Terra Nova


Television

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Produced by..Brannon Braga (aka..The Man who killed Star Trek)

Features...Time Travel

Reaction..RUN AWAY RUN AWAY!!!!!!!

Liberty's Edge

DM Wellard wrote:

Produced by..Brannon Braga

Features...Time Travel

Reaction..RUN AWAY RUN AWAY!!!!!!!

I thought it was a different world they were going too. I haven't seen it yet but thought that was the story line was it was a different world.


No they changed it..instead the colonists are time travelling back 85 million years to the Santonian Age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch.No doubt they'll get the Dinosaurs totally incorrect.

James Jacobs might enjoy it though.


DM Wellard wrote:

No they changed it..instead the colonists are time travelling back 85 million years to the Santonian Age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch.No doubt they'll get the Dinosaurs totally incorrect.

James Jacobs might enjoy it though.

Would have been more interesting if it stayed a different world but kept the going back in time only the climax of the first season would reveal that they had travelled to Mars of the very distant past... well that would have been a good shocker!


It's Braga..with him time travel is inevitable.


Any explanation on how dumping a couple thousand colonists in the distant past doesn't total fubar their presant with the grandfather paradox and butterfly effect?


Xabulba wrote:
Any explanation on how dumping a couple thousand colonists in the distant past doesn't total fubar their presant with the grandfather paradox and butterfly effect?

Well, just finish it with the destruction of dinosaurs getting all the people back even farther in the futur (beyond the super-deadly time they left at the begining) with the energy they took from the dinos.

There all done! ;)


From the (negative) Time Magazine review, it seems that the past they are entering is in 'an alternate timeline'...so they're screwing up somebody's present, but not their own. (I'll be mildly impressed if someone in the show thinks to bring up the fact that they may be committing temporal genocide on some other version of humanity.)

As an alternate past, it also means they can play fast and loose with the dinosaurs.

I'm going to hold any judgement until I've actually seen a few episodes. Time seems to feel that the characters lacked depth.


Depending on how you view time travel, any walk into the past would make it an alternate one.


True, but by making it *explicitly* an alternate, they avoid a lot of the questions that drag up from any time-travel plot.


"Who wants to go to Jurassic Park land forever!"
"Ooh ooh, me, pick me!"

It would probably be way more entertaining if everyone was convicted criminals and they were shunted to "dinosaur time" as a form of death penalty/life in prison punishment and they have to survive. And sense they would all be "villains," no one cares if the chronologically incorrect dinosaurs eat them.


I saw an interview with one of the actors recently. As far as the dinosaurs are concerned, we'll be seeing some recognizable ones. However he also mentioned that since we don't have a complete fossil record of the era, it opens the show up for creative license to imagine other types of dinosaurs to populate the world with. (Read: Since we don't know what all the dinosaurs looked like, we're feeling comfortable with making up our own.)

I was also put off by the whole time travel thing. A distant world with roughly parallel evolution, sure. Going back 85 million years to ruin the environment and muck with the timeline, ours or an alternate, not so much.

Then again, I suppose it's a matter of how many humans they send back and where. Since there's going to eventually be a mass extinction event anyway, one has to wonder just how much more damage adding another species can do.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
hopeless wrote:
DM Wellard wrote:

No they changed it..instead the colonists are time travelling back 85 million years to the Santonian Age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch.No doubt they'll get the Dinosaurs totally incorrect.

James Jacobs might enjoy it though.

Would have been more interesting if it stayed a different world but kept the going back in time only the climax of the first season would reveal that they had travelled to Mars of the very distant past... well that would have been a good shocker!

I think the estate of Edgar Rice Burroughs might have had something to say about that. :)

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Cartigan wrote:

"Who wants to go to Jurassic Park land forever!"

"Ooh ooh, me, pick me!"

It would probably be way more entertaining if everyone was convicted criminals and they were shunted to "dinosaur time" as a form of death penalty/life in prison punishment and they have to survive.

Sorta been done before. Google the "Pliocene Exile" series.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Ramarren wrote:

From the (negative) Time Magazine review, it seems that the past they are entering is in 'an alternate timeline'...so they're screwing up somebody's present, but not their own. (I'll be mildly impressed if someone in the show thinks to bring up the fact that they may be committing temporal genocide on some other version of humanity.)

That's assuming of course that all worlds that share the same past would have the same future. Humanity's origins may be nothing more than a fluke series of lucky rolls of genetic dice.

Actually the real kicker would be to discover that they'd actually traveled into the FUTURE.

The Exchange

Also it seems as if a large portion of the plot is from the book, the Non-born King; Or rather at least parts of it.

