meh. My first thought upon seeing the little "birdies" on the fence was Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds", and the rest of the episode didn't budge me from that thought. Well, the end was different from the movie (had to be).
I almost turned the show off within the first 10 minutes, but stuck with it anyway. Not much else on TV I want to watch and I can't spend ALL my time playing City of Heroes. 
Now what would make it more interesting if my avatar was somewhere out in that jungle. muhahahahahahaha .. would love to see Jana with a pet carnisaur. 
*possible SPOILERs below*
I was thinking for a bit maybe those flying things were lured to the area by the Others, er, Sixers, but it turned out not to be.
Also, had a thought that the new science guy would be the inside Sixer but that would be too obvious and too early in the series if they want to keep that mystery going.
Birds and beds... not really all that interesting
Well I can't say I've seen any other TV show that homaged The Birds. All that was missing was a school full of children, but they got to terrify the youngest anyways.
Liked it well Dad fumbled dinner when oldest daughter asked him "when do you know a boy likes you?". Too bad soldier boy got knocked out as soon trouble starts.
Who didn't guess they were going to go the pheromone route? Anyone? Bueller?
So now they added old love interest into the mix for Doctor Mom.
Nice to know that both the son and Action Girl Syke got punished for their stunt last week. Wow, cause and effect on a network show. Does this mean it won't be shown out of order?
Also looks like Taylor's 2nd in command Washington seems to have a bit more than a professional concern over his well being. Nudge nudge wink wink.
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I'm not one to insist on action scenes and special effects...but it felt odd to me that the two key plot points with the critters happened off screen. We didn't see our lead heroes capturing or leading off the animals. Very odd for a show that seems to promote action as part of it's draw.
Or is it a show about people in a harsh untamed wilderness?
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Overall it was a workable episode but it did seem a bit too much like a "filler" episode which was weird for the second show of the entire series. This is the type of B-plot show I'd expect shoved like 2/3 of the way into the second or third season when nothing much else is going on. Oh well.
It's funny but I predicted last week they'd bring the son's 2149 girlfriend back into the show within 4 or 5 episodes but according to the preview for next week's episode they mentioned her involvement for next week so it only took 2 episodes. Looks like we're going to have two different love triangles (father's and son's) going by episode #3. Le sigh...
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It's always possible the new science guy is a Sixer spy, but they established that he goes off for days at a time on research trips. It'd be hard for him to be spying on Taylor if he was gone from Terra Nova that often. Of course he could be spending his time away from Terra Nova -with- the Sixers, but I guess that remains to be seen. At this point I'd suspect Washington as the spy more than anyone else. As a top lieutenant of Taylor's she'd know everything he was doing and be the perfect "insider" for the Sixers.|
Originally Posted by Gaming_Glen
Also, had a thought that the new science guy would be the inside Sixer but that would be too obvious and too early in the series if they want to keep that mystery going.
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Originally Posted by Jasmine Strega
I'm not one to insist on action scenes and special effects...but it felt odd to me that the two key plot points with the critters happened off screen. We didn't see our lead heroes capturing or leading off the animals. Very odd for a show that seems to promote action as part of it's draw.
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A whole lotta meh.
The wife not knowing how she was selected and who was responsible, when the process seemed absolutely transparent (via Taylor), struck me as sloppy. She really didn't know who the head of the Science Team was, when they were the person that made the recommendation and is ultimately (or it seems) their boss? It was already stated that it wasn't the lottery but her being a doctor that got them in. I know it's not that huge of a point, but it was one of those that just stuck in my craw.
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Yes your points about not knowing who her boss was makes the situation bad enough. |
Originally Posted by MentalMaden
A whole lotta meh.
The wife not knowing how she was selected and who was responsible, when the process seemed absolutely transparent (via Taylor), struck me as sloppy. She really didn't know who the head of the Science Team was, when they were the person that made the recommendation and is ultimately (or it seems) their boss? It was already stated that it wasn't the lottery but her being a doctor that got them in. I know it's not that huge of a point, but it was one of those that just stuck in my craw. |
The part about it I thought was dumb was that if the science guy pulled some strings to get her recommended for Terra Nova surely her records would have said she was married already. If he was somehow inexplicably ignorant of the marriage then he was naively stupid in his attempts to get back with her. But if he -did- in fact know she was married but thought the husband was "safely" locked away in prison then that would make him a fairly naughty/bad man.
