Instinct (3 Oct. 2011)

When Terra Nova comes under attack from a legion of Pterosaurs, Jim and Taylor must find a way to save the colony before it's completely overtaken. Elisabeth discovers a former flame is ... See full summary »

Director:

Jon Cassar

Writers:

Kelly Marcel (creator), Craig Silverstein (creator),

Stars:

Jason O'Mara, Shelley Conn, Christine Adams

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Jason O'Mara	...	Jim Shannon
Shelley Conn	...	Dr. Elisabeth Shannon
Christine Adams	...	Mira
Allison Miller	...	Skye
Landon Liboiron	...	Josh Shannon
Naomi Scott	...	Maddy Shannon
Rod Hallett	...	Dr. Malcolm Wallace
Alana Mansour	...	Zoe Shannon
Stephen Lang	...	Commander Nathaniel Taylor
Simone Kessell	...	Lt. Alicia Washington
Dean Geyer	...	Mark Reynolds
Peter Lamb	...	Casey Durwin
Nicholas G. Cooper	...	Robert Stanley (as Nicholas Cooper)
Louis Toshio Okada	...	Lt. Okuda (as Louis Okada)
Mikhael Wilder	...	Gillers

Storyline

When Terra Nova comes under attack from a legion of Pterosaurs, Jim and Taylor must find a way to save the colony before it's completely overtaken. Elisabeth discovers a former flame is also living in Terra Nova and may have been responsible for her recruitment. Syke tries to make Josh feel at home and Reynolds get protective of Maddy.

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Plot Keywords:

pterosaur | cretaceous | migration | mating ground | pheromones | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-14

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 2011 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Queensland, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amblin Television, Chernin Entertainment, Kapital Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

45 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Quotes

Elisabeth Shannon: So what's this? Some kind of wine?
Jim Shannon: It's 85 million B.C. Very good year.

User Reviews

Predictable and boring story, soapy character development, ellipsed action plus all the pilot flaws without its qualities

With such an exciting title I was expecting the show to finally take off and reveal the Commander as a John Rambo sent back in time to save humanity. Sadly the writers decided to trade my revolutionary concept for an episodic story that couldn't have been more disappointing.

First it was predictable and even Walt Disney Animation Studios served us with more twisted productions. Second there were at least two dead boring and neverending discussions that almost made me doze off. It's not character development, it's soapy drama polluting the sacred science-fiction realm. The only person I care about is Skye, played by pretty Allison Miller, because she makes a charming Jane in my - very subjective - opinion. Third and not least the action scenes were… missing ! It's pathetic considering Terra Nova is supposed to be a TV blockbuster but Instinct convinced me that it should quickly become a box office bomb. For example the security team was asked to hunt two dinosaurs. One second later they were back with them like nothing happened. An other one for the road ? Near the end they left the base in an armored vehicle. A few seconds later the Commander explained everyone what happened to him as his body was wounded. Do they take the audience for brainless worms ? Even my five years old daughter would be able to point out these annoying ellipses.

The only problem is that I don't have a daughter yet but it's not my point or is it ? The truth is that watching this third episode was enduring, already, and probably fried many of my precious geeky neurons. Add the return of the dumb behaviors, like throwing a rock at noisy pesky tiny dinosaurs, anecdotic subplots, non-immersive visual effects and an unexploited survivalism lesson. In fact I don't get who is supposed to enjoy such a show considering how it doesn't even make you laugh or cry like a little girl about to end up in the stomach of a scary sneaky monster ten times smaller than her. Make it twenty the CG was just too cheap ! Moreover it's not even family-friendly as it features graphic violence and silly parents allowing their innocent little daughter to keep a carnivorous plant in her bedroom. I think it was a Nepenthes-like animatronic. Drinking its acid liquor could be your last cocktail as it's used to digest preys !

Do yourself a favor and don't waste your time watching Instinct. If the damage is already done well I'm curious about what you guys thought of it. In both cases I can only recommend you to check out Primeval because the 5th episode of its first series had a similar story but it was well produced, intense, slightly twisted, frightening and even moving. In fact its climactic sequence featuring Claudia Brown and Nick Cutter is one of my all time favorite. And to help me forget about this farce I already plan to read Jurassic Park and watch the third film of the trilogy.

Note : This review was first posted on Kritikenstein, my weblog.