Terra Nova: More than 1 Spy

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Terra Nova "The Runaway" (S01E05): The evening guards pick up a warm-blooded creature near the gate and go after it... discovering a little girl. They take her to the clinic, but she's evasive and violent. Elisabeth talks to her and finds out her name is Leah Marcos, and she lost her bag in the chase. She says that her parents died - mom of disease and dad of dinosaur attack. [poor thing. we don't know a heck of a lot about how Sixers live, but orphans certainly can't be treated that well..] It's not long before we discover that Leah was headed for the portal to get to her grandmother's house, not knowing that the portal is one-way. Taylor remembers her from before the Sixers split, and knew that she had a brother named Sam. Taylor is looking forward to the possible inside information that she might be able to give. [of course he is. I think that the Sixers influence Taylor's activities a bit too much...] Elisabeth invites Leah to stay with the Shannons, tho Jim isn't thrilled.

A search party finds Leah's bag in the jungle, but they are attacked by Sixers, though, and there's quiet a violent fight between the the Terra Novans and the Sixers. The Sixers have two of the TerraNovans and want Leah in exchange. Taylor allows Leah to make up her own mind after his people are released. Leah says that she wants to stay in Terra Nova.

Taylor asks Jim to find out everyone who left the gates in the past 24 hours... they have to figure out who the spy is. [... you know they're not going to figure it out in a single episode... oh wait, half of the issues are solved in one episode on this show...] Taylor is suspicious of one guy in the science department because he came over on the Sixth Pilgrimage. Malcolm defends the guy, tho.

Taylor plays with Leah a bit, then finds out that the Sixers move around a lot and that Leah likes maps and uniforms. Leah goes to take a placement test but ducks out when nobody is looking and heads to Mira's old place. She breaks in, rummages around, and makes off with a sealed box. Jim, Taylor, & Co. find Leah and take her into custody. They realize she's a spy and question her, and it seems that Mira is holding Leah's brother hostage so Leah will cooperate. [but, of course, who knows if we can trust her. Plus, Taylor was the one who first mentioned Sam, so it's easy to see how she'd make up something about him...]

Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
Television and Pixomondo

Josh finds a note from Leah, apologizing and saying that she "had to," which causes Jim to believe that the bit about her brother is true. Jim goes out into the jungle, armed and against Taylor's wishes, to search for Sam. He, of course, gets caught in a Sixers trap. [seen to the right] Mira tells Jim that Sam was never in danger, and that she just had to get Leah motivated. [figures. though I wouldn't have put it past Mira to harm a child!] Mira tells Jim that Taylor has pissed off a lot of people in the future and they want him gone. [now this is something I'd like to hear more about!] Mira says that she has a daughter, Sienna, who was 4 when Mira left for Terra Nova. When Mira has done her job, she'll get to see her daughter again. [weird. I was under the impression that everyone in Terra Nova brought their families...] Jim returns with Sam, and a woman from the third pilgrimage is interested in taking in the children. Taylor asks Jim if Mira said anything noteworthy, and Jim keeps his new knowledge to himself. [secrets. oh boy. and this, of course, is immediately followed by a "scene from the next episode" where Jim tells Josh that there are no secrets in the family.] The final scene has Taylor asking Malcolm to work on opening the box.

What else went on this episode? Well, Maddy had a short-lived apprenticeship at the clinic. She couldn't handle looking at wounds and was released after a few days. Reynolds tried to ask Jim if he could formally court Maddy, but Jim didn't really respond. Reynolds did, however, go ahead and declare his intentions to her, and she says yes.

And, as far as Josh goes, they're really setting him up to want to rebel. When Leah came to stay, she got his room while he bunked on the couch. Then, when the parents had to work, he gets stuck babysitting Leah and Zoe on no notice.