Quick Take: Terra Nova, "Genesis"
The Shannon family travels to their new life millions of years in the past.
Review: Terra Nova, "Genesis"
(S0101) Finally, our national nightmare is over. Terra Nova has premiered on Fox. Do you remember where you were before it aired? But I kid the over hyped.
It's hard to watch a show like Terra Nova with an open mind. Having heard and read so much about the show for the past year or so, I already knew almost everything that was going to happen. Basically what that left to be impressed by were the special effects, which were pretty awesome.
Regardless of whatever shortcomings the script or premise had, the big-ass dinosaurs were really cool to watch. I'm sure it's probably a bad idea to try and hand feed a brachiosaurus but can anyone really say what would happen? The slasher dinosaurs were cool as well. Clearly these are the reptiles to watch out for in the series. The only dinosaur more dangerous are the Axl-ers, who have a more irritating voice but rarely come out in public.
The biggest danger in a show like this is, of course, the science. Could any of this really happen? Obviously, the concept of a fracture in space and time must be accepted before anything else can happen. Without that magical hole, there is no show but beyond that, there are plenty more questions to be answered.
The writers did an admirable job explaining why the pilgrims couldn't change the future by explaining that they had traveled to a different time line. I'm on board with that explanation except that it was never clearly spelled out how the folks in the past communicate with those in the future. Maybe I missed it or maybe I'm a nitpicker, but a show that features time travel, dinosaurs and Stephen Lang has to be diligent about this sort of thing.
Overall, it wasn't a great show, but it was pretty good. I liked the emphasis on family and the Sixers storyline was interesting enough to keep me coming back. As long as I get to see a new dinosaur every week, I'll keep tuning in.
