Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
My friend Tristan Abbey (a faithful and paid-up member of Ricochet, I hasten to add), dropped me a line the other day to say, "I hope you've been watching 'Terra Nova,' the new show on Fox in which people from a couple of centuries in the future, when the earth is choking on pollution, travel back in time 80 million years (yes, I know; people from the future travel back to the past; it can be confusing) to found a colony."
As it happens, I'm a sucker for all forms of entertainment in which people find themselves running for their lives from dinosaurs, so I had indeed been watching "Terra Nova." But I'd kept the fact to myself, thinking of it as a guilty pleasure. Tristan's recommendation puzzled me. He's a brainy guy who recently finished up work at Georgetown for an MA in international security and now edits Bellum, a collaborative blog on geopolitics and defense policy.
"Terra Nova?" I asked by reply email. "But, Tristan. Whatever would you see in such a show?"
Tristan's answer:
There are three reasons to watch Terra Nova:
1. Most shows of Terra Nova's ilk feature communities facing unexpected existential threats.
Battlestar Galactica chronicles the exploits of a military vessel as it shepherds the last remnants of mankind through space after a surprise attack from the Cylons. Jericho showcases the survival of a small-town in Kansas after a nuclear attack rips apart the fabric of the United States. In The Walking Dead, Deputy Grimes wakes up one day to discover Georgia has fallen to a zombie apocalypse. Lost begins when a plane crashes for no apparent reason on an island we know even less about at the end of the show than we do at the beginning. In every one of these shows, the survivors regroup, new leaders emerge, and the struggle is the story. Terra Nova is different. Seeing a dim future for Earth, mankind takes preemptive action when it discovers a brand-new world to inhabit.
The infant civilization is extremely well-organized, well-funded, and well-supplied. Rather than a story about people not realizing a crisis is upon them until too late, Terra Nova is a hopeful project of a future seen, a problem confronted, and action taken.
2. Terra Nova is relatively unique insofar as the benefits of technology are available to our protagonists. The Galactica survives because its computer system is antiquated. The people of Jericho deal with the effects of an electromagnetic pulse that knocks out virtually everything. Grimes' merry-band of non-bitten humans makes do with scavenging for spare parts and whatever they can find on the road. The islanders of Lost build rafts out of seat cushions from the plane. The colony of Terra Nova, in contrast, has advanced medical devices, sonic cannons, and high-end touch-screen computers. It's civilizational sci-fi in survivalist clothing.
3. For those obsessed with political theory, the show raises questions about the nature of society and government. Terra Nova basically is a military dictatorship in which the rules don't apply to the ruling commander, the ends frequently justify the means, the economy is driven by directives from the top, propaganda is pumped into the population, and there isn't the slightest hint of democratic self-rule -- yet we find ourselves rooting for the colony's success.
My. I feel much better now about spending an hour each week in front of "Terra Nova."
Any other Terra Novians out there?
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May '10
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
I am indeed a Terra Novian, though I've been watching it on Hulu so I'm always at least a week behind. My favorite scene in all of the episodes I've seen so far is when the commander thinks he's in some kind of Syrian-created illusion and rides his bike up to a sauropod, sighs, and rides right underneath it. I could really do with less teenage drama, but I gained a little respect for the boy (whom I had relatively none for previously) when he rejected the one girl's advances in order to remain faithful to his girlfriend who was still in the future.
May '10
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
It's fun, although I find myself wondering about all the resources devoted to decor (the hardwood floors and fairly spacious living quarters).
Oct '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
As I grow younger, like Merlin, my taste in fantastic fiction becomes ever more difficult to satisfy. Maybe I've been conditioned by so much really good stuff (Roger Zelazny, Babylon 5, Gene Wolfe, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Pat McKillip, ...) that I'm too quick to reject efforts of lesser but still acceptable quality.
Or maybe society's repeated embrace of obvious lies (peak oil, global cooling, global whining, population explosion, acid rain, death by pollution, ...) has eroded my tolerance.
Here are a few reasons why I'm repelled by Terra Nova. 1) The trajectory of pollution is down, not up. Leftists depend on pessimism and I'm an optimist. 2) Technology like they have is not sustainable without a global industrial civilization, so they're not a colony - they're just an expedition. Leftists imagine technology is easy, because the things they are good at really are easy. 3) Going back to the dinosaur age to fix anything is silly, natural variations will overwhelm any human effort at that time scale. Lefty "thought" usually exhibits ignorance of the effects of scale.
But I think it's mainly the Forrest Gump effect. He taught me the real meaning of "stupid".
Mar '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
I tried watching the first episode, but I ended up rooting for the dinosaurs. Does that make me a pre-paleoconservative?
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
Aw, heck, Barfly. You're right about all of this. But may I have your permission to put sweet reason out of my mind once a week to watch those folks run away from dinosaurs?
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
Brilliant!
Dec '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
Haven't seen it but intrigued by the concept. Always wanted to ride that Raptor thing.
What's a good caliber for Dinosaur?
