Welcome back Continuum fans:
This season seems to be ratcheted up a bit, showing us a future we are not going to like. Freedoms have been taken away and life does not seem to be as pleasant for citizens as we would like it to be. For them, however, the citizens of the future, their lack of freedom may not be as concerning. After all, they have nothing to compare it to.
There is also some symbolism in this episode. When Kiera’s sister looks at an old photo album, there is a large butterfly present on one of the pages. Perhaps, a subtle nod to the butterfly effect, as in, do not step out of place or you risk changing your future.
Minute Man
This episode opens with a bean counter telling Kiera’s (Rachel Nichols) mother (Gabrielle Rose) that her belongings are subject to forfeiture under a Life debt statute. It seems that, like some other cultures, housing has become so pricey that generations take on the mortgage. Mom also appears to have a tattoo of a citizenship number on her arm – like a passport or drivers license is my guess.
As the bean counter (Bill Dow) continues to do his work, Kiera finds her sister, Hannah, (Max Chadburn) looking at old photos. Kiera notices a container with several old books. As Kiera tries to inform her clueless sister that the books are a problem, the container clatters to the floor, spilling out the books. Now we find out from the bean counter that this is considered contraband. He tells them that, now they are in trouble.
The scene shifts to Alec’s (Erik Knudsen) lab where he is bending over the dead Kiera. As he does so, Kiera the second demands to know who killed her. Alec looks confused but then demands to know which one of the Kieras he is talking to. She, instead, accuses him of betraying and using her to get the time travel device so he can go back in time a week.
Kiera is beyond angry with Alec. She tells him that her family may never exist now, thanks to him. That may be why it is not a good idea to mess with time travel. It gets way too complicated. She tells Alec, “The Freelancers sent me back to clean up your mess”. Then, referring to past Alec, Kiera tells him, “He and I have something you and I don’t … trust. I have to get rid of one Alec Sadler. It might as well be you.” My first thought as Kiera dropped that bomb on Alec was, okay, so why did she not just shoot him now? I guess that we then would not have much of a story.
Meanwhile, Jim Martin (Tahmoh Penikett), Vancouver Mayor, is at a party. He is obviously enjoying himself quite a bit. Gord Solomon (Benjamin Ratner), who admits to being a lawyer, offers Miserable Martin some cocaine. Yeah, that must be some party. Where is a camera phone and a greedy party crasher when you need one?
Solomon fills in the blanks – both he and Malicious Martin work for Liber8. However, Martin is employed (employed by whom?) to keep Travis (Roger R. Cross) and Sonya (Lexa Doig) apart. They currently are not apart. This presents a bit of a problem. As Martin’s anxiety level begins to rise, Solomon tells him to relax. Liber8 still has need of his services.
Since Carlos (Victor Webster) is in the loop about Kiera, she springs the dead body of her alter ego on him. Kiera wants his help to get rid of the body. Carlos demands to know if this has something to do with Esher’s murder. Both Kiera and Alec are surprised at this news. That is not the only upsetting information. Carlos is having a hard time wrapping his head around these events. He wants to know which Kiera is the one he has been working with for the past year. Which is his partner and his friend.
Poor original Alec is a bit confused – he cannot access Kiera’s CMR (likely because she is not the same Kiera), the time travel slice is missing and several items in the lab have been moved around. Kiera does not tell original Alec that he now has a doppelganger hanging around, so she, instead, tells him that she was in the lab. As the call ends, Alec spots something under a piece of equipment. It is all the pieces of the time travel device.
Martin arrives at the police station to receive congratulations on his election win from Inspector Dillon (Brian Markinson). While there, he admits that he was sort of connected to Liber8, but now he is not. What a liar. He wants immunity in exchange for information about Liber8.
Now that things are starting to get really convoluted, Kiera meets with Alec the Second to attempt to figure out who would have a motive to kill the other her.
