Terra Nova: Murder by Dinosaur

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

Again, as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I like this show. But, it's not fun to write about... mostly because it's not fun to think about. And, sadly, I'm not being nearly as critical of this show as most people are! I don't pick on the dinosaurs or how procedural the show is or how bad the drama is. This episode was particularly bad... the only time marker it even had was the fact that it has to come after the episode where Josh gets the job at the bar. Otherwise, no events in this episode add anything to the story so far. Though maybe the banished guy will make a return? 

Terra Nova "Bylaw" (S01E06): [interesting opening with the back story. is this the first time they've done this or just the first time I didn't fast-forward through it?] A guy named Foster gets eaten by a dinosaur almost immediately, as it was trapped in a building and he opened the door. Jim is investigating. Jim thinks that Foster was set-up to be murdered... that the dinosaur that ate him had been lured into the room that Foster was entering. [well this opens up a whole new side to having dinos around...] Jim goes to talk to some of Foster's friends. It's revealed that he had a secret girlfriend. [hmmmm...] Foster's tag isn't with his personal effects, so they go after the dinosaur, thinking he's eaten it. [thank goodness for GPS chips, eh?] They shoot him, open him up, pull out the bait, part of the shed, and the tag.... then sew him back up. [I appreciate that they didn't flat-out kill the thing... I think.] The girl on his tag works in the mess hall, so they track her down. It appears that she married a guy to get in on his lottery win for Terra Nova... but now seems to have had a relationship with Foster. Her husband comes in and claims that he killed Foster (you know, to save her from being banished, since he thinks that she did it). Jim starts questioning the guy some more, and he says that he tailed Foster for a week to learn his shifts, then hacked into the shed, put in the bait, and closed the dinosaur inside. He said he was upset that Foster was having an affair with his wife. He felt stupid for not realizing his wife was using her. This is Terra Nova's first murder - the bylaws say that banishment is the punishment.

Elisabeth thinks that some mercy should be shown to the "killer," and ends up planting the idea into Jim's head that maybe the guy falsely confessed. [I love how unlikely they made this seem, yet it's exactly what happened.] There is no trial - Taylor gives the guy a gun and sends him on his way. But, Jim goes into the wild and finds the guy... and figures out that he didn't really kill Foster. He brings him back to talk to his wife, and says that he knows she was dumped by Foster a few weeks ago. [then why was she still on Foster's tag?] So, it's back to the drawing board on solving the murder. Taylor isn't thrilled that Jim brought the guy back. Security finds out that people bet illegally on cards at the bar. Jim looks at Foster's financials and it does indeed look like gambling goes on, so a group of security officers head to the bar, including Taylor. They arrest the owner and find that he takes a cut of all card games happening under his roof. [is there supposed to be a bar in Terra Nova? did this guy build this thing in secret? I'd like to learn some more about the earlier pilgrimages and such...] They think that the bar guy keeps paper records, but they don't find the ledger at the bar.

The security team is "alerted" that the bar owner has made a run for it outside the gates, so several of the guys go after him. But, it appears that one of Taylor's men plays cards and owed Foster quite a bit of money. Taylor thinks that he was the one who killed Foster, and says that arresting the bar owner was a hoax to get this kid out in the wild. The kid lies to Taylor's face, then goes to shoot, but his gun is empty. [good thing they gave the kid a fake gun! They really did a nice job of figuring this out ahead of time! Though I might have appreciated more subtle clues so I could follow along at home...] Taylor hits him a few times, and finds the bar ledger on him. The kid demands to be brought back for a court marshaling, but Taylor says no. The kid is upset that he doesn't have a gun or anything. [he will probably get eaten pretty quickly without a gun...] Taylor and Jim thank the bar owner for playing along, and he says that he won't do it again for free. [I was surprised that he played along for free this time, unless he really didn't like the kid who just got banished!]

Cr: Adam Taylor/FOX

While at the bar, Jim was very surprised to find Josh working there. Jim tells Josh that he's done working there, and Josh lashes out, saying that he finally took some responsibility. [...except not really. Does his family really not suspect that Josh misses his Chicagoan girlfriend? Or are they just assuming that he's over her and has moved on to Skye?] Back at home, Jim confronts Josh about the job, tells him there are no secrets within the family, and lets him go back to working. Josh immediately heads out, as his boss had instructed him that he'll need to meet with Mira, outside the gates, in order to try and bring his girlfriend to Terra Nova. Skye, Josh, and the bar owner all meet up, and the guy gives him a gun and a map. The kids get to the rendezvous point and are surrounded by Sixers, who blindfold them and bring them to Mira. Mira tells Josh that she's going to ask for a favor someday, and he better do it without question or hesitation. He agrees and they're let go. [you know it's going to be something super extreme, like let them in the gates or stall his father or something...]

While all of that was going on, nothing happened with Maddy. And with Zoe, well, she and Elisabeth had a project going on. See, Zoe faked an earache to get out of school, since she misses her mother. The day before she feigned a stomachache. [was she not in school in Chicago because they weren't supposed to have three children in a family?] At the lab, there's an ankylosaurus egg that may hatch soon, but they have used their technology to look inside and find birth defects. [I don't get their medical technology... sometimes they're using barbaric methods and sometimes they have state-of-the-art stuff. anyone?] Elisabeth, knowing she's messing with God, works on the dinosaur inside the egg, and she, Zoe, and Jim watch it hatch. The Shannons decide to keep the baby dino for a while. [this could prove to be fascinating.... maybe.]