were true, but Elizabeth reminds her that no matter who the real Horton was, he took the time to write to a little girl who was a fan, so how bad could he have been?
-Josh confesses his crimes and explains everything. Jim confronts Boylan who insists that Mira can contact the future.
-Taylor reveals to Jim that his son was working on a way to contact the future before he disappears. Jim suggests Mira may have in, but Taylor implies the truth may be more complicated by that.
-Later, Maddy picks up an apple that Fake Horton had helped prepare to harvest and we're done.
I Liked This:
Lots to like here. First and foremost, I liked that Maddy finally had a major storyline that did not involve teenage romance (her medical internship was not a major story.). I liked that the idea of the favour introduced last week came into play this week and that the major characters became aware of what Josh is up to, because it shows once more that Terra Nova is not going to drag out all these mysteries and is going somewhere (assumedly) interesting with this. So I also liked watching more pieces of the puzzle come together this week. I actually didn't mind Josh this week and felt his plotline was handled well. And I liked the scene of Taylor facing off against the Komodo Dragon, because it was often (even if it wasn't a dinosaur he was facing off against.).
But...:
Still have a few minor complaints. The swordfish CGI at the beginning was horrible. I didn't really buy that Zoe's teacher would release her to Horton without proof that Maddy had sent him. Plus, why would Zoe even willingly go with Horton if she thought he was a vampire? And they kind of ran the whole "Zoe thinks Horton is a vampire" thing into the ground by the end of the episode (though it was really enjoyable for most of the episode.) I also feel they could've made more use of Skye this week.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
Dinosaur Scene Count: 1. I still refuse to count the Swordfish or the Komodo Dragon. Those aren't dinosaurs! They're prehistoric creatures!
Best Prehistoric Creature Moment: The Komodo Dragon/Taylor face-off.
Boy, That Was A Stupid Idea: C'mon, Zoe's teacher. Don't they have "Stranger Danger" in Terra Nova? If you had let something like that happen in 2011, you'd have gotten in trouble.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Terra Nova: Nightfall
Man, that was a big dinosaur! That was one of my first thoughts after finishing Nightfall, which resolved the mystery of what's inside the box (sort of.), introduced some new elements, had some solid stories about the family, and most importantly gave us the "Go Away Spider" song, which was adorable.
Basically, a falling meteor served as an EMP and wiped out all the technology in Terra Nova and the surrounding area. This comes at a bad time for our characters, because Jim and Zoe are in "The Eye" (a virtual encylopedia/roller coaster simulator.), which locks electronically, Elizabeth is about to perform surgery on Hunter (appearing for the first time since a dinosaur almost killed him in the Pilot), while a nervous Skye watches on, Maddy and Reynolds are out on an unauthorized date somewhere, and Taylor has nothing but the fence to protect the colony from threats. Also Mira finds out that the colony is unprotected and marches a massive dinosaur to the gates. Seriously, that thing was enormous.
The Jim and Zoe plot was a nice bonding moment for the pair, who haven't really had a story together so far. I bought Zoe as a scared 5-year-old, so I wasn't annoyed by her constant wondering about what an EMP would do or her fear of spiders. And as I mentioned above, the song Jim invented in order to get her to go through the small access hatch and let them out, so he could be there for the climax was adorable. Since this is a show about a family and Zoe was a big part of the set-up for this show, it was good to see the father/daughter dynamic between the pair develop.
Maddy and Reynold's date wasn't that exciting, but it had some nice moments in it. It also introduced the idea of camoflauging "stink mud" and furthered along the Maddy/Reynolds relationship (obviously), which I'm assuming is going to pay off in some way by the seasons end. Skye's story was also significant, if only because it's the first time since the pilot that she's interacted with anyone besides Josh for a significant amount of time. Watching her help Elizabeth and form a bond of sorts with her was interesting and it'll be nice to see if this affects the season in any way. It also has her confronted with the fact that she loves Josh, as Hunter points out at the most inopportune time (though it was necessary to raise the stakes.). Also, the parasite inside Hunter was disgusting... in a good way.
As far as the Taylor story goes, I'm fine with the bartender getting some extra depth, as he may have worked for Taylor at some point. I'm a bit more iffy with the idea of a chip generator machine, which seemed a little too convenient as a solution to the problem, but I can accept it for story purposes. And they had to fix the chip machine first, so at least it wasn't super easy. I also liked the climax with Taylor coming up with a fire shield of sorts to fend off the titanic Dinosaur, only to realize that it was all a Sixer diversion to get the box. The bartender saving Taylor was a nice touch, which shows that the bartender isn't completely on the Sixers side. I'm even beginning to suspect that he isn't the mole! And the sixers do wind up with the box, and they give it to the one man who can open it... Taylor's son, whose name I've forgotten at the moment, but I want to say Lucas! So he opens up and we see... mysterious technology which is left mostly unexplained! I'm fine with this, because I'm sure we'll get an explanation soon. The interesting thing is that the box wasn't affected by the EMP, despite containing all Technology. Hmmm...
