History Series / TerraNova

** The symbol used extensively in media material and in-Universe by the expedition features the supercontinent Pangaea in a configuration from the Triassic Period, 150 millions prior to the setting. By 85 million years ago [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous Gondwana was almost entirely broken up and much of Laurasia was covered in intercontinental shallow seaways]].

* AffablyEvil: Boylan is more of an Affable JerkAss than deliberately evil, although he is collaborating with the Sixers. May cross over into JerkassWithAHeartOfGold territory, as of the finale. He certainly prefers Taylor to [[spoiler:the Phoenix Group, and is one of the very first to welcome him back to Terra Nova]]. And in one episode, it's implied that Boylan and Taylor use to be very good friends but [[spoiler: the murder of their CO/Taylor's mentor at Taylor's hand, and the subsequent cover up between the two, put a lot of pressure on the relationship. It is suggested that Boylan for his part wanted to be a good soldier and report the incident but Taylor wanted to protect the colony and bribed him to keep quiet. The end result being the current situation between the two.]]

* SpecialEffectsFailure: For a television show that was reported to have one of the largest production budgets in the medium's history, a keen eye is able to see several [[Toys/NERFBrand painted Nerf guns]] make cameos in the hands of numerous characters during episodes.

** AnachronismStew and MisplacedWildlife can be applied to basically every dinosaur present and several other animals (i.e. swordfish had not evolved yet, rhamphorynchoid pterosaurs were extinct by then).

* StableTimeLoop: Apparently not an example, but with the [[spoiler:destruction of the probe in the season finale, the "proof" that Earth's scientists used to claim it's an AlternateReality is gone]], and so things are uncertain.

* SadisticChoice: During a war in Somalia, Taylor was made to choose between saving his wife or his son. Effectively, he lost both; [[AntagonisticOffspring Lucas]] mistakenly believes Taylor blames him for his mother's death, and he hates Taylor over it..

* AntagonisticOffspring: Lucas is this to Taylor, regarding an incident that he blames Taylor for that led to his mother's death.

* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:Washington]] before Lucas kills her. Telling an AntagonisticOffspring that [[FamilyEyeResemblance he has his father's eyes]] is just about as good as a "screw you!"

* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: It turns out that the female Sixer leader Mira is working for [[spoiler: associates of Lucas Taylor, and has more or less been coerced into the role]] in much the same way as another female "villain", [[spoiler: Sixer spy Skye Tate]]. [[spoiler: Lucas Taylor]], on the other hand, causes trouble for the colony largely out of a sense of DisproportionateRetribution for [[spoiler: his father's decision years earlier that led to his mother's death]], and his associates are doing it out of [[spoiler: pure greed]].

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Increasingly; the Sixers are shown to have valid viewpoints and motivations, while Taylor’s DarkAndTroubledPast comes more and more into the light. [[spoiler:[[TheManBehindTheMan Lucas Taylor and the corporate interests behind the Sixers]]]], however, are not sympathetic at all.

** Lucas and Weaver are less charming.
* JustShootHim: [[spoiler: Skye to Lucas, twice. Seriously, who didn't scream "FINALLY!" when she did it?]]

** Lucas claims himself to be one, right before he has two mercs hold Josh down so he can beat him.

* SadisticChoice: During a war in Somalia, Taylor was made to choose between saving his wife or his son. Effectively, he lost both; [[AntagonisticOffspring Lucas blames him for his mother's death]].

* InTheBack: Lucas cons his father into a hug, then stabs him. But seriously, you didn't have to be GenreSavvy to spot that coming a mile away.

** In an unusual inversion of portraying dinosaurs with insufficient plumage, the ''Carnotaurus'' is seen with highly developed feathers even though it is well known ''Carnotaurus'' had no feathers. And if it did, its feathers would still be primitive and hair-like.

** In an unusual inversion of portraying dinosaurs with insufficient plumage, the ''Carnotaurus'' is seen with highly developed feathers even though it is well known ''Carnotaurus'' had no feathers. And even it did, its feathers would be primitive and hair-like.

** In an unusual inversion of portraying dinosaurs with insufficient plumage, the ''Carnotaurus'' is seen with highly developed feathers even though it is well known ''Carnotaurus'' had no feathers.

* WeirdMoon: Justified, as they are 85 million years in the past, though see ArtisticLicenseAstronomy above.

