Terra Nova reached a critical juncture with me this week. As an avid television viewer, I use something called the four-episode test when I start watching a new show. Basically, if a show hasn’t hooked me after four episodes, I stop watching. Four episodes adds up to almost three hours of storytelling, and since movies can tell a whole story in that amount of time, a TV show can at least sow the seeds of interesting things to come later in the season. After two standalone episodes, “The Runaway” finally felt like the first installment that would impact the show’s mythology thanks to some tantalizing new information regarding the Sixers.
Haven’t they learned children can’t be trusted in 2149?
This was an up-and-down episode for the Terra Nova brass. We got some great action when Lt. Washington opened a can of whoop-ass on a couple Sixers before being pistol-whipped by Mira. This was another element of Terra Nova that felt ripped straight from Lost. The Sixers jumping out of the forest, covered in face paint and viciously attacking one of the “good guys” felt like castaways versus the Others all over again. But as awesome as the fight made Terra Nova leadership look, seeing Taylor fall right into Mira’s trap with Lea Marcos was groan-inducing. The Commander fell for the oldest trick in the book and unfortunately this misstep totally undermined his authoritarian moment with Mira at the gate.
Finally some background on the Othe… I mean Sixers.
Courtesy of the most baffling moment thus far on Terra Nova – Elisabeth really let Jim go into the forest by himself to rescue a boy from a group of hostiles? – we finally get some background on the Sixers’ agenda and motivation. While I still think the group was sent to control the iron ore mentioned in the pilot, the waters became murkier with the revelation that Taylor isn’t that popular back in 2149 and that certain people want him taken out. We also got a nice parallel with Lea and Mira when she revealed that her daughter was being held captive and wouldn't be released until Mira completed her task. Then there was the line that was spoken more to the audience than to Jim:
Jim: “What’s Terra Nova really about?”Mira: “You’ll see.”
What’s in the box? No, seriously – what’s in it?
As it turns out, Mira sent Lea to infiltrate Terra Nova so that she could retrieve a box from her old house. This gives us another mystery to ponder and I think it might be a while before we get an answer. It looks from the preview like Mira might offer to trade Josh his girlfriend from the future in exchange for the box. Since Josh has proven to be a basket of bad decisions thus far, he’ll probably steal the box and drop a few more notches in Jim’s book. So as for what’s in the box… I’m going to guess it’s a keepsake from Mira’s daughter. I’d love to hear your guesses in the comments below.
Random thought from this episode
Commander Taylor enjoys those fingerless gloves way too much.
Big question we’re left to ponder
Will Commander Taylor survive this season?