All in all, this was another good week for Terra Nova, that once again left me wanting more. As we head into the back half of the season, my hopes are high and I am confident that they will deliver.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
Dinosaur Scene Count: I wanna say 4. I forget how many times we saw the massive dinosaur.
Best Dinosaur Scene: Anything with the aforementioned Ginormous dinosaur.
That Was A Stupid Idea: Really, Hunter? You're going to tell a girl you want to be more than friends as she tries a tricky parasite extraction? Really?
-"Go away spiders, go-go-go. "We don't like you, no-no-no."
-Taylor's son is resentful of his father. Figures.
Basically, a falling meteor served as an EMP and wiped out all the technology in Terra Nova and the surrounding area. This comes at a bad time for our characters, because Jim and Zoe are in "The Eye" (a virtual encylopedia/roller coaster simulator.), which locks electronically, Elizabeth is about to perform surgery on Hunter (appearing for the first time since a dinosaur almost killed him in the Pilot), while a nervous Skye watches on, Maddy and Reynolds are out on an unauthorized date somewhere, and Taylor has nothing but the fence to protect the colony from threats. Also Mira finds out that the colony is unprotected and marches a massive dinosaur to the gates. Seriously, that thing was enormous.
The Jim and Zoe plot was a nice bonding moment for the pair, who haven't really had a story together so far. I bought Zoe as a scared 5-year-old, so I wasn't annoyed by her constant wondering about what an EMP would do or her fear of spiders. And as I mentioned above, the song Jim invented in order to get her to go through the small access hatch and let them out, so he could be there for the climax was adorable. Since this is a show about a family and Zoe was a big part of the set-up for this show, it was good to see the father/daughter dynamic between the pair develop.
Maddy and Reynold's date wasn't that exciting, but it had some nice moments in it. It also introduced the idea of camoflauging "stink mud" and furthered along the Maddy/Reynolds relationship (obviously), which I'm assuming is going to pay off in some way by the seasons end. Skye's story was also significant, if only because it's the first time since the pilot that she's interacted with anyone besides Josh for a significant amount of time. Watching her help Elizabeth and form a bond of sorts with her was interesting and it'll be nice to see if this affects the season in any way. It also has her confronted with the fact that she loves Josh, as Hunter points out at the most inopportune time (though it was necessary to raise the stakes.). Also, the parasite inside Hunter was disgusting... in a good way.
As far as the Taylor story goes, I'm fine with the bartender getting some extra depth, as he may have worked for Taylor at some point. I'm a bit more iffy with the idea of a chip generator machine, which seemed a little too convenient as a solution to the problem, but I can accept it for story purposes. And they had to fix the chip machine first, so at least it wasn't super easy. I also liked the climax with Taylor coming up with a fire shield of sorts to fend off the titanic Dinosaur, only to realize that it was all a Sixer diversion to get the box. The bartender saving Taylor was a nice touch, which shows that the bartender isn't completely on the Sixers side. I'm even beginning to suspect that he isn't the mole! And the sixers do wind up with the box, and they give it to the one man who can open it... Taylor's son, whose name I've forgotten at the moment, but I want to say Lucas! So he opens up and we see... mysterious technology which is left mostly unexplained! I'm fine with this, because I'm sure we'll get an explanation soon. The interesting thing is that the box wasn't affected by the EMP, despite containing all Technology. Hmmm...
All in all, this was another good week for Terra Nova, that once again left me wanting more. As we head into the back half of the season, my hopes are high and I am confident that they will deliver.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
Dinosaur Scene Count: I wanna say 4. I forget how many times we saw the massive dinosaur.
Best Dinosaur Scene: Anything with the aforementioned Ginormous dinosaur.
That Was A Stupid Idea: Really, Hunter? You're going to tell a girl you want to be more than friends as she tries a tricky parasite extraction? Really?
-"Go away spiders, go-go-go. "We don't like you, no-no-no."
-Taylor's son is resentful of his father. Figures.
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Sunday-Tuesday Quicky Opinion Time, Yo!
Hey everyone! Due to a couple of days full of wacky adventures, but not much opportunity to maintain this blog, I am doing a quicky opinion for Simpsons, HIMYM, Terra Nova, New Girl, and Glee. Then, I'll probably take a break from the "quicky" thing for a while. Key word: probably. I'm a busy guy.
