Terra Nova
Episode 104
"What Remains"
We open on a clearly crazy guy playing "gonna getcha" with a prehistoric cockroach in what looks like a subterranean science lab, which has been ransacked. Crazy Pants gets up to follow the cockroach and we follow Crazy Pants outside (past a room of screaming people - did I imagine that?) where he acts like he's never seen fresh air and nature before; he's also bemused by the snarling dinosaur that hollering right next to him. That is, until dino chomps down on him. Crazy Pants for lunch, yummmmm.
Credits!
Taylor and Elisabeth are preparing for a trip out to Outpost: Crazy (Outpost 3 is the technical name I guess) because they haven't made contact in some time. Seeing a chance to get in the good doctor's pants since Jim isn't coming along, annoying Malcolm insists upon coming along with them; Cmdr Taylor assures them its going to be a tech problem and not a science one. Before she leaves, she realizes her wedding ring is missing and asks Jim to fetch it from the hospital on his way home. What an odd thing to mention, I am sure that will not become important later ... as they drive away, Jim bemoans the fact that even Malcolm has his own rover (as chief science officer) and he doesn't (even though he's the only cop in town -- yeah, but there is a full on military presence so your copness is a bit redundant, no?). Malcolm does make a funny about where Jim puts his siren.
Out at Outpost: Crazy, red shirt military guy discovers that the power lines have clearly been eaten by some dino and Taylor is on red alert because the gate to the outpost that shouldn't be open, is. The begin to explore the outpost and I faintly reminded of Star Wars with what sounds suspiciously like R2D2 *beep beep* noises playing in the background. You know what you don't want to find at a prehistoric Science Outpost Station? Post-it notes that say "This is not a dream!" and "DO NOT goes outside". This is not confidence inspiring but its exactly what Elisabeth finds laying on a desk. What kind of wetlands research were they doing?
Hey, I didn't imagine the screaming; red shirt finds a room with some seriously deranged/sick people chilling inside. Obviously having not ever having watched episodes of Sci-Fi shows with sick people, Cmdr Taylor orders the door opened and head inside to check out the situation. The head crazy girl babbles on about running through some snow and asks Elisabeth if she's with the Red Cross ...um, no. Crazy Girl thinks she's in 2137 which is 12 years in the past (or 85.002137 million years in the future). Cmdr. Taylor rightly asks why she and her two colleagues have lost her memory. Elisabeth accesses a computer file and finds a "Dear Diary" from Dr. Jonathan (f/k/a Crazy Pants from the beginning of the episode). he is detailing the memory loss stages and states that he doesn't remember the 3 people in the infirmary. Also, he is pretty sure he needs to tell someone about the pathogens and what he was working on to cure it. Taylor hopes Elisabeth can finish his work because he's not letting them go home until she does (QUARANTINED!).
Back in the colony, Jim has retrieved Elisabeth's ring and sees that Maddy has brought Zoe in cause she's getting a cold. Jim takes her to see if she can get some meds. As night falls, the OTG kids have reconvened a drinking session while Josh plays his guitar (nice continuity from last episode show!). It appears they have remained inside the gate this time -- who says teenagers don't listen or change?).
Taylor breaks it to Elisabeth that Dr. Jonathan was eaten by a dinosaur (they found his legs in his boots, ick). Elisabeth and Jim video chat about her project and family crap about Reynolds coming over to court Maddy. We also learn that Jim's caught Zoe's cold. After they hang up, Elisabeth reflects for a second and asks herself who Zoe is? OH NOES!
Reynolds and Maddy finish dinner and she nerds out and Reynolds looks just uncomfortable. She does explain the joy of cooking as "chemistry where you get a treat at the end" so, you know, I'd bolt too I think. Jim dads to her about the worst first date ever was really by him with Elisabeth so, no worries Maddy, Reynolds will still want to sleep with you.
Next day, Wash breaks it to Jim that Outpost 3 is under quarantine and no contact until Taylor says so. Jim ... is not pleased. He agrees to not doing anything and then immediately goes to commandeer Malcolm's rover; but not without Malcolm forcing himself to come along. Meanwhile, in the land of plucking guitars and hammocks, Josh and Skye have an awkward kiss while he babbles about the golden equations at the rocks and then buzzkills the moment by talking about his girlfriend. Skye, clearly under her own mental illness not related to the Outpost 3 contagion, tells him she might know a guy that can help bring his girlfriend on through to the other side.
