Article first published as CONTINUUM Season 2 Premiere Review on Seat42F.
Grade: 92%
Grade: 92%
SyFy’s Candian import CONTINUUM returns
tonight for a second season. The premiere, “Second Chances,” picks up a
little bit after the first season ended, with several of the primary
characters still dealing with what the finale revealed. But a new
assassination quickly forces the good guys to pull together, and a new
mission is found.
The character development in CONTINUUM
is top notch. Each of these people have their own defined motivations,
and sometimes that means they work together, and others times they are
at odds. Even when one of them cares about someone else, such as Kiera
(Rachel Nichols) feeling a kinship with Carlos (Victor Webster), Kiera
may still do something Carlos wouldn’t want when the situation arises.
Now that might seem like a “duh!” move
for a story to go in, but it’s found far less than one might expect on
television today. The best shows know who their personalities are, and
construct situations that test these people in interesting ways, putting
them in context where they have to choose between realistic, imperfect
options. CONTINUUM does this, raising it above many of its peers,
leaving a seed of doubt that a person, in the correct situation, might
not do right by another at the end of the day.
In “Second Chances,” Kiera is wrapped up
in her grief about not going home, and thinking that being a vigilante
is the right way to help the world, unfettered by regulation. Alec (Erik
Knudsen) also splits off, isolating himself as he tries to deal with
the message his future self (William B. Davis) sends him in Kiera’s
programming. But both are pushed back into the team when Carlos and Dillon (Brian Markinson) need them, although their actions
are not completely altruistic.
I really like the dynamic between Kiera
and Kellog (Stephen Lobo). While Kellog certainly has less-than-noble
tendencies, he does work more for Kiera than against her. Her falling
into bed with him is as much about her loneliness and the connection she
feels to him, since they’re both trapped in the past, as it is about
Kellog himself. Their relationship is complicated, and while they might
eventually make a go at serious romance, once Kiera accepts that she
won’t see her husband, Greg (John Reardon), again, that won’t be
happening anytime soon.
Of course, you just know that the
episode Kiera actually commits to Kellog will be the same installment in
which she is reunited with Greg.
At first, I thought CONTINUUM would be a
typical crime procedural, with a few science fiction trappings. But
season one proved that the series can do much better, weaving a complex
tale of terrorists and police, fantastical science, and complicated
story, with plots stretching from 2077 back to today. What appears to be
a run-of-the-mill law breaker could actually be something much more,
and he or she usually is, since this show doesn’t waste its time with
stories that don’t have larger implications.
“Second Chances” picks up this sort of
thread and runs with it when the Mayor is killed during a press
conference. Who is behind it? Liber8? Mobsters? Jim Martin (Tahmoh
Penikett), the mayor’s political rival? By the end of the hour, we know,
but there is also very clearly more to it than just learning the
shooter’s identity.
Liber8 is reeling after the loss of its
leader. Sonya (Lexa Doig) thinks she should be in charge, but that’s not
readily accepted by the others, as one might predict. If Kagame (Tony
Amendola) really did name her his successor, why didn’t he tell the
others and smooth the transition? Is Sonya lying? What are her plans for
the group?
And there’s still Travis (Roger Cross),
who cannot be counted out. I will not reveal exactly what happens with
him because it would be too spoilery, but Travis has some major twists
in this first hour back.
The biggest unknown factor currently in
CONTINUUM remains Agent Gardner (Nicholas Lea). When last we see him, he
gets a little of Kiera’s secret, though does not have the ability to
understand what he is seeing yet. In this episode, he brilliantly
maneuvers a couple of characters together, then just sits back and
watches. Someone this cunning and intelligent could prove a real thorn
in Kiera’s side, and there’s no telling what he will do when he
eventually realizes what he dealing with, which he surely will.
What is most interesting in “Second
Chances,” though, is Alec’s message to himself. We know he orchestrates
the terrorists and Kiera’s trip to 2012, and we know he is involved in
Liber8′s activities. What we don’t know is why, or how to reconcile this
man who is Kiera’s friend in both time periods doing something to her
that seems so cruel. This premiere doesn’t clear up those things
exactly, but it does start down a path of explanation, one that will
eventually lay out the entire premise of CONTINUUM.
In all, “Second Chances” is a fantastic
return for CONTINUUM, deepening the mythology, and letting the actors
really dig into some emotional heft in their characters. It should be a
very satisfying sophomore season.
CONTINUUM airs Fridays at 10 p.m. ET on SyFy.
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