'Terra Nova' Season 1, Episode 6 Recap - 'Nightfall'

Each week brings a new catastrophic complication for the residents of Terra Nova. Between the killer dinosaurs, the rebel outliers, the deadly flock of dino-birds, the virus that wipes out memory, a 30-foot parasite and a meteor that destroys every bit of electronic equipment, I'm starting to wonder why everyone is so keen on coming to this place.

Sure, the future had bad air, but is this place that much better, really? It seems the Shannon family has been almost killed at least five times since coming here.

This episode sees the aforementioned meteor coming to Earth, and apparently when meteor explode in the atmosphere it creates an electromagnetic pulse that destroys all electronic equipment, because why wouldn't it?

That ends up leaving Maddie and Reynolds stranded in the wilderness after an attempt at a romantic jungle picnic leaves them with a broken car. They cover themselves in mud and try desperately to be cute and not annoying. They half succeed.

Also feeling the results are Elizabeth and Skye, who are in the infirmary with Skye's friend Hunter, who has a 30-foot-long intestinal parasite. Normally Elizabeth would be able to press a button and the fancy techno-bed would fix the problem (good thing she studied for that medical degree), but with all of the equipment out she has to just spool up the worm on a rod. Science!

Jim and Zoe, meanwhile, take a trip to The Eye, which is a holographic library of everything in the entire history of the planet. Apparently a lot of people take this completely for granted, as it's open for Jim and Zoe to use to pretend to ride roller coasters. Of course, when the power goes out they're stuck in there, because nobody thought to put a manual release on the door.

The problem is easily solved with Zoe crawling through a super-scary access tunnel, with the accompaniment of Jim's "spider song." And we're left to wonder why this was part of the episode in the first place. Reinforcement that Jim is a good dad?

And finally, Taylor is left to deal with the mysterious purple box, which the Sixers break into Terra Nova to steal back. They do this using a dinosaur. Why not, right? The box, it seems, has a DNA response system that keeps it closed until one particular person opens it... and that person is Taylor's son Lucas, who shows up at the end of the episode.

But the mysteries aren't even all that mysterious anymore, especially when they've been left alone for the past five episodes. We saw those strange markings in the first episode and learned that they were tied to Lucas, then everyone more or less forgot about them.

My big question now is this: why bother with Terra Nova? This place sucks. There are a million and one ways to die on a daily basis, and the technology that these people have is highly advanced only when it's unnecessary. When they need the technology to actually do something useful, it's impossible.

For example, the technology exists to create a portal to the past, to make a box with a DNA response system, and to instantly fix just about every medical problem. And yet, these people don't have the technology to clean their air in the future, or colonize another planet? You're telling me they have the tech to build a new civilization 85 million years in the past, but they can't take a rocket to mars and build a couple of bio-domes there?

Am I overthinking it? Yes, I probably am. But when I'm left with too much time to think, like when Jim is singing the fifth verse of the spider song or when Josh manages to brood even harder, I have to occupy my brain with some thought.