Terra Nova

[Earniel]

The first series was broadcasted here last month. I was so looking forward to this series. I mean, who wouldn't watch dinosaurs? And if there's one thing Spielberg can do well, then it's dinosaurs. And they were pretty good: moved good, had colours, interacted well with the surroundings (something a lot of CGI dinosaurs just can't deliver.)

I went in with very low expectations because the reviews I had read so far were pretty disappointing. It actually was better than I expected. I had feared they'd play too much on the disfunctional family angle, but they kept it pretty under control. So it was rather okay to watch. I ended up watching the whole season.

There were a few niggles. The baddies were unrelentingly evil. You'd expect people to prehistory-proof their shiny tech when they travel so far back in time. The colonists lived surprisingly wealthy and roomy for people coming from an overpopulated, ruined world.

But my main problem with the series was: just not enough dinosaurs to satisfy. It started promising with one or two invented species. There was some attention to behaviour. There even was an episode where a dinosaur actually had a good reason to chase people (one of my pet peeves in monster movies) and not just because we humans are oh-so-tasty that animals risk life and limb to snack on us. But before long dinosaurs were pretty much used only to further the plot.

Still, I don't think it really deserved to be cancelled. Yes, it could have been better handled/written on many angles, but the season finale was very promising, IMO. Reminded me a bit of LOST at its height. Season two of Terra Nova could have gone into interesting places. Although, possibly, with still not enough dinosaurs...