Back at Outpost: Memory Loss, Jim and Malcolm find some velociraptor-like things chewing on the remainder of the cables. Malcolm nerds that the nickel is like catnip to the dinos ... well I guess its like dinonip? Jim and Malcolm enter the lab of doom to find Wash trying to raise Taylor on the video chat. She handles Jim's direct disobeying of her orders fairly well and he explains to her that Cmdr Taylor does not seem to be around. As he hangs up on Wash he looks up to find a suspicious looking Elisabeth eyeing him warily. When he says hi, she responds by shooting him and Malcolm with a giant effing sonic blast gun. You've got some splaining to do Lucy! In Jim's worst nightmare come true, Elisabeth clearly remembers Malcolm and tearfully embraces him. Not so much Jim.
When we return from commercials, Malcolm has learned that Elisabeth has lost about the last 20 years and thinks she is at university, when she had just begun dating Malcolm. How convenient for him. Jim, once again is not pleased. He explains that the first stage is short term memory loss which eventually leads being unmoored and stage 2, catastrophic memory loss (where Elisabeth is now). Stage 3 is straight up catatonia. Jim only cares that Malcolm can cure .. whatever this is. He thinks so, with Elisabeth’s help. Oh yeah, it would be better if we didn't confuse Elisabeth with the whole married and kids thing. He denies any personal value in this approach. What a saint. Jim agrees. Reluctantly. Jim is reintroduced to his wife.
Skye introduces Josh to her guy, Tom. He acknowledges that he can get people through but its expensive, more expensive than a kid could have. When Josh points out he's got time to earn the required cash since Tom could only send the request message through on the next pilgrimage when the portal is open (and bring the girl on the pilgrimage thereafter), Tom tosses away a line that seems to indicate he knows messages can travel to 2149 not only when the portal is open (that such a rule is only according to Saint Taylor). Intriguing but not at issue right now. Tom has concerns about Josh being "the cop's son." This somehow leads to Josh getting a job with Tom; since he can be trusted to keep secrets. I guess.
Back at Outpost: Memory Fueled Indignation, Elisabeth is outraged that Terra Nova time travelled to before the ice age, which is a valid point that I hope they address at toms point). Malcolm begs her to not get bogged down in those details but to rather, focus on the pathogen. She thinks Malcolm has been smoking doobies but is forced to believe her own recorded words describing the effects of the pathogen. Just then, the power blows (cue RENT theme song). No really, it was the velociraptor things and not Benny come to turn off their power (RENT? Anyone? Not a Broadway crowd? ok). Jim goes to scare them and finds Red Shirt dead (see 'ya Red Shirt who's name was Brady). And there's Taylor to kick some Jim ass.
After the break, we have Taylor manhandling Jim, asking what Terra Nova is a code name for? See, Taylor has the sickness and thinks that he is in Somalia in 2138 (glad to see the region improves in the next 120 years) and that Jim is maybe some Ruso-Chinee or Axis-Side Ops; either way he thinks Jim knows where they took "her"? The her in question is Taylor's wife (Ayanye, sp?). I guess his son is missing too (but we know he eventually returns, right). Well, he makes Jim a deal. If he doesn't find his wife and son, he's going to come back and slit every throat in sight so, good talking to you. He then decks Jim in the face. I like Crazy Taylor as much as I like regular flavor Taylor.
Elisabeth discovers that they are dealing not with a pathogen but with some mad scientist-type gene therapy mutation/manipulation. Malcolm is confused because any such experiments should have come through him but clearly someone at Outpost: Mad Scientist is trying to keep it a secret. Malcolm is very turned by this news and tried to do Elisabeth right there on the lab table. Luckily, Jim comes in to toss him around and helps him refocus that he is at a Terra Nova research outpost. Jim also reminds Malcolm that Elisabeth is his wife ... but clearly in a bit, that's not going to matter to Malcolm cause he won't remember it. The funniest part of this scene is that Elisabeth keeps calling him Jack. Weird, Jim hasn't been infected yet ... hey, turns out that Red Shirt isn't dead, Jim takes Malcolm to get see if he can be helped.
