If You Liked Avatar Try Watching Terra Nova

Most of the time when someone loves one thing or another the reasons for one exist in another. For anyone the loved Avatar and the vibrant, exciting, and magical world of Pandora, I'd recommend trying the one season of Terra Nova to fill your binge-watching needs.

In 2011 Fox premiered Terra Nova. Starring Jason O'Mara, Shelley Conn, Christine Adams, Naomi Scott, and Stephen Lang took to the screen to introduce us to their new world in the past, 85 million years in the past. The colony, Terra Nova, their new home, the Shannons join the rest of the humans of the colony with a second chance at life after escaping the dying earth in the year 2149.

Terra Nova, for its' technology, is protected by security walls that keep out the predatory species of the time. The colonists grow their own food, go on hunts, set up schools and services while being protected by the Commander (Stephen Lang) and his security forces. It doesn't take long for Jim Shannon, the escaped convict and ex-cop from the future, to hook up with the security forces and become the new sheriff in town. The Commander needs his help dealing with the "sixers", a renegade group of early settlers in the prehistoric past, and a traitor guilty of sending information to the "sixers". Shannon will have to tackle some typical crimes occurring in their new world as well as the worst part of human existence, the colonys' first murder.

Jims' wife, Dr. Elisabeth Shannon, the doctor that planned on taking her children through the portal, helping in her husband's escape so he could join them, is the head medical provider and in charge of Terra Novas' clinic. A talented doctor, well versed in her field, she balances the needs of the colony, her clinic, her family, and being a wife but does it in the wilds of 85 million years ago while untold viruses, dinosaurs, and her rebellious teenage son cause trouble.

Naomi Scott joined the cast of the short-lived adventure series playing the oldest Shannon daughter, Maddy. Maddy takes to Terra Nova with an excitement that is played will by the always adorable Naomi Scott. She is the voice of reason in a time that nothing about life makes sense or seems fair to the Shannons, especially older brother Josh, played by Landon Liboiron. Eventually, like any teenage do-gooder, Maddy finds herself helping out at the Terra Nova clinic and developing a relationship with one of the up-and-coming security studs with the colony.

Big brother Josh is the brooding type, upset over the new life, the life he left behind, and the girl he lost as his family jumped through the portal to the land of dinosaurs. Josh learns his way through Terra Nova, falling in with some rebellious teens his age, and finding that there are avenues to try if he wants his girlfriend from the 22nd century brought through without being picked by the lottery. Kids will be kids, but in a land filled with things that want to eat you, maul you, or feed you to their young, sneaking out of Terra Nova leads the kids to more risks than they ever knew back home.

The stories in Terra Nova unfold like they were in any other city. The local tavern runner is running an illicit game with the "sixers" crew, manipulating young Josh with the promise of arranging for his girlfriend to come through, and hiding it all from the eyes of the new sheriff and the Commander. Tragedies befall the adventurous settlers, from murders to accidents in the prehistoric wilderness as they encounter new life forms, diseases, and the dangers of the era. Love blooms between the young and attractive as people start to make plans for a future that they never imagined, finding that they're still as human as before. The sights of Terra Nova are different and splendid, from the colors of land never seen by modern humans to the moon itself being closer to the planet that than expected in their training.

The long-estranged couple, Jim and Elisabeth, forge new bonds with their new community of friends and colleagues as they begin to get to know one another again. Secrets unfold. A shadowy cabal of developers from the future has an insidious plan to strip the land of its assets, the leader of the dreaded "sixers" just wants to get back to her daughter, and the Commanders Son Lucas, believed dead, is behind a lot of their problems.

Like the heroes of Avatar, the Shannons and the Colonists ban together to protect the incredible homeworld they now share from the shadowy developers looking to make a buck at their expense and the expense of the environment, the same environment they've already ruined 85 million years later.

Terra Nova is currently available for a binge on Amazon Prime.