Terra Nova "What Remains"

 

"What Remains" continues the monster of the week format on another "Terra Nova".  Some thoughts on last night's episode coming at you after the break... but first let me... wait, I forget what I was saying?

So we know that the "Terra Nova" writers only have a thirteen episode season to tell us their story, so when will they start telling it?  After a bust of a pilot (in my opinion), we are now given back to back "monster of the week" episodes.  Last week it was the flying dinos and this week it's an airborne super virus that threatens to quickly wipe out your memory until you are comatose.  I had said I wouldn't mind an episode like this over the obnoxious pilot, but truth is, we all want some real juice, something that sticks with us and we can take back to the water cooler the next day.  I actually saw glimpses of potential in this episode but as usually, "Terra Nova" falls short.

"What Remains" starts off by immediately thrusting our characters, Jim and Elisabeth, into the next big issue threatening Terra Nova.  This time, it's the communication cut off to an outpost research center, which quickly leads to Elisabeth discovering the virus (was Terra Nova always this exciting before the Shannons showed up?).  Meanwhile, back home Jim is still playing Mr. Mom, taking care of sick Zoe ("Zoe... Who's Zoe?") and chaperoning Maddy's date with Reynolds (will Maddy actually get some screen time this week? Nope).  Jim being at home with the kids is becoming one of the more enjoyable parts of Terra Nova along with his ironic relationship with Malcom.  Where's Josh during all this?  Oh, he's out with Skye getting drunk on moonshine and making crooked deals with some shady characters. Of course in the end the virus is stopped in an unoriginal "War of the Worlds" type scenario with the common cold saving the day.

As I mentioned before through all this shitty-ness there was a glimpse of potential.  The virus was thrusting the minds of those affected back in time revealing some pretty crazy events in the futuristic past.  We learned of the 2137 Detroit blizzard and the Somalian war in 2138.  Both sounded like some wild times but all we get are small pieces described in conversation or through Taylor's "Rambo" like actions.  If we could have gotten into the minds of those affected through flashbacks or another literary device, it would have made those scenes, along with the episode as a whole, a hell of a lot better. Not to mention may be giving us a little more character development.  Still, the ideas are there but the execution is off.

In regards to the mystery behind Terra Nova, we got a few clues dropped in our laps with "What Remains".  We now know that the Sixers have a way of communicating with 2149, as we had to expect even Taylor does since he sent the request back for Elisabeth.  I'm starting to get the feeling that the Sixers may not be the ones to fear in Terra Nova (don't hold me to that).  It also seemed that Josh was about to reveal something about the writing on the rocks but then his dick got in our way as he ditched the convo for a quick kiss.  For a show that started off wanting to give us so many questions and answers at once, they have certainly stayed away from them in the last two weeks.  We can only hope next week is better.

A couple quick observations/questions to wrap things up:

• Where are the kids getting the moonshine from?  Are they still going OTG?
• For a guy that spent two years in prison and is now eighty five million years in the past, Jim is certainly becoming well acclimated.
• The weapons continue to impress me in the future.
• Poor poor Brady... the guy is introduced, never speaks and spends the whole episode getting bossed around and getting his ass kicked or almost eaten by a Dino.
• Speaking of Brady, why does this show never kill anyone off that we meet for more than 3 minutes?
• Ratings continue to drop from 9 million to 8 to now 7 this week.

What did everyone else think?  Is "Terra Nova" getting better or worse for you?