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXII: Treehouse of Horror has been around for 22 years. Almost as long as The Simpsons, so the writers have a pretty good idea on how to make them memorable. And this installment is a good one with only one real weak installment (the first story after the amusing title sequence, where Homer is paralyzed and can only communicate by farting, and even that one had a great (albeit totally unintentional) Breaking Bad Reference), and two stronger ones. My favorite was probably the middle segment, which was a bit of a Dexter spoof, mainly because I've never seen Avatar, so I didn't get many of the various references I assumed were made during that final segment. Quicky Grade: Awesome! (Good)
How I Met Your Mother: The Return of the Slutty Pumpkin: First they brought back Victoria. Now the Slutty Pumpkin (who is Katie Holmes!) is brought back into the show, and this time we actually get to meet her. The episode, which was about wanting to like something, but just not connecting with it, was a good one, with lots of comedy from Ted realizing he and Naomi don't work, and a good twist ending where we find out Naomi feels the same way. The other two stories, were good too, especially the one where we learn that Barney is a quarter Canadian. Classic. Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Terra Nova: Bylaw: Bylaw was a solid episode, that revolved around the first murder committed in Terra Nova. Though someone confessed to the murder early one, which led to an interesting dilemma, where Taylor had to decide whether to carry through with the bylaw that states banishment is the punishment for murder, the actual muder turns out to be more complicated than this. A few twists and turns later and the real culprit is being banished. Also slight advancement on Josh trying to bring his girlfriend to Terra Nova, by making him promise he'll do some mysterious task for Mira. And he's still annoying. Dinosaurs are still sweet though, and the baby Anklyosaur was cute. Grade: Awesome! (Good) Quicky Dinosaur Scene Count: 3
New Girl: Naked: Naked takes one of those classic sitcom conventions: one character walks in on a character of the opposite gender naked, and puts it's own charming, Zooey Deschanel-filled, spin on it. Basically Jess walks in on Nick dancing naked, laughs and shatters his confidence at the worse possible time: his first date since his break-up. Lots of crazy things happen, but the funniest part of the episode has to be Schmidt who is offended that he is the only one who hasn't seen Nick's penis (Winston and Nick grew up together.). His attempts to see it were hilarious. So after a three-week break, New Girl came back as funny as it's been so far. And that's a good thing. Grade: Awesome! (Good)
Glee: Pot O' Gold: After Asian F, I wasn't sure that Pot O' Gold could be as compelling, and I turned out to be... mostly right. There was still plenty of enjoyable moments. I like that Burt will be taking on Sue for the congress seat and that story was good. I also liked new Irish exchange student, Rory and his attempts to get Brittany's "Pot O' Gold" were amusing. Quinn's attempts to get her baby back though just didn't fit in right with me, no matter what justification the writers attempt to give her and Puck/Shelby is kind of creepy. And the whole Santana and Brittany defecting thing wasn't the best plot. But I still enjoyed this episode though and the next one looks to be interesting, to say the least. Grade: Enjoyable Enough (Pretty Good)
The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror XXII: Treehouse of Horror has been around for 22 years. Almost as long as The Simpsons, so the writers have a pretty good idea on how to make them memorable. And this installment is a good one with only one real weak installment (the first story after the amusing title sequence, where Homer is paralyzed and can only communicate by farting, and even that one had a great (albeit totally unintentional) Breaking Bad Reference), and two stronger ones. My favorite was probably the middle segment, which was a bit of a Dexter spoof, mainly because I've never seen Avatar, so I didn't get many of the various references I assumed were made during that final segment. Quicky Grade: Awesome! (Good)
How I Met Your Mother: The Return of the Slutty Pumpkin: First they brought back Victoria. Now the Slutty Pumpkin (who is Katie Holmes!) is brought back into the show, and this time we actually get to meet her. The episode, which was about wanting to like something, but just not connecting with it, was a good one, with lots of comedy from Ted realizing he and Naomi don't work, and a good twist ending where we find out Naomi feels the same way. The other two stories, were good too, especially the one where we learn that Barney is a quarter Canadian. Classic. Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Terra Nova: Bylaw: Bylaw was a solid episode, that revolved around the first murder committed in Terra Nova. Though someone confessed to the murder early one, which led to an interesting dilemma, where Taylor had to decide whether to carry through with the bylaw that states banishment is the punishment for murder, the actual muder turns out to be more complicated than this. A few twists and turns later and the real culprit is being banished. Also slight advancement on Josh trying to bring his girlfriend to Terra Nova, by making him promise he'll do some mysterious task for Mira. And he's still annoying. Dinosaurs are still sweet though, and the baby Anklyosaur was cute. Grade: Awesome! (Good) Quicky Dinosaur Scene Count: 3
New Girl: Naked: Naked takes one of those classic sitcom conventions: one character walks in on a character of the opposite gender naked, and puts it's own charming, Zooey Deschanel-filled, spin on it. Basically Jess walks in on Nick dancing naked, laughs and shatters his confidence at the worse possible time: his first date since his break-up. Lots of crazy things happen, but the funniest part of the episode has to be Schmidt who is offended that he is the only one who hasn't seen Nick's penis (Winston and Nick grew up together.). His attempts to see it were hilarious. So after a three-week break, New Girl came back as funny as it's been so far. And that's a good thing. Grade: Awesome! (Good)
Glee: Pot O' Gold: After Asian F, I wasn't sure that Pot O' Gold could be as compelling, and I turned out to be... mostly right. There was still plenty of enjoyable moments. I like that Burt will be taking on Sue for the congress seat and that story was good. I also liked new Irish exchange student, Rory and his attempts to get Brittany's "Pot O' Gold" were amusing. Quinn's attempts to get her baby back though just didn't fit in right with me, no matter what justification the writers attempt to give her and Puck/Shelby is kind of creepy. And the whole Santana and Brittany defecting thing wasn't the best plot. But I still enjoyed this episode though and the next one looks to be interesting, to say the least. Grade: Enjoyable Enough (Pretty Good)
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Terra Nova: The Runaway
After a couple weeks of episodes that mostly expanded on the colony life and the family adjusting, last night's Terra Nova brought the Sixers back into the fold (after a brief appearance at the end of last week) and expanded on the mystery of them, while introducing a new mystery in the box. Add in some mostly solid family stuff, one scene with a dinosaur, and some more info on the differences between how Terra Nova lives and how the Sixers live and you have another solid episode.
