Continuum Season 2 Episode 13 “Second Time” Recap and Review
The following recap and review contains spoilers for the season 2 finale of Continuum which won’t air in the U.S. until August 30. So if you don’t want to know how this season ends then stop right here. If you want to know, then please read on.
All season nearly every episode opens up during Kiera’s time in 2077 and tonight’s season finale is no different.
We see Kiera at home and looking at a hologram of the time travel device. She wonders with her husband the connection of the device to a murder investigation and Liber8. She also doesn’t understand why CPS wants to bury the evidence.
Kiera’s husband, Greg talks about the murder case with his boss. He tells him how Kiera is supposed to be at the Liber8 execution and doesn’t want to bother Mr. Sadler. Greg’s boss does talk about Kiera’s role in the execution and her investigation. Alec admires her moxie and we then flashback to episode 1 when Alec uploads a message to Kiera’s CMR. Greg realizes that Alec Sadler has done something.
We are now at Execution Day of the Liber8 terrorists. She seems relieved at the prospect when Kiera notices something at their dinning room table. Greg tells her it is something to do with work and shuts it down. Kiera wants to make plans with Greg after work but he seems fishy the way he is acting. Kiera takes away Sam’s toy soldier to feed him breakfast.
We then see Alec talking to a whole bunch of people and talks of preserving control when a mystery woman enters. This woman talks about the murder of the woman we saw last episode. Alec realizes that those responsible are the Freelancers. Jason then talks to Alec about the Freelancer threat and Alec tasks him to deal with the freelancers. This is where it is weird. Jason is talking to his own son and Alec is talking to his own father. Confusing indeed.
Back at the present, Alec confronts Esher at Piron headquarters. He is pissed. Alec is missed at the deception that he forced Emily to play. Esher defends his actions but Alec informs him that Emily is dead. Esher tries to apologize but Alec holds him responsible for Emily’s death.
At the precinct, Carlos is updating Dillon on another murder that might be connected to Gardiner’s dead. They then discuss Carlos protecting Kiera and tells Dillon to bring Kiera in is to ensure that she is safe. Dillon tells him that she still has friends here.
Kiera calls Carlos and she wants to know about Emily. Carlis tells her she is dead and that she needs to come in. Before she does, she needs to see Alec/ Betty manages to trace the call to Cordova and Cambie. And we then see Betty text someone. Carlos then calls Ed Lamb from internal affairs.
We learn that Betty has texted Sonya and how Kiera and Alec are seeing Escher at Piron. We see that Kellogg has been brought into Sonya and Travis. He tells them that Esher is trouble and is connected to Garza’s disappearance. Kellogg then tells the two that Alec has gotten the time travel device to work and Esher as anti matter to make it work. Kellogg tells them that they can go back to the time they wanted to get the revolution to work. If Escher gets a hold of it, he could go back in time to kill all the Liber8 people. Kellogg has a plan.
Alec tells Escher how Kiera was there when Emily was shot but left to go after the time travel device. Escher tells Alec’s of his interest in him and Kiera. Escher tells him that they are family and that he is his father. Whaaa!
Alec doesn’t believe him and tells how Jason is a DNA match. Escher offers proof that he is his father, a very bad photo of him as a young man and his mom with a baby Alec. Alec believes that the work he has done and Escher has done means they have been working together all this time. Esher was going to show him the anti-matter but Kiera interupts to apologize. Alec is pissed at Kiera for leaving Emily as she only wanted to go back to her son. Alec believes that she is selfish. The police then arrive to arrest Kiera but Kiera keeps on telling Alec not to trust Escher but he tells her that he is family that he will always blame her for everything, He gives her a wink as the police take her away. We see Alec talk to Kiera and says that he will figure a way to get her own as long as she can get out of this jam.
At the precinct, Dillon has gotten his prey and Carlos is pissed at Betty for tracing his call. Carlos needs some evidence from lockup and Betty is going to get it. He then blackmails her to do what he wants by saying he knows she is the Liber8 mole. He used good ole detective work to figure that out.