* AlienSky:
** Of a sort. The first thing the Zoe asks when she sees Terra Nova's sky is "Are those clouds?". The future is so polluted the sky is nothing but smog.
** Due to the moon apparently moving back a centimeter each year, and this being 85 million B.C., the moon is ''very'' close to the sky, but it just adds to the SceneryPorn. The characters also mention the stars being different (although this is not reflected in the visual since there are no visible stars). Technically the moon shouldn't actually be that close. 85 million years ago the moon would only be 2,007 miles closer (it recedes 38mm per year) meaning that it would be 0.8% closer than it would be in 2149, it wouldn't be significantly different. However, it can appear much larger due to an optical illusion because it's a new perspective for them to see the moon.

** Jim saving Maddie from Horton's spider. Justified--Zoey told him the safe word and where they were.

* CasualDangerDialog: Nate Taylor. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by being ''that'' {{Badass}}. Averted with the teenagers.

* CommandingCoolness: Nathaniel Taylor, who goes one on one with a carnotaur as a distraction. And lives. More than that, when he first came through the portal, there was a strange [[YearInsideHourOutside temporal effect]] that meant backup wasn't coming for a long time. Taylor survived 118 days ''alone in the Cretaceous.'' Mira points out—snarking of course—that congrats, he survived 118 days. The Sixers? Yeah, they're coming up on ''1000'' days. Of course, they got sent out with hundreds of people, a fair amount of supplies, and still lost a lot of people before they learned. Taylor was sent alone with whatever he was carrying, and survived without aid. His second-in-command, Washington, is no slouch in the {{Badass}} department herself.

* FingerlessGloves: Taylor, mostly, though Wash and Guzman also wear 'em. All the better to be [[{{Badass}} badasses]] with, my dear...

* AdultFear: When the Shannons get to Terra Nova one of the soldiers nearly slashes open with a knife the backpack their youngest daughter is hiding in.

The premise is an ExcusePlot to have dinosaurs and humans interacting on a television show. The showrunners promised that the show would take pains to prevent [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology upsetting dinosaur fans]]. [[TheyJustDidntCare They were lying]].

* SeldomSeenSpecies: ''Carnotaurus'' isn't very common in media despite being well-known, and (apart from the feathers) was depicted very accurately. There are also ''Xiphactinus'', a type of marine fish, which [[MisplacedWildlife lives in the lakes]] near Terra Nova. The 20-foot-long adults are never seen or mentioned, but 3-foot juveniles are caught and eaten by Terra Novans. A less obvious example are the large pterosaurs seen in a few short scenes--rather than the typical ''Pteranodon'' seen in pop culture, it's an unnamed (and probably undiscovered) type of tapejarid. The slashers also aren't raptors at all; they're proceratosaurids.

'''''Terra Nova''''' is a television show produced by Creator/StevenSpielberg and [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Brannon Braga]] which, after a TroubledProduction, premiered on Creator/{{Fox}} in late September 2011. On March 5, 2012, it was announced that Fox would not pick up the series for a second season.

A television show produced by Creator/StevenSpielberg and [[Series/StarTrekVoyager Brannon Braga]] which, after a TroubledProduction, premiered on Creator/{{Fox}} in late September 2011. On March 5, 2012, it was announced that Fox would not pick up the series for a second season.

* BeneficialDisease: A cold provides Jim with immunity from another infection that causes the victim’s memory to regress to an earlier point. Even believing she’s a medical student, Elizabeth is able to synthesize a vaccine from Jim’s cold viruses.

* BigBad: Lucas Taylor, who’s main goal is to show up his father in revenge for perceived guilt.

* BiggerBad: Lucas' benefactors.

* ColonelBadass: Nathaniel Taylor, who goes one on one with a carnotaur as a distraction. And lives. More than that, when he first came through the portal, there was a strange [[YearInsideHourOutside temporal effect]] that meant backup wasn't coming for a long time. Taylor survived 118 days ''alone in the Cretaceous.'' Mira points out—snarking of course—that congrats, he survived 118 days. The Sixers? Yeah, they're coming up on ''1000'' days. Of course, they got sent out with hundreds of people, a fair amount of supplies, and still lost a lot of people before they learned. Taylor was sent alone with whatever he was carrying, and survived without aid. His second-in-command, Washington, is no slouch in the {{Badass}} department herself.

* ComfortingTheWidow: Jim immediately twigs that the ''real'' reason Elizabeth was chosen to come to Terra Nova was because Malcolm intended to seduce her, knowing that her husband was imprisoned back in the future. Hence his [[OhCrap shock]] upon realising Jim broke out and came back with them.
* CoolVersusAwesome: Dinosaur versus ATV versus Sonic Pulse Gun.
* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Lucas Taylor's backers are almost cartoonishly evil. They bring an evil army through the gate, they shoot a harmless ''Brachiosaurus'' for no reason, they want to commit mass deforestation and genocide in order to facilitate their mining operation, and they even ''talk about all the selfish things they're going to do when they get their money.''