Much of the action this week was generated by the arrival of Leah Markos, a little orphan girl who at one time was part of Terra Nova, but has been with the Sixers for some time. After apparently running away, because she wants to go back to the future, she is found in the jungle by some of Taylor's soldiers, and is brought back to Terra Nova, where Elizabeth is able to get her to co-operate. We learn that to the children with the Sixers, Taylor is considered to be "The bad man", but this is to be expected. Leah is sent to live with the Shannons and bonds with the family. But soon, Mira comes knocking, having apparently been tipped off that Leah is in Terra Nova. She captures Washington and another soldier in the jungle, who have been looking for Leah's bag and demands an exchange. When Leah says she'd rather be in the colony, Mira relents, releases the prisoners and leaves, but not before Taylor warns her that the next time she threatens the colony, he'll declare war.
All seems fine and dandy, with Leah remaining with the Shannons for the time being. Then Leah breaks into Mira's old house and steals a mysterious box. Uh oh. Turns out this whole thing was a set-up. But Leah claims she only did it because Mira threatened her younger brother, and a note she left at the Shannons confirms this. So Jim sets out to find the Sixers and get her brother back, only to get caught in a trap and almost chomped on by a dinosaur before the Sixers arrive and take him. This leads to a cryptic encounter with Mira where she tells him that Taylor has ticked off some very powerful people in the future and it's her job to get rid of them. She mentions that if she does her job, she'll get to see her daughter who is back in 2149. So family is being used against her, the same way she used it against Leah. She also hints at the true purpose of Terra Nova, but won't say what it is, when asked directly, because that kind of information is too important to be revealed in episode 5 of a 13 episode season in a non-sweeps month. She only tells him to not end up on the wrong side of history, before letting him and Leah's brother go. So Leah and her brother get adopted and the box is safe for the time being.
There's also a couple plots involving Maddy to fill out the episode. In one, Maddy tries to apprentice as a doctor with her mother, but doesn't have the stomach for prehistoric injuries (and who can blame her, really?). This was amusing, but I'm not sure if it'll come back to affect future storylines. In the other story, Reynolds announces his intentions to court her in a comically awkward manner. This probably will come back in the future, though we'll see if it turns out to be relevant to the actual master plot of the season in an interesting fashion.
All in all, this was another good outing for the show and a step up from the previous weeks installment. Hopefully the mysteries they're setting up will get addressed soon, as I would like to know what's in the box and why Mira needs it. But that's the fun of serialized shows. They always keep you hooked, by withholding answers.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
Dinosaur Scene Count: 1, but it was a gooder.
Best Dinosaur Moment: The dinosaur jumping up to try and get at Jim, but failing and falling on it's back.
-No Skye this week. Assumedly will return next week, as Josh continues his attempt to get his girlfriend back from the future.
-Josh was kind of annoying this week complaining about having to give up his room, but I suppose that's to be expected.
Much of the action this week was generated by the arrival of Leah Markos, a little orphan girl who at one time was part of Terra Nova, but has been with the Sixers for some time. After apparently running away, because she wants to go back to the future, she is found in the jungle by some of Taylor's soldiers, and is brought back to Terra Nova, where Elizabeth is able to get her to co-operate. We learn that to the children with the Sixers, Taylor is considered to be "The bad man", but this is to be expected. Leah is sent to live with the Shannons and bonds with the family. But soon, Mira comes knocking, having apparently been tipped off that Leah is in Terra Nova. She captures Washington and another soldier in the jungle, who have been looking for Leah's bag and demands an exchange. When Leah says she'd rather be in the colony, Mira relents, releases the prisoners and leaves, but not before Taylor warns her that the next time she threatens the colony, he'll declare war.
