Terra Nova: A Fresh Start

As the weather gets colder, the leaves start to change, and ‘pumpkin spice’ returns to a coffee shop near you, the realization that summer has really come and went hits. But don’t fret! Curl up under covers with your favorite person on the couch and prepare for a wild ride as the 2011 fall line-up of exciting and suspenseful new TV shows gets underway. Leading the pack is the ambitious plot of “Terra Nova.”

Terra Nova; or ‘new land’ in Latin, is set on Earth in the year 2149. Overpopulation and pollution has put Earth in a desperate situation. The environment has become unsustainable. Air quality is horrid, forcing inhabitants to wear re-breathers when they are outside. The sun is dimmed through the fog, and the moon is unable to be seen at night. Families are limited to four people with threats of fines and/or imprisonment by the government for those who break the rules and have more children. Throughout the first few minutes of the two-hour series premiere; which aired on September 26 at 8pm, we come to find that the Shannon family; comprising of the shows main characters, are in violation of the population law and must hide their three year old daughter; Zoe, from frequent searches conducted by these “population police.” During one such search, Zoe is discovered. Father Jim Shannon; played by Jason O’Mara, gets into an altercation with the police and winds up in jail with a six year sentence.

Fast forward two years and we find Jim locked away when he is visited by his wife Elisabeth, played by Shelley Conn. She informs him that because of her expertise and track record as a trauma surgeon she has been selected to join the tenth pilgrimage to Terra Nova; a prehistoric Earth of an alternate reality set in the late Cretaceous period some 85 million years in the past. Scientists discovered a rift in space-time which makes this travel possible. Elisabeth puts into action a plan to not only break her husband out of jail, but to also smuggle him and their youngest daughter through the portal and into Terra Nova. The plan inevitably succeeds and the family is free to pursue a fresh start in a wild and unfamiliar new world. But not all is as it seems and many questions and mysteries were posed throughout the first episode.

The ambitious project of creating this new world falls in the hands of non-other than producer Steven Spielberg. The filming location of Australia was chosen by Spielberg after he vetoed Hawaii; citing he wanted to use a different location then his 1993 film Jurassic Park. The two-hour pilot was shot in south-east Queensland, Australia throughout Brisbane and the Gold Coast. It was filmed over twenty-six days from late November to December 2010. The total estimated cost for the pilot was between $10-$20 million dollars, with an average per episode cost of nearly $4 million dollars. In an unusual decision, Fox skipped ordering just a pilot, and instead immediately ordered thirteen episodes. This was partly due to financial reasons, as the large Australian sets are expensive to dismantle and rebuild. More than 250 sets have been constructed so far. Despite this decision, the producers denied the production was over-budget, with Peter Rice explaining instead the show is “a very expensive… very ambitious television show”. Kevin Reilly added, “We’re not in completely uncharted territory here. The start-up cost for the series is definitely on the high end. But it’s not some bank-breaking series”.

Terra Nova has a Jurassic Park/Avatar feel to it with hints of Lost strewn in there, but the producers are taking steps to ensure this new adventure has its own uniqueness to it. With only 10% of Cretaceous-era dinosaurs recorded in the fossil record, the producers decided to supplement the series with ones which might have existed; paleontologist Jack Horner was brought in to help create realistic creatures for the period and different from those of the Jurassic Park film franchise. The scenery is breath-taking, and the computer generated graphics are cutting edge, blending seamlessly.

With the DVR set to record FOX on Mondays at 8pm, I am excited to follow each characters story and see what unexpected twists and turns are in store throughout the thirteen episodes. And if everyone truly does experience a fresh start. Hopefully the show will live up to the hype, and budget set forth from cast and crew alike. Enjoy the new series!