"I'll do it for you, Kiera Cameron."
It wasn't what I expected. But it was absolutely excellent.
When Kiera said goodbye to Carlos, she said he'd taught her how to be a cop, and told him what a good man he was. I have always liked their relationship, especially after she told him the truth about herself. And I really liked how Kiera said goodbye to Dillon by also telling him the truth about herself and proving it. I wish they hadn't broadcast so clearly that Dillon would die in the final battle, but it was an heroic death, and a fitting end for Dillon. I'm so glad that Carlos made it to the end of the series.
After all of the back and forth and is he or isn't he, it turned out that Brad really was a good guy. After Zorin told him the truth about the invasion and that Marcellus had known all along, Brad changed teams. Like Kiera, he was ready to sacrifice his own future for the sake of humanity. And he did. I sort of wonder what will happen to Brad in 2015 without Kiera. Will he ever be happy? Will he keep hanging out with Alec and Carlos?
"I choose me."
At any point in the series and right up until the last minute, Kellog could have chosen to do the right thing, and I would have believed it. I especially thought he would join our heroes after he killed Vasquez, because clearly, her death got to him.
But it was appropriate that Kellog stayed irredeemable. He had always chosen himself, and the wages of sin for Kellog turned out to be exile and death. There's no way that Kellog can rule the world from several hundred years in the past, especially in the Americas as they were then. If the Native Americans don't kill him instantly, he'll have a short and brutal life in primitive conditions. No future as a warlord. No daughter to carry on in 2015 so even his genes didn't survive. (Nice bookending there, that Kellog mentioned his young grandmother's death in season one, and that he wound up killing his own daughter.) It's interesting to compare the fact that young Alec and elder Alec worked together to bring about a better future, but the two Kellogs essentially fought to the death and destroyed each other. Also compare what happened to Jason to what happened to Vasquez.
And in the end
After a climactic battle that definitely upset me – especially when supersuited Weaver was killing VPD officers right and left – it was Alec who fixed the timeline by programming both of the time balls for Kellog and Kiera. I found the time balls redirecting the portal a little confusing, but then I remembered Alec slamming the time ball down when he went back for Emily. It sort of makes sense.
How wonderful that, in the end, it was all about love. Even though Kiera changed her mission priority early in the episode to unselfishly destroy the portal, Alec gave her what she wanted in the end. It was love for Kiera that changed Alec from a future dictator suffering from profound regret, to a man who found great satisfaction in making a better future for Kiera's sake.
Alec waited sixty years for Kiera, and was there to comfort her when she realized the truth: that the golden future they had all longed for had come about after all, and Sam was alive and okay, but Kiera would never be able to talk to him or hold him. It was awful, but it was right. A happy ending would have been a discordant and dishonest way to end a series as dark as this one. Honestly, I outright sobbed for ten minutes. I'm crying now.
At least Kiera isn't alone in 2077. She still has Alec, her beloved friend. She knows that Sam is alive and happy, and he has a chance at a much better life than he would have had. It will have to be enough. For a good parent, that should be enough.
Bits:
— During the time ball mess at the climax of the episode, the Traveler went back to his own time. I thought that was proof that the "good" future in 2077 was the original timeline, after all.
— Jason decided to stay in 2015, which made sense. I loved that he gave Kiera a note for elder Alec. I wish I knew what it said.
— Julian, whom we sadly didn't see (this episode should have been longer) became Kagame's "Uncle Julian" and Kagame got to live a good life that didn't involve killing thousands of people.
— Garza was in the finale, but didn't get much to do. Curtis told her that she was already victorious, so there was that. I hope she believed him.
— Police Commissioner Carlos Fonnegra Memorial Park. Did that say 2016-2046? The angle made it hard to read. Doesn't matter. Carlos must have been a terrific police commissioner, and he did it for 30 years.
— The Corporate Congress never existed in any form.
— Alec married Emily, after all.
— Kellog's goodbye to Kiera was telling her she was rare and he admired her, and she didn't believe it for a second. And Kellog's last words were for Alec. "Oh, that little shit."
— I loved that Sam was holding the toy soldier that Kiera carried with her to the past. Full circle.
— There was a line at the beginning of the end credits: "A special thank you to our loyal fans." Thank you back, for giving us an excellent series with a terrific finale, Simon Barry.
Quotes:
Kiera: "What are you doing?"
Alec: (dropping pebbles in the water) "Making a tsunami."
Vasquez: (dying) "You're my father."
Kellog: "Of course I am."
Kellog: "I'm a man of my word."
Kiera: "Not really."
Kiera: "You're conflicted, Brad. You want clarity, and clarity is a luxury in this business. Time travel screws with our notions about what's supposed to happen. It gives us a false sense of control. But really, we're all just pawns. And all this? This is to keep the darkness at bay. And you of all people should understand that."
Alec: "I'll build you a better future. I'll do it for you, Kiera Cameron."
Kiera: "Liber8 won."