** Jim and Elizabeth both note that Josh's rebellious nature and his relationship with Skye mirrors their relationship when they were younger.

*** Elizabeth is a brainy doctor who fell in love with a policeman. Maddy is a brainy medical student who falls in love with a security officer.

*** It gets even more stupid when [[spoiler: one of Lucas' bosses comes with him to Terra Nova for no defined reason and is manipulated by Elizabeth, who [[PoisonAndCureGambit injects him with a parasite and promises to cure him]] if he secures Jim's release. He, instead of using the Phoenix Group to force her to cure him, agrees (and she was bluffing the whole time). No wonder the good guys won if this guy's in charge]].

** Skye does it to herself when [[spoiler: coiling up the parasite in Hunter's stomach. He's talking about how his feelings when the parasite breaks and slides back inside.]]

* PoisonAndCureGambit: Elizabeth does this to get Jim out of prison in the season finale. [[spoiler: She was bluffing. The "cure" she injects is a sedative.]]

* ShellShockSilence: Done from Jim's perspective early in the season finale, when he wakes from a three-day coma and stumbles around the badly-damaged settlement to find Phoenix Group soldiers everywhere and Lucas and Mira in charge. Jim soon runs into Elizabeth, who restores his hearing and fills him in on what he missed.

** In "Now You See Me", Elizabeth makes passing mention of one [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Nurse Ogawa]].

* TrueLovesKiss: Jim kisses Elizabeth to infect her with a virus that helps cure her memory loss.

[[IThoughtItMeant Completely unrelated to]] [[SimilarlyNamedWorks the video game]] ''Terra Nova Strike Force Centauri'', and the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS01E06TerraNova of the same name]], which Braga co-wrote and produced.

--> '''Josh:’’’ You don't know what 2149 is like! I had three friends who [[DrivenToSuicide killed themselves]] in my junior year. No one believes they have a future, no one believes in ''anything'' anymore...

* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler: Washington]], pretty much says "screw you" before Lucas killed her.

* EarthThatUsedToBeBetter: Much better; within the adults' lifetime the sky was completely blotted out by pollution, domes are in use, population control is in effect, masks are needed to breathe, and everything is grimy.

** The Shannon family has been likened to WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons.

*** Slasher: ''Velociraptor'' again, as mentioned above, though of the fictionalized ''Jurassic Park'' variety

* ExactWords: The Sixers stated to Josh that if he helped the Sixers they would get his girlfriend to Terra Nova; [[spoiler: they did, along with a bomb that kills her as she enters]].

** Humans would probably take a lot longer to adjust to the much higher oxygen levels in the Mesozoic age, but a simple facemask for a few minutes post transfer seems to do the trick.

** [[spoiler: Skye, while her mother was effectively held hostage by the Sixers.]]

--->'''Jim:’’’ ''[to Mark]'' You know I carry a gun and hold grudges, right?

‘’’Jim:''' ''[wryly]'' Permission granted.

* SadisticChoice: Taylor was made to choose between saving his wife or his son.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Completely unrelated to]] [[SimilarlyNamedWorks the video game]] ''VideoGame/TerraNovaStrikeForceCentauri'', and the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS01E06TerraNova of the same name]], which Braga co-wrote and produced.

* AdvertisedExtra: Dinosaurs actually don't matter that much in the central plot. The only episodes in which they've had a real role are filler episodes; even then they barely appear because the {{CGI}} budget needed to show them off would be ridiculously high for a television show.

* AnimalEyeSpy: [[spoiler:A giant dragonfly is used by the Sixers to spy on Terra Nova. They lure it in using specific colors and vibrations, and a microchip attached to its body records information.]]

* AntagonisticOffspring: Lucas is this to Taylor, regarding an incident that he blames Taylor for that lead to his mother's death.

-->'''Josh:''' You don't know what 2149 is like! I had three friends who [[DrivenToSuicide killed themselves]] in my junior year. No one believes they have a future, no one believes in ''anything'' anymore...

* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:Washington]] before Lucas kills her. Telling an AntagonisticOffspring that [[FamilyEyeResemblance he has his father's eyes]] is just about as good as a "screw you!"

* EarthThatUsedToBeBetter: Much better; within the adults' lifetime the sky was completely blotted out by pollution, domes are in use, PopulationControl is in effect, masks are needed to breathe, and everything is grimy.

* ExactWords: The Sixers stated to Josh that if he helped them, their bosses would get his girlfriend to Terra Nova; [[spoiler:they do, along with a bomb that kills her as she enters]].

