So Much Potential, Money, and Talent. Why Did This Have to Be a Kids' Show?

Terra Nova - “The Runaway”

A girl of about ten years runs away from the Sixers camp and is picked up by Terra Nova residents. Her name is Leah, and she has horrible hair. Finally Maddy Shannon gets her to brush it, but it’s rough going for a while. Leah is no fan of Taylor’s, calling him “the bad man.” The Shannons temporarily adopt the child. Soon, Mira and some Sixers arrived with captured Terra Nova soldiers in tow. The Sixers offer their prisoners in exchange for Leah, and Taylor says that Leah is free to go if she wants to go. Jim brings Leah out to talk with Mira. Leah tells Mira that she is going to stay in Terra Nova.

It turns out that all this is just a ruse. Leah was sent by Mira into Terra Nova to get a container from Mira’s former house. Leah is caught before she can escape with the box. Leah tells Jim Shannon that Mira has her little brother, and that she had to become a mole to save him. Against Taylor’s orders, Jim went out to try to save the little boy. He falls into a Sixer trap, is almost eaten by a dinosaur, and is taken to Mira by passing Sixers. Mira tells Jim that she wasn’t going to hurt the boy; she only wanted to encourage Leah to bring her the container she wanted. She also tells Jim that powerful people back in 2149 aren’t too into Taylor.

If Mira can get rid of Taylor, those powerful people will reunite her with her four-year-old daughter who is still living in the future. Mira advises Jim to be on her side, for the sake of his family. Mira lets Jim go, along with Leah’s little brother. Jim returns and does not share the info he got from Mira with Taylor. It looks like Jim is keeping his options open until he has all the information. That’s the smartest thing he’s done so far.

Leah is reunited with her brother, and she hugs Jim in gratitude. A widow in Terra Nova adopts both children. In teen love news, Josh isn’t featured a whole lot in this one, but Mark finally asks Maddy if he can date her. Maddy tries to apprentice under her mother to study medicine, but blood and guts make her sick (one of us is completely the same way), so that’s not going to work.

This show is really lame, but with The Lying Game gone now, what else do we really have to watch on a Monday nigh? We are NOT forgiving Gossip Girl for the last two seasons, so don’t even suggest that we take it up again. We will watch that when it’s on DVD later. It’s lost “real time” status. Terra Nova is just too sweet for us. It’s like it’s aimed at an 11-year-old girl who likes a little action. This is a kids’ show. We’re still sticking with it for the duration of the season. We like that this episode focused on the Sixers and some overarching mystery. At least this one was better than the Dinobird episode, right?

Episode grade: B-