Interesting Review of Terra Nova

[ArtNJ]

Saw this earlier today...http://www.areyouscreening.com/2011/...-tv-review-fox

The reviewer has some interesting things to say about science fiction fans and their demands for realism, actions that make sense, and, when explanations are offered, a degree of coherence to them.

Struck me as a good review for me personally, given my own likes and dislikes. However, the reviewer has to be wrong about main stream sci-fi movie fans, because clearly there is no requirement that science fiction movies make a shred of sense, as a good many (most?) of them dont. Maybe the mainstream fan has a higher threshhold for tv shows, but I doubt that too. After all, how many of the shows on the sci fi channel are actually written to anything approaching the average coherence of novels?

[lonewriter]

I'm looking forward to it even though it probably won't last because it seems only reality shows, cop and doctor shows make it and I hate those.

[Fung Koo]

It probably won't last because it's stupid, not because its competition is also stupid (and frankly, often less stupid).

I just watched the first episode.

Ouch.

The moment I saw Brannon Braga on the credits I had an inkling of what I was in for. The man who ruined Star Trek is at it again.

I suspect the only reason Spielberg is on the credits is because he owns the dinosaur animation software.

This show is a perfect example of every stereotype ever thrown at SF that put SFF in the ghetto. Do Hollywood producers really think people go for this crap? Dear lord... Obvious and cliched character drama, pointless titillation, obvious and cliched plot twists, clear over-spending on effects over script, acting, and direction...

Literally every single moment my thought process: "As if!!!" and "Whaaaa?!?!?"

Why is television SF always so frackin stupid?

I won't be watching this show...

[lonewriter]

It is not stupid! It is a great show. If you don't like it, don't watch it.

[saintjon]

I'm fine with it so far. The second episode was pretty dumb but other than that...

I understand having issues with the story and science aspects but I have to say I find the acting to be pretty good. The lead guy is doing a fine job and Stephen Lang is bringing way more to the table then I thought they would ask of him.

[Fung Koo]

Does the show improve from the first episode, or stay roughly the same?

If the honoured members of this board suggest I give it until episode 3, I shall give it a shot.

But based on episode one, I was tempted to go find Brannon Braga, abduct him, tie him to a chair, and slap him until he agrees never to make another television show, to retire to the country, and not to tell his children he was ever involved in tv.

[saintjon]

To be honest, if you reacted that strongly in the negative to episode one you're not likely to enjoy anything beyond that, I'll give you a quick rundown of what I've seen on there and if it sounds good you can check it out.


Okay these will be kind of be spoilers, of the synopsis sort though. I'm not going to give anything away you wouldn't learn from the "next week on such and such" for the most part"


2nd ep: like I said, pretty dumb. Dangerous little birdlike dino horde attacks because Terra Nova was apparently built on their breeding ground (makes sense ) I don't understand why when they resolved to bait them to a new breeding ground they didn't lead them right over to where the Sixers live and take care of that problem once and for all.

3rd ep: Some kind of weird memory-loss virus attacks (lol so much attacking) in some weird research facility. Buddy's wife remembers creepy ex-boyfriend doctor but not him (murder does not ensue however). Best part of this episode was the commander guy forgetting everything about Terra Nova and deciding he's the victim of some sick psychological warfare project from some conflict of his past. I wondered about doing an amnesia episode so early in the series but it turned out to be a good way to provide some insight about the commander's past and his family.

4th ep I missed, Jess said it was okay, can't really speak to it much

5th ep: one of the colonists becomes Terra Novas first murder victim, raising questions about capital punishment, whether they should be trying to move beyond what some see as a barbaric custom (personally I think exile makes a lot of sense as a murder punishment in that sort of society but what do I know?) I thought this episode was really good, both sides of the issue were presented fairly, I found it strange that so many people were against the sentence of banishment though. They even had a scene where this ridiculous goal of the oldest son finally made some sense, which I didn't think would happen to be honest lol

Personally I prefer Person of Interest as a new show but I don't mind Terra Nova.

[kater]

4th ep I missed, Jess said it was okay, can't really speak to it much

Ep 4. Sixers tried to trick their way into getting something important out of the Terra Nova complex they'd left behind. Some reveals about the Sixers and Terra Nova.