** The Shannon family has been likened to WesternAnimation/{{the Simpsons}}.

*** Slasher: ''Velociraptor'' again, as mentioned above, though of the fictionalized ''Jurassic Park'' variety.

** Humans would probably take a lot longer to adjust to the much higher oxygen levels in the Mesozoic age, but a simple facemask for a few minutes post-transfer seems to do the trick.

** [[spoiler:Skye]], while [[spoiler:her mother]] was effectively held hostage by the Sixers.

** On the villainous side, [[spoiler:the Phoenix Group pretty much roll over Terra Nova while Jim is in the hospital]].

--->'''Jim:''' ''[to Mark]'' You know I carry a gun and hold grudges, right?

'''Jim:''' ''[wryly]'' Permission granted.

* RagsToRiches: Sort of. Jim goes from being an escape convict in the first episode to the town sheriff, pretty much Taylor's right hand man (besides Lt. Washington, making him third in command), and at one point temporary Commanding Officer of Terra Nova when both Taylor and Wash are out.

* SadisticChoice: During a war in Somalia, Taylor was made to choose between saving his wife or his son. Effectively, he lost both; [[AntagonisticOffspring Lucas blames him for his mother's death]].

The plot involves humans from the [[CrapsackWorld post-apocalyptic future]] traveling through a time portal to live in an AlternateUniverse (maybe; see below) that resembles the Middle Cretaceous. From what we see in the first episode, [[AfterTheEnd all life on Earth is dying in the future]] and so the people have gone through the portal to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong.

[[IThoughtItMeant Completely unrelated to]] [[SimilarlyNamedWorks the video game]] ''Terra Nova Strike Force Centauri'', and the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episode [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS01E06TerraNova of the same name]], which Braga co-wrote and produced.

* AdvertisedExtra: Dinosaurs actually don't matter that much in the central plot. The only episodes in which they've had a real role were filler episodes; even then they barely appear because the {{CGI}} budget needed to show them off would be ridiculously high for a television show.

* AmnesiaDanger: "What Remains"
* AnimalEyeSpy: [[spoiler:The giant dragonfly is used by the Sixers to spy on Terra Nova. They lure it in using specific colors and vibrations, and a microchip attached to its body records information.]]

* AntagonisticOffspring: Lucas is this to Taylor

* ArtisticLicense:
** The opening credits show Pangaea, despite the fact that 85 million years ago, apart from some ''minor'' continental shift and rise in sea-level, the planet was almost identical to present day Earth.
** The moon ''was'' [[TruthInTelevision closer to Earth]], 85 million years ago, but, unless the portal in time also displaced them in space and put them far nearer to the equator to create an optical effect, the Moon was barely distinguishable from the way it looks now.
* ArtisticLicenseBiology: When a crow-sized animal with hollow bones flies into people and clothing racks at full speed, more likely this will kill the animal, not fling things 40 times their weight into the air.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: The symbol used extensively in media material and in-Universe by the expedition features the supercontinent Pangaea in a configuration from the Triassic Period, 150 millions earlier to the setting. By this point [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous Gondwana was almost entirely broken up and much of Laurasia was covered in intercontinental shallow seaways]].

* {{Badass}}[=/=]ColonelBadass: Nathaniel Taylor, who went one on one with a carnotaur as a distraction. And lived. More than that, when he first came through the portal, there was a strange [[UnstuckInTime temporal effect]] that meant backup wasn't coming for a long time. Taylor survived 118 days ''alone in the Cretaceous.'' Mira points out - snarking of course - that congrats, he survived 118 days. The Sixers? Yeah, they're over ''1000'' days. Of course, they got sent out with hundreds of people, a fair amount of supplies, and still lost a lot of people before they learned. Taylor was sent alone with whatever he was carrying, and survived without aid.
** His second-in-command, Washington, is no slouch in the {{Badass}} department herself.

* BeneficialDisease: A cold provides the main character immunity from another infection that wipes the person's memory.

* BigBad: Lucas

** Jim saving Maddie from Horton's spider.
*** Justified--Zoey told him the safe word and where they were.
** Jim again, where he beats up Lucas and at least 5 mercs before being held down when they were beating up his son.

* BigBadEnsemble: On one side there's the Sixers antagonizing the Tenth Voyagers for survival, [[spoiler: and hinted at control over time at the end of the pilot]]. On the other hand we have the Slashers and Caurnotaurs (although technically, they're just hungry). There's a third side, too: [[spoiler: The people of the future want access to the past in order to exploit Terra Nova for resources, and they're perfectly willing to use violence to achieve their ends.]]