All seems fine and dandy, with Leah remaining with the Shannons for the time being. Then Leah breaks into Mira's old house and steals a mysterious box. Uh oh. Turns out this whole thing was a set-up. But Leah claims she only did it because Mira threatened her younger brother, and a note she left at the Shannons confirms this. So Jim sets out to find the Sixers and get her brother back, only to get caught in a trap and almost chomped on by a dinosaur before the Sixers arrive and take him. This leads to a cryptic encounter with Mira where she tells him that Taylor has ticked off some very powerful people in the future and it's her job to get rid of them. She mentions that if she does her job, she'll get to see her daughter who is back in 2149. So family is being used against her, the same way she used it against Leah. She also hints at the true purpose of Terra Nova, but won't say what it is, when asked directly, because that kind of information is too important to be revealed in episode 5 of a 13 episode season in a non-sweeps month. She only tells him to not end up on the wrong side of history, before letting him and Leah's brother go. So Leah and her brother get adopted and the box is safe for the time being.
There's also a couple plots involving Maddy to fill out the episode. In one, Maddy tries to apprentice as a doctor with her mother, but doesn't have the stomach for prehistoric injuries (and who can blame her, really?). This was amusing, but I'm not sure if it'll come back to affect future storylines. In the other story, Reynolds announces his intentions to court her in a comically awkward manner. This probably will come back in the future, though we'll see if it turns out to be relevant to the actual master plot of the season in an interesting fashion.
All in all, this was another good outing for the show and a step up from the previous weeks installment. Hopefully the mysteries they're setting up will get addressed soon, as I would like to know what's in the box and why Mira needs it. But that's the fun of serialized shows. They always keep you hooked, by withholding answers.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
Dinosaur Scene Count: 1, but it was a gooder.
Best Dinosaur Moment: The dinosaur jumping up to try and get at Jim, but failing and falling on it's back.
-No Skye this week. Assumedly will return next week, as Josh continues his attempt to get his girlfriend back from the future.
-Josh was kind of annoying this week complaining about having to give up his room, but I suppose that's to be expected.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Monday Quicky Opinions Time, Yo!
Hey everyone. I've been feeling under the weather these past couple days, and have been putting a lot of work into my forthcoming Breaking Bad season 4 review (which should be up tomorrow-ish). Add in some computer issues and I decided that reviews of last night's episodes of Terra Nova and How I Met Your Mother will be given in quicky opinion form to save time. This won't be a regular thing, though. I only use quicky opinions when I feel it's necessary to do so. So here we go.
Terra Nova: What Remains
I was still in shock after seeing the Breaking Bad finale, so I wasn't paying full attention to the first quarter of last night's Terra Nova, but it was a fine episode. The whole main amnesia virus storyline wasn't as good as the main storylines in the last couple episodes but it still had its moments and the Jim/Malcolm tension was better handled this week. It also added to the backstory of Commander Taylor, as we learn from his amnesia that he fought in some future war in Somalia, and that his wife died for some reason I bet will be addressed at some point in the future. We also glimpsed Mira and the Sixers again, at the conclusion of the otherwise minor (well at least it was minor this week) "Josh tries to get his girlfriend to Terra Nova" story. Seems she has the local bartender as an ally and plans for the son of the new sheriff. Intrigue. One last note. The dinosaurs looked pretty good this week, as we never got any prolonged look at them. Grade: Awesome! (Good) Quicky Dinosaur Scene Count: 4.
How I Met Your Mother: Field Trip
Tonight's episode was a little weaker than last week's episode, which was a little weak, but there was still plenty of laughs to be had and plenty of intrigue for future storylines. Of course Barney would take Norah's dislike of ewoks as a sign that she is 37 and lied about her age. His big slideshow about Ewoks was the highlight of Ted's story about trying to inspire his class on a field trip. Well that and the "Edward vs. Jacob" argument that turned out to be Ted and Barney debating the first name of Edward James Olmos. Robin dating her therapist was OK, but not that exciting. It was good to see more of Marshall's new job and the revelation that Marshall and his boss go on to save the world has me excited for how this will happen eventually. So good episode. Grade: Awesome! (Good)
Other Items of Note
-No Glee or New Girl until November 1st. Just a heads up.
-Fringe coverage will return this Friday, just as it looks like Peter is about to return.
-Starting this next week, I will be talking about Pan Am for at least, until The Simpsons returns.
-Breaking Bad Season 4 Review coming soon. And not to spoil anything, but expect a very high grade for a very great season.