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16

Shadowborn wrote:
Then again, I suppose it's a matter of how many humans they send back and where. Since there's going to eventually be a mass extinction event anyway, one has to wonder just how much more damage adding another species can do.

Even if that's the case, the modern human society they create could screw up the future just by existing in the fossil record to be discovered.


JoelF847 wrote:
Shadowborn wrote:
Then again, I suppose it's a matter of how many humans they send back and where. Since there's going to eventually be a mass extinction event anyway, one has to wonder just how much more damage adding another species can do.
Even if that's the case, the modern human society they create could screw up the future just by existing in the fossil record to be discovered.

That really doesn't make sense.

Sovereign Court

Can someone explain the show please? All I got from ads so far is "Times are tough, no actually humans have blown it. A group of people want to start over. So naturally they choose to go back to the time of the dinosaur......" umm what?


DM Wellard wrote:

Produced by..Brannon Braga (aka..The Man who killed Star Trek)

Features...Time Travel

Reaction..RUN AWAY RUN AWAY!!!!!!!

How do they get around the whole time paradox issue?

In service,

Rich
www.drgames.org

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
DrGames wrote:
DM Wellard wrote:

Produced by..Brannon Braga (aka..The Man who killed Star Trek)

Features...Time Travel

Reaction..RUN AWAY RUN AWAY!!!!!!!

How do they get around the whole time paradox issue?

In service,

Rich
www.drgames.org

Remember Pier's Anthony's OX Trilogy and the parralel Earth the adventurers dubbed Paleo, because it as Earth as it was in the paleolithic era?

That sort of thing. It's more like back and sideways time travel, or maybe just sideways time travel. In other words there is no paradox that affects the "present".


LazarX wrote:

Remember Pier's Anthony's OX Trilogy and the parralel Earth the adventurers dubbed Paleo, because it as Earth as it was in the paleolithic era?

That sort of thing. It's more like back and sideways time travel, or maybe just sideways time travel. In other words there is no paradox that affects the "present".

I remember some Asimov's stuff where they would use sideway/parralel travel into worlds that could be identified as "dead"-earths for resource extraction or safe individual residence (in residential bases, etc.).

So, they just have to find an alternative earth with a Forensic Past and a Dead Present it will meet with anything they want to do with it. Easy right! ;-)


Wow. Super-annoying emo douche kid.

As is always the case, time travel sucks the big one (yeah, Braga, you really are terrible), but if one ignores that it's okay. The future world was for more interesting than the past world, though.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
DM Wellard wrote:

Produced by..Brannon Braga (aka..The Man who killed Star Trek)

According to my spouse, Braga is the man who made Star Trek "grow up".

I concur. The Braga movie was a film you could watch and enjoy on it's merits even if it did not have the Star Trek label on it. In fact it might well be the first decent Trek film since Wrath of Khan.


LazarX wrote:
DM Wellard wrote:

Produced by..Brannon Braga (aka..The Man who killed Star Trek)

According to my spouse, Braga is the man who made Star Trek "grow up".

I concur. The Braga movie was a film you could watch and enjoy on it's merits even if it did not have the Star Trek label on it. In fact it might well be the first decent Trek film since Wrath of Khan.

I don't know about you, but I thought Generations was fairly mediocre, but I guess there's all types of tastes in the world.

Sovereign Court

I thought it was an interesting mix of Lost, Jurassic Park and Avatar.


My gripe (is) and will probably always be with the dinosaurs. The Carnotaurus' forearms were wrong (abelisaurs had even more ridiculously useless arms than late Cretaceous tyrannosaurs). Also, Carnotaurus fossils have only been found in Argentina. The brachiosaurs (did they call them Brachiosaurus? I missed part of it) *might* be plausible if they were Sauroposeidons. Though they lived earlier in the Cretaceous, the only fossils found come from Oklahoma, so that's not a huge stretch to put them in Cretaceous Chicago.

Making up the Slashers (Acceroraptor)...meh. Not that interesting, really. Jack Horner is acting as the dinosaur advisor on the series, just as he did for "Jurassic Park". Since Spielberg is an executive producer on the series, he asked Jack to come on board.

Ok. I just put "Nerd" me back in the box for now. I look forward to the next few episodes, as it usually takes me 2 or 3 to decide if a show is worth my keeping up with it.


Well, it was interesting enough for me to hang on for the next episode. We'll see where it goes from there.


I enjoyed it myself. The Parallel world route allows them far more leeway in what they do. I am ok with getting them "wrong", the show is what it is, its not trying to be a history or discovery channel hard sci show about dinos.

Its a show about people in the future, in a dying over crowed word, who stargate to another universe, 85 millions years in the past of the universe at that.

So I just roll with it for what it is. And so far, its a fun trip anyhow.