FWIW I've given up on the show, hasn't come close to it's potential and I think will just plod on for the rest of the season before not being picked up for a second.

[lonewriter]

I watched one episode of Persons of Interest, it was about a kidnapped son of a judge, not a bad show for a cop show but there are so many cop shows on. The only one I do watch is Castle. I did watch Harry's Law last season but haven't seen it this season. I heard a couple of the original cast are no longer on the show. The only shows I try not to miss are Tera Nova and Fringe. I do have one guilty pleasure show, Revenge.

[saintjon]

Person of Interest is a cop show like MASH was a hospital show.

I share your exhaustion with cop shows, doesn't bother me in the case of Person of Interest because although it has some cops in it it's not really a cop show at all. Frankly it has more espionage elements to it than anything, with a heavily non-costumed superhero bent.

[Dee Lurpa]

Ep 4. Sixers tried to trick their way into getting something important out of the Terra Nova complex they'd left behind. Some reveals about the Sixers and Terra Nova.

FWIW I've given up on the show, hasn't come close to it's potential and I think will just plod on for the rest of the season before not being picked up for a second.

Agreed about the non-pickedupness. The production budget and viewer numbers are polar opposites. But although overly mawkish and nowhere near to exploiting the potential of the concept, considering the dearth of true SF on network television I feel it should be supported by fans of the genre.

[kater]

Agree with the dearth of sf on TV, I'm interested to see what JJ Abrams new show Alcatraz is like but other than that I have to hope Fringe's numbers improve so it gets re-upped. I'm not ready for it to finish yet.

[Dee Lurpa]

Agree with the dearth of sf on TV, I'm interested to see what JJ Abrams new show Alcatraz is like but other than that I have to hope Fringe's numbers improve so it gets re-upped. I'm not ready for it to finish yet.

For whatever reason I was never able to get into Fringe. Dunno why because that kind of thing generally appeals to me greatly. Nonetheless I support it wholeheartedly. Abrams for me is hit and miss (since I liked Lost) so I'm not sure about Alcatraz, but will certainly try it. There's another show called The River (I think) coming on that seems to have potential. But then, don't they all at some point? (er, no, they don't but I like to fool myself)

[DDCOrange]

To be honest, if you reacted that strongly in the negative to episode one you're not likely to enjoy anything beyond that, I'll give you a quick rundown of what I've seen on there and if it sounds good you can check it out.


Okay these will be kind of be spoilers, of the synopsis sort though. I'm not going to give anything away you wouldn't learn from the "next week on such and such" for the most part"


2nd ep: like I said, pretty dumb. Dangerous little birdlike dino horde attacks because Terra Nova was apparently built on their breeding ground (makes sense ) I don't understand why when they resolved to bait them to a new breeding ground they didn't lead them right over to where the Sixers live and take care of that problem once and for all.

3rd ep: Some kind of weird memory-loss virus attacks (lol so much attacking) in some weird research facility. Buddy's wife remembers creepy ex-boyfriend doctor but not him (murder does not ensue however). Best part of this episode was the commander guy forgetting everything about Terra Nova and deciding he's the victim of some sick psychological warfare project from some conflict of his past. I wondered about doing an amnesia episode so early in the series but it turned out to be a good way to provide some insight about the commander's past and his family.

4th ep I missed, Jess said it was okay, can't really speak to it much

5th ep: one of the colonists becomes Terra Novas first murder victim, raising questions about capital punishment, whether they should be trying to move beyond what some see as a barbaric custom (personally I think exile makes a lot of sense as a murder punishment in that sort of society but what do I know?) I thought this episode was really good, both sides of the issue were presented fairly, I found it strange that so many people were against the sentence of banishment though. They even had a scene where this ridiculous goal of the oldest son finally made some sense, which I didn't think would happen to be honest lol

Personally I prefer Person of Interest as a new show but I don't mind Terra Nova.

I watched the whole season and it wasn't bad. Some episodes were pretty good and some fell flat. Pretty much hit and miss. I think that the problem with much of TV SciFi is that it tries to please everyone and winds up pleasing no one.