Back in Terra Nova, Maddy is freaking out that her parents have disappeared and Reynolds reveals that he knows what happened to them but that he can't tell her. But, he clearly will tell her because he wants to get some. Taylor is riding a future motorcycle which has a nice GPS screen which says Terra Nova in big letters and a red blinking light. He stops to watch a dinosaur; he thinks dinos are funny.
Malcolm's memory checks out just as they're moving not dead Red Shirt, Jim drops him on the floor to make him moan as proof (HA!). Just then a velociraptor drops in from a skylight and Jim saves Malcolm's ass by getting through an air-lock door. Of course, Red Shirt is definitely a goner now.
Wait! Jim has an idea; he bashes up some cables to release the nickel and the velociraptor immediately forgets about Red Shirt and goes after the nickel. Jim opens the door and traps the dino on the other side ... who is very happy with his nickel crack. Now that he's safe, Malcolm starts having a full-on meltdown and Jim helpfully knocks him out to calm him down. Jim convinces Elisabeth that she doesn't need Malcolm and she is clearly turned on by his bravado. Way to be faithful to unconscious Malcolm you amnesiac hussy. She senses they are at least friends but then breaks the moment to get back to work. Jim awkwardly walks through his marriage and having kid status and Elisabeth clearly thinks he's some kind of lothario weirdo. Anyway, lets hack some computer files and find out who the Mad Scientist was! Meanwhile, Taylor has arrived at the outer Terra Nova gates and begins taking out his own men. Back at Outpost: Computer Hacking, Jim has gotten into the files of a Dr. Douglas Jocelyn, who was suffering from Gorman's disease (a worse form of Alzheimer’s and not the same as Gorham's disease which is a real disease). Apparently he was working on a cure and screwed it up. He also made the delivery system viral which explains the contagious aspect. Just then, she finds Memory Loss Post It notes that she had prepared for herself with Jim's name as well as her kids. She puts it all together and Jim tells her they are indeed married. He then replaces her wedding ring on her finger. She's worried they'll both forget and Jim reminds her that he's fine. Elisabeth figures out that the medicine Malcolm gave Jim has some medicinal quality in it preventing infection. While they go to work on a cure, Maddy is preparing to go storm Wash's command post to demand they get her parents back. Reynolds is a bit worried that he'll get in trouble for posting guards outside Zoe's bedroom and you know, spilling the military secrets to his girlfriend.
Unfortunately, Maddy and Reynolds walk in on Wash dealing with Crazy Taylor, who then sneaks up behind Reynolds and takes him hostage with a knife to his throat. Why was Wash turned in the opposite direction from the door if that's where Taylor was. That made no sense, unless Taylor told her not to look at him?!? he doesn't strike me bashful, especially in Crazy Taylor form. Wash starts trying to catch Taylor up to speed and tells him that Reynolds (first name Mark) came here on the 5th Pilgrimage, to follow Taylor; that Taylor led them all her. She also pledges her fealty to him and informs him that his wife died. Wash in clearly a good and loyal soldier, she also knows how get shit done when she shoots Taylor with a stun gun in order to prevent him from taking his own life (why would he want to remember his wife dying?!?). Badass! I like Wash, I hope they develop her a bit more.
Back at Outpost: Spit Swap, Elisabeth realizes that its Jim's cold that is preventing the spread of the pathogen to him and wants to engineer a replica cold virus. He wants to suck her face off and infect her that way ... and so he does. She does not object.
WrapUps! Taylor wakes up groggy but with his memory restored. He's also strapped to a couch/bed which seems like a good precaution. they release him. Taylor praises Wash for shooting him. Man, he's hardcore! Ugh, they fixed Malcolm too. he can't explain the source of his headache. Elisabeth does not inform him its due to Jim's fist. Back at the homestead, Jim walks through his house to find his older children all wrapped up with their current flames and finds refuge in little Zoe's room. Elisabeth comes to join them and they bond over stuffed dinosaurs. Final Scene. Tom (the Smuggler) comes through some weeds to deliver some contraband to Mira and some of her Sixer soldiers. In exchange, she gives him a bag of some ingredient that helps him make the "best hooch." He asks that when she next makes contact with 2149, he needs to get a message through; seems the new sheriff's kid wants to smuggle his girlfriend through the portal and he's given Josh a job in his bar to keep his friends close, enemies closer. Mira just about wets herself at the news and says that this is an opportunity, one she plans to use. Oh Josh, you stupid idiot, you're going to get us all killed.
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