I'm good with the Parallel world route also as it gets rid of all the problems of time paradox. I didn't watch the show yet so did they mention if this is the only group sent through or are there other colonies on the new Earth or if they sent colonies to other parallel worlds?

Sovereign Court

seekerofshadowlight wrote:
the show is what it is, its not trying to be a history or discovery channel hard sci show about dinos.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too.


Xabulba wrote:
I'm good with the Parallel world route also as it gets rid of all the problems of time paradox. I didn't watch the show yet so did they mention if this is the only group sent through or are there other colonies on the new Earth or if they sent colonies to other parallel worlds?

Well as far as we know that is the one and only "anomaly" they have found, it took em a while to get a gate going and the colony is still smallish. They thought it went back in time, sent a prob, made so they could find it. They never found ti, so they knew they landed upon a parallel world.

The trip seems one way, although it seems they can send signal back to 2149, it seems like it takes a whole complexe and massive power to open the portal. so it may only be one way due to not having the gear and infusture needed on Terra nova.

Spoiler:
There is a rival group, they call the sixers as they came though in the 6th group. They have broken away and set up camp elsewhere. No one knows who sent them or what they want, they are very milltent


Callous Jack wrote:
seekerofshadowlight wrote:
the show is what it is, its not trying to be a history or discovery channel hard sci show about dinos.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking too.

Yep, hell Stargate, star trek, sliders, babylon 5, farscape and fring just to name a few, do not get hung up on "will this really work? is this 100% accurate?"

People do not hold cop shows, drama's or sitcoms to such a high standard, so why do it for sci-fi?

As long as I am entertained, I am good.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
seekerofshadowlight wrote:

People do not hold cop shows, drama's or sitcoms to such a high standard, so why do it for sci-fi?

Because regular people watch cop shows, drama's and sitcoms but nerds and geeks watch sci-fi shows.


Callous Jack wrote:
I thought it was an interesting mix of Lost, Jurassic Park and Avatar.

Heh, that's exactly what I said to my wife, after we watched it.


Xabulba wrote:
seekerofshadowlight wrote:

People do not hold cop shows, drama's or sitcoms to such a high standard, so why do it for sci-fi?

Because regular people watch cop shows, drama's and sitcoms but nerds and geeks watch sci-fi shows.

No, they watch both, but let the non sci-fi shows slide. I knew a nurse who did the same thing with the medical shows, it is not a nerd thing.

I honestly think some of it is so they can feel smarter then those who are just enjoying the show for what it is.

Makes a note to at some point watch avatar


seekerofshadowlight wrote:
The trip seems one way, although it seems they can send signal back to 2149, it seems like it takes a whole complexe and massive power to open the portal. so it may only be one way due to not having the gear and infusture needed on Terra nova.

When the daughter was talking about the probe she mentioned "finding the rift." Sounds to me like the "time portal" is not only one way, but the future humans didnt create it. They simply found it and figured out how to use it. Perhaps they used tech to make the portable usable, but there is no real indication that they opened it. I got the impression that it was only one way also based on this same probe discussion.


seekerofshadowlight wrote:
Xabulba wrote:
seekerofshadowlight wrote:

People do not hold cop shows, drama's or sitcoms to such a high standard, so why do it for sci-fi?

Because regular people watch cop shows, drama's and sitcoms but nerds and geeks watch sci-fi shows.

No, they watch both, but let the non sci-fi shows slide. I knew a nurse who did the same thing with the medical shows, it is not a nerd thing.

I honestly think some of it is so they can feel smarter then those who are just enjoying the show for what it is.

Makes a note to at some point watch avatar

It's called suspension of disbelief because we know some things are fake, but still enjoy them. For example Star Wars wasn't actually filmed in space. *gasp* I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. Also, Firely explosions don't occur in the vaccum of space. But they still look cool.


Tiny Coffee Golem wrote:
seekerofshadowlight wrote:
The trip seems one way, although it seems they can send signal back to 2149, it seems like it takes a whole complexe and massive power to open the portal. so it may only be one way due to not having the gear and infusture needed on Terra nova.
When the daughter was talking about the probe she mentioned "finding the rift." Sounds to me like the "time portal" is not only one way, but the future humans didnt create it. They simply found it and figured out how to use it. Perhaps they used tech to make the portable usable, but there is no real indication that they opened it. I got the impression that it was only one way also based on this same probe discussion.

From the background talk I drew to conclusion they built the gate to send the probe, not that they made the rift. There seems to be at lest a 2 year window between the prob and the first people coming though,. And the prob did not send data back, so that gear must have come though after.

I was thinking they expanded the gate,and we know it can't stay open and they only send folks and supplies though in small numbers. I believe the commander said he came though 8 years back,putting the groups at no more then 2-4 per year. Maybe just once a year.