Terra Nova: What Remains
I was still in shock after seeing the Breaking Bad finale, so I wasn't paying full attention to the first quarter of last night's Terra Nova, but it was a fine episode. The whole main amnesia virus storyline wasn't as good as the main storylines in the last couple episodes but it still had its moments and the Jim/Malcolm tension was better handled this week. It also added to the backstory of Commander Taylor, as we learn from his amnesia that he fought in some future war in Somalia, and that his wife died for some reason I bet will be addressed at some point in the future. We also glimpsed Mira and the Sixers again, at the conclusion of the otherwise minor (well at least it was minor this week) "Josh tries to get his girlfriend to Terra Nova" story. Seems she has the local bartender as an ally and plans for the son of the new sheriff. Intrigue. One last note. The dinosaurs looked pretty good this week, as we never got any prolonged look at them. Grade: Awesome! (Good) Quicky Dinosaur Scene Count: 4.
How I Met Your Mother: Field Trip
Tonight's episode was a little weaker than last week's episode, which was a little weak, but there was still plenty of laughs to be had and plenty of intrigue for future storylines. Of course Barney would take Norah's dislike of ewoks as a sign that she is 37 and lied about her age. His big slideshow about Ewoks was the highlight of Ted's story about trying to inspire his class on a field trip. Well that and the "Edward vs. Jacob" argument that turned out to be Ted and Barney debating the first name of Edward James Olmos. Robin dating her therapist was OK, but not that exciting. It was good to see more of Marshall's new job and the revelation that Marshall and his boss go on to save the world has me excited for how this will happen eventually. So good episode. Grade: Awesome! (Good)
Other Items of Note
-No Glee or New Girl until November 1st. Just a heads up.
-Fringe coverage will return this Friday, just as it looks like Peter is about to return.
-Starting this next week, I will be talking about Pan Am for at least, until The Simpsons returns.
-Breaking Bad Season 4 Review coming soon. And not to spoil anything, but expect a very high grade for a very great season.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Terra Nova: Instinct
After last week's pilot, Instinct had a lot to live up to. It obviously couldn't be as spectacular effects-wise or the show would run out of money fast, but it still has to look good, as that's part of the appeal. Plus, as a second (or in this case, third) episode, it has to be accessable for those who missed the pilot, while not being a total rehash for those who did catch it the week before. Luckily the show succeeds in that regard, and kept the effects up to with tons of Pterosaurs on screen at one point.
The show also kept the family at the heart of the show as well, blending it with the dinosaur action quite nicely. After a cold open establishing a mysterious threat that attacks a couple soldiers on a supply run, we're reintroduced to the Shannons in a good couple of scenes that reestablish what we learned last week (Jim's been away for a while, Zoe is used to sleeping with Elizabeth, Maddy is smart and has a crush on a young soldier, Reynolds, Josh has to do labour around Terra Nova with Skye as punishment for their excursion last episode), and more details we learned last week also organically pop up throughout the episode, as do more scenes of family togetherness (my favorite involves an overwhelmed Jim trying to handle the kids and making dinner alone.) We also see Jim and Elizabeth are trying to reignite their romantic relationship, but their attempts to do so keep comically getting interrupted by a noisy Pterosaur.
The episode also introduces a new character: Malcolm, the head science officer who dated Elizabeth in college and who we later learn recruited her to Terra Nova. Of course, Jim is none too happy when he finds out they dated and suspects Malcolm recruited Elizabeth because he's still into her and assumed her husband would be stuck in the future in jail. Whether or not this was his intention is still up in the air at this point, but he seems to be an interesting, even somewhat comical character so far (He attempts to name the new breed of Pterosaur after himself at episode's end) and hopefully this potential love triangle doesn't get too soapy.
Of course, there was still plenty of action in this episode, as Taylor, the Shannons and Malcolm tried to find out first what attacked the soldiers in the woods (until they were discovered mauled and clawed at, the assumption was it was sixers, who only get mentioned this week.). When they find out the culprit is the small, but deadly Pterosaurs (after the second interruption of Jim and Elizabeth's romance turns violent) and after hundreds of Pterosaurs attack the market, we learn that they're migrating to breed and Terra Nova is built on their breeding ground. Also, there are potentially millions of them on the way. Uh Oh. This leads to Taylor and Jim going to hunt for specimens so Elizabeth and Malcolm can come up with a defense for the attack.
My only complaint of the episode would be that we don't actually see any of the hunt, nor do we see much of the actual defense the next day, when Jim and Taylor take a vehicle loaded with strong, secreted Pterasaur pheromones out to a different place to trick the Pterosaurs into creating a new breeding ground. We hear about these things, and we hear about how they save the day but we don't really get to see them do it, which is a bit disappointing. I can only hope that the money they saved by not showing them save the day, was put to good use in a future episode. We did get a good scene though of Pterasaurs getting into the Shannon's house where the kids, Skye, and Reynolds are and a good scene of Josh saving Zoe, who did not get into the safer room and is about to be attacked.