Kagame: "What's Liber8?"
Kiera: "You did it."
Elder Alec: "You did it."
It's sad that this is my last Continuum review. The series began slowly, but it got so good. It should have had several more seasons. But at least we got an excellent ending that guaranteed that Continuum is a show I will watch again, and will recommend to others.
Four out of four time balls,
Billie
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Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.
Great review. Been reading you for years. You captured the heart, mind and soul of this series and then, fittingly, liberated it!
ReplyDeleteWell done, Billie!
for all we know, kiera might have gone back into the past and lived out her life comfortably with brad anywhere/time in the world. she and alec can still have access to time travel if they want.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gary Mitchell. What a kind comment. I like your ST handle. :)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I thought about what you said. The invention of time travel in this series was so circular. Elder Alec invented it the first time in the Corporate Congress timeline in order to change things. I think. 2015 Alec used the device his elder self invented. With the Freelancers and the Traveler gone, would our Alec, the 2015 Alec, ever have the need to invent it the second time through?
A lot of this final run has felt rushed and underbaked, but I really liked that ultimate finish. Kiera’s arrival in the better future, and her reunion with older Alec --- but this time clearly an older version of our Alec --- was incredibly moving. And the bittersweet kicker with Sam was perfect. It let everyone get the better future, and let Kiera get what she wanted after a fashion, while still maintaining a semblance of time travel logic. And Kellogg got what he so richly deserved. I just wish they had had more time to play out the endgame, so that so much of it wouldn’t have felt rushed and underbaked. Ah, well. At least we got a conclusion. And a pretty satisfying one at that.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reviewing this one, Billie. I’ve enjoyed sharing the ride with you and the readers!
alec doesn't have to invent it again because unlike kellog or even kiera, he understood the design.
ReplyDeleteit's a shame the finish was rushed and unsatisfying because the journey/details do matter.
While I agree that the final run has felt rushed and it would have nice to at least get a full season, I thought this was a pretty satisfying conclusion to the series. Everything was tied up pretty well with the characters given fitting endings to their arcs. Like many people I've had problems with the way Kiera's been handled recently but they managed to turn it around in a satisfying way. I'm also glad they went with a more bitter-sweet ending as Kiera getting Sam back would have absolutely been the wrong ending for the series.
ReplyDeleteThanks for introducing me to this show. While it was initially a little too procedural for my tastes, it really morphed into something much more special as the series went on. I'm sad to see this one go and I've really enjoyed reading your thoughts on it as it got so little coverage elsewhere.
Thank you for getting me into this series, Billie!
ReplyDeleteAfter being slightly disgruntled with some of the time-travel possibilities introduced in the previous episode, I'm thoroughly gruntled now. I love that they managed to create a better future (rather than one just existing as an ideal and therefore "real" one). Hooray Team Free Will! (Or "Team Foreknowledge, I guess.)
I'd like to watch this show but don't want to start in the middle of season 4. Anyone know where I can view old episodes (in Canada)? It's not on Netflix, at least here, which is ironic, since it's a Canadian show.
ReplyDeletemagritte, it's a Showcase show and it looks like the episodes are available on their web site. Or maybe it's just available in the U.S.? Which, as you said, would be ironic.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.showcase.ca/continuum
Thanks for the link. Sadly, when I go to video/season 1 , I only see episode 4 and a few trailers.
ReplyDeletemagritte -- so sorry. There's Amazon, but that's expensive for four seasons.
ReplyDeletei loved this series and thought that they did the best they possibly could with 6 episodes. one thing that really bugs me, however, is whatever happened to the planet to make it so bad. we got hints with kiera never having seen a horse and a few other things, but they never told us what happened, did they? unless the infertile seeds they mentioned in the gleaner episode obliterated the food supply?
ReplyDeleteSo I finally got to the end of Continuum, four years after it first sparked my interest. And I must say they carried off a solid ending, much better than most shows, despite an abbreviated final season. Though I do think Kiera gets way too much credit for all of Alec and Julian's hard work in making a better future. But I like the idea of the conflict between the brothers being the root of the disastrous future Keira came from, and their reconciliation forging the way to a new future.
ReplyDeleteVasquez being Kellog's daughter was certainly a surprising twist, but it explained why she was having a hard time coping with the fact that young Kellog was marked for death. But...Vasquez is her first name?
I felt for Brad, having to destroy basically everyone he had ever known to protect the present and make way for a better future. I suppose he can imagine that they will all have better lives when things play out, but his wife will never know him this time around.
i didnt like the ending as she never got her son back after wanting him
ReplyDeletefor so long i loved the series but the end was rather rubbish
now she is back to square one and it was not worth her going home anyway
they should of changed the ending as it spoiled it for my 4 seasons i watched it
Just finished a rewatch of the series (thank you Amazon Prime) and it definitely hit me as hard as the first watch did. This show holds up very well today and the social issues brought up are just as relevant today, if not more so.
ReplyDelete