Syfy’s newest Canadian import garners some of my favorite aspects of fiction. There’s a Utopian future. And Rachel Nichols. There’s time travel. And Rachel Nichols. There’s futuristic villains and clandestine organizations. And Rachel Nichols. And of course, there are plays on time travel paradoxes that “Continuum” has a lot of fun playing with. And there’s Rachel Nichols. One element of the initial storyline revolving around season one of “Continuum” is the inevitability of time and fates and what happens when time travel is used. Could going back in time and tinkering with the fates of others alter the timeline? Or is there an already preset path that can not be stopped no matter how much you attempt to destroy it? If our mind predetermines our actions, wouldn’t that be applied to time travel? If heroine Keira never traveled back in time to thwart the efforts of Liber8, would she have ended up in her life? And what effect does two existing Keira’s in the universe ultimately have?
In either case while “Continuum” is mostly a crime show with a futuristic gloss, it does have moments of sheer brilliance where it ponders on the potential for time travel and how embedded in the universe events can be. If you’re going to grow up to become a serial killer, would traveling back in time attempting to thwart the inevitable alter your fate in anyway shape or form? Most importantly, why did Alec Sadler allow his time machine to be tinkered with? Is there something in the past Keira is meant to accomplish that could decide the future of someone in Keira’s life? Was Alec just a part of Liber8 and will inevitably become a hero due to accidentally being connected to Keria’s communication system allowing him to fight for justice along with her and change his outlook and alliance with Liber8? “Continuum” presents so many opportunities to explore the time paradoxes and how certain changes in character actions can affect the entire timeline. If it has any effect. What’s so interesting about “Continuum” is that though the gorgeous Rachel Nichols plays the bonafide hero of the series, the protector tasked with bringing down the futures’ worst terrorists in existence, she isn’t always the good guy, per se.
The perception of who or what is the good persona in the series continues to change as we meet more of the terrorists of Liber8 and understand more about the duties of Keira Cameron and her task force. Though she vows to protect and uphold the law, sometimes exceptions have to be made, and she begins to learn over the course of the season that sometimes what’s criminal isn’t always evil. And sometimes what’s the law isn’t always the right rule to follow. The goal behind Liber8 may often be violent and disturbing, but their missions to corrupt society often have extenuating circumstances to them. The more we peel back the layers of their cause and how society works in Keira Cameron’s future, there may be some viewers occasionally sympathizing with the vicious criminals fighting for their own cause. Keira Cameron is a very resolute woman and Rachel Nichols plays her with an admirable conviction and dead set aggression that makes her a very entertaining heroine. Keira Cameron is just as culture shocked as the criminals she is tracking and is slowly realizing she may not be able to go home very soon, but has to set her emotions aside for the better of society.
Nichols is great as the futuristic heroine who uses her cybernetic advances from her society to help her fight crime in the past. When she warps in to the past, she’s accidentally linked in to an illegal connection with a young Alec Sadler, who begins as someone awe inspired by her presence, and eventually becomes her eyes and ears during investigations and moments of turmoil. Their team work provides some of the most interesting moments during the first season as she begins to learn about her suspects with Alec’s help as her new partner Carlos (as played by Victor Webster) watches her devise ways to get around criminals that he never actually thought of. All with a sense of wonder and admiration that make them a really interesting crime fighting pair. Throughout the course of the season, Carlos becomes a stronger and more consistent character who has great chemistry with Keira Cameron. And I wonder what the fallout will be from his eventual discovery of her entire presence in this time and space.
More so, I wonder what eventually becomes of Carlos sixty years after Keira Cameron was around. There’s further exposition on Keira Cameron’s character as well as the villains from Liber8, as the series focuses on repeated flashbacks in to their lives, and how they learn to eventually process this ancient environment around them. Keira Cameron is a great science fiction heroine, and Rachel Nichols owns this character down to the tee. While she is noticeably dialed down in terms of sex appeal, she is a stunner to watch, and she is absolutely entertaining as this futuristic avenger seeking to bring down this criminal organization. “Continuum” sports a strong cast of supporting performers and I look forward to seeing if Keira and Liber8’s presence in the future changes destinies or ultimately has no effect at all.