* BrokenPedestal: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]] with famous geologist Horton. At first Maddy is just disappointed that he doesn't seem like the person who wrote the book, then she learns that he's a fraud when his hand-written letter doesn't match his current signature, and ''then'' the fraud (who was Horton's research assistant) claims the real one wasn't as nice as Maddy believes. Maddy is torn on whether or not to believe him, but her mother points out that the real one took the time to respond to a hand-written letter in a NoPaperFuture with a letter of his own.

--> '''Josh''': You don't know what 2149 is like! I had three friends who [[DrivenToSuicide killed themselves]] in my junior year. No-one believes they have a future, no-one believes in ''anything'' anymore...

* CurbStompBattle: Pretty much anyone can do this to Lucas, as every time he has gotten into a fight the person gave him a thorough beating that he so justly deserved.
* CutShort: Sadly.
* DawsonCasting: Skye is a "teenager" (actual age unsaid) young enough to be flirty with 17-year-old Josh. Allison Miller was 25 when she filmed the pilot episode.
* DeathFromAbove: So far, the colony has suffered a swarm of horny pterodactyls AND a meteorite that fried every electrical circuit in camp, rendering guns, lights, and all but the most primitive medical equipment useless.

* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler: Washington]], pretty much says "screw you" before Lucas killed her.

* DysfunctionalFamily: A lot of the show's conflicts come from this, mostly between Jim and Josh. Explained by the presence of two [[HormoneAddledTeenager Hormone-Addled Teenagers]] and the fact that [[ParentalAbandonment dad was in prison]] can't help.
* EarthThatUsedToBeBetter: Much better; within the adults' lifetime the sky was completely blotted out by pollution, domes are in use, population control is in effect, masks are needed to breathe, and everything is grimy.

* EnemyMine: Taylor and Mira end up working together to fend off a pair of territorial slashers. After some personal backstory, they recognize it's a WorthyOpponent relationship between them. In fact, they also reason that they're much more the same than different - both ultimately want to protect their family and loved ones in the only way they know how. For Mira, that's her daughter back in the future. For Taylor, that's the colony.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: When Weaver [[KickTheDog cruelly shot down a brachiosaur for no reason]] Lucas, of all people, seemed to feel that this was an unnecessary course of action. Making the portal go both ways, hiring an evil army to help him destroy the Terra Nova colony just to prove that he's better than his dad, and killing innocent colonists in the process: sure...no problem. But [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking gunning down innocent animals without a good reason]] is where he draws the line.
* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Basically the reason the show exists.

** Also, who wasn't secretly hoping that Stephen Lang's speech to the newcomers would start with, "[[Film/{{Avatar}} You're not in Kansas anymore! You are on Terra Nova!]]"

** The Shannon family has been likened to TheSimpsons.

*** Nykoraptor: Velociraptor
*** Empirosaur: Spinosaurus
*** Slasher: Velociraptor again, as mentioned above, though of the fictionalized ''Jurassic Park'' variety
*** Ovosaur: Ornitholestes (or some other small, primitive coelurosaur).
*** And the Ancestral Komodo Dragon, although not a dinosaur is an expy of [[JurassicPark Dilophosaurus]] and ''Dimetrodon''.
* ExactWords: They stated to Josh that if he helped the Sixers they would get his girlfriend to Terra Nova, [[spoiler: they did, along with a bomb that kills her as she enters]].

* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: It turns out that the female Sixer leader Mira is working for [[spoiler: associates of Lucas Taylor, and has more or less been coerced into the role]] in much the same way as another female "villain", [[spoiler: Sixer spy Skye Tate]]. [[spoiler: Lucas Taylor]], on the other hand, causes trouble for the colony largely out of a sense of DisproportionateRetribution for [[spoiler: his father's decision years earlier that led to his mother's death]], and the associates are doing it out of [[spoiler: pure greed.]]

* [[FlingALightIntoTheFuture Fling A Light Into The Past]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Remember the first Sixer we meet? And how [[spoiler: Skye]] convinces him to let them into the vehicle by telling him [[spoiler: her ]] name? [[spoiler: Yeah, she's the spy. Of course he's going to help her.]]

*** Elizabeth is a brainy doctor who fell in love with a policeman. Maddy is a brainy medical student who fell in love with a security officer.
*** Jim broke the law to get his family through the time portal. Josh broke the law in an effort to get his girlfriend through the time portal.
*** Jim attacked a police officer threatening his family. Josh attacked Lucas when he was threatening Skye. Pointed out with Josh saying he finally understands Jim's actions.