In the interrogation room, Dillon tells her that Carlos thinks she is being setup. Kiera is disappointed in Dillon thinking that he was a person that she could trust but when he was fired, he seemed to be on a vendetta to get it back and then go after Liber8. Kiera believes that Esher is providing the evidence that Dillon needs. Carlos comes in some evidence (it is Kiera’s weapons) when Dillon asks what it is, Carlos uses it to punch him out in order to set Kiera free. Kiera tells Carlos that he is the one person that never failed her since she arrived. Carlos tells her to look him up in 2077 if he is still around. They too have quite a sweet friendship and partnership. She then uses her suit to disappear. Carlos then leaves his badge in his desk and leaves, essentially quitting the force. Betty runs out and wants him to reconsider. Carlos thinks that being a cop now doesn’t mean something but it should. He wants Betty to come with him.
At Alec’s lab, we see Jason there. He believes that Kiera is there too to hide from the freelancers. When Kiera goes to the hiding place of the device, she realizes that Kellogg took it but she still has one piece.
Dillon is watching surveillance footage but it shows nothing. Dillon announces to the precinct that Kiera is public enemy number 1 and should be considered armed and dangerous while Carlos is number 2.
Kiera wants to device back and threatens to shoot Kellogg. He informed Kiera that device isn’t at the lab and killing him won’t solve the bigger problem: Escher, Travis, Sonya and the freelancers. Her key to go home is to save Alec that he is in danger. Jason concurs with Kellogg that Alec may not know how dangerous Escher is. Basically, bring Alec to his lab, he will bring the device so she can go home.
In 2077, we see Jason and older Alec converse of his plans with the Liber8 convicts. Jason asks what if it doesn’t work but Alec says that he has to try. Alec tells Jason that he needs to go back to inherit his failure. Jason then calls Alec father – that is why he is a genetic match. Basically we learn that Alec sent back Liber8 to fix his wrongs.
Escher is now showing Alec the anti-matter room that represents his future and that the device will make it work. Alec then lets Kiera listen in to their conversation. Esher asks Alec to tell Kiera to come and set a trap for her.
Sonya and Travis meet up with Kellogg at Alec’s lab.
Alec then notices that Esher is a Freelancer and apparently, Alec’s mom knows about the truth of Esher and it was easier to believe that Mark Sadler was dead. He also says that Kiera’s arrival changed everything.
At Piron’s lobby we see Travis arrive and the Piron men start shooting at him and he shoots back as the suit has protected him. He aims for Kiera but her suit protect her. Now Travis and Kiera have a super suit fight on super suit fight. Travis mentions to Kiera bout her joining him. Meanwhile, we see Sonya, Kellogg and Marco watching the fight. But Kellogg takes off to grab Alec and the time travel piece as he doesn’t see the Travis/Kiera showdown ending anytime soon. Travis tells Kiera that he wants Alec to pay and he needs to first deal with her. On top of an elevator, Kiera cuts one of the electrical chords and shoves it in Travis’ neck and overcircuits him and falls to his death. As Sonya watches this, Marco pulls a gun on him and is about to shoot Sonya when the freelancer shoots Marco.
Kiera and Kellogg meet up at Piron and Kiera think he is renegging on their deal but he says it is the opposite and he wants to come with.
In the anti matter room, Alec and Kiera is reunited and she tells him that Travis is dead. Kellogg enters too. Kiera asks if Alec can do this, bring him home, he hopes so. Kiera puts the last piece in and Alec tells her that he will send her back to the time before she left. She worries that there might be two of her and it might mess up the time continuum. Alec gets it to work and Keira is about to thank Alec when Escher comes in and Alec has betrayed her.
We see Kiera beflore the LIber8 execution – the pilot. And we also see Jason messing with something. Back to present, Alec tells Kiera that he is protecting family and Escher says that ime travel is the family business. In 2077, Jason is stopped at what he was doing, it is one of the freelancer who is tasked to stopping those that mess with time. In the present, Alec informs Escher that he is his father. Escher blames Kiera for butting his son in danger. In 2077, we see Greg concerned at Kiera’s presence.
