After a fairly standard episode last week, Terra Nova returns with a third installment that takes advantage of an interesting premise right up until the suspense is murdered in the final act. After losing contact with a research outpost, Elisabeth, Commander Taylor and a random red shirt venture out to see what's happening with their scientists. Thanks to an opening scene that involved a dinosaur munching on a scientist, we know that the research crew is losing their marbles and it doesn't take long for Elisabeth and Taylor to discover this, as well. It's quickly discovered that a pathogen is robbing everyone in the outpost of their memory and putting them in a coma after 36 hours. Not good news for the Terra Nova denizens who strolled right into this deathtrap.
Did they have season-long arcs 85 million years ago?
This is the second episode in a row to utilize a "ticking time bomb" and it's much more effective than in last week's effort. Anytime you put someone's memory (and later their life) in jeopardy, it's going to pack more of a punch than pitting Terra Nova colonists against tiny, pissed off birds. That's not to say "Instinct" didn't have its moments, but "What Remains" is a better indicator of Terra Nova's potential. It will be interesting to see, however, if the show continues to follow the formula that shows like Lost and Smallville employed in their first season - our heroes are confronted with a new problem, they scramble all episode to fix it and find a solution right before the final act, roll credits and cue next week's problem. Smallville fans referred to this as the "freak of the week" approach and it looks like Terra Nova might be following the same instruction manual. I'm confident that some season-long story arcs will emerge in future episodes, and until then, there's no shame in Terra Nova using standalone stories while it finds its sea legs.
The kiss that cured memory loss
While "What Remains" improved on last week's effort, I still had a major problem with the crash-and-burn ending. After 35 minutes of build up and suspense surrounding the loss of Elisabeth and Dr. Malcolm's memory and the threat of catatonia hanging over their efforts to find a cure, the transition between the last two acts was jarring and totally undermined everything that came before it. (I actually checked the recording time on my DVR to make sure I didn't miss something.) Even though Elisabeth explained to Taylor (and the viewer) how everything worked out, going from her and Jim's kiss to everything being A-OK in Terra Nova felt cheap. The episode should have spaced out the story instead of front-loading it and scrambling to tidy everything up in the final minutes. "What Remains" also highlighted a very annoying habit with Terra Nova that other shows have fallen victim to - Elisabeth is an exposition machine. The amount of things she was left to explain in this episode calls into question if she's a doctor/researcher or an omnipotent deity who knows all and explains all. Given that she can synthesize pheromones in minutes and find a cure for memory loss when she's on the verge of a coma, I'm leaning toward the latter.
Can a Sixer get some ammo?!
The ending did give us a nice reveal, though, as we learn that Josh's new employer - the bartender who can "get things" - is likely the mole inside Terra Nova. Delivering supplies to the Sixers and scheming to keep Jim's son within arm's reach might seem nefarious, but I'm betting there will be others inside Terra Nova with a more sinister agenda that we'll learn about in future episodes. But for right now, this opens up a nice storyline for Josh, who until this point had been relegated to drinking, almost getting eaten by dinosaurs and being stuck in a teenage love triangle. Speaking of love, it was a nice touch to see Jim and Elisabeth's courtship - made possible by the memory loss - mirror that of their two children, Josh and Maddy. We also got to see Jim's softer side coming out in this episode during the interaction with his children, which was sweet and pushes him away from the tough cop routine that was making his character feel one-note. Here's to hoping we see more character development in the coming weeks.
Random thought from this episode
The dinosaur CGI looked much better and Taylor's "no way" line upon seeing one is an early contender for best line of the season.
Big question we're left to ponder
How many people within Terra Nova are working with the Sixers?
