Terra Nova wasn't horrible. It was derivative and a bit clichéd. For example, the troubled relationship between estranged and reunited father and son has been done to death, but the worst part was that it seemed to have borrowed heavily from two BBC series - Outcasts and Primeval.
That being said, the plot offered some good elements...who are the sixers, what is their story and where will that take us? There's plenty of room for plot and sub-plot and many ways to go with it, so I refuse to write the show off just yet.
Ultimately, it wasn't badly acted and did overcome the huge problem of telling everyone the back story without either confusing us by introducing too many characters or story lines. It offered us something for the future of the series without being over complex.
Jason O'Mara is a decent lead and by now, quite a recognizable face. His wife is played by Shelley Conn, who is well known to British TV audiences but making her debut in a US series. Stephen Lang first appeared to be playing a similar character to his role in 'Avatar' but later softened and we saw a sympathetic side not seen in his work in that blockbuster movie.
The lead characters were watchable but we didn't see much of Christine Adams who is the leader of the 'sixers,' and who we must assume will figure more prominently as the series goes on.
All in all, although this was in part clichéd and somewhat derivative, it has the potential to be more than that, and probably deserves a few weeks of viewing before we decide whether the show has a future.