Liberty's Edge RPG Superstar 2008 Top 32, 2011 Top 16

seekerofshadowlight wrote:


Well as far as we know that is the one and only "anomaly" they have found, it took em a while to get a gate going and the colony is still smallish. They thought it went back in time, sent a prob, made so they could find it. They never found ti, so they knew they landed upon a parallel world.

This was my biggest gripe about the show. So they couldn't find a probe after 85 million years - obviously that means it was a parallel time stream, only an idiot wouldn't jump to that conclusion! It couldn't possibly have broken in that amount of time, or been sent somewhere else than they expected with a weird time rift. Or maybe it just got eaten by a dinosaur. Nope, none of those could have happened - it's obviously a parallel world.

I'm actually hoping that this is the cover story they've told everyone, and they don't really know or care where/when they are, just that it's a chance to escape the grim future they live in. Later in the series they could discover that they're not where they think they are.


JoelF847 wrote:
seekerofshadowlight wrote:


Well as far as we know that is the one and only "anomaly" they have found, it took em a while to get a gate going and the colony is still smallish. They thought it went back in time, sent a prob, made so they could find it. They never found ti, so they knew they landed upon a parallel world.

This was my biggest gripe about the show. So they couldn't find a probe after 85 million years - obviously that means it was a parallel time stream, only an idiot wouldn't jump to that conclusion! It couldn't possibly have broken in that amount of time, or been sent somewhere else than they expected with a weird time rift. Or maybe it just got eaten by a dinosaur. Nope, none of those could have happened - it's obviously a parallel world.

I'm actually hoping that this is the cover story they've told everyone, and they don't really know or care where/when they are, just that it's a chance to escape the grim future they live in. Later in the series they could discover that they're not where they think they are.

They said they build the probe so they could find it, using future tech. I assume they accounted for the 85 million year gap.

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber
Caedwyr wrote:


I don't know about you, but I thought Generations was fairly mediocre, but I guess there's all types of tastes in the world.

All of the Trek films prior to Bragas's with the sole excception of "Wrath" ranged from fairly mediocre to fairly awful. If they didn't have the Trek imprimatur on them, they'd have been the most expensive "B" films ever made.

Generations, by the way, was in the "Fairly Mediocre", First Contact was "Fairly Awful".

The Exchange Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6

LazarX wrote:
Generations, by the way, was in the "Fairly Mediocre", First Contact was "Fairly Awful".

I wouldn't call either one good, but I found Generations a lot lamer than First Contact myself.

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Brannon Braga is responsible for one of the worst episodes of Star Trek ever (namely "Threshold.")

I can honestly say that after that travesty he has to do a lot to make me trust him with anything. In fact the only thing I can say in his defence is that at least he didn't write "The Outrageous Okona..."

Now that has to rank as the worst Trek episode ever.

Grand Lodge

Russ Taylor wrote:
LazarX wrote:
Generations, by the way, was in the "Fairly Mediocre", First Contact was "Fairly Awful".
I wouldn't call either one good, but I found Generations a lot lamer than First Contact myself.

I've found I like most of the Trek movies ... there are 3 I have seen once and don't plan on watching again. V, Insurrection, and Nemesis.


seekerofshadowlight wrote:
I believe the commander said he came though 8 years back,putting the groups at no more then 2-4 per year. Maybe just once a year.

The colony and first migration started 7 years before the 'present' of the series. We just finished seeing the 10th migration.

So, approximately 1 migration every 8 months.

LazarX" wrote:
Generations, by the way, was in the "Fairly Mediocre", First Contact was "Fairly Awful".

what


Arnwyn wrote:
seekerofshadowlight wrote:
I believe the commander said he came though 8 years back,putting the groups at no more then 2-4 per year. Maybe just once a year.

The colony and first migration started 7 years before the 'present' of the series. We just finished seeing the 10th migration.

So, approximately 1 migration every 8 months.

Thanks could not recall the years. Another point if you recall was the commander said people do not always come in back to back. He arrived 180 days before the man walking in behind him.

Makes ya wonder if that was a less stable game, or something else going on.


The line in the season previews about "control the past, control the future" seemed interesting....

The Exchange

Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
FallofCamelot wrote:

Brannon Braga is responsible for one of the worst episodes of Star Trek ever (namely "Threshold.")

I can honestly say that after that travesty he has to do a lot to make me trust him with anything. In fact the only thing I can say in his defence is that at least he didn't write "The Outrageous Okona..."

Now that has to rank as the worst Trek episode ever.

Uh uh. Angel One. Five words: Riker as a harem boy.

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

I want to know who sent the Sixers.

And I'm curious about the writing by the falls.

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