Continuum - Is anyone watching this?

[charmstr]

I just found this show and after watching the first two episodes (the third apparently aired last night), I'm pretty impressed. What they've done, at least in the premiere, is to twist some well-worn sci-fi television tropes in interesting ways. Is anyone else watching this? It's not in the class of Defying Gravity (though technically not a Canadian show, I think of it that way since after ABC gave up on it, I had to find the last four episodes online as they were broadcast by Canada's SPACE network--and because it featured the lovely Christina Cox and Laura Harris), but it ain't bad.

Oh, and I see The Listener is back. The first season was okay, the second sucked pretty hard. I predict that this third season will split the difference and just suck a bit. It's a shame. I love the concept, but they just refuse to take any chances with the show.

[TBG]

Never heard of Continuum until your post. Does it even air in America? Based on some of the cast in the link you gave, I'd probably give it a chance if it ever ran on a channel I get.

[Raygun99]

I've been watching this - I find it fairly rough and very "Canadian" if that makes sense, but I agree that it's doing some interesting things with the genre and the standard tropes that we see that have led to some nice reversals. I also like that they've carefully balanced the "this week: Kiera misunderstands some aspect of 2012 culture, with embarrassing results!" and the face that she is a bit of an alien in the culture. I hate when shows go for cheap wince moments like that, and they've kept them to a bare minimum. The complicated motivations of Liber8 (hate that name) are a nice touch as well.

I also like that it doesn't hand hold about the nature of future tech and just throws things out there, expecting us to pick up on them. A neat little touch was things like the digital graffiti in the most recent episode.

I hate the stupid depth of field camera work though. It's pointless and distracting.

[Muffin]

Originally Posted by TBG

Never heard of Continuum until your post. Does it even air in America? Based on some of the cast in the link you gave, I'd probably give it a chance if it ever ran on a channel I get.

http://www.showcase.ca/video/default...ontinuum/video

[GuanoLad]

I would've liked some more time for her to fit in to the unfamiliar culture, instead of constantly being thrown into the deep end of some high octane investigation. It's all a bit exhausting.

I also find her separation from Alec, with them never meeting (which she doesn't seem to want to ever happen) a bit disconcerting. It's sitting there at the back of my mind every time I watch, a big empty plot point waiting to be tapped. Drives me nuts.

[TBG]

Originally Posted by Muffin

http://www.showcase.ca/video/default...ontinuum/video

Thanks anyway, but my internet connection basically sucks for streaming (you get what you pay for with cheap DSL). Nothing except youtube really works, and there I have to use a 3rd party add on to let it buffer before it starts running.

[Trion]

Originally Posted by Muffin

http://www.showcase.ca/video/default...ontinuum/video

I'm getting the "Sorry, not available in your country." message on the video clips.

[Muffin]

Originally Posted by Trion

I'm getting the "Sorry, not available in your country." message on the video clips.

And so it begins. Where's Liber8 when you need them?

[Moonlitherial]

Originally Posted by Muffin

And so it begins. Where's Liber8 when you need them?

We're sorry Liber8 is unavailable in your region.

It's good so far but I'm not excited about it. I'm not sure why it hasn't grabbed me but my husband likes it and I'm willing to keep watching.

[Noodles Fellicini]

I stumbled on it right before it debuted but can't figure out how to watch it here in the US.

[Bryan Ekers]

I've seen the first three eps. It's refreshing to see Vancouver actually playing Vancouver.

[Raygun99]

The "war on the past" is very Terminator (which they openly referenced in this episode), but it's an interesting take on the material and the vagaries of time travel. Being confronted with yourself in utero has to be unsettling. I'm curious as to how they're going to resolve the grand(mother) paradox.

[epbrown01]

This just popped up on iTunes and I watched the first ep. Partly because I like the lead actress, partly because I mistakenly thought it was based on "Millenium." Can't say the pilot won me over - did it get better?

[Tangent]

I've been watching the Syfy airings (Mondays at 8/7c).

I thought the setup in the first episode was pretty good. The design and effects for the scenes set in the future were cool. Once they moved back in time, the flaws in the writing started to show a bit. I felt the same about the second episide, which aired this week.

A poster on another board I visit (or maybe in a different SD thread?) opined that the show picks up a bit after episode 3. I'll stick with it for now.

[Czarcasm]

I like the ambiguity as to who is in the right in this series.

[simster]

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

I like the ambiguity as to who is in the right in this series.

Except that at some level - they want us to root for the 'bad guys' - the ones that were 'freedom fighters' in the future - so far, I agree, these guys need to be put down/away.

I am having a hard time believing that the main char does not recognize the name of the guy she met in the future - the old man that smiled when the 7 got away.

Beyond that - I'm curious as to where and how they take it - it could be very interesting, or it could be "almost capture, almost get home" week after week and that gets boring quick (unless you're talking about season 1 of sliders, then it could be _very_interesting)

[ryan]

She recognized him in the first episode.
"You're Alec Sadler!"

[Attack from the 3rd dimension]

At our house we spend half the time identifying Vancouver landmarks "Hey, that's just down from the taco truck", or "Didn't we get lost there once?".

Originally Posted by Czarcasm

I like the ambiguity as to who is in the right in this series.

This is a big draw so far.

[Oslo Ostragoth]

Two (US) episodes in - I like it.

[simster]

Originally Posted by ryan

She recognized him in the first episode.
"You're Alec Sadler!"

doh! - you're absolutely right.

[alphaboi867]

Originally Posted by Oslo Ostragoth

Two (US) episodes in - I like it.

Me too. I liked how quickly her original cover story fell apart. The woman has zero forms of ID with her, not even a driver's licence. I'm guessing she'll have to somehow get fake physical IDs and a passport in addition to Alec hacking various American & Canadian databases.

[Bryan Ekers]

I caught the first five or six episodes in its original run. I liked it, but eventually lost track of it.

[HookerChemical]

Originally Posted by alphaboi867

Me too. I liked how quickly her original cover story fell apart. The woman has zero forms of ID with her, not even a driver's licence. I'm guessing she'll have to somehow get fake physical IDs and a passport in addition to Alec hacking various American & Canadian databases.

I'm 2 episodes in as well, and i said the same thing to my wife. I'm so glad they didn't let such a flimsy story stand for any length of time. It fell apart like it should.

I don't think we're supposed to root for the bad guys. They're so evil, they put dead women in the refrigerator. (Okay, not a perfect example of the trope because the body never got named, but you see my point.) I don't think we're supposed to like the idea of the incorporated future Keira is defending either. I like the shades of gray. There is potential in there.

[TBG]

Hey I can watch it now. Thanks, Syfy!

Wasn't sure why the bad guys were trying to get back to their own time, when they hadn't even really done anything yet, but at least that one guy (the one who was looking at the house where he "used to" live) seemed to get that.

[furryman]

Did I miss something? Do they explain why the "freedom fighters" want to go back in the second episode? This is really bugging me.

[Tangent]

I assumed it was because they came too far back in time.

[alphaboi867]

Originally Posted by Tangent

I assumed it was because they came too far back in time.

Yeah, they originally meant to travel six years back in time, not sixty-five.

[Snooooopy]

I thought the building where the atom smasher was located looked a little dodgy. It looked like the kind of place where Vinnie the Goombah will take you if you want to do a little investigatin' the fundamental laws of the universe on the down low.