What happened?
The Terra Nova settlement area has a problem – the area they settled in is the migration point for reptilian birds that have come home to roost as part of their cycle. Coming in dribs and drabs at first, they attack and kill various settlers. Whilst Liz Shannon works with a man she knew in college, called Malcolm, who is also responsible for requesting her to be there, it becomes clear that thousands of these birds will descend on the compound and decimate the place unless something is done.
A plan is conjured where the pheromone scents the birds are attracted to is manufactured and relocated to a point further away. Terra Nova is saved once more, though during the operation Jim has become aware of Malcolm and his possible intentions towards his wife and has issued a warning to steer clear.
Thoughts
This ‘proper’ first episode outside of the pilot episode perhaps demonstrates better what kind of show Terra Nova is. And, by the looks of it, it’s rather old-school sci-fi with modern day effects. There is something distinctly old-fashioned about it; I have actually wondered if the tale of The Shannon family in prehistoric times might not harken back to the old shows like Land Of The Giants and, in particular, Lost In Space, high-concept shows that week by week stick with the same core characters through various adventures.
There was really nothing about this episode that pushed ahead with anything like a sense of progression in the drama. Ostensibly birds attacked Terra Nova until our heroes figured out a means of resolving the situation. Status quo resumed. That's not really a put down, mind. It was actually rather good in delivering a decent build-up, a credible threat and a decent set piece in the main attack on the Shannon household. The resolution was a bit lame and thus the only real weak point - it's hard to imagine a species would be so easily-fooled into a new breeding ground by the dispersal of manufactured pheromones elsewhere.
Actually, the dialogue was interspersed with a lot of cheese. If Terra Nova wants me to take it more seriously as a credible drama show then it needs to take itself more seriously.
There was promising future drama in the introduction of Malcolm, the scientist who clearly still holds a torch for Liz (don’t blame him, she’s smoking). This antagonism did at least allow Jim to stop being quite the douche about the house for a minute or two when he got to play alpha male regarding his wife. Hopefully that’s a side-edge that will continue (though if it goes down the route of Jim getting paranoid and jealous over really pathetic schemes by Malcolm I’m going to get annoyed – it’ll be better if Liz genuinely becomes conflicted between the two of them).
There wasn’t much else, character-wise, going on. The story involving the migrating birds did unsubtly parallel their quest to get down to some action alongside Jim and Liz getting some one-on-one time. To be fair to Jim he has spent many years in a prison with absolutely nothing so, frankly, how he hasn’t ravaged Liz before now is hard to fathom.
I did think that those Terra Nova homes didn’t exactly scream privacy. Those poor Shannon kids are going to grow up to the sounds and silhouettes of their parents at it. That’s unfortunate. Though the two eldest siblings already have their respective romances burgeoning, though Sky and the soldier-boy one (so bland I haven’t even identified his name) were hardly given much to do other than hang around the Shannon’s. Honestly, what did they do before they arrived?
It’s the tone of Terra Nova that was most prominent here, though. And I very much got the sense that it was a more family-oriented, early-evening kind of slot that this show is aiming at. If it weren’t for the gory, scratched-out eyes of one of the victims this would have been Doctor Who standard family viewing. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't think that's exactly where Terra Nova is aiming to be. As it is, with the blood, this isn’t exactly a show for kids. So the tone is a little bit of a concern, unless it’s a show that’s starting off light before it goes into darker territory.
For the moment I’m still enjoying the show, in the sense that it’s more interesting than most television, but it’s nowhere near got me hooked or gripped. If it’s aiming to be light and enjoyable, then it needs to up its game. If it’s aiming to be mysterious and thrilling then it needs to cut through the froth. There’s time yet, and to be fair I think the show does need to spend time with the characters and the world of Terra Nova before it heads out into grand territory, but my early instincts are telling me that this doesn’t feel like a show that’s got the legs to last longterm.
What was the best part?
It was a brief moment, but the wide shot showing the masses of gathering reptile birds spiralling into the sky before they made their attack, watched on by Jim, was good stuff. It reminded me a lot of the movie Pitch Black, an effect that was probably intentional.
What do I think will happen next?
I can only assume that the introduction of Malcolm will also introduce complications between Jim and Liz, and meantime I expect the other Shannon kids will further blossom their romances with their paramours. In terms of the wider mythological drive of the show, however, there was little forward momentum in that regard to make further speculation.
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