In the present, the Freelancers stop Escher and Kiera tells the freelancers to send her home to restore the timeline and will destroy the time travel device. But one of the freelancers tell her there would still be a glitch in the time line and it is her and is about to shoot her. Alec removes the time travel device and we see from the pilot Liber8 and Kiera go back in time.
When Kiera says that she can go home, Alec says he knows but instead he goes to the future. We see also from episode 1, Kiera on the gurney and being injected with something. We also see Carlos and Betty arriving at the home of Julian and his mom. And we see Dillon with a handbook that reads – CPS – City Protective Services, which we know in the future that Kiera is a member of.
We see the freelancers that includes Chen and trapped in a whole bunch of glass cages Garza, Kiera, Sonya, Kellogg, Jason and possibly Travis and Escher all imprisoned and they tell each other that Sadler is no longer a concern. They all scream at the freelancers to let them go.
So from what we can believe the Freelancers are the good guys out to ensure the time line is preserved. But where exactly are Kiera and company and what timeline are they in? Also, where is Alec? What does Carlos and Betty joining Julian and his movement mean?
So many questions that I am really looking forward to season 3 to answering.
I just watched it and its like they pulled out all the stops creativity wise to bring the best episode of the entire series.
It was about time! I just wish they did it more often.
They have finally made time travel really interesting.
Wouldn’t it be interesting, if Esher turned out to be Kiera’s son, Sam, all grown up, which would Make Alec her Grandson, and Jason her Great Grandson?
Dude… mind blown for sure!!!! All twisted… but how could that be of keiras last name is cameron?!
Amazing finale! One of the best i have ever watched and hands down the best episode of the entire series.
It’s like they have pulled out all the stops creatively speaking and i have never expected this level of quality from the show.
They have finally made time travel interesting and awesome.
I had a very hard time following this episode, as much of it was either too chaotic or just wasn’t very clear.
At least we got some answers. Jason is a DNA match because he is Alec’s future son, not his father. That was a nice twist. It does raise the question of who is Jason’s mother though. Since Alec traveled through time and said he has to save her, does that mean Emily? Wouldn’t it make sense to accomplish this by going to the past, not the future?
The cliffhanger wasn’t really a cliffhanger, it just ended with Liber8 and Kira trapped by the freelancers… I’m not really sure what to make of that. I’m glad the show got picked up for another season, but this episode didn’t make me as excited for that season as I feel it should have.
It makes me wonder if the creators have an end-game plan for the series, or if they are just making things up as they go along.
I followed what happened, but I think I got the same chaotic/unclear feeling too. This episode was very unsatisfying and didn’t seem to fit. I get Alec wanting to save Emily but it seems out of character to do that to Keira or Jason who he has grown close to when he thought he was his father and must have just realised was his son?
Up until now the plot has been unfolding so neatly, I really thought that the show was meticulously planned out… but now I’m not sure. Maybe they didn’t plan for a 3rd season?
Until this ep, old Alec seemed to be the one character ‘in the loop’, he seemed to have knowledge of the complete story arc and knew what young Alec was to go through as if he himself had been through it, and realised that like the time travel in 12 Monkeys it was as it would always be.
Instead we now have a Terminator 1 & 2 situation (not just the feeling with Kyle Reese, I mean Jason) where things only happen because time travel, but also it seems multiple timelines so the future can be rewritten…
So sadly this feels like the beginning of the end, maybe it’s premature, but this no longer feels like the clever but terrible tale of time travel and best intentions gone awry, and how our “protagonists” unknowingly screwed up the future but have been working to fix it in the timeline following 2077…
It’ not clear to me if Kiera and Liber8 trapped by freelances was due to Alec going to the future/past, And who is “her”? Emily or Kiera?
Last but not least: any news about Season 3?
I have heard that they will start filming season 3 of Continuum in November.
Yes, I too feel as if the writer didnt really know where it was going from the start, and chucked a lot of things in at the end of the season many of which were thought up as a deadline approached. Come with me Aluke, together as father and Son, we can Rule the TIMELIMELINE! It is your Family Business ! !
