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Continuum: Power Hour

Julian: "I'm still here, destined to be the bad guy."
Lucas: "Says who? 'Bad guy' is a matter of perspective."

I've gotten very attached to the characters on this show. And that includes the villains.

I could just feel that someone was going to die in this episode, but I thought it would be Garza, not Lucas. I've run the gamut of emotional responses to Lucas during the course of the series. He's been vicious and hateful, revolting and pathetic, interesting and fun, and for awhile now, surprisingly sympathetic. Lately he's even gotten some of the best lines. I was sad to see him go because it felt like Lucas had finally found the perfect role for himself as an important member of Alec's team, trying to make a better future in a more positive way than wiring robots to bugs and blowing people up.

Kiera was genuinely upset about the death of her former enemy, too. When she was talking about using Liber8 as her own supersoldiers to fight Kellog's, I don't think she realized that she had grown to care about them as people.

Garza: "I love it when you talk tactics."

Kiera and Garza infiltrating Supersoldier HQ in matching supersuits was golden. I particularly enjoyed the well choreographed fight scene where their supersuits kept appearing and disappearing – laugh out loud funny. And of course, as soon as Garza did something Kiera didn't want (like trying to kill Brad), they were fighting each other again. I sense that there may be a problem with Kiera trying to run Liber8, and Garza is going to be a breeze to handle compared with Travis. At least Garza couldn't bring herself to take out Kiera this time. Hey, it's progress.

The Kellog supersoldiers are creating something that is going to... well, I'm not sure, but the talk of antimatter suggests that Alec and Kiera will eventually use it to send Kiera back to the future. I think. But Carlos believes that "embedded" Brad isn't trustworthy, and in fact that seems to be the prevailing opinion and of course Brad did just kill Lucas. Oddly, I think Brad is still a good guy and on Kiera's side. After Marcellus was killed, Brad could have taken command, but instead, he let loose cannon Zorin do it. That doesn't seem like something Brad would do if he had an anti-Kiera agenda.

Kiera: "If nobody can trust you, then tell me. How can you trust you?"

That's a really good question. Can Kellog trust the motives of his future self? Why would Future Kellog send the supersoldiers back in time if he doesn't want to change the future? I guess the question is, to what end? Maybe Future Kellog wants to fix the future so that he's still in charge but it isn't such a bummer. How, though?

And why has Vasquez decided to attach herself to Kellog as his new bodyguard? I'm getting Garza and Elder Alec vibes. Did Future Kellog give Vasquez a specific task? Does she know Future Kellog's agenda?

The way Kellog was reacting to Kiera when she touched him made me wonder if J.D. is right. Does Kellog love Kiera? Is it possible Future Kellog's plans include a romantic component?

Alec: "Maybe if I don't become the evil corporate overlord of the future, you go on to become Mother freakin' Theresa."

So Alec volunteered to become the new Betty. That sort of made sense. It was almost like eighteen-year-old Alec back in the barn, still trying to just help out. But Carlos Fonnegra is not stupid. He had to be aware that Alec's first loyalty would be to Kiera, and yet, who would turn down help from a genius of Alec's caliber?

Julian decided to burn his manifesto, too. Too bad that Curtis went ahead and published it anyway. Why did Julian go back to the Kagame house at the end of the episode? I was thinking Julian might try to change things by the Terminator method, killing little Eduoard Kagame, but is Julian capable of that?

That last Alec/Julian scene made me realize that I haven't thought through how I want Continuum to end, probably because I've had a feeling that I won't get what I want. So I thought about it. Series finale-wise, what I really want is for Alec and Julian to work together in order to create a much better future, both technologically (Alec) and socially (Julian). I really can't ask for much more than that, but hey, they'd better not leave us with the Corporate Congress future.

If Kiera manages to make it back to her son Sam even though her future has changed for the better, hey, I'd be fine with that, too. But better future. That has to be number one.

Bits and pieces:

— In the opener, were Alec and Lucas playing Pong, the very first video game?

— The pen is a... quantum processor. What is a quantum processor?

— Kagame died and was born in the same episode, which I'm sure you all recall. I loved how baby Eduoard knocked down the building he had just made out of blocks.

— They put Travis in a jail instead of a hospital, despite his multiple bullet wounds. Maybe they learned something from the last destroyed hospital.

— Kellog holds the financial reins at VPD, but Carlos doesn't seem to care. Carlos seemed more interested in giving Dillon a hard time. I'm sure Dillon was brought back into the series for a reason; I guess we'll see.

— Alec came in and volunteered, and he immediately went to work? No background check or drug test, no endless forms to fill out in HR, no IT department setting up his computer and giving him a logon? Slightly unrealistic.

