Terra Nova is an American science fiction drama TV series currently showing on Fox Network. The story follows selected groups of people who flee the dystopian future to start a colony in a parallel world that resembles Earth’s Cretaceous Period, which was 85 million years ago with dinosaurs and stuff.
Terra Nova is touted as one of the most expensive TV series ever made. It’s co-produced by Steven Spielberg, who’s also the co-creator of the Jurassic Park franchise in the 1990s. There’s a lot of hype for the show because of these reasons. Check out the trailer (Brazilian version)…
The main cast of Terra Nova includes Jason O’Mara, Shelley Conn, Christine Adams, Allison Miller, Landon Liboiron, Naomi Scott, Mido Hamada, Alana Mansour, Stephen Lang and Rod Hallett. They shot the series in Australia, and the show also features many local actors in minor roles.
I was pretty excited at first, but losing interest after just a few episodes. It’s not actually bad, it just doesn’t match the buzz and my expectations. I think it focuses too much on family drama and teenage saga – and also the cheesy dialogues – instead of scifi stuff and the dinosaurs.
The series has crossed halfway line but the dinosaurs only matter for one and a half episodes. The creatures are mostly backdrop, and they don’t even appear that much regardless. Perhaps the producers are keeping them for later parts of the show, but the plot so far hasn’t been good enough.
Updates – It’s not about dinosaurs
The series has just ended when I’m writing this update. The dinosaurs see more action later on and play a part in the climax, but the show is really not about them. It’s about relationships, corporate greed and environmental issues etc. The ending actually feels like a prequel for the Avatar instead.
Again, it’s not a bad show, it simply doesn’t match my expectations. It’s not close to Jurassic Park, and they could do better with the scientific stuff (and their puny weapons). It’s at least average though, if we consider this a simple drama series. Some people may like it as it is, just not my cup of tea.
Update 2012 – Fox has cancelled Terra Nova after just a season. I didn’t plan to watch it further anyway, but it’s still a surprising news. The reception was actually fine towards the end of the season. Fox is trying to sell the rights to other TV networks though, there’s a slim hope that the show could continue.