I think the writers didn’t know what to do with the last episodes until they got word about it being cancelled or continued. If it were cancelled,probably wrote and filmed it as late as possible. I don’t think they would just leave things hanging. Probably tie up all the loose ends. Still, it’s a gr8 series and I can’t wait for season 3. The battles were epic, it was refreshing to see Kiera have to win the fight as an equal instead of using the future technology card again. Confusing, but I liked it a lot.
Please revise the review into something more akin to English.
The writers do have a plan.
This finale ended with the heroes on the run or trapped in need of rescue. That’s the definition of a cliffhanger.
Escher is Alec’s dad. Jason is his son. Mother unknown (Jason’s that is). Alec went into the future.
Liber8, less Lucas, and other futurists are now at the mercy of those from even further into the future than 2077. These seem to be extremely keen to stop others messing with time. They’ve identified Kiera as the glitch in time. Would have thought Alec Saddler the issue of a time-travelling dad and present mother would more suitably qualify.
These inaptly named freelancers have kept the 2077 party alive instead of just killing them. Why? Is it that they no longer feel threatened with Alec’s future jump.
Alec will have the answer to the question of what does the world look like without me. He has got the time travel device but unless he’s taken a supply of antimatter through with him, he’s going to need a supply to get back. He has the time travel device and someone in that future may take it off him and reverse engineer it. Even were Alec to retrieve it, get his anti-matter and get home, plans may still get left behind that mean eventually someone will build other devices or come up with alternative time travel apparatus.
The developers of that time travel device would know that the device theirs is copied from surfaced in 2077. They would presumably travel back then to investigate further. They would connect that with the name Alec Sadler and track him back to a story about his disappearance. The young Alec Sadler would encounter the “freelancer” 2077 team. Will he be helped by a Kiera Cameron in 2077? Would Kiera even exist had she not persuaded Lily to have her baby?
How is Escher connected? What’s his sequence of time jumps? Are there more time travel devices in the present day?
Kiera has to work out what Escher means by she’s a time bomb, what her captors mean about her being a glitch in time and what , according to Garza from Old Alec, is her purpose. And escape. That would be good.
Carlos will first have to persuade Julian he really is public enemy number 2 and that Kiera is no 1.He’d be expecting to read/see a story about her disappearance but not one about Escher, Alec and Kellogg as well. He’ll eventually persuade Julian’s little army to mount a rescue mission for Lucas. The guy’s good at what he does when not hallucinating. He’ll need Lucas and his ability to locate chips to find Kiera.
Right. Well that was a lot more coherent than the actual recap above. But I’m even more confused now! Especially about the Freelancers. And how did you conclude that stuff about Carlos? (not being arsey – I just didn’t join all the dots about Carlos – I thought he had gone bad when he shook Julian’s hand)
Cheers!
Kiera would be the glitch if their future was the result of liber8 going back previously and setting up the whole future of 2077 that Sadler found a way, through Kiera to circumvent. Her presence in our time meant that Alec did something to gum up the future and we saw him do just that when he took himself where/whenever.
Oh my ! ? ! You are deep ~~~ but that’s what inquiring sci-fi minds wanna know. For the most part, you helped clear up mine, so thanks. Because, I ALSO thought this was an awesome season finale, with some “cool” twists & turns.
And, I must say It was nice to finally see Kiera’s ass get an asswhoopin’ – ‘cus before now, she ALWAYS would end up the whopper, with everyone one going up against her crawling away bent & beat [yes, I know, once again at the very end even Travis met the same fate]. But, now finally she was defeated too – by the Freelancers. And, stripped of her magicians suit, she turned into a big “I wanna go home” crybaby [as compared to fiery Garza pounding away yelling “Let me out!”]. And, did you notice that Travis was “hanging around” still, while he healed from getting the elevator AND the shaft from Kiera. So, I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of him.
It’s interesting that we even discover Chen is also a Freelancer – and ALIVE – so maybe Lucas really did see him & not just imagine him? Plus, you asked how is Escher connected – and I say just connect the dots. Maybe he broke the Freelancer Oath “…to protect the past, present & future from those that would exploit it…” since we saw he is an inked one as well, and heard him proclaim, “Time travel… It’s the family business…”.
