Friday, December 16, 2011

What I’m Watching: Terra Nova


Terra Nova: Season 1, Episode 10 “Within” (C)

I really hope that next week’s two-hour season, and probably series, finale, is much better than this. The dialogue in this hour is absolutely atrocious, and I can’t believe that this show can have such strong technical qualities, especially in its pilot, and have such unfortunate plotlines. It upsets me greatly that Lucas felt the need to keep calling Skye by her mother’s pet name for her, Bucket, and that’s the least of this show’s problems. I’ve mentioned that this show has absolutely no stakes, and that’s so true in this hour. Not only does the murderous traitor that has been exiled get to return to Terra Nova penalty-free, but Skye’s mother is rescued and apparently able to be treated by the folks at Terra Nova after all, making Skye’s traitorous acts entirely irrelevant. Maddy’s need to do homework is irritating, and I can’t understand why she needed to have a subplot in this episode, if only to bring Boylan back for some comic relief, giving her the generator core just so that Jim would look upon her favorably. The notable, and only real, development of this episode is the transformation of the portal into a two-way device. I’ll admit that Lucas shooting through the portal and having the blast amplified was cool, but I have to hope that whatever comes through the portal is a Hail Mary of sorts for the show, since it really needs to step it up in its finale if it wants to saved for renewal or even just remembered fondly.

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