Watch Terra Nova Season 1 Episode 1 and 2 Online

Season 1, Episode 1 and 2: Genesis: Part 1 and 2 Genre: Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi Original Air Date: September 26, 2011  Click Here to Watch In the first part of the two-part series premiere, the police raid the Shannon home & arrest the father, Jim Shannon. Shannon realizes he must take drastic measures to keep his family together after his wife, Elisabeth, is selected to travel back to prehistoric times to create a new civilization &, hopefully, help change the future.

(warning! contains spoilers) 
It's the "Dawn of the 22nd Century" ... and things aren't looking too good for Earth. For starters, the planet is yellow, having been all but destroyed by environmental disaster. Humans, including Jim Shannon, walk through a ruined metropolis wearing breathing masks. Jim returns to his family's apartment and shows off a rare find: a shiny orange. Son Josh is impressed as is wife Elisabeth, a doctor of some kind who notes that the environmental conditions are causing more and more maladies. Suddenly, daughter Maddy bursts into the cramped apartment and warns that "They're on their way now!"

Elisabeth immediately races to hide toddler-aged Zoe in a secret cabinet. They've clearly done this before. The cops demand to search the premises. It's implied that Jim is a cop, too -- but it doesn't matter to the authoritarian goons, who violently toss the place. Finally, the cops hear faint crying. They remove a grate and find a crying Zoe. Jim goes crazy, PUNCHING and KICKING the cops. It ends badly, however. How badly?

Cut to an industrial prison -- TWO YEARS LATER. Elisabeth pays Jim a visit. Through tears, she explains that she has been contacted by the "recruitment people for Terra Nova." Jim is overjoyed by the news. "You've got to take the kids and go," he says. But Elisabeth explains that she won't be allowed to take Zoe, who is an illegal third child on overpopulated Earth. "There has to be another way," Jim says. Whispers Elisabeth: "There is ..." She then convinces the guard to let her give Jim a breathing device. Later, he opens a flap on the breathing device to find a small, hidden tool. The tool emits a laser that cuts through his tin cup. Jim smiles. His wife has given him a chance to escape.

CUT to Elisabeth, Josh and Maddy entering a crowded boarding area bound for Terra Nova. Meanwhile, Jim has apparently already made it out of the maximum security prison and is riding a bus. He performs a little self surgery to remove a red blinking chip from beneath the skin on his arm. He exits the bus and heads purposely to a street corner, where he finds a VERY large backpack with an ID badge, a gun, and wads of cash. CUT to Josh, who takes time to say goodbye to his girlfriend. He promises to find a way to bring her to Terra Nova, but she insists that such a development would be impossible.

In the meantime, Jim uses his phony ID to get past security. A wristband he found in the bag gives him further instructions to pay off a maintenance man, who lets him into the interior of the complex through a back entrance. Unfortunately, Jim's sneaky presence doesn't go unnoticed by a security video. Jim then catches up to his Elisabeth, Maddy and Josh, who try to restrain their joy upon seeing him again. "Whatever happens, keep moving," Jim tells his family moments before a security guard asks Jim to step out of line. Meanwhile, a large group of citizens continues to walk toward a big glowing gate that ZAPS them into another place and time. Elisabeth convinces her son and daughter to step through the gate before walking through herself. The moment Elisabeth has disappeared, Jim HITS the guard and runs for it. He PLUNGES through the gate ...

... and emerges in a lushly wooded area surrounded by his fellow travelers. Unfortunately, a group of armed guards in camo notice that Jim is carrying a weapon. They draw their own weapons. They demand to search Jim's backpack, which -- of course -- contains a hiding Zoe. Elisabeth EMBRACES her daughter as Jim wards off the guards. So what is this Terra Nova? Well, it's seemingly a paradise that has been virtually untouched by man. As the travelers are led through the jungle, Elisabeth wonders if the authorities will make Jim serve out his sentence. Jim's answer gives us our first clue as to where -- and when -- we are. "I hope not" he says. "I'm not scheduled to be released for another 85 million years." Suddenly, a huge ROAR echoes through the foliage. Hmmm.

