Another episode of Continuum has aired so we are up for another review. Just like last week’s episode we had another strong showing this week. It did not make the mistake of introducing too much drama and yet it addressed many issues that had bugged fans of the show for some time. It’s only downside is that it brings back plot points that have long been forgotten and so at times it can be a little bit confusing.

Second Guess

The episode starts like all Continuum episodes with scenes from 2077. Kiera (Rachel Nichols) is troubled by headaches caused by her CMR. After questioning the techie about what happens to the memory recordings he has to admit that as far as he knows they are all stored. Kiera is disgusted by this but is powerless to do anything about it.

Back in 2013 there is a major hacker attack in progress in Vancouver. The first problem occurs when everybody’s email can be read by everyone else, causing widespread mistrust. Detective Betty Robertson (Jennifer Spence) can’t find out who is doing it but inspector Dillon assumes it is either Liber8 or someone affiliated. Sonya Valentine (Lexa Doig) questions Lucas’s (Omari Newton) motives for performing the hack and gets a first glimpse of his slowly worsening insanity. Apart from Chen he now also has visions of Kagame (Tony Amendola). Aspiring mayor Jim Martin tries to exploit the situation by claiming that the problem started with the Vancouver Police Department. Inspector Dillon uses the free exchange of email to arrest everybody who is remotely associated with Liber8. Betty Robertson has a problem with this but can’t persuade Dillon to agree. Jim Martin is meanwhile visited by Travis (Roger Cross) who demands a meeting with Kiera and threatens him with the same fate that befell the previous mayor.

Julian is quick to claim responsibility for the hacker attacks and states that civil liberties are being broken. He then hands himself into the VPD but they can’t proof he is behind it. Instead he claims that his brother Alec (Erik Knudsen) is behind the attack. Lucas’s attack next spread to the city’s infrastructure and crime is quickly on the rise as criminals make use of the confused situation. Kiera visits Alec who believes that Lucas might have broken into his Arc program with the help of a smart phone Julian stole. Alec is hopeful he can quickly develop a method to track Lucas down. However, they discover Lucas is using a transport van from which to launch his attacks.

Jim Martin is meanwhile embarrassed publicly over emails he sent to Sonya Valentine and is asked to explain his association with terrorists. He quickly sets up a meeting with Sonya who warns him he needs to get in front of this, she also demands to speak to Julian as soon as he is captured.

Alec meanwhile has to deal with the fact that someone is using his technology for nefarious purposes, something he not seriously thought of before. Despite his girlfriends urging he argues against destroying Arc as Kellog (Stephen Lobo) has invested a lot of money in it. At the VPD Jim Martin hands himself in for questioning and subsequently denies having anything to do with the emails sent to Sonya. After his release he speaks to Julian, who is also being released. Jim Martin questions Julian about his ‘revolution’ and both sides admit they don’t really see eye to eye on this matter.

Kellog is meanwhile warned by Alec that other people could be interested in his technology. He warns him of Mr. Escher who has bought another tech company that is developing anti-matter technolgy. They quickly deduce that Escher is interested in time-travel. Kellog meets Escher at a modern art museum. They each warn the other of getting in their way, but it is Kellog who is visibly shaken. Kellog visits Sonya and warns her that something has to be done about Escher. At Sonya’s Kellog sees Lucas’s insanity first hand and Sonya warns him the cause could time travelling.

Meanwhile inspector Dillon is being embarrassed by emails that show the VPD has been bought by Escher’s Piron. Kiera advises him to make a clean break but Dillon refuses. Kiera traps Kellog and demands to know where Lucas is so she can stop him. Jim Martin meanwhile sets up Sonya and Travis. He gives them each the same location and tells them that they can find Julian and Kiera there respectively.

Alec has meanwhile developed a method to imitate Kagame’s voice. He sets up Lucas with a meeting. Kellog warns Kiera that altering the future won’t allow her to go back to it. Kiera warns Alec that Kellog’s imagined future is the same that his future self warned him against.

Kiera and Carlos (Victor Webster) successfully manage to arrest Lucas and take the time-machine parts that he was holding. Sonya and Travis each travel to the meeting point where a standoff ensues. Travis manages to gain the upper hand and is about to execute Sonya when to the consternation of their own thugs they suddenly start to make out. No mention is made of Travis’s men wanting to turn against him as was suggested in the previous episode.

At the VPD Betty reveals that Julian was all along pulling Lucas’s strings. Dillon tells Kiera he won’t let up on Julian and will do what needs to be done. Alec and Emily meanwhile discuss the consequences of his Arc program. He is finally convinced that it needs to be destroyed and allows Emily to destroy it with a blender. It is later revealed Emily swapped the memory stick.

Jim Martin wins the election and Kiera returns the time-travel parts to Alec who manages to repair it with his part. Lucas is shown ending up in a psychiatric ward full of Kagame’s. The last scene shows Escher looking at Vancouver through what appears to be Alec’s Arc program that he presumably got through Emily.

Conclusion

As you can read from my recap this episode crams in a lot of plot development in true ‘Continuum’ style. For the most part it is very effective and I haven’t even managed to point out all the subtleties. Just like the previous episode we see character development across the line. It’s a shame that Garza doesn’t feature this week. The love triangle between Garza, Travis and Sonya is sure to lead to fireworks in the upcoming episodes.

I also liked Mr. Escher’s portrayal in this episode, he did not seem to be as almighty as he did previously while the evil menacing desire for total control remains. A downside of the episode is the reintroduction of Jim Martin. Sure the mayoral campaign was never gone but I never really understood the point. Also the fact that Lucas has most of time machine parts was long forgotten by me, but at least there was a resolution at the end. There was also a scene in which agent Gardiner’s boss questioned Kiera about his whereabouts. She has to admit she doesn’t know and the conclusion that hovered between them is that Gardiner is dead, though we have still not seen a body.

In many ways this episode reminds me a lot of season 1, maybe it is the Kagame cameo but I think the bigger influence on its success was that Rachel Nichols was once again able to play a more hardened and less emotional Kiera. With Kellog, Alec and Carlos being at center stage it shows the season 1 formula is better than that of season 2.

Season 2 has two more episodes left and there are plenty of storylines that need to be resolved. I hope we will get two more fantastic episodes such as the last one’s.

Score; 8.5 / 10. Some pretty good sci-fi that sets the stage for the season finale.

Next week’s episode of Continuum entitled ‘Second Last’ will be direct by none other than Amanda Tapping (Stargate, Sanctuary).