I share my thoughts on Continuum, a 2012 Canadian SciFi series that sends Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols), a City Protective Services Protector, back to 2012 from 2077-era Vancouver. This show also stars Victor Webster and Erik Knudson, and is created by Simon Barry.
My count of Canadian shows that I watch
extends to just one – Orphan Black, which
is an incredible show in its own right. Until I discovered Continuum, I knew of just one other – Lost Girl. Now I can successfully add Continuum to that list – and based form what I’ve seen in the
show’s pilot episode, Simon Barry’s time travel series is going to be one that
I can safely add to that list.
Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols) lives a normal life. She's a mother of one child, and has a happy life with her husband, working as a member of the Vancouver Police Force. The only difference? She lives in a tech-based, high-surveillanced police state in the year 2077.
However, when Kiera oversees the execution
of a group of terrorists from Liber8, they manage to escape the Death Penalty
by jumping back in time, fleeing to the year 2012. There’s just one problem –
Kiera is dragged along with them, and with no apparent way of getting back, she
has to form an alliance with a teenage computer genius Alec Sandler (Erik
Knudsen) and Detective Carlos Fonnegra (Victor Webster) and the Vancouver
Police Department – and now must track down the Liber8 terrorists.
I’m a massive fan of the time travel genre.
There’s a reason after all why Doctor Who
is just one of my favourite shows, and I loved the respective novels The 57 Lives of Alex Wayfare and 11.22.63 as much as I did. As it turns
out, the same is very much the case with Continuum
– the pilot episode is solid enough to get me invested in the lead
characters and their struggle, as well as keep me coming back for more.
The acting on display here is pretty solid.
Rachel Nichols portrays a Cop out of time very well, and she definitely has the
charisma to be a lead actor in the show – and the fact that it’s lasted three
seasons proves it. The connection between Nichols and Webster’s characters will
no doubt develop over time, but it has little to do as they are only starting
to know each other. The only real weak spot is the Liber8 gang, who are
currently incredibly bland and easily interchangeable – but hopefully this will
improve in future episodes.
The episode makes use of some impressive
CGI in the future to create a seemingly lite-version of Blade Runner. However, don’t get attached to the futuristic setting
too quickly – you’ll be whisked back to 2012 before the opening credits, but
considering the efforts made in production and development, we may be returning
to 2077 closer than one would expect.
Whilst the pilot itself is largely formulaic,
a good attempt was made to moralise the Liber8 characters rather than paint
them as outright one dimensional villains. However, it does seem somewhat
forced, and not as well pulled off as it could have been.
Continuum
is also one of the shows shot in Vancouver that
actually takes place in Vancouver – both The
Tomorrow People and Arrow have
been shot in the city but Arrow uses
it for Starling City. I believe the upcoming Flash series is going to be shot there as well, making it a common
staple for shows on the CW Network.
On the whole, the series pilot gets off to
an impressive start. Kiera’s cooperation with Detective Fonnegra doesn’t really
work as well as it should as it takes a portion of disbelief to make you believe that Fonnegra will ditch
Cop protocol just to follow this woman. And also the world in Continuum’s 2077 setting doesn’t look as
though it could have been built a mere 65 years into the future as well –
resembling something that would take hundreds of years to develop. However,
these two problems are only minor niggles, and Continuum is otherwise a really enjoyable show.
VERDICT:
4/5
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