The Shannon family, along with the rest of the new arrivals, soon arrive at an enormous and circular shaped city -- all the buildings constructed from lumber, but defended with very modern weapons. Just then, Nathaniel Taylor, the colony leader, emerges from his compound to greet the new citizens. "Congratulations, each one of you has taken a new step -- just as I did seven years ago -- toward a new beginning," he says. Taylor explains how humanity "blew it" by destroying its home. Now, a second chance to "get it right" in Terra Nova. Everyone claps. Later, Jim and Elisabeth are brought before Taylor, who relaxes behind a table made from a huge dinosaur skull. He explains that he doesn't care about laws from "another time." He just wants people who will be of use.

Elisabeth is a doctor, but how will Jim be of use? "There must be some bad guys around here that need catching," says Jim, who explains that he used to be a narcotics officer in Chicago. Taylor gruffly assigns Jim to "agricultural duty." The family then explores its new house, which is big and open and practically glowing. Jim worries that Zoe doesn't even know him, but the dad is soon making his youngest daughter giggle. It's a touching moment, capped by Zoe calling Jim "daddy." Josh doesn't buy into the good feelings, however. "I guess we're supposed to forget about the years we had to fend for ourselves because dad was in jail!" says the petulant teenager. "If he hadn't lost his cool and punched that cop, he might have gotten off with a fine. Ever think about that?!"

Mom and dad tell Josh to cool down, so he sulks. Zoe, meanwhile, has wondered outside and is staring with wonder at a brachiosaur who eats leaves from her hand. The camera pulls back to reveal a herd of the long-necked big guys. The next morning, dad heads to work, mom heads to work and the kids head to new citizen orientation. Maddy then marvels at a shrine of sorts to the original "probe," which identified the existence of Terra Nova. She then explains to her slacker brother that Terra Nova exists in the distant past of an alternate universe. So nothing they do -- like step on a butterfly -- will result in their never having been born. Convenient. Josh then decides to skip orientation and soon runs into a perky young blond named Skye. Perhaps he can forget his old GF, after all.

Skye then takes Josh to a hole in the massive fence. They slip out into the woods and find fellow teenage risk seekers Tasha, Hunter and Max. The new gang heads out for an adventure, which involves leaping off a waterfall into the water below. Josh takes the plunge and swims with his new friend. Skye then shows Josh a series of strange gold symbols that have seemingly been carved into the rock. "I think they're equations, but I can't be sure," Skye says. The place, meanwhile, is off limits. "It's like Taylor doesn't want anybody to know about this. Um, don't tell anyone about this, OK?" Josh agrees.

Sometime later, Elisabeth is working on a patient who has been shot. He and his buddies were apparently stealing from the power grid. Why? Because they are "sixers," a security guard explains. Before he can explain the term, the patient leaps out up and holds a knife to Elisabeth's throat. He demands the guard slide over his gun. The guard complies and the "sixer" takes the weapon and flees. Outside, Jim is getting agricultural lessons when he notices the "sixer" walking fast through the camp. Jim's cop senses apparently begin to tingle as he opts to follow the fellow. Good thing, too, because Jim notices when the "sixer" pulls a weapon and aims it at Taylor. Just as Taylor is about to assassinated, Jim TACKLES the "sixer," who is led off the brig in handcuffs. Taylor invites Jim for a hike.

The pair of macho men climb up a waterfall as Taylor explains that the "sixers" are a split-off settlement that all arrived with the sixth batch of Terra Nova immigrants. One day, the group decided to make their own society -- taking a considerable amount of supplies and weapons with them. No one knows exactly why. "Until we know who sent those people back and why, I don't know who in the future I can trust," Taylor explains. They then climb a rock and take in the view of Terra Nova from high above. "This is what we're fighting for, Jim," says Taylor before inviting ex-cop to join his security forces. Just then, Taylor notices Sixer Jeeps approaching Terra Nova. Trouble!

CUT to Taylor and Jim chasing the armed Jeeps in their own all-terrain vehicle. A FURIOUS chase ensues ... and is soon joined by a toothy dinosaur! "Carnotaurus," Taylor deadpans. "I hate carnotaurus." The beast snaps a few Sixers out of their vehicles and then continues to chase Taylor and Jim. "Take the wheel!" shouts Taylor, who jumps out of the vehicle to face down the "Carno" mano y dino. This gives the security guard at the gates of Terra Nova just enough time to ready their weapons. Taylor then leaps back into the vehicle and tells Jim to step on it. They speed through the closing gates of Terra Nova as weapons above FIRE at the Carno, who thinks better of it and flees.