So we're left with the science guy being either fairly stupid or cut-throat in his desire to have her back. Either quality seems to point towards his days as a "main" character as numbered.
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He's the head of science not medical and she works in medical but could do either. And when starting up something new it's usually better to get people who can where multiple hats.
So it's conceivable that she didn't know he was there or that he was the head of the science group since she was probably more concern about smuggling the little one there while breaking her husband out of prison. Good thing she didn't spend all that money on an apartment in a dome.
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Anyone find it odd that in a (relatively) closed ecosystem such as Terra Nova, they still use money? What good is it really in that situation? One would think bartering and/or working for the good of the community would be a lot more prevalent than someone wanting shiny bits of metal or paper.
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Ok I want an iphone and have a pizza... you have an iphone and want a pizza. Tell me you want give me the iphone for the pizza.
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Originally Posted by Dark One
Anyone find it odd that in a (relatively) closed ecosystem such as Terra Nova, they still use money? What good is it really in that situation? One would think bartering and/or working for the good of the community would be a lot more prevalent than someone wanting shiny bits of metal or paper.
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What a ripoff. A pizza with real meat and cheese costs far more than a lousy iPhone. Faux Pizza just doesn't have the same taste as a piece of pizza.
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Originally Posted by Durakken
Ok I want an iphone and have a pizza... you have an iphone and want a pizza. Tell me you want give me the iphone for the pizza.
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The first step in being sane is to admit that you are insane.
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And what is of more value in Terra Nova's placement? A pizza that in that environment is far more of a luxury than playing some cheap little app. It's not really like someone can come to Nova and just bum around. Money is (or should be) meaningless in such a place.
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Originally Posted by starphoenix
What a ripoff. A pizza with real meat and cheese costs far more than a lousy iPhone. Faux Pizza just doesn't have the same taste as a piece of pizza.
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... I don't want to explain economics and how fiat currency works. Noone places value on money itself. It's a place holder that makes life simpler by bridging the gap between value and practicality. |
Originally Posted by Dark One
And what is of more value in Terra Nova's placement? A pizza that in that environment is far more of a luxury than playing some cheap little app. It's not really like someone can come to Nova and just bum around. Money is (or should be) meaningless in such a place.
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An iPhone is like $500
A Pizza is like $5
If we maintain valuation then the person who wants the iPhone has to give you 100 pizzas either at the time of the trade or over a period of time. If it's over a period of time there may be disputes over how many pizzas have already been given or remain with no evidence either way. On the other hand if you take 100 pizzas you will have to give them away, resell them, or let them go to waste.
Both bartering results end up with waste and aggravation that wastes energy and time.
With money I can sell 100 pizzas and then buy the iPhone off of you. You can then buy a pizza off me or someone else and still have $495 left to spend elsewhere.
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And what is the practicality of money in a closed environment? Human society there is limited to one city (and presumably research outposts) wherein everyone contributes to the functioning of the city. Trading bits of otherwise useless metal or paper around in such an environment doesn't make sense. They aren't travelling merchants going around to other cities where it's easier to take a stack of coins than a bushel of apples.|
Originally Posted by Durakken
... I don't want to explain economics and how fiat currency works. Noone places value on money itself. It's a place holder that makes life simpler by bridging the gap between value and practicality.
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An iPhone is like $500 A Pizza is like $5 |
A pizza's cost can be kept relatively low due to the amount of automated work and scale that goes into agricultural practices. However, in the place of Terra Nova, they have limited farming land, limited capabilities to farm the land they have, and a set number of mouths to feed everyday.
I place a value of $0 on an iPhone as I could give a **** about it. It has no value to me. However, that tomato that I grew? That I spent months tending the plant, pulling the weeds, getting the land ready, patrolling for pests? Far more valuable than a gadget that is of little real use in their place.
Much like how the merchant scoffed at Wangst's offer of the music disc. To him, that disc had a value of $0.