** Tasha, who thought it was a good idea to run for it rather than wait in the heavily armored vehicle waiting for confirmed backup for rescue. [[spoiler: She survives -- if badly injured.]] In all fairness, she was clearly in a state of extreme panic and not thinking rationally. And she took a machine gun with her. On top of that, the slashers do eventually punch a hole through the ATV, forcing the other teens to abandon it.
* GoodAnimalsEvilAnimals: The Brachiosaurus and Ankylosaurus are both depicted as harmless (sometimes even playful) vegetarians. The Carnotauruses, Slashers, and Nykoraptors on the other hand, are vicious and feral predators.

* GreyAndGrayMorality: Is increasingly this.

** Humans would probably take a lot longer to adjust to the much higher oxygen levels in the Mesozoic age, but a simple facemask for a few minutes post transfer seems to do the trick.
** In the pilot Josh refers to Jim having to break out of a maximum security facility armed with a few items Elisabeth is able to sneak into a rebreather. And the very next scene [[spoiler: finds Jim riding the train...]]

* HighHeelFaceTurn: TheMole [[spoiler: Skye]] switches her allegiance back to Taylor once [[spoiler: Lucas finishes his equations]]

** HeroBall: [[spoiler:Shannon keeps damning evidence in his pockets when he attacks a platoon of soldiers, thus revealing that he's a traitor (attacking them in itself exposed his ruse, but he just made things even worse with that).]]
** VillainBall: [[spoiler: Lucas takes Skye at her word when she claims she wants to do a HeelFaceTurn, going so far as to escort her without guards. Predictably, he got captured.]]
*** It get's even more stupid when [[spoiler: one of Lucas' bosses comes with him to Terra Nova for no defined reason and is manipulated by Elizabeth who injects him with a virus and promises to cure him if he secures Jim's release. He, instead of using the Phoenix Group to force her to cure him, agrees. No wonder the good guys won if this guy's in charge]]
* IHaveYourWife: Seems to be the Sixers' and Phoenix Group's standard M.O.; they do this in spades.

** Mira, in turn, was holding a young girl's brother hostage to coerce the girl into retrieving a key artifact for Lucas' work. She does, however, [[PetTheDog let both kids return to Terra Nova]] when the situation is resolved.

** In the fifth episode, [[spoiler: one of Taylor's soldiers]] commits an elaborate murder...with a live dinosaur as the weapon. Everyone thinks it's just an unfortunate accident until Jim's cop instincts kick in. A skeptical Taylor [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]]: "How do you kill a man with a dinosaur?"

* InTheBack: Lucas does this to his father. But seriously, you didn't have to be GenreSavvy to spot that coming a mile away.
* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: [[InvokedTrope Word for word reasoning]] for the third child.

** Lucas and Weaver are less charming
* JustShootHim: [[spoiler: Skye to Lucas. Seriously who didn't scream "FINALLY!" when she did it?]]
* [[DesertPunk Jungle Punk]]: Especially the Sixers.

* KillItWithFire: [[spoiler:As part of their mining operation, the Phoenix group plans to use incendiary bombs to completely sterilize miles of jungle.]]
* LaserSight: Green lasers are standard issue on the assault rifles, which is reasonable when dealing with dinosaurs, but they'll have to turn them off when fighting the Sixers.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: Lucas claims that Skye and he are this since they share the same "father," though his questionable actions towards her would [[BrotherSisterIncest say another thing]].

** The Slashers themselves, as well. At one point, Josh puts something like five assault rifle rounds into one. It retreats, but it ought to be ''dead.'' The ''Carnotaurus'' are even tougher -- one of them takes several dozen rounds to the face from a jeep-mounted {{BFG}}, falls over, and gets up again without an apparent scratch. Taylor doesn't even bother to shoot at it with his rifle during his distraction, even as it charges him.
** [[spoiler:Lucas gets shot twice, center of mass, and manages to get away unnoticed. He was no more than a meter away from Taylor and Skye at the time. No word on how far he got, but he shouldn't have been able to walk straight, much less escape so quickly and quietly.]]

** Maddy and her explanation on dinosaur digestion to the young soldier.

* MementoMacGuffin: Josh's necklace, which was given to him by his girlfriend.
** [[spoiler:Taken to inanimate and in-universe TearJerker status in the season finale. It's now his one tangible reminder of her.]]

* MisPlacedWildlife:

** In addition to issues of time, you've also got issues of space - although ''Brachiosaurus'' and ''Allosaurus'' fossils have been found in similar places from western to central North America, ''Carnotaurus'' was located in Argentina.

** There's always the giant centipede. There were giant myriapods at one point in Earth's history, but they weren't centipedes and, more importantly, they lived over 200 million years before the timing of the show, in the late Carboniferous.