Marco (John Cassini) is back. After being killed gruesomely last season, he is just now getting out of jail. He is met by Carlos who has questions. Carlos asks Marco is he has any idea who ratted him out. Carlos offers, “Let me guess, he just won the election and he wants to clean up his mess”.
Alec the Second has caught up with Jason (Ian Tracey), his father. It is a challenge to keep this all straight. Jason is actually Alec’s father, while Escher, now dead, was Alec’s son. Alec tells Jason that today is the day that Emily (Magda Apanowicz) was killed in the other time line. Before he can answer, though, original Alec shows up. He tells Jason that he knows he is his father. Jason tells him that he is not Alec’s father. Moments later, as Alec the Second slips away unnoticed, original Alec asks, “you’re my son?” Jason, always as clear as mud answers, “maybe’.
Back at headquarters, Kiera is somewhat surprised to see that Martin is hanging out in Dillon’s office. Then Kellogg (Stephen Lobo) arrives. All that comes out of that exchange is that Kellogg is not Kiera’s murderer and he threatens to spill the beans about time travel if he gets accused of anything. What a nice guy.
Garza (Luvia Petersen) and Travis arrive at an empty warehouse. As they chat, Sonya arrives. She tells Garza that she has changed her opinions about a number of things. This is about as close as Garza is going to get for an apology. “If the enemy won’t meet us on the battlefield we must bring the battlefield to them”. Sonya says.
Carlos steps up to Kellogg and Kiera wanting to know what Kellogg has to say since he was seen with Esher moments before he was killed. Kiera tells Carlos that he can do what he likes to Kellogg. Looks like Kellogg has some ‘splain’in to do.
Martin, the sleazy mayor wants a ride to city hall so he can meet with the city’s business elite. Not going to happen, say’s Dillon. Martin ends up with an ambulance. As he gets into the ambulance, Kellogg is stopped by Kiera. Kellogg admits to giving Carlos a statement, but to nothing else. Kiera accuses him of killing Escher. Kellogg is quite smug about it until Kiera tells him the Escher was Alec’s father. “Ah,” says Kellogg, “that I did not see coming.”
Kiera tells Kellogg to stay away from Alec or she will tell him that Kellogg is responsible for his father’s death. Kellogg responds, “which one?” This surprises Kiera. She asks him how he found out. Kellogg replies, “You just told me”. Kellogg is smart; he did the math.
Martin has got himself into some difficulty. Liber8 has found him in the ambulance and kidnapped him. He finds himself at the warehouse where Sonya tells him that they all want the same thing, for him to live, so, he will video record a list of demands for Liber8. The demands turn out to be a list of corrupt officials, that make Liber8 look like Robin Hood. Since the miserable mayor has turned on the business elite he wanted to get into bed with, his political career is now over.
Kiera brings in original Alec to help track down Megalomaniac Martin while Alec the Second listens in through Kiera’s optical display. Alec is not fast enough however. Betty Robinson appears to inform everyone that she has found the malignant mayor. They arrive to find Martin sitting in a chair with a bag over his head and everyone else gone. Martin looks up at Kiera and Carlos and says, “One of you should probably just shoot me now”.
Kellogg catches up to Emily and offers her an opportunity to work for him. She is not too eager…at first. Kellogg uses the same blackmail on Emily that Kiera used on him. Alec would not be forgiving if he found out that she killed Alec’s father.
Back to the future, Kiera’s mother is hearing the bad news from the bean counter about how screwed her family is because of the contraband. That is when Kiera informs him that she is joining the military “to fight against the subversives”.
We are left to wonder whether Kiera has volunteered for the military for her family or because she had other reasons. She states she did it because she believes in the cause, but is this a lie or the truth? We still have not found out who killed the original Kiera. Carlos is not dealing well with the odd shift in the time line. Has his trust been lost for good? When Betty found the location of Martin, did she actually come through with that information on her own, or did Liber8 give her the information and she made up a plausible explanation for her success? These and other questions will become clear, I am sure, as this season progresses.