Quotes:

Kellog: "Who sent you?"
Vasquez: "You did."
So Terminator.

Lucas: "Shaboof!"
Alec: "I don't care if it's popular in 2077. Please never say 'shaboof' as a taunt, dis or catchphrase ever again."
Sadly, he won't.

Julian: "You want to help me clean it up?"
Lucas: "I'm not the one who decided to make a dramatic statement about the direction of my life using fire."

Alec: "Nice image. I can almost see the syringes on the street."

Julian: "I'll second guess every decision I make for the rest of my life."
Curtis: "As you should."

Garza: (looking at the supersoldier suits) "Mommy like."
I get the feeling we're going to see Garza in a supersoldier suit before the end of the series.

Kiera: "It's getting harder and harder to choose which path to take, which decisions are the right ones. I want to do right by everyone without sacrificing what I need."

Another good episode, and only three more to go. We seem to be losing characters in every episode though, and this trend isn't making me happy,

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

3 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this one more than the previous two. The characters, their interactions, and their dilemmas really clicked for me this time. Yea! Unfortunately, that engagement made me really upset that Lucas just got killed. Dammit! He was finally working for the greater good in a better way.

    I’m starting to resent Kiera a little bit, because it feels to me that she’s not really trying to “do right by everyone.” She’s just focused on what she needs. She and Garza should have blown the hell out of that warehouse, but she didn’t want to because it might be the power source that gets her back to her time. And Lucas died because of it. Dammit. I also didn’t like her immediately pulling Alec’s strings to work her own agenda. Totally unfair to both Alec and Carlos. I’m wondering if this reaction is what the writers are going for. Because all the other characters seem to be calling her out on her behavior, and I largely find myself agreeing. Probably because Kiera getting back to her son doesn’t matter to me as an endgame strategy. I’m with you, Billie: what I want most is for everyone to work towards the better future.

    In that light, I really liked Julian’s material this week. I initially thought that he might try to kill young Kagame, but then when he arrived at the house, it seemed more like he had gone there to try to influence young Kagame in a different direction. Both Alec and Curtis encouraged him to keep the message alive, and this approach would give him a chance to maybe temper the extremist that previously perverted his message and used it destructively. That’s what I hope he’s doing anyway!

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  2. Oh, Kiera, Kiera, Kiera. What’s up with you, honey?

    I had a few problems with this episode. Like the previous one, it had a lot of action but not enough story progression, and with only three episodes left, I’m worried.

    Billie, I completely agree with you on Lucas. My opinion of him has varied a lot during the series, but he has been so great lately. I did think he was dead the second Alec asked him to go help Kiera and Garza (why didn’t they have a regular bulletproof vest for him just in case?), but his death got to me anyway. And I resent Brad so much for it now.

    However, I also agree with you on Brad. I think he is innocent. He killed Lucas in the heat of battle and didn’t look pleased with it. In the other hand, I’m totally backing Carlos up on his complains to Kiera. Why does she trust Brad so much? And why, oh, why is she keeping Carlos in the dark again? Season one much?

    Kiera and Garza were amazing together. But Kiera’s idea to blow the machine was stupid (if you don’t know what it does, blowing it up can backfire badly), and Garza’s idea of blowing the entire building, while very Garza-esque and awesome, was also not clever. But in the other hand Kiera’s reasons for not blowing the building up were terrible. She is willing to keep a potential weapon functioning just because it can get her home? It’s contradictory to how much Kiera has grown as a character and to her vows of being in service of people and society. And I don’t think she was so reckless on her desire to go back home on the first two seasons. What is curious is that we can see Kiera’s development here in spades: she teams up with Garza, is devastated by Lucas death and gets advice from Travis (Travis!) of all people. Kiera also gets to be awesome when she taunts Kellog. So why do the writers keep putting her on the same place she was in the first half of last season (with all the characters calling her on her sh*t?).

    I agree with Jess on Julian and Kagame. I think Julian wants to rewrite his path and by getting close to little Kagame he is going to be able to do that. I loved that little development, it had a lot of the philosophical undertones I’ve come to appreciate on this show.

    Again, major kudos to the stunts crew. They are doing an amazing job.

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  3. My irritation level with Kiera is rising again. Once again she's pursuing her goals and dragging Alec along with her without being honest about her objectives with the people helping her (Garza, Carlos). While I totally understand why Carlos doesn't trust Brad and doesn't understand why Kiera does. But Kiera put Brad in an impossible position; what else could he do without clearly revealing himself as a double agent? In a way she's put too much trust in him for Carlos' comfort, but not enough to let him work.

    ReplyDelete

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