Terra Nova Episode 1.08 Proof

Taylor's remembrances of past fishing trips with his now-estranged son, Lucas, are interrupted by Jim hooking a prehistoric swordfish that nearly pulls him off a cliff until Taylor drags him to safety.

Meanwhile, Maddy is excited to learn that a research team led by naturalist Ken Horton, a childhood hero of hers, is returning to Terra Nova. Boylan lectures a man, Willy, about his outstanding debts, then tells Josh that the Sixers won't reunite him with Kara unless he uses Elisabeth's access code to steal a powerful medicine from the hospital.

When Horton arrives, he doesn't remember Malcolm's name. Elisabeth says that Horton needs a checkup for a stroke he suffered four years ago, but if he'll meet Maddy, she'll postpone this, so he does. He also accepts Maddy's offer to perform volunteer work, but when she quotes a joke from his book, he doesn't remember this either. Maddy says that she still has his handwritten response to a fan letter she wrote him, and Horton asks to make a copy for his archives.

As Josh wrestles with the idea of stealing from his mother, Skye advises him against it, adding that Mira and Boylan may not keep their promises. Josh then asks Boylan for proof that the Sixers will keep their bargain, so Boylan takes him to the Sixers' jungle headquarters, where Mira allows Josh to speak with a hologram version of Kara.

When Maddy wonders why Horton's recollections of her letter are completely wrong and why his past and current signatures don't match, Elisabeth says it's a combination of Horton's stroke - he needs a cane to walk - and Maddy's hero worship.

When Taylor and Jim return from fishing, they discover an abandoned campsite that Taylor believes belonged to the banished Curran. So Taylor decides to remain in the jungle, where he finds bloodstains, followed by a sick and wounded Curran.

Meanwhile, Horton shows Maddy that Terra Nova's apple orchard has been struck by mold. Then he lets loose a swarm of beetles that he's recently discovered will feed on this mold, thereby saving the crop.

Josh steals Elisabeth's security badge. Boylan copies her info onto a card and hands Josh a sonic pistol in case anyone interrupts the theft. When Josh breaks in, the card doesn't work, so he fires the weapon. The force flattens him but opens the safe.

Upon returning to Terra Nova, Jim investigates the robbery, noting that anyone using a sonic pistol indoors would be injured by the blast. Meanwhile, Maddy wonders why Horton is pretending to have misplaced the fan letter she gave him. She finds a piece of the charred letter in Horton's wastebasket, just before Horton can dispose of it.

Taylor realizes that Curran's been attacked by a Komodo dragon, whose bite releases a bacteria that weakens its victim until the beast can move in for the kill. Taylor gives Curran a drink that'll fight this infection and tends his wound.

Elisabeth can't understand why someone stole the needed medicine, adding they can't replace it until the next pilgrimage. She says that one of her patients will die without it. Josh, nursing his wounded torso, explodes in anger at the colony's inability to communicate with 2149 between pilgrimages and storms off.

Maddy believes that Horton burned her letter because he's stolen the real Ken Horton's identity. Since the real Horton left a sample of his DNA when he licked the envelope, which Maddy still has, she wants to collect a sample from this possible impostor and compare them. When Horton leaves his cup unattended, she snags it. Malcolm catches Maddy doing the comparison, and Horton overhears them discover that there's no discrepancy.

Josh secretly pockets a vial of the medicine from the stolen stash and warns Boylan that his father won't rest until the robbery is solved. Soon, Elisabeth tells Jim that Willy is at the hospital, high on the missing drug, and hurting from a sonic blast. Jim realizes that Willy is lying, and he forces him to reveal that Boylan is behind this.

Meanwhile, Taylor waits for the Komodo's attack. After scaring it away, Taylor tells Curran to head for the Sixers' camp, gain their trust, and determine who's their spy inside Terra Nova - or Taylor will hunt and kill him.

Maddy theorizes that Horton's assistant licked the envelope and stole his identity. She enters the Eye virtual library and learns that a dead man was found mutilated before Horton's pilgrimage and that Horton's assistant, Andrew Fickett, has disappeared. But Fickett is right behind her!

Maddy escapes, but she discovers that Fickett has taken Zoe to the apple orchard. Once Maddy persuades Fickett to send Zoe home with a message about asparagus, he pounces. Maddy runs, gets caught, and as Fickett's about to set a poisonous spider on her, Jim arrives and decks him.

Back home, Maddy is explaining that she needed to prove Fickett's true identity when Josh hands Elisabeth that vial of needed medicine. Jim realizes that Josh was the true thief, and Josh admits to giving the rest of the medicine to the Sixers because Boylan said they could ensure Kara's arrival at Terra Nova.

Jim forces Boylan to confirm that Mira can communicate with 2149. He relays this information to Taylor, who admits that Lucas' mission on Terra Nova was to find a way to do this. Jim wonders if the Sixers are forcing Lucas to help them, but Taylor says no, it's a father-and-son conflict.

With beetles swarming in the trees, Maddy picks a now-ripe apple from the orchard and smiles.