** [[spoiler: Skye, while her mother was effectively held hostage by the Sixers.]]
** Jim has his son Josh become this when the Phoenix Group takes over.

** Episode Three's pterosaurs, meanwhile, raise it to an art form.
** Skye does it to herself when... [[spoiler: coiling up the parasite in Hunter's stomach. He's talking about how his feelings when the parasite breaks and slides back inside.]]

** Lucas too. It appears that his father as finally gotten through to him, and they share a warm hug. That is until Lucas literally stabbed his father InTheBack.

* NeverFoundTheBody: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] as the reason why 22nd-century scientists determined Terra Nova was in a different "[[AlternateUniverse timestream]]", after they sent a mechanical probe through the NegativeSpaceWedgie and it never showed up in the present era. The probe, for its part, currently rests on a monument in the middle of the Terra Nova settlement.
** [[spoiler:Until it got blown up in the Phoenix Group's attack. The StableTimeLoop may still be in play.]]

* ObfuscatingDisability: Jim Shannon pretends that an explosion has made him deaf, mentally inhibited with partial amnesia, and left him with a limp. He blows his cover when he beats the shit out of [[spoiler: Lucas and a few Phoenix soldiers]] with his crutch to defend his son.

** On the villainous side, [[spoiler:the Phoenix Group pretty much rolled over Terra Nova while Jim was in the hospital]].

* OverprotectiveDad: Jim has shown signs of this towards his daughter's dating life. It should be noted that Jim is likely just messing with Mark [[ItAmusedMe for his own amusement]]. He doesn't seem to mind the relationship.
-->'''Jim''': (to Mark) "You know I carry a gun and hold grudges right?"

--->'''Jim''': "You seem more nervous than usual. Is that because today I'm not just Maddy's father, I'm also your CO?" \\
'''Mark''': "Permission to neither confirm nor deny, sir."

--->'''[[TheMole Skye]]''': (''{{beat}}'') \\
'''Jim''': Anything you say [[{{Irony}} can and will be used against you]].

* PlotTime: The teenager sneaks out with his friends on orientation day and has the adventure in the evening, while the father's first day sure feels like more than one.
* PoisonAndCureGambit: Elizabeth does this to get Jim out of prison in the season finale. [[spoiler: She was bluffing. The "cure" she injected was a sedative.]]

** The empirosaur doesn't try and attack anyone, it's just terrified of the fire the Sixers use to drive it toward Terra Nova. Ultimately it doesn't even attack the colony; they successfully frighten the creature away with fire before it even gets close. Turns out it was just a distraction.

* PsychoticManChild: Why does Lucas wants to destroy Terra Nova, kill countless innocent people and strip mine the past for all its worth? Simply to get back at his dad for the delusional belief he was a constant disappointment to him.

* RagsToRiches: Sort of. Jim goes from being an escape convict in the first episode to pretty much Taylor's right hand man and at one point temporary Commanding Officer of Terra Nova.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: The Brachiosaurus have fleshy nostrils on top of their heads, just like their counterparts in that [[Film/JurassicPark other mass media work showing dinosaurs]]. However, in the two decades since that movie came out [[ScienceMarchesOn Science Has Marched On]], with the most likely position of the nostrils being on the snout.

** Lucas claims himself to be one, right before he has two mercs hold Josh so he could beat him.

* RedShirt: Terra Nova seems to send patrols out into the jungle for the sole purpose of dying dramatically, which they do in droves.

* SadisticChoice: Taylor was made to choice between saving his wife or his son.
* SceneryPorn: Frequently.
* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: At the end, the family comments on how much bigger the moon is, 85 million years in the past, as it drifts from the earth at about half a centimeter per year. However, at that rate, the moon would only have drifted about 425 kilometers out of its total 400,000 km. distance -- not enough to make such a significant difference in appearance. It could be that the smogginess of their century-of-origin meant they'd never seen the optical illusion that makes the moon ''look'' larger when it's near the horizon.

* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: The basic plot. [[spoiler: Until Nate Taylor reveals that it's a lot different than so.]]
* ShellShockSilence: Done from Jim's perspective early in the season finale when he wakes from a three-day coma and stumbles around the badly-damaged settlement to find Phoenix Group soldiers everywhere and Lucas and Mira in charge. Jim soon runs into Elizabeth, who restores his hearing and fills him in on what he missed.
* ShoutOut
** Possibly a coincidence, but do you happen to know of another [[Series/{{Firefly}} short-lived sci-fi show]] with characters named Malcom, Zoe, Reynolds, and Wash?
** Sky and Josh's exchange about the Slashertails: ''[[Film/{{Aliens}} They mostly come out at night... mostly.]]''