Then, Season 2 ends – with ALL the time travelers caught & boxed. Meanwhile, Alex Marty McFly’s back to the future, no doubt to double his brainpower with his older wiser self [and plan how to free his friends from the Freelancers, so they can help him save Emily from being shot & killed?!?]
Anyways,.hope they continue Season 3 with this great cast, great acting, great action, great story lines and great special effects Continuum has given us so far! Because, I’m in agreement with everyone here — that this has been the best sci-fi tv series EVER ! ! !
What Sallly has said names sense. I initially thought that Alec went to the future when he said “I have to save her” since his father (Esher) said “time travel is a family business”…..
The premise of time travel, looping, etc as well as free lancers is very similar to tv series Fringe.
Can’t wait for season 3.
The one thing that I didn’t get at all was Kiera all of a sudden realizing that the freelancers were time cops. I totally missed any background for that leap of logic from her. The whole liber8 Jason thing was pretty well executed and it seems that all was working smoothly until we encounter Escher (who is what a rogue time cop who fathered a son and thus changed the future-or caused it!) Never the less I love this show. I love the production values-not too flashy but well integrated. (of course my other ? is why the freelancers are so willing to kill people who seem to belong in the time period the lawyer, the CSIS agent . . .
They SAY they’re time cops, but are they-they seem to have been acting more like thugs than cops until now. And just what kind of future are they protecting if they’re cops?
There was another jump – when Escher was trying to get Alec to convince Kiera to come to his office. As far as they both knew she was hauled off in a cop car, so why would they assume she could get a text message? If we want to give the writes credit we’ll have to assume this came from Escher’s wall of monitors even though they seemed to be continuously in the same positions in his office one scene to the next….
Sorry Alec did not go into the Future, he has nobody to save in the FUTURE, he is going back to save his girl friend who was shot and killed, dont know even why anyone that watched the show would think he would go into the future, that makes no sense or logic, now does it, the freelancers put all the ones who travel into time into isolation because they create a paradox and anomoly, they are to protect the time stream. “I can save her” thats only his girl friiend which is NOT from the future, and because it takes a year to see the next season who is going to remember oir even care what went on anyway!!!
Ahh so, Asashi – you think then that Kiera was tricked by Alec & that he actually set the device to go back in time instead of back to 2077? I like my presumption better [see above]. Anyhoo, I think that’s why we’ll both be back next season — ‘cus this show is just so unpredictable now & mindbendingly AWESOME ! ! !
I thought Alec had gone to the future (before the initial time jump) so he could collaborate with Kira and stop everyone ever traveling back. This would essentially change the fact they are all locked up in the cages and Emily wouldnt be working with Esher (to stop Cameron). So by going forward he save Emilyand Keria never travels or is seprated.from her family and the liber8 terrorists all die in the execution.
I thought Alec had gone to the future (before the initial time jump) so he could collaborate with Kira and stop everyone ever traveling back. This would essentially change the fact they are all locked up in the cages and Emily wouldnt be working with Esher (to stop Cameron). So by going forward he save Emilyand Keria never travels or is seprated.from her family and the liber8 terrorists all die in the execution.
Questions that arise in the end:
1) The last scene where Libre8 and Kiera are held captive- I have to assume that is a timeline (a future) after 2077- as it seems the Freelancers have almost everything in control?
2) That green room theh are in… can it be Limbo? Think about it. One asked what about Lucas? If you remember Lucas went crazy and was locked up in 2013. Perhaps they are going to try to yank him out of 2013 and into this green room (limbo?) to finish correcting/restoring the timeline.
3) In the basement scene, one of the Freelancers was going to shoot Kiera before getting distracted by the time device opening up. Alec went to jump BUT the freelancer did fire a shot into the beam- so what happened?
Something had to significantly happen because you have to ask: why was he willing to shoot Kiera there and then but then hold her and Libre8 captives?
Ooooo !!! can’t wait for S3!