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If we maintain valuation then the person who wants the iPhone has to give you 100 pizzas either at the time of the trade or over a period of time. If it's over a period of time there may be disputes over how many pizzas have already been given or remain with no evidence either way. On the other hand if you take 100 pizzas you will have to give them away, resell them, or let them go to waste. Both bartering results end up with waste and aggravation that wastes energy and time. With money I can sell 100 pizzas and then buy the iPhone off of you. You can then buy a pizza off me or someone else and still have $495 left to spend elsewhere. |
You also seem to forget that currency needs some form of backing to have any meaning. As well as needing minters/printers and some method of preventing people from just making their own counterfeit currency.
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The practicality is not due to environment. Never has been|
Originally Posted by Dark One
And what is the practicality of money in a closed environment? Human society there is limited to one city (and presumably research outposts) wherein everyone contributes to the functioning of the city. Trading bits of otherwise useless metal or paper around in such an environment doesn't make sense. They aren't travelling merchants going around to other cities where it's easier to take a stack of coins than a bushel of apples.
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An iphone 4's component cost is less than $200. At least according to people that have taken them apart and as reported by Business Week. A pizza's cost can be kept relatively low due to the amount of automated work and scale that goes into agricultural practices. However, in the place of Terra Nova, they have limited farming land, limited capabilities to farm the land they have, and a set number of mouths to feed everyday. I place a value of $0 on an iPhone as I could give a **** about it. It has no value to me. However, that tomato that I grew? That I spent months tending the plant, pulling the weeds, getting the land ready, patrolling for pests? Far more valuable than a gadget that is of little real use in their place. Much like how the merchant scoffed at Wangst's offer of the music disc. To him, that disc had a value of $0. |
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| Or, you could trade me the 100 pizzas straight up for it and then I can use those pizzas to trade for whatever I need or want. Cutting out the pointless middleman of currency in their closed environment. |
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| You also seem to forget that currency needs some form of backing to have any meaning. As well as needing minters/printers and some method of preventing people from just making their own counterfeit currency. |
They have advanced technology, why would they use coinage/paper money at all? We barely do as it is now.
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Yes, it is. You have yet to field any real argument as to why a closed environment needs money when all they have to do is barter and eliminate all the middlemen.|
Originally Posted by Durakken
The practicality is not due to environment. Never has been
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You are trying to apply current needs and worldview to a world that is completely divorced from said viewpoint.
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| Pointed out the problem with that in the post. Even if you could sell 99 pizzas while still edible that's an awful lot of work you're wanting to put into doing it...which is wasted energy. |
Money, at its heart, represents time. We trade our time for those pieces of paper so that we can trade an abstract (time) for other things.
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Go look up Fiat Currency. US Dollars are Fiat. Meaning they are faith based... ie they have no backing. They have advanced technology, why would they use coinage/paper money at all? We barely do as it is now. |
And what are they going to "spend" their money on? They aren't paying taxes, as far as I can see. Their homes were provided to them. There seems to be little coming in from 2149 that isn't absolute necessities, if anything at all other than pilgrims. And unless money is constantly being pumped into the system so that the workers have something to "buy" things with (which has the downside of inflation), you'll eventually end up with a majority of the wealth in the hands of a minority. Look at the phenomena of "company stores" sometime.
Or you'll get people handing the same dollar back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Which to an outside observer is utter lunacy.
If anything, digital currency is worth even less in their world than paper or metal. Paper & metal at least have secondary, more realistic uses. And what are you going to do, set up a bank? Joy. That brings in people that have little truly useful skills other than pushing paper around. They aren't contributing to the community and doing nothing more than taking up space.
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My post was based on the world of Terra Nova where the environment is the pits. Getting a Pizza we take for granted would cost far more than any common piece of electronics. So if it costs $100 for an iPhone, then it would be more like $1000 for a pizza since real food would be harder to find. Thought I was being obvious with my Faux Pizza, but I guess not.
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Originally Posted by Durakken
... I don't want to explain economics and how fiat currency works. Noone places value on money itself. It's a place holder that makes life simpler by bridging the gap between value and practicality.
