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Continuum: Second Skin

"That's what partners do."

What a lovely episode.

It was so touching to see Kiera reconnect with Elena instantly, even with a near forty-year gap in their friendship, and how they kept backing each other up as if they'd never been apart. And it was so sad when Elena died. Kiera's tears made me cry, because Kiera never cries.

Elena coped well with being dropped into 1975, much better than Kiera has in 2012. A successful marriage, four kids (her son Dan was just lovely), a career in urban planning. Maybe Elena left a lot less behind than Kiera did, though. Elena's family made me think again about the timeline, because her beautiful family should never have existed. Will it affect the timeline? Or did it?

The subplot with Rex the dry cleaner with the inferiority complex wearing Elena's supersuit was quite nice, too. The message that a supersuit isn't what makes a hero was way too obvious, but I always enjoy plots that include a positive view of fandom. (I wonder why? :) And Rex did remarkably well during that final fight with Liber8. Maybe it was helpful that the two Liber8 factions were also fighting each other.

I also thought that red-headed cutie Emily telling Alec that he was smart and funny was also sweet, and paralleled Rex feeling inadequate with his pretty girlfriend. Let's face it – this was a very sweet episode. Perhaps a bit gooey for Continuum, but I don't mind.

And it did include Travis and Garza blowing up gas tankers to garner sympathy with the people – although I agreed with Lucas that the people wouldn't be thrilled when they had to start lining up for gas. We also had Gardiner continuing to be a downer by stalking Kiera and trying to cause problems for her. Although I loved Gardiner walking into Elena's hospital room with Kiera, Kiera shaking her head just slightly, and Elena immediately calling Kiera "Beth" and talking about pink dolphins. The years and the circumstances didn't affect their bond at all. Sigh.

Was Elena just "laying down cover" when she mentioned Escher to Gardiner? Did they deliberately hint that Elena had information she wasn't telling Kiera?

Bits and pieces:

— Elena left Kiera a copy of Howards End, and a message about ending the isolation of her life in 2012.

— Loved the fans all in costume for a gay wedding. The TV show Glimmer was obviously intended to resemble Star Trek.

— Travis and Garza blowing up a gas tanker right next to the water immediately made me think "oil spill." That location might have been attractive, but maybe they should have done it somewhere else. They didn't want to piss off the people, did they?

Quotes:

Kiera: "You built a time travel app."
Alec: "If you have to call it that."

Carlos: "For terrorists, they sure have a flair for PR."

Carlos: "Section Six calling?"
Kiera: "Actually, no."
Carlos: "That's okay. I'm dating other police departments, too."

Kiera: "You ready to lay down some cover?"
Elena: "Deal me in."

Rex: "I thought it would make me a hero."
Kiera: "You don't need a suit for that."
That was Elena. Dying in a hospital bed, but ready to go on one last mission to help her partner.

Alec: "You lost a bet, right? You forgot to save a country from a burgeoning debt crisis and this was your punishment? To date below your level?"
Emily: "Right. Because smart and funny is such a step down."
Come on. Alec is cute, too.

Three and a half out of four fan costumes,

Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

3 comments:

  1. More Quotes:

    Elena: "I'm old, I'm cranky, and I want chocolate."

    Elena: "Who's the asshole?"

    ReplyDelete
  2. A lovely episode indeed.

    I liked that the writers took their time to develop this one-off character and give him a nice little story. It reminded me of an Angel episode, even though I can’t remember which one. In fact, I thought that entire subplot was very whedony.

    Elena was so cool, it was sad to see her leave so quickly, even though it made sense from a story perspective. I have watched the remainder of the season, but now I don’t remember if her cryptic message to Gardiner makes sense later on, if we ever understand what was her point on telling him about Escher.

    The final scene gets to me too. “I see him [my son] all the time” is such a powerful line, it stayed with me for a while. It’s easy to forget, when watching this series, how much Kiera has lost. That scene was a great reminder. It also made me start shipping for Carlos and Kiera. He’s just so tender to her. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. You are so right Billie - a lovely episode. This show just keeps getting more depth - in the plot, the stories and the acting. I felt so bad for Kiera but wanted to yell at her - don't do it - as soon as you start another life, you'll have a way back and have to choose - this is TV after all.

    ReplyDelete

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