LW
Oct '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
Peter Robinson
Aw, heck, Barfly. You're right about all of this. But may I have your permission to put sweet reason out of my mind once a week to watch those folks run away from dinosaurs? · Dec 11 at 10:46am
Sorry, man, I shouldn't trash other people's guilty pleasures. No way am I telling you mine.
And you're on quite a roll this morning, Peter. This response is interrupting my read of your debate wrap-up, which was interrupting the work I was trying to get thru. Do y'all rotate the Sunday morning duty, or must I always put Ricochet away to write code? Guilty pleasures ...
Mar '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
The .700 WTF might be good.
No dinosaurs were harmed in the creation of that video.
Oct '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
Percival: The .700 WTF might be good.
No dinosaurs were harmed in the creation of that video. · Dec 11 at 11:10am
Man, what production values. What a cast. And the out-of-this-world plot device - way better than any fictional portal or starship. Now, that's entertainment.
Sep '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
I, too, watch Terra Nova, although I get frustrated at some of the things that occur. [Relatively minor issues, though.] I have thought about whether or not, if I were a Terra Novan, I would be content to live under a military dictatorship. I think the answer would be "yes" given the situation Terra Nova is under, as long as I trusted and respected the dictator. I'm more interested in the manner in which people work (how are work assignments made--according to ability?) and receive compensation. It seems like the food in the open-air market is "free." Bah, I'm babbling now... I need coffee.
Sep '10
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
Barfly: As I grow younger, like Merlin, my taste in fantastic fiction becomes ever more difficult to satisfy. Maybe I've been conditioned by so much really good stuff (Roger Zelazny, Babylon 5, Gene Wolfe, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Pat McKillip, ...) that I'm too quick to reject efforts of lesser but still acceptable quality.
· Dec 11 at 9:57am
Barfly, anyone who appreciates Zelazny and Wolfe is a good guy in my estimation. A man of good taste and like that; a kindred spirit. I hope I can re-read The Book of the New Sun over Christmas break this year.
Oct '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
dogsbody
I hope I can re-read The Book of the New Sun over Christmas break this year.
I've wanted to read that again ever since I read it the first time. Wolfe always takes a second reading for me, I'm not of a literary bent. In fact, I find his work difficult but there's some hook in it that I can't let go of. What is it?
Apr '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
I've been watching it, but I'm not terribly enthused. I'm turned off by the usual trope about the future being unlivable because of the greedy industrialists. As Barfly points out, we are living in an ever cleaner - not dirtier - world. Frankly, I really don't care much about any of the characters, except the guy that owns the bar. He's about the only character on the show that has a personality. On the other hand, some shows start off kind of weak and it takes most of a season to really get rolling so I figure I'll watch the rest of the season then decide if I want to tune in again for season 2 (if there is one). Besides, there aren't a lot of science fiction shows (as opposed to fantasy/supernatural) to pick from.
Mar '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
Haven't seen it. I've gotten so used to the network TV political sucker punch that I just don't watch much network TV at all. If I could get my favorite channels on a cafeteria plan.... ESPN during college football season, TCM, the Military Channel, etc... I'd never even see network TV channels. The last network show I watched regularly was House, and then that got formulaic and repetitive.
Jun '10
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
I'm a few weeks behind so maybe I've missed something, but in the pilot they said it was an "alternate time stream" and therefore actions would not and could not affect the future. The ostensible purpose is colonization, not to fix the future.
Oct '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
I've watched most of the episodes, but to be honest I completely forgot it existed the last three weeks...
I want to enjoy it much more than I am. I find the future plot, that the earth's climate is ruined, annoying. And the kids are so obnoxious.
I agree, the bar owner is the most interesting...because he's the only capitalist!
The main character, the cop, is played by the guy who was the main character in Life on Mars. That was another time travel show (the only dinosaur in it was Harvey Keitel). And it was embarrassingly pro-Obama. "There's so much fear here. In the future, there's hope." "He won? He really won?" And then in the last episode when it was revealed the whole thing was a dream dreamed by an astronaut in the future on a trip to mars, it was revealed the future president was... dun dun dun... Sasha Obama! (Or Malia, I forget which).
So, yeah, I'm having a hard to overlooking that every time I see the cop in Terra Nova.
But Steven Lang is fantastic.
Oct '11
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
Edit: oops, double post...
Edited on Dec 11, 2011 at 1:23pmSep '10
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
Barfly
Wolfe always takes a second reading for me, I'm not of a literary bent. In fact, I find his work difficult but there's some hook in it that I can't let go of. What is it? · Dec 11 at 11:32am
I'm not very literary, either. I think part of Wolfe's appeal for me is the difficulty--figuring out what is really going on--and even the language is challenging. Wolfe and Patrick O'Brian are the only two contemporary authors that make me wish I had an OED nearby.
Perhaps the main reason is that Wolfe is very good at creating mythology. Not just stories, but myth. Cordwainer Smith--even though his work is very uneven--was a master of this on a smaller canvas. (I'm leaving out Tolkien because he's on another level entirely, I think.)
Sep '10
Re: Why We Should All Watch "Terra Nova"
Double post. I think this was caused by the server hairball this afternoon.
Edited on Dec 11, 2011 at 3:59pm