TV Review: Terra Nova Episode 1.10
Tyrants!
Its that time of the week again! We’re at Episode 10 of Terra Nova, where Taylor and Mira have it out in the woods. Did they actually fight or is that just a euphemism? And what is it with Fox’s obsession to always get stills of Taylor (Stephen Lang) near some campsite fire looking badass? Let’s find out.
The Review:
Terra Nova is starting to prep for the arrival of the 11th Pilgrimage. Taylor heads out for a quick walkabout and leaves Jim Shannon in charge of Terra Nova as acting CO since Lt. Washington is out on a recon mission. But the real reason Taylor heads out is to check out the markings his son Lucas has seemed to leave everywhere on rock formations outside of the compound as a kind of ‘FU’ to his dad. Unfortunately, Mira catches Taylor off guard and now holds him at gunpoint. D’oh.
For a time, Taylor is handcuffed and being led back to the Sixers camp by Mira…until he breaks free and turns the tables on her. During this time, we get some exposition on why Mira is doing what’s she’s doing. She was an ex-con with child and no job prospects until her secret bosses offered her a job in taking down Terra Nova.
And it seems that Lucas Taylor is her boss, not the other way around. Plus, he’s this close to finding a way to make the time portals work both ways without any one landing in an alternate universe. Despite hearing that his son is a nutjob, Taylor clearly still wants Lucas back in his life.
Unfortunately, Taylor and Mira’s heart-to-heart is interrupted by two slasher dinos in heat. Taylor loses his gun after he and Mira job off a waterfall to escape. But when the slashers come back to finish the job later that night, together with Mira Taylor fends off both predators. The two warriors part still enemies, but with far more respect for one another.
Meanwhile, Terra Nova has been on lockdown, with new protocols put in place to root out the mole feeding the Sixers intel. Because of all the new safe c\guards, soon the mole is literally resorting to using Morse code via sun reflections to schedule meet ups.
Reynolds and Jim intercept the exchange and almost catch the mole at a construction site. But she…that’s right, she gets away. But not before accidentally cutting herself and leaving a drop of blood at the scene.
And who is she? Skye! It seems that she is only helping the Sixers as they have access to the only medicine that is keeping her mother alive. But the medicine comes only when Skye gives them intel. And to think Josh finally decided to apologize for being a douchebag a few episodes ago!
Now the drop of Skye’s blood got mixed into a can of paint thinner. Jim has to twist Malcom’s arm for help, which then allows her to start analyzing the blood to find out who the mile is. It will take a while as the blood was been diluted by the paint thinner. Unfortunately, Skye is interning at the clinic. So at night, she swings back unnoticed and destroys the blood sample. Worst. Clinic Security. EVER.
Jim is frustrated and wants a listing from Elisabeth of everyone who had access to the clinic that day. Its 84 people. But Elisabeth was able to get some data out of the ruined blood. The mole is a woman, which narrows the list down to 47 people. Jim will continue to dig and find which lady is the mole.
What’s even worse is how Taylor sees Skye as that daughter he never had, saying both her allegedly dead parents would be proud of the woman she’s become. Skye barely choked back self-loathing on that line.
And there has to be a Shannon family B-plot. This one being that the baby ankylosaurus that Elisabeth saved from a few episodes ago is now ready to go back to the wild. But Zoe isn’t read to let go. She is so found of the pet she gives it a different name each day. So in this PBS mini-special, the Shannons teach their daughter Zoey the importance of letting a baby ankylosaurus go back to its mommy.
My thoughts:
Very tight-paced episode. The two main stories got the focus, with minimal family shenanigans. I which Skye had been willingly evil and not being blackmailed, as we’ve seen that before.
The conversation between Mira and Taylor was good, as we are hearing more about these mysterious bosses who want to strip mine this new world of the past. More please, before you get canceled.
The episodes continue to improve little by little. But will that be enough to save this show? Who knows? See you next week!