In the end, with the day saved and the kids asleep, Jim and Elizabeth finally get the chance to reignite their romance. Terra Nova manages to keep up the quality for their first non-premiere episode. While I hope future episodes do more showing than telling, I can appreciate their reasons for doing so. I'm still a big fan of Terra Nova. And hopefully, it only gets better.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
Dinosaur Scene Count: At least 6, counting the two minor Pterosaur scenes at the beginning. Maybe 7. I lost track.
Best Dinosaur Moment: The Pterasaurs attacking the market was terrific.
-Calling this right now: Zoe's Venus Flytrap (which she got this week) will be significant later on.
-Josh was less annoying this week! His plot involved trying to buy a guitar, which was fairly expensive. The only thing the guy will trade it for is Josh's necklace from his girlfriend, which he won't let go of. In the end Skye makes a bet with him for the money that he'll obviously win (she bets they won't survive the night of the Pterosaur strike) and then says he can owe her, when he doesn't want to take the money. I still say his girlfriend comes back.
-Jim's taken off-guard when Maddy asks how to tell if a boy likes you in another good family moment.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Terra Nova: Genesis
In my years of existence, I've learned many things including this: most boys (I'd say all but that'd make it a stereotype) love dinosaurs at some point in their childhood. I loved dinosaurs as a boy. I still love dinosaurs, though maybe not as much as I did back then. Because let's face it: Dinosaurs are awesome. So of course, when Terra Nova was announced over a year ago, I was incredibly excited. Steven Spielberg producing a TV show about people from a dystopian future living in dinosaur times? That sounded amazing! So I waited and waited (the show was delayed a couple times), getting more and more excited until tonight, when it finally premiered. Was it worth the wait? To make a long story short: yes. It was 2 hours of awesome, with enough intrigue to keep me hooked (though it wasn't perfect). Plus dinosaurs. Need I say more? No, but I'm going to say more anyways, so let's elaborate.
After establishing that Future Earth is in a bad place (with both words that appear on screen and with a beautiful opening shot of the view of Earth from the moon, which is covered in smog), Terra Nova quickly establishes that above all else, this is a show about a family. This is a smart move, because it gives us something to connect with and by basically saying "this is about a family" right away, it'll dispel any arguments that may come up in the future (if the show goes on for a while) about whether the show's about mythology or characters. Anyways, we quickly meet the Shannons: Jim (the father), Elizabeth (the mother), Josh (the eldest), Maddy (the middle child) and Zoe (the youngest). A minute into the show and they're already in trouble because in the future overpopulation has caused the government to declare families can only have 2 children. But the Shannon's have 3, and though they try to hide Zoe from the Population Control, she is discovered and Jim attacks an officer to protect her getting himself sent to prison.
We then pick up 2 years later where Elizabeth visits Jim to let him know that she's been recruited to Terra Nova and she's taking the kids but they won't let her take Zoe. With the help of a weapon that she smuggled in inside a breathing apparatus (because the air is harder to breathe in 2149.), Jim breaks out (Which is a bit hard to believe since he's allegedly in a maximum security prison), and with some help, he (and Zoe, hidden in a backpack) sneaks in with his family and the latest immigrants to Terra Nova (This is the 10th group). Although he's almost caught, he makes it just in time and finds himself 85 million years in the past with his family. He then promptly causes a panic when the people greeting the newcomers and helping them adjust notice he has a gun and the pack Zoe is hiding in almost gets stabbed.
Before going on, I have to compliment the explanation given for time travel, which is clever, and given in a way that feels natural. Three things are established: First we learn through a news report that scientists had discovered a rift in time 7 years to the show's start which, when open, leads to the past. We then learn through Josh's conversation with his girlfriend that he's leaving behind that it's a one-way portal, which will keep the show from jumping back to the future too much, if it all. And lastly we learn from a probe mounted in the colony that it's an alternate time stream so that nothing they do will affect the future, so no butterfly-effect type things or weird paradoxes can occur. This is a good thing and I'm glad that time travel for now is just a means to an end and not a major plot point (Though it may come into play later as hinted in this pilot. More on that later.).
Back in the past we're introduced to Commander Taylor, who's one of the more interesting characters in the show so far. He gives a speech to the new arrivals and then meets with Jim and Elizabeth, allowing them both to stay. We're then taken to the Shannon's new home and are treated to a nice scene as Jim realizes that Zoe may not remember him as she was only 3 when he was arrested, and he reintroduces himself to her properly in a cute, funny way. Shortly after that is a more annoying scene where Josh (who of course is an angsty teenager) gets mad at his father for getting himself arrested in the first place. Josh and Jim's shaky relationship is one of the weaker parts of the pilot, and hopefully this will improve as time goes on. This is thankfully followed by a scene where Zoe goes outside and we see our first glimpse of dinosaurs: Brachiosaurs (Long necks for any Land Before Time fans) who have come near the gate to feed.