** [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries Jim, I'm a doctor, not a chemist.]]

* TheSlowPath: Because no-one realise that the initial portal connection [[UnstuckInTime wasn't stable]], when Taylor stepped through the portal with the next person right behind him... they didn't arrive for 118 days from Taylor's perspective.
* StableTimeLoop: Some fans think that the reason the show takes place in an alternate time stream is because it used to be part of our time stream, but branched off from ours when the Terra Novans arrived and started building the colony.

* SympatheticMurderBackstory: Commander Taylor [[spoiler:killed his commanding officer when he arrived in alternate past earth to relieve him of command of the Terra Nova colony shortly after he learned the truth about the project. That those behind Terra Nova are trying to find out how to make the portal go both ways so they can exploit the resources on the Terra Nova side.]]
* TakeOurWordForIt: It's repeatedly said that it's dangerous to go outside the fence without support - there are that many dangerous critters out there. However the characters seem to show, time and time again, that its fairly safe to go wandering outside the fence, and actually pretty common to do so.

** The Sixer who gets snatched out of his ATV and eaten by a Carnotaur. FamousLastWords: "We're all clear!"

* TooDumbToLive: The scientist who chased the little green beetle right into the path of a Carnotaur, and just stood there ''smiling'' as the dinosaur looked down on him, preparing for a very easy breakfast. Partially justified in that he is later revealed to have been exposed to a virus that induces short-term memory loss, but even so, ANYONE should instinctively know to run when there's a forty-foot predator looming over you that wants to ''chew on your head''!
** Although in fairness, the virus regressed people mentally to various ages. Given his scientific notes turned into nursery rhymes and drawings, it's implied that he regressed to a young child, which ''would'' explain his reaction of childlike wonder instead of fear.
** Tasha. [[spoiler:Sure, honey. Leave the armored ATV and run into the jungle at night where there are hungry carnivorous dinosaurs waiting to eat you.]] The other teenagers are pretty bad too [[spoiler: makin' moonshine out where the predators are and all that]]. It was like a checklist for a [[StealthPun slasher movie.]]

*** Did no research about what life will be like there. ("Allosaurus? That's a meat eater, right?")

*** DistractedByTheSexy into going outside the walls (hey, remember that allosaurus you were scared of before?)

** Although initially presented as a [[SugarBowl world of peace and bounty]], the Shannons quickly learn that they're in danger from [[OurMonstersAreDifferent Slashers]] and Sixers ... something the orientation tour failed to mention.

* VillainousIncest: Lucas toward Skye. They're not actually related (Taylor is a father figure to her rather than her actual father), but he refers to her as a sister nonetheless. This doesn't stop him from constantly touching her affectionately flirting with her.
* WeirdMoon: Justified, as they are 85 million years in the past...kind of, see above.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: The portal is one-way, so anyone who goes to Terra Nova isn't coming back. The future can still send supplies and such, though. [[spoiler:When Lucas makes the portal two-way, Jim blows up Hope Plaza, permanently cutting them off from the future...although the wooden figurehead implies that there's another portal in the Badlands]].
* YouthIsWastedOnTheDumb: Boy howdy.
* ZergRush: A flock of crow-sized pterosaurs attacks this way when their nesting ground is invaded [[spoiler:due to the fact that Terra Nova was literally built ON TOP of it!]] And there are [[UpToEleven millions of them.]]

* AdultFear: When they just get to Terra Nova one of the soldiers is about to slash open with a knife the backpack they just smuggled their youngest daughter in.

* AffablyEvil: Boylan is more of an Affable JerkAss than deliberately evil, although he is collaborating with the Sixers. May cross over into JerkassWithAHeartOfGold territory, as of the finale. He certainly prefers Taylor to [[spoiler:the Phoenix Group, and is one of the very first to welcome him back to Terra Nova]]. And in one episode, it's implied that Boylan and Taylor use to be very good friends but [[spoiler: the murder of their CO/Taylor's mentor at Taylor's hand and the subsequent cover up between the two put a lot of pressure on the relationship. It is suggested that Boylan for his part wanted to be a good soldier and report the incident but Taylor wanted to protect the colony and bribed him to keep quiet. The end result being the current situation between the two.]]

* AllAnimalsAreDogs: The Nykoraptor from ''The Runaway'' was seen ''wagging its tail'' while trying to attack Jim, who was suspended from a rope trap (this is particularly unusual as [[ArtisticLicensePaleontology raptors have very stiff tails]]).