An iPhone is like $500 A Pizza is like $5 If we maintain valuation then the person who wants the iPhone has to give you 100 pizzas either at the time of the trade or over a period of time. If it's over a period of time there may be disputes over how many pizzas have already been given or remain with no evidence either way. On the other hand if you take 100 pizzas you will have to give them away, resell them, or let them go to waste. Both bartering results end up with waste and aggravation that wastes energy and time. With money I can sell 100 pizzas and then buy the iPhone off of you. You can then buy a pizza off me or someone else and still have $495 left to spend elsewhere. |
The first step in being sane is to admit that you are insane.
Just finished watching the episode. I remarked it was very "Birds" like as well. I enjoyed it, don't think the scientist is the guy either, & noticed Wash's affections.
I think it's the love interest for the teenage boy. If not, then the soldier who's interested in the daughter.
Pretty much at this point I just ffwd through anything involving the kids. I really don't care, and I was really hoping some of them would die in the initial episode. I agree it was good to see them punished. So far I've missed nothing by skipping those parts. Hopefully they'll do something with the kids arc's that makes them more important than the 13-18 demo.
I was also shocked at the need for a currency. Everything is provided for them--to include food. So it seems luxury items can be "purchased" for terra-bucks or whatever their $ is called.
In there system there's no need for it. Bartering/trading should do fine, just as it showed when the kid tried to trade his hat. There's no 'faith of the people' because then I could just name any price I wanted... and someone could just go make more cloth strips or metal strips. Do the Doc's make more for their specialized training? What about the security guards?
Actually the guards are the only reason I could see having some kind of currency now that I think about it. Their trade isn't easily barter-able. But, again... there's no one there without reason. In fact.. it should be a perfect communist/socialist environment!
Metal is apparently very precious so I doubt they'll be minting coin any time soon.
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The guards are offering service instead of goods in exchange. They are the first into it whenever crap hits the fan, which given that they are surrounded by carnivores and the Sixers, appears to happen more often than not. I think giving them food in exchange for the potential of them getting eaten to protect me is a fair trade. Same goes for the docs. Like they said, they are learning from the mistakes of the past and starting over.| Actually the guards are the only reason I could see having some kind of currency now that I think about it. Their trade isn't easily barter-able. But, again... there's no one there without reason. In fact.. it should be a perfect communist/socialist environment! |
One thing I just realized...why were those corpses still in one piece after a night in the jungle? One would think they'd be little more than skeletons after a night of being dead out in that wilderness.
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Ya, I'm pretty sure there would nothing left of those bodies to find come morning if left in a jungle full of man eating creatures. |
Originally Posted by Dark One
One thing I just realized...why were those corpses still in one piece after a night in the jungle? One would think they'd be little more than skeletons after a night of being dead out in that wilderness.
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There are a few inconsistencies like this. For instance, in the first episode when the kid gets dragged out of the sixer jeep by the dino and we see it just chewing on his leg. Later we see him being helped to walk but he cracks a joke...really?! I'm pretty sure he would be in agony since the dino should have chewed off half this leg or at least to the bone. RAAAAAGE!
Well there were trees full of tiny pterodactyls so the native wildlife may knew better than to go scavenge there.
Also really good drugs in those field med kits.
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Something I don't understand is.. Are they shooting bullets or what? I mean I know they have the big sonic-turrets around the compound. And I know they gave the main dude a tranq gun in that first episode, but his gun's sounds were different from the big Colonial Marine equipment the other guys were using.
And I'm wondering this because, like... They totally unloaded those big assault rifles into those dinosaurs, and basically did nothing. Even accounting for bad aim, their spraying and praying should have come up with SOME visible results. It's like these dinosaurs are bulletproof! I can sort of understand not shooting at a big "carnosaur," though I think realistically if you used up an AK's clip on an elephant, Dumbo isn't gonna be flying anymore. But those other ones from the first episode were more big cat or horse sized. They should have been ripped to pieces by those guns!
Otherwise, I'm enjoying the show so far. As long as I don't think too hard about... stuff. Like bulletproof dinosaurs.
How did everyone else like it?
Last night's ep, in my opinion, lacked a bit of momentum. Like were taking a layover in some side city of the storyline.