After the smoke has cleared, Taylor confronts the Sixers, who have approach the gates. A particularly tough woman named Mira demands the return of her Sixer friend from the Terra Nova brig. She also implies that the Sixers have spies inside the complex before proposing a trade: the prisoner and medical supplies for a big box of meteoric iron. Taylor accepts. Apparently, the Sixers control the quarry. Later, Taylor and Elisabeth have a heart to heart at the medical tent. The good doctor explains that she wanted a better life for her children. Taylor understands. He wanted the same for his own son. Alas, Taylor's son went missing some years ago. Dad still hopes the boy will return.

Meanwhile, Tasha, Hunter, Max and Skye introduce Josh to a makeshift "moonshine" still outside the gate. Everybody but Skye and Josh go off into the woods to search for supplies. The lovebirds chat -- i.e. Josh complains about this family -- when they hear a animal shriek in the distance. Not good. Back at Terra Nova, Taylor calls Jim into the surveillance room and shows him security footage of Josh and Skye sneaking out of the fence. "If we don't get to them pretty quick, something else might," Taylor tells the worried father. CUT to the teens, who discover that the rover they stole is missing its power cell. The Sixers stole it before disappearing (actually, they were killed by a "slasher," though the teens don't know it. Luckily, the Sixer vehicle is nearby.

They race toward the seemingly abandoned vehicle as they hear another shriek. The slasher dinosaur is getting closer. Skye opens the door to find a Sixer inside. She apparently remembers him from his time in Terra Nova and convinces the man to let the teens inside. They slam the door to the vehicle just as the slasher leaps from the underbrush with a loud SHRIEK, SLAMMING into the side of the armored car.

Night falls. Elisabeth insists on heading out with Jim, Taylor and the security team to search for the teens. Taylor attempts to comfort the terrified parents by telling them that he was the first to arrive at Terra Nova -- and spent more than 100 days defending himself against the dinosaurs and elements before more men arrived. The lesson? "This jungle can be survived," Taylor concludes. Meanwhile, Slashers surround the rover. The teens use their weapons to open fire. It's a flurry of SPUTTERING gunfire, FLASHING muzzles and dino SHRIEKS. Back at Terra Nova, cute boy Reynolds visits Maddy, assuring her that everything is going to be OK. Maddy is clearly smitten.

CUT to Jim and Elisabeth, who find a badly wounded Tasha lying on the jungle floor. Terrified, she ran from the Sixer vehicle and was attacked by a slasher. As Elisabeth stabilizes the Tasha, she explains that she crossed water after escaping the vehicle. That narrows the search area for the teens. Jim, meanwhile, blames himself for the whole episode. "Josh came out here with these kids just to spite me," he tells Elisabeth. Jim then disappears into the jungle with Taylor to find the kids. CUT to the Sixer vehicle, where Skye explains that her father was a corporeal in Taylor's guard before he died. Josh barely has time to sympathize before more Slashers attack the vehicle. Hunter is dragged outside by a Slasher, which casually munches on the boy's leg before Josh and Skye use machine guns to scare it away. All the teens then decide to take their stolen power cell and try to make it back to their rover. It's a desperate plan that soon goes array.

Just as it looks as if the dinos are about to maul the surrounded teams, Taylor and his men arrive. Jim shoots a Slasher about to kill Josh and then tries to comfort his son. "It's OK," Jim tells Josh. "It's me. It's over." Jim and Taylor then head to the Sixer vehicle and find the man gone. "It's Mira," Taylor says. "She came for her man." Back at Terra Nova, Elisabeth greets Jim with a smile. The parents are soon joined by their wayward son, who apologizes for causing so much trouble. A big family hug ensues. Skye watches the embrace longingly before approaching Taylor. "I'm sorry ... you've been so good to me since my folks ..." Skye says before trailing off. Taylor accepts the apology and asks if the teens went anywhere near the falls. Skye lies and says "no." "Good," Taylor says. "Good." What is Taylor hiding?

CUT to Mira and her man, who are examining the strange calculations. Mira explains that they are made by Taylor's son. "Every time he gets close to an answer, he puts it here," the Sixer leader says. "To remind him of the real reason for Terra Nova's existence: control the past, control the future." She stares at the symbols. "They're the key -- to everything."