Terra Nova on FOX

[jedibear]

I've still been watching...

The last two episodes did pick up the pace a bit and now that they've finally got moving it's....over?!?

It's funny...was half-watching this show called "Trek Nation" tonight and someone on it made the comment that Roddenberry created the characters first and kept the focus on their development with the original "Trek" and that's the one main thing missing from TN...there hasn't been any real effort to make these characters compelling or interesting. They just kind of lurch from week to week not really doing anything. And if they do something, there is no consequence to it (big example: The son steals life-saving meds, threatening his mother's position, endangering the lives of others and....not even harsh words from the Commander or his parents...I mean, WTF?)

This week's effort highlighted Lang's charisma, but Mira is a loser of a character...more a hostage to her so-called cause opposed to being a champion of it ... a real lost opportunity for the writers to establish some real tension.

And where are the dinos? Sure haven't seen to much of them so far....

It's a pretty rare thing to see a new show rocket out of the gate with a good concept, a tight cast and a great production and this one's far from it... (Although this show's list of "producers" every week is longer than the cast! An army of folks and they still can't tighten this show up...) TN still has some elements to it that could make it unique, but as it limps to it's conclusion, it's hard to imagine Fox will want to spend more on this and go for another season....we'll see.

 

[Elendil]

I still have hope that it can become much better. I have been enjoying it, even if it has been a bit slow!

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

And where are the dinos? Sure haven't seen to much of them so far....

And it seems like anytime you do see them, they're being blasted or shot with burning arrows.

I thought they went back in time to start a new life, to not make the same mistakes they did before..to treat the Earth and it's creatures better...

 

[Devil_666]

 

[Nuka Cola Kidd]

Have to say these last few episodes have been great. Wish they were always this intriguing. And I have to say the finale was great. Really enjoyed the moment between Zoey and Taylor (although she should be written out if this comes back. There really is no point to her character.) Lucas really turned out to be a great villian, much more so then Mira.

Kinda hope this comes back now.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

I happened to watch the finale..was bored and was already on Fox.

Haven't been keeping up with this show at all, because I hate it..but I was shocked.

The two-hour finale was great. Felt like I was watching a movie..a good movie.

It was very brutal, all the beatings and deaths..wonderful.
And when they secretly put the Carnotaurus in the box instead of uh..the ore, or whatever was supposed to be there..that was absolutely badass.

 

[darthviper107]

Story is still really really bad though. Characters do things for no reason, like how stupidly they were to trust that no one would try to fight back, or that they didn't have a guard on Shannon when he was knocked out. Or that they somehow believed he had brain damage. Or how the doctor guy suddenly knows engineering, and that they would trust him not to mess things up. Or that for some reason all of the enemy guys left Terra Nova. I'm sure there's like a wormhole in the badlands which might be able to take them back, but it's not like they had to leave the city to find out. Plus having Lucas survive, or that Taylor would have believed that he was actually asking for forgiveness (after Lucas had killed Taylor's second in command).

Writers on this show are retarded. Best part was his stupid retarded son's girlfriend getting blown up. He deserves it. Especially since you can figure that if not for him, Shannon wouldn't have had to run in there to break up the fight between him and Lucas which blew his cover and then got him locked up. Which required Wash to sacrifice herself to get them out of the city.

Also, there's no way a rifle can headshot a dinosaur. I mean, yeah it's a future weapon, but that's stretching it.

 

[Nuka Cola Kidd]

Yup, IF and thats a big if, comes back then they really need new writers that will kill of the family starting with Zoey.

 

[ProgMatinee]

You guys are harsh. darthviper its a wonder you own a television, I think you hate every show.

I thought this show was fun and thats all I was looking for.

Not some revolutionary drama to make me rethink my existence.

I am very intrigued by the ships' figure head they found. My guess would be bermuda triangle or something.

To me this show is sort of like Land of the Lost for a new generation. There is a reason it comes on at 7pm instead of 8 or 9. Not sure why people expected it to be some sophisticated story telling show. Go watch reruns of Six Feet Under or something.

 

[darthviper107]

Since when do you think I hate every show? I think this show is the only one I've bashed.

I wish this show were fun, since it's got a good initial idea. But the writing is so terribly done. I don't need it to be a serious drama, since there's plenty of dark serious shows on TV. But I would at least want the writing to make sense, instead of characters doing things "just because"

 

[ProgMatinee]

I think you over analyze shows too much. People do things in shows "just because" to move the plot or cause a reaction. You can't explain every behavior in a show rationally because you wouldn't get any drama or excitement otherwise.

For example, debating whether a headshot on a dinosaur is possible is just taking the analytics too far. You can't enjoy a show if you're doing that on every scene.

Yes, we all saw Lucas stabbing Taylor from a million miles away, but the character doesn't need to react the way the viewer would react. This is all written for dramatic purposes not for "realism" purposes.

You can go back to the beginning of theater to find instances where drama is more important than realism and more examples where the good guy would turn his back and allow the bad guy to escape or catch him off guard. Its like the horror movie victim never calling for the police or walking into the grave yard at night. Classic examples where the hero or victim has to do the dumb or unthinkable to aid the telling of the story.

