Tera Nova—are they on a different planet or a private Jurassic Park?
The trailer introduced a dystopian future, where the Shannon family (Jason O’Mara is the dad) wear breathing masks, lining up for “the final shuttle to Terra Nova” — an Earth colony set 85 million years in the past. Once they stroll through a bright light tunnel, they arrive in the past at a fenced-in compound that’s surrounded by dense Pandora-like tropical forest and at least one towering waterfall. The Shannon family is greeted by the rugged Commander Taylor (Stephen Lang, the bad guy in Avatar, and yes, you are correctly sensing a trend here). At first, everything’s all prehistoric Blackberry-free bliss. The Shannon family hangs out in their new eco-friendly homestead breathing clean air with solar panels on the roof. “We’re starting over as a family,” etc. Then… an attack! "You're not in Kansas anymore…" (Brook Rushton/FOX) Characters get violently yanked from view. Guns are drawn. Colonists speed off in The Lost World-style armored tumbler trucks. Danger! Excitement! And finally, here comes the show’s tagline: “There is no paradise without sacrifice.” Boom, take that, Shannon family.