Fox on Mondays, 8 p.m.

Starting with an explosive season premiere, Terra Nova, the newest sci-fi thriller created by Craig Silverstein, promises to be a dramatic and action-packed show. The series begins in the year 2149, with the Earth is in ruins. The world is dark, overpopulated and oxygen-depleted. A rift in the space-time continuum has allowed the lucky to establish a colony on the other side, 85 million years in the past. After found with a third child, Jim Shannon (Jason O’Mara) is sentenced to prison for six years. Two years later, Jim’s wife, Elisabeth Shannon (Shelley Conn) is asked to join the 10th pilgrimage to serve as a doctor for the Terra Nova colony. Their two children, Josh (Lando Liboiron) and Maddy (Naomi Scott) are also accepted, but their youngest child Zoe (Alana Mansour) must stay behind. Most of the pilot focuses on Jim’s harrowing escape from prison and the family’s attempt to sneak him and Zoe onto the pilgrimage.

On the other side, Jim is introduced to the leader of Terra Nova, Commander Taylor (Stephen Lang) who assigns him to the agricultural department, where he amusingly has to hack away at giant weeds. It’s only after ending an assassination attempt on the Commander’s life that Jim becomes an integral part of Taylor’s team.

Things are not as they seem in Terra Nova as the Sixers are introduced, a renegade group that has broken off from Terra Nova and battles against the colony. Another intriguing element is the discovery of mysterious, cryptic messages left by Commander Taylor’s missing son. These two storylines will really help develop the show past just the dinosaur angle.

So far this show is well-crafted, well-written and portrayed excellently. The CGI can’t compare to movies like Avatar and Jurassic Park, but this is easily overlooked with an amazing story, and with characters that the viewer can really relate to. -Nick Hage

Rating: 4.5 out 5 stars