GOOD POINT about shooting into the device. I missed that.
alec is jasons dad if u recap when alec(80yrs) was talking to jason about the power generator. to power up the ti… dev… alec told him he would inherit his foults and jason called him father!!!!!
continuum ,when you really think about it, its the most racist show ,every non white is a criminal, asians, blacks , and indian in the future. shame racism is our continuity.
Actually, if you followed the series correctly then you would realize that the freelancer “time cops” are supposedly the good guys (until that gets switched on us again). And yes, the freelances represented more than 1 ethnicity.
I have to say I was bored with season one – it felt like a directionless cop show to me – and watched season two because it came on Netflix… I was pleasantly surprised! However the most interesting ten minutes of the series so far has been when I thought that Jason was Alec’s Father AND his son… I was like, “Never seen THAT before.” Alas the story went elsewhere, but I was pretty pleased with the balls Simon showed in season two.
Totally agree. I noticed how ridiculously racist the show is from the 2nd episode of season 1!
Yeah because “Carlos” isn’t Hispanic. And there’s absolutely no people who pass as your racial stereotype of a ‘non-Hispanic white’ yet consider themselves Spanish or Hispanic. Oh and her partner from the future – guess what. To be honest the other reply is close to the fact that it’s various groups of “slightly less evil, uhm ,maybe, no wait good guys, no wait EVIL!” people. They’re all pr**ks. Hmm, maybe there is something to that “time travel slowly causes psychosis” bit, hehe.
I love this show. I am hooked it’s smartly written brilliant and fresh. The writer’s of this this show presents a conundrum when it comes to time travel the rich character development full of variable’s leading to questionable out comes, wow! I can’t wait for season 3.
I am still processing last night’s revelations: that’s a lot to digest, even if I had guessed right in a few cases (Jason being Alec’s son, e.g.). It is a rare show that keeps my mind working long after the images have faded from the screen. So, thanks for that to the Continuum cast and crew. Waiting for 2014 and the 3rd season premiere will be difficult.
One thing that bothers me is Alec’s apparent continuing ignorance of the “laws” of time-travel in this story. Maybe he knows full well and is just feeding Kiera some “poor, poor innocent me” BS at the end. But either the future can be changed or it cannot. If it is changed, does that result in “rewriting” the timeline, or creating a new one? If the latter, can people who have been diverted into one timeline that is not their original path “jump the rails” into their proper timeline?
From what I have read of physics and all of the episodes of this show I have seen, I have come up with the following, which seems to respect physics as well as the established show continuity:
Much has been said in recent episodes about the spacetime “matrix.” Presumably, if you know your coordinates, you can set a suitably designed machine to create a portal that opens onto any point in space or time. That would imply a four-coordinate matrix. But what if there are five or more coordinates, with the “extras” specifying the universe (or timeline) in question? Physics readily admits the possibility of alternative dimensions/realities, so suppose every quantum choice that COULD be made IS made, and it is only our perception of events that makes us think that any particular version of reality is “the one.” This would mean (and I believe) that there really ARE no time paradoxes, only perhaps temporary mass/energy surpluses or deficits (representing the beings or objects that have been added to or subtracted from their original timelines — i.e., translated to other corresponding parts of the multiverse spacetime matrix). Physics also posits that matter from one reality has a characteristic, subatomic vibrational rate, from which, presumably, we could derive the extra coordinates needed to place a traveler in a particular reality, as well as at a particular space and moment in time. (Even if not, it is possible that smoking-man-Alec knows the necessary co-ordinates and sent them to Smallville-Alec via the mysterious “file,” or otherwise embedded them in Kiera’s CMR via his remote control transmissions in 2077.) If we assume all of this, the writers can breathe freely, as few possibilities are foreclosed to them, due to “time-travel/cross-dimension logic” (except, of course, those that repel and chase away the audience, ala Sliders).
