29 Apr 2014

[Review] - Continuum, Season 3 Episode 6, "Wasted Minute"

Courtesy of Reunion Pictures
Well... there goes a perfectly good theory. And to think I spent upwards of half an hour thinking about who Kiera's killer might have been. At least it was good timing; putting out my theory only a couple of days before the series just tells us straight up. It's that kind of honest straightforwardness that I appreciate about this series. No dragging things out unnecessarily, no bloating of storylines to push major revelations into the finale. We're at the mid way point, the killer hadn't been mentioned in a couple episodes, so just put it out there. Now we've got the back half of the season to deal with the repercussions.

And, on top of all that, Kiera was forced to make her choice between which of the two Alecs was to deliver her the future she wants, compared to the one the worlds needs. Liber8 made its most constructive play yet, and has definitely figured out the intelligent way to accomplish its goals. The future is looking brighter all the time, despite the Freelancer's intentions. It wasn't an insignificant episode.

Hit the jump for the review, which contains spoilers that once cold-clocked their doppelganger with a USB mouse. It lacked the desired effect.


Last things first: Curtis is the killer. Unless the footage has been falsified (sue me for holding out a hope that my personal preferred theory might still hold some water), this was fairly definitively stated. And Curtis' reaction, what with the hostile movements and maniacal laughter, seemed to indicate his guilt. But why? Aside from the fact that he's more than a little unhinged, why kill Kiera? Just to plug a hole in the continuum? I remain unclear on one point: did he kill her after he knew she had travelled back in time, and that there were two Kiera's in the timeline? If not, then his assassination could be motivated by nothing other than straight forward revenge, a return of favour for her having killed at previous version of himself. If he was aware, perhaps he was attempting to prevent any further damage to the timeline by removing an uncertain element. The element least likely to be sympathetic to the Freelancer cause. With Later Kiera having already brought into the fold, removing the still combative version make life easier.

However, Katherine's reaction made it fairly obvious that Curtis' actions were unsanctioned and unexpected. He is a renegade within the Freelancer ranks. So, what is his end game. I'm going to assume that he isn't working with Liber8 - I've taken his allegiance with them to be little more than the Freelancers having a mole in the group to make certain things remained on route. And besides, Kiera and the police have actually been making Liber8's job easier the last couple weeks, as their goals have uncomfortably aligned. So, why did Curtis kill Kiera? Is it as straight forward as he believes that the Freelancer mission has become distracted, and that Kiera - any Kiera - represented a clear danger to that mission. A wild card, I've called her in the past. As she showed in this episode, her duty is constantly at war with her emotions, and more often than not only follows the former begrudgingly. If so, why approach Later Kiera last episode, to curry favour and form an alliance between themselves?

I suspect the answer has something to do with whatever - sorry, whomever - Katherine is keeping behind that door. Someone who isn't making a lot of sense, apparently. My guess, it's one of two options: first, and most unlikely, it is the fellow who was sent back a thousand years to found the Freelancers, who has been using future tech to take the slow path back to his native time, providing guidance to the leaders of the Freelancers as to the original shape of the continuum. The other option is someone who has underwent multiple temporal jumps, moving from discarded timeline to discarded timeline in an effort to construct the the "perfect timeline." We've seen the mental problems that can develop with repeated uses of the time jump technology, if Katherine has someone babbling nonsense behind a heavy door, chances are it's someone who has seen too much, and been left a shadow of themselves because of it. The next mystery thus becomes: who is behind that door (a multiversal version of Alec maybe)?

Going back to Kiera's emotional instability, Katherine decreed that it was time for Kiera to choose between the two Alecs, and she was overwrought. Despite knowing that this was the end game all along, when the time came, she couldn't kill one version of her friend over the other. It's this level of compassion that will eventually lead her towards doing the right thing and discarding the future she came from entirely. As it stands, she still feels the need to accomplish her mission, in as kind a way as possible. Later Alec made it easier for her, attacking Earlier Alec (who is a complete jerk-ass at this point). Granted, all he wanted was to disappear forever and be with the woman he loved. But you'll recall that I've been certain that the Alec's will switch positions again before season's end, and the Alec we all feel so certain will become the Elder Sadler will be the one we least suspect. As it stood at episode's start, Earlier Alec was clearly the heir to the Elder Sadler attitude. But now, with Later Alec brooding in one of those time cells, (or isolation cubes, or play pens) and Earlier Alec back in Kiera's good graces, I wonder if the mood will begin to shift yet again.

I would also like to point out the fantastic job the costuming department did on the two Alecs during their confrontation. Later Alec was dressed in a dark suit with a light suit, providing absolute contrast. A man of extremes, in action and emotion, Later Alec wants everything and nothing simultaneously. Meanwhile, Earlier Alec was dressed entirely in grey. The ambiguous middle. The lack of position. He hates Kiera and refuses to help her, except when he does. He loathes Emily, but secretly pines over her. He takes Piron, adapts to his new environment completely, but hasn't been as entirely seduced by power and position as Sonmanto and his Elder self have been. The Later version is an all or nothing person, while Earlier remains a take-it-as-it-comes. It was a great use of the environment to illustrate character.

And that was only the last ten minutes or so. There was Liber8, and Carlos having a fit, and Betty being a little more than unreasonably considering that she spent several years in league with a known terrorist organization and still got to keep her job. It was a really strong episode, and if I had time I'd go into a lot more detail about all the other things that happened here. But somehow I suspect I'll have more opportunities in the weeks to come, as Carlos continues to fall apart and Liber8 continues to look like... the good guys?

1 comment:

  1. ROBERT YOUNGMAN1 May 2014 00:50

    Hello again Mr. Clark......I'm quoting from your latest ramblings: "If I had time I'd go into a lot more detail about all the other things that happened here"........
    You've got to be kidding! Your analysis of why Curtis killed Kiera was incredibly sophisticated....."a lot more detail" would have made my head explode (as in "Scanners")......I think that I agree with your theory that the reason Curtis killed Kiera is as straight forward as “he believes that the Freelancer mission has become distracted, and that Kiera – any Kiera – represented a clear danger to that mission.
    If you remember in the coming attractions for Episode 7……Curtis – who is now locked in a clear cage – is yelling at Catherine something to the effect of that she shouldn’t/isn’t qualified to be in charge of the Freelancer “cell”. So he does come off to me as being a “purist/hardliner” (so to speak), who will do anything to preserve the Continuum. The only question I have with this scenario is this:
    You’ll remember that in the first episode of Season 3, - after Alex has traveled back in time – Kiera is taken out of her cage and interrogated. She decides not to cooperate, and escapes for a short time until CURTIS recaptures her (which was kind of ridiculous after they have this huge fight on the edge of the building over the water – he subdues her with an arm lock??? ) Anyway…..if he wanted to kill her – why didn’t he do it right then and there instead of bringing her back????
    One thing that you did not comment on was the sudden increase in Alex’ aggressiveness toward the end of the show: “You have no idea what I’m capable of” What’s up with that???? Starting to crack up because of the time travel???
    Keep up the great work…..I look forward to your analysis each week. It is far and away the best on the internet…..
    Regards........

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