Speaking of dinosaurs, now would be as good a time as any to talk about the effects. Since this is the most expensive pilot of all time (and the series from week to week should be pretty costly too), there's an expectation that they'll be effective and they are. Of course they're not movie quality, but for television they're quite good. The dinosaurs are most effective though, when you only catch glimpses of them, instead of getting a prolonged look (like the climax of the pilot) both effect-wise and mood-wise (it creates more tension).
Back to the pilot, we see Jim and Elizabeth adjust to their new lives, with Jim having been given a job with the harvesters (In a good scene, he's sent to get rid of weeds, only to find that the weeds 85 million years ago are massive. As are the bugs) and Elizabeth learning the colonies neo-medieval (her words) techniques. Meanwhile Josh skips out on colony orientation and meets a girl named Skye, following her (and having another annoying argument with his dad who sees him), meeting up with some more kids his age, and then following them as they sneak out past the gates to go explore. Josh becomes less annoying once he sneaks out and the focus of his scenes aren't him being mad at his father, and Skye is a fascinating character, as a bit of a rebellious teen, and Josh's guide to this world. We also later learn she is connected to Commander Taylor (He kind of raised her when both her parents died.).
And back at the colony, things get interesting when one of Elizabeth's patients who has been shot for stealing pulls a knife on her, causing a bit of a situation and Jim stops an assailant from shooting Commander Taylor. Seems things aren't as peaceful in Terra Nova as initially believed as we also get a bit of mystery. A group of rebels who all came on the sixth pilgrimage (so they're called Sixers) broke off from the colony and cause conflict. But it can't be a coincidence that they all came at the same time and Taylor suspects someone from the future is behind this. Intrigue. And that's not the only intrigue. Skye takes Josh to the (water)falls where she shows him some mysterious equations on the rocks that seem to have been there for a while. Hmm.
Anyhow, Jim (who was a cop before his arrest) is asked to join Taylor's security team and the two notice a couple of the Sixer's vehicles heading towards camp. They follow them, only to learn that the sixer's are being chased by a Carnotaurus (referred to as a Carno). This leads to a great sequence where Taylor distracts the beast until they're ready to fight off the beast with sonic pulse guns. After this, we still have the Sixers to deal with and we also meet their leader: the enigmatic Mira. A tense face-off leads to them trading the captured Sixers for ores and medical supplies. After this, Jim lets Elizabeth know he's on the security team is Elizabeth is accepting, though doesn't seem too happy.
Once we've gotten everything established in the first hour and a bit of the pilot, the back half is sort of predictable if you're TV savvy enough (Josh, Skye and company are attacked by a group of dinosaurs known as Slashers and take shelter in a vehicle, but it's powerless to go anywhere. Taylor and Jim realize they're missing and set out to rescue them. Dinosaur fight. Jim and Josh (who have realized through conversations with Elizabeth and Skye respectively, that they're both quite similar) reconcile in the aftermath. Episode ends with), but it's still entertaining to watch and still has a lot of good moments (including one where Taylor reveals that when he came through the time portal, a temporal effect caused him to be alone for 117 days before anyone else came so survival in the jungle is possible.) and provides some good television. And of course it also sets up some additional mystery to keep you hooked, with the mystery of Taylor's son who apparently disappeared years ago and is behind the equations on the rocks, which may reveal how to control the future. Plus Mira implies that there's another reason for the creation of Terra Nova.
All in all, this is a solid premiere for what could be an amazing show. Everything I said at the end of paragraph 1 still applies. Also, I had never actually thought about the show this way before watching it, but Terra Nova actually has potential to be the next Lost (It even has it's own Others in the form of the Sixers). There's still a chance this could all go wrong, but as long as they focus on the family dynamic of the show as the emotional core (and still throw in plenty of dino action), Terra Nova should be fine and could be something very special indeed.
Grade: Totally Awesome! (Great)
Memorable Moments
-A small subplot involved Maddy meeting a boy, whose name I've forgotten, embarassing herself a bit with her detailed knowledge of the Allosaurus and then said boy later staying with her and Zoe while her parents are out finding Josh. This'll probably get more screentime down the road.
-Calling this right now: Josh's girlfriend from the future is going to come to Terra Nova at some point, probably when he's getting really close to Skye.
-Dinosaur Scene Count: 3 or 4 depending on if you count the whole thing with the Slashers once or twice. I'm counting them twice, as there was two distinctive scenes with them.
-Best Dinosaur Moment: During the Carno chase, a Sixer declares they're all clear, only to be grabbed by a Carno immediately afterwards.
-Well, That Was A Stupid Idea: Tasha (one of the kids out with Skye and Josh) decides to try and make a break for it, even though they've established that help is on the way and they don't know how many Slashers are out there. When the rescue squad finds her, she is quite bloodied and needs surgery (I think she survives though).
-I stated in the beginning that I would talk about this show every week and I stand by that statement. That is all for now.
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