One of the possibilities off-limits to the writers, though, is one they seemed to have jumped into with both feet: Time Cops. If there is no RIGHT timeline, and if people’s choices and actions only push them down one path or another, with all other paths remaining intact, who cares about those choices? By analogy, if people could instantly regenerate and go on to lead effectively immortal lives, who would care about murder, any more than someone might about stepping on someone else’s feet in a crowd? A quick apology, if that, and you go on with your respective lives. Time cops, in fact, would be the BAD guys in such a multiverse: tyrants who were dedicated to making people make “the right choices,” according to their own vision of the “proper” future — like overlords who enslave people to mine in subterranean caverns, even though there is a bright, unspoiled world of plenty on the surface. Either the “one true timeline” idea is a scam, or it is, at best, an ignorant religion. That would lead to an interesting comparison between the Freelancers and Liber8. Both are extremist groups, who are more than happy to wreak havoc and kill innocents in the name of their respective visions of “the right.” Would Kiera and Alec, proving the simultaneous existence of alternative universes or timelines — AND THE ABILITY TO TRAVEL BETWEEN THEM — scuttle the scam/religion of the Freelancers? Are these two perhaps being hunted because of their similarity to Galileo in his relationship with the Catholic church?
In ending the series, what I would like to see (apart from revelations about who is whose grandmother or grandfather), is that the time machine is actually a multiverse spacetime matrix transportation device. Regardless of “changes to the timeline” that Kiera and other time travelers cause, Kiera, Kellogg, et. al. can ultimately choose to return to whichever timeline they wish, as long as they can determine the proper co-ordinates. The dramatic possibilities can come from whether they actually WANT to go back to their unaltered future, stick with the consequences of the changes they made in the “past,” or find a universe that blends the best of both. In the latter case, there may already be a Kiera, Kellogg, etc., who occupies (or after having been displaced, wishes to RE-occupy) that space. What happens if they both attempt to be there? What if there are multiverse laws of physics that, while not preventing duplicate Kieras, Kelloggs, or Sadlers outright, still lead to terrible consequences when cross-dimensional travelers or objects put the energy/mass relationships between the universes too far out of balance?
Anyway, I’m very thankful to the Continuum cast and crew for making me think so hard, and I hope what finally airs on the small screen will outdo my own imagination. Good luck and success to you all!
Very intelligent analysis, James. Lets hope the writers have thought it through as well as you have.
NO it wasn’t. Physics doesn’t deal with time travel because as far as we know it, it is impossible. Period. You certainly can’t step into a box and appear in the past like on TV. String theory talks about multiple dimensions, typically 11 dimensions. However those extra dimensions are on a scale so tiny that we can probably never experimentally prove or disprove them. That doesn’t mean that time travel stories aren’t fun. Different authors deal with the time paradox in different ways. There is no right or wrong. It is just like Superman can fly. There is no physical explanation. It is fiction and up to the author.
And we don’t know if Alec jumped to the future or past. He set the time coordinates so that he can save his girlfriend. He can do that by preventing Liber8 from jumping to the past or by jumping before she gets killed and trying to save her. I am sure Season 3 will tell us.
And the whole point is that we really don’t know who the good or bad guys are. That is what makes this show intriguing.
Actually, I think she traveled into the future in the first episode. Trillions and trillions of years past this universe. Hmm, maybe with 10 to power of 10000 more zeroes on the end. I mean, if that theory of cycles is correct, and the math seems to imply that time travel is a one-way trip to the future… Think of extreme time dilation. That would make all the time travelers more of a quantum-mechanics/entropy anomaly.
But it’s all rubbish because time travel into the past at macroscopic scales would essentially be mutual annihilation even if possible. Your time-reversed matter version meets you at the moment you attempt to go back. Hmm, the remake of H. G. Wells’ Time Machine movie made fun of what happens when a object in a time-accelerated reference frame like his time machine is used to compress an object to – uhm the scientific term would spoil it. 😛
Well, thought about it some more.
Time is a clever lie? There actually has to be more than 4 coordinates for your position in a 4D space-time. I believe it’s 7 or 8? This is of course a consequence of the fact that positions and angles are relative. You actually need 2 angles for a specific object’s light-cone relative to you, the distance, the velocity, time difference (speed of light does not mean that light you see hasn’t traveled a round-about path), acceleration.