Its just necessary.

 

[darthviper107]

There's way too many things wrong with the story to just pass those things off. Without analyzing things very much in almost every situation there is something that happens that has no reason to happen, characters overlooking things or doing things that go against previous decisions. Along with things just being pulled out of thin air just for convenience. Not to mention all the cliche elements. As soon as Shannon went through the portal it was obvious he'd be running back through it later as an explosion chases him.

 

[Nuka Cola Kidd]

I
For example, debating whether a headshot on a dinosaur is possible is just taking the analytics too far. You can't enjoy a show if you're doing that on every scene.

Now, I have been saying the tech in this show is absurd for weeks now, but you have to admit the headshot on the dinosaur was way over the top because:

1: We have seen in the past that those weapons don't phase the dinos at all.
2: The shot was taken at least a mile if not more away. Yet Lucas gets shot from very close range twice and lives. And then Wash gets shot point blank and dies.

The tech in this is so inconsistent and used to make things easier for the writers. Anything can be solved with the tech.

Have a 20ft tape worm inside you? Oh we'll just magically vaporize it from the outside. Run out of cores/chips to run your tech? Well we'll just have another piece of tech make those cores/chips for you.

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

I think you over analyze shows too much.

Seriously...Plus, almost every issue he listed is a norm for TV shows/movies...

 

[darthviper107]

What other show has that many problems with their story?

 

[ExMem-LarjaThwei]

Almost every movie or tv show has the whole "YOU'RE BAD, I'MA BEAT YOU!!...but, you're my son..I forgive you..____ YOU TRICKED ME BASTARD!!!"

The guard on Shannon thing, not expecting anyone to fight back..incredibly minute issues. Why wouldn't they believe he had brain damage? He had been only a few yards away from an explosion, and was very convincing. ...and this is tv world.
Are you really upset that the doctor knows engneering? Why is that even an issue? I'm a bit OCD and didn't notice nor care...once again, this is tv world..


"Characters do things for no reason"

..this is what all shows are like, no matter how good or bad.

It can be a more severe case in some, of course, and it is in Terra Nova...but the majority of issues you listed are just the norm...nothing worth mentioning or getting upset over.
Well, the gun-power issue always bothered me...that's about it out of the issues you listed.


I still don't like the show, I find it very boring and poorly made..but not because of those reasons.
This finale was incredible though.

 

[ProgMatinee]

The dinosaur getting shot by the rich guy was just a simple play on rich boy safari hunters going out and pot shotting game in the wild without being in harms way. It conveyed the character's motivation and douchebagginess and so no one feels sorry for his ass when he got ate by the carnosaur.

The point of the scene wasn't to showcase the realism of the weapon.

its so pointless to discuss because it wasn't the point of the scene, but if you really wanted to over analyze it, its not like they had other scenes with brontosaurouses being shot in the head...nor did they necessarily have the same type of rifle the rich guy had in other scenes. Really, doing all of this over analyzing makes watching the show tedious.

Are you going to research the designs of the maiden figurehead they found to make sure it fits in with 18th century shipcraft like they claim?

 

[Nuka Cola Kidd]

I know what the scene means that was never in question. Its the tech as a whole and the way its portrayed.

 

[darthviper107]

Except that Taylor has been pretty harsh with people before, including his son, and he had no reason to believe his son had suddenly changed, especially after all the terrible things he had just done.

It's not unreasonable that he might have brain damage, but I don't see how they would so easily accept that, that they didn't have a guard on him making sure that they would be there when he woke up so they could interrogate him, or that they wouldn't find it suspicious to find him there talking to the doctor who was fixing something that was very important. Wouldn't it cross their minds that the second in command would probably want to destroy their gateway machine?

And again, the doctor knowing engineering--that's a sudden thing they added just because they needed someone to know how to fix the machine, there's no logical reason for a medical doctor to also be an engineer and know how to fix that machine.

There's plenty of good shows with characters that don't just suddenly do things for no good reason.

And about shooting the dinosaur--I get the point of the scene, but it doesn't work when it's based on things that aren't likely possible. We know from real events that shooting large animals requires heavy firepower, there's specific weapons for shooting animals like Elephants because it's not easy to kill them.


And again--there's no over-analyzing things, these are obvious things that are wrong with the writing, I'm hardly having to do any analysis. When things are that bad you can't really ignore the problems.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Regarding Taylor, I don't think they were trying to portray him as "changed". IMO he was pretty caring throughout the series. So when he finally came to the realization that his son was blaming himself for his mother's death (rather than blaming the father) then I can understand why he would embrace his son.

Of course the audience knew what would happen after that. Doesn't change the fact that it needed to happen in order for Lucas to still be a villian.

As for the dinosaur being shot, worked enough for me to solidify the rich boy's douchiness. Until mentioned here I didn't give the distance or power of the rifle a second thought. It wasn't egregiously ridiculous for a sci-fi show.