I could think of the freelancers this way: Imagine you have a 1-world government and the world just barely survives to become capable of then habitually colonizing other planets and you calculate the odds as being highly against it happening before some critical resource limitation is met. You also would want to make SURE that control is maintained. I’m thinking though, that time travel is a trap. A destablized timeline would be much less probable compared to self-fulfilling timelines – either because of a lack of time travel into the relative local past, or consistancy that forbids paradoxes. The ‘first’ thing such a timeline does, from a 5th-dimensional point-of-view, is go change itself to another timeline. You could think of this like state diagrams with loops. The value with the smallest-sized loops would be the most likely to be measured, if you randomly set a value and let the feedback loop run for a random number of clock cycles. For example, 1,2,4,8,6,2… 0,0 3,6,2,4,8,6,2 5,0,0 7,4,8,6,2,4 9,8,6,2,4,8 for doubling and taking only lower digit. The most common value is obviously 2.
You all have to remember… if Alec goes to the future he never grows older, he disappears from the future time line and never does the things that cause the revolution or the conditions that cause Liber8 to go back in time to change things. If Alec goes to the future, the whole premise for the show disappears with his disappearance from the time line. Alec goes to the future only to find that his young self disappeared in 2013, has never been seen since, and does not exist in 2077.
So it is not likely that Alec went to the future… that is, unless he eventually can get back to 2013.
And what if he went to the past? If Alec goes even a few days or even hours in the past, he can influence and stop all the things that led to the last moments of the finale. He can stop what happens at Piron and next season can start with NONE of those things we saw at the finish ever happening!
We really have to think this through!
This depends on whether there is only “one true timeline.” If going to the past and foreclosing the previously experienced future does not eliminate that future but merely bumps you into an alternative timeline, then some dramatic possibilities go away, but new ones appear.
I just want to see Kiera have sex
I actually thought that the end bit where Kiera is drugged and Figure8 are in boxes / Where Carlos goes to the farm with Betty etc, is the timeline being rewritten from them having not arrived and created chaos, but instead having arrived and been imprisoned by the Freelancers for messing with the timeline?
Anyone else think this?
And yes, clearly Alec is going to save Emily, but I think if Emily lives she’ll kill Asher.
This was the most stupid thing I have read in centuries.
The freelancers are the good guys, because they defend the timeline?
A shitty timeline where the world becomes an autocracy and people have no freedom?
Anybody trying to preserve that is a terrorist.
Old Alec: You have an explanation?
Sadtech Employee: I HAD NO CHOICE. Ramona Cathers was approached by someone with inside knowledge. She was going to EXPOSE US..
>>>>
Alec is asking why is Ramona Cathers; his anti-matter expert and employee dead; and his other employee tells him that SHE (HIS EMPLOYEE) HAD NO CHOICE BUT TO KILL RAMONA; SHE WAS GOING TO EXPOSE ALEC’S PLAN TO SEND LIBER 8 BACK DURING THE EXECUTION.
This is why all the footage from the secutity cameras detailing Cather’s murder were blurred and then deleted; no Freelancer could have done that; only someone with access to SadTech’s Police State technology could.
Cathers was approached by the Freelancers (who probably told her stuff and moral consequences of time travel a technician in 2077 would never ponder); and she was about to talk; so the people in on the conspiracy to send Liber8 back (a very small cadre) shut her up permanently. Remember; Cathers made several trips to the prison; probably instructing Liber8 what they would need to do at the time of the “execution” to get out of there; all under Alec’s orders.
The warden knows also; but he & Alec stage a false argument in front of everyone else about the (obviously contrived and fallacious) “Liber8 plot to attack the execution chamber”.
Warden: Why let the charade go so far?
Old Alec: Because so long as they think they have a chance of escape, we can ferret out their co-conspirators on the outside!
So now with the story of “Liber8’s plot to attack the chamber”; when the explosion occurs and everyone scheduled to die mysteriously vanishes; Old Alec has a great excuse for the bizarre happenings; it was a “Liber8 plot”; and Alec is exculpated.