Welcome back Continuum fans:
In this episode, we learn that corporate executives are more valued than children. We also learn that revolutions often begin on college campuses. This makes sense because the people most likely to question the status quo are college students. They also have not yet, for the most part, established families and careers, so have the least to lose.
There are two sides to any battle; the hero revolutionary to one group is often the murderous terrorist to another. The winning side gets to choose who is who.
“The system protects the People. Then in order to protect the People, we must protect the system”, says Kiera (Rachel Nichols).
Dillon (Brian Markinson) sitting in both offices, Vancouver PD and Piron, is symbolic of the blurred lines and the erosion of the system.
A Minute Changes Everything
Kiera is on scene at a burning high rise. She has located two little girls. Kiera takes one of the children and tells the other she will come back for her. Unfortunately, when she reaches the ground, her commander tells her that her priority is to rescue two corporate hot shots. Kiera looks torn. What decision will she make?
It is present day. Julian Randol (Richard Harmon) has been released from jail. Carlos (Victor Webster) is waiting for him as he steps out onto the street. Carlos makes sure that Julian knows that Carlos gave him a break which is why he is looking at probation instead of jail time. Julian does not seem to be overly impressed.
A large group of Liber8 supporters are enjoying a party when three security guys decide to break it up, claiming the kids are under age. Things naturally get ugly and the three rent – a –cops get their back sides handed to them. Later, Vancouver PD discus the College cop fiasco. “College campuses are where it all starts” says Kiera, “First the riots, then they shut down the schools for years.
Alec (Erik Knudsen) is still not impressed with Emily (Magda Apanowicz). He has discovered more about her that he does not like. Emily, on the other hand, tells Alec that he has not been in a position where he has had to do anything to survive. Since Alec does not appear to be listening to her, Emily gives up, wishes him good luck and departs. The whole idea to Alec returning to the past was to save Emily. Since that no longer seems to be his first concern, why is Alec still hanging around?
Carlos and Kiera have headed back to campus to question the host of the party, Duncan Federoe (Brent McLaren). Before Carlos can ask any questions, a young woman comes in, seems to know Kiera and makes a run for it. It is Rebecca Barton (Tanaya Beatty), one of Julian’s followers. Kiera catches up to her and almost chokes the life out of her. Hopefully, there are more explanations later about this odd interaction.
Alec is invited to his first board meeting. He has prepared a speech which he has great trouble executing. He is also introduced to the newest board member, Inspector Dillon. If Dillon is not there on behalf of the police, I wonder about conflict of interest. There definitely are blurred lines here.
As Alec flubs his speech, the Chair of the Board, Mr. Towney (Peter Bryant) very pleasantly tells him he does not have to worry about the challenges of transition. In fact, his talents are required in Lab 7. Alec accepts his dismissal and leaves. He is going to have to do better than that if he wants to be in charge of Piron.
At the location of the party that was shut down, Kiera and Carlos are talking to the faculty advisor (Bill Marchant). He defends the pro Liber8 stance of the students. Kiera is not very pleased about the school’s acceptance of what she calls a terrorist organization. Kiera hands him a list of names and asks him to look them over for possible people to question. While waiting to get the list back, Carlos receives a message.
There is another protest happening that they have to go bust up. Hmmm, I thought that would be the job of the police, not a couple of detectives. It seems that Rebecca is there and Duncan Federoe is the one stirring the pot. It appears that some of the protesters have gotten a hold of smoke grenades and fireworks. Naturally, these two fun things together create quite an issue with escalation.
Thanks to the smoke and fireworks, the campus cops are faced with a confusing situation. They mistake the fireworks for weapons fire and fire back blind. Rebecca gets hit and the student protesters run in different directions. If someone wanted attention by using the smoke and fireworks, it is obvious that they now have it.
Carlos and Kiera attempt to get to the bottom of the campus shootings. Carlos asks, “Does this feel a little Kent State to you?” referencing the shootings of 4 university students at Kent State University on May 4th, 1970. The shootings came to symbolize the deep political and social divisions that so sharply divided the U.S during the Vietnam War era.
Julian is questioned about his outrage at the shootings by the media. He replies, “You’re going to twist this anyway. LGU (Lions Gate University) students are driven by corporate needs not by educational ones. When the students tried to point this out, the police roll in. Where’s my outrage? Where’s yours?
Alec returns to his office to find Kellogg (Stephen Lobo) waiting for him. Kellogg tells him he has to become a shark, or at least, find one. Me thinks he means Kellogg should be the shark. He also tells Alec to stop buying suits off the rack. “Listen, I’ve read the dossiers on these board members. There’s no Kirk, there’s no Picard. They barely have a Geordi. Stop playing their games”. I guess we know how Kellogg spends his spare time – watching science fiction shows.
Dillon, Carlos and Kiera discuss the shooting at the University. They learn that all the video cameras were shut off during the protest, so they have no images to look at. Dillon informs them that Piron was responsible. It has the technology to shut off local cameras and cell phone cameras with Geo-fencing technology. Betty enters with more names for Carlos and Kiera to check out.
Later, Kiera and Carlos have a talk. Carlos is bothered by what happened at the University. Kiera tells him, “I can see the struggle you’re going through, Carlos. It doesn’t have to be like this. The system protects the people. In order to protect the people, we must protect the system”.
To set up episode five, a talk show host, Michelle Harrison (Diana Bolton) approaches Julian to have a chat with him. She offers him a six minute interview. Julian asks her if she would let him tell the world that the victims of the shooting were murdered by the police officer being questioned. He was ordered to do it, Julian says, by Carlos.
Thanks to university students uploading videos, Carlos and Kiera and lots of backup cops find the missing gun from one of the university cops. The poor student seems to be telling the truth, according to Kiera, when he claims his innocence. Since Carlos cannot use her tech as admissible evidence, he has to do the leg work.
Julian gets his six minutes. As he is interviewed he pegs both Carlos and Kiera for being behind Rebecca’s death, which he calls a murder. “Rebecca Barton dared to say that corporations aren’t people. They killed her for that.”
Carlos is having a difficult time. He has brought a bottle of alcohol down to a freezer where the other Kiera is stored, sits down and talks to her, “I don’t know why I trust you more than her.”
Kiera has a chat with the advisor. He tells her that a student gave him the gun and then he placed it by a dumpster and tipped off the police that it was there. He then tells Kiera that it did not find its way under the student’s pillow until the cops put it there.
Kiera and Carlos catch up at police headquarters. Kiera tells him that the student is innocent because the gun was a plant. Carlos tells Kiera that there is a phone number that keeps showing up on Rebecca Barton’s phone. They come to the conclusion that the mole in the police department is Betty (Jennifer Spence).
Betty, although she does not seem to recognise it, is given a pretty sweet deal by the department. She will wear an ankle bracelet so her whereabouts can be tracked. She will work for the department as normal and be under house arrest when she is home. They plan to use her as bait for Liber8. At least she is not going to jail, which is what she deserves for betraying her colleagues.
Kiera saved both children in her future, after all. Because of it, her supervisor tells her that more time will be added to her life debt. A form of punishment, I guess. I hope we learn more about what exactly a life debt is.
Alec has accidentally found out that there is another him in his time line. He confronts the other him, the one from a week in his future, back in his old lab. “This is very Marty McFly”, he tells the other him. He also touches himself on the shoulder to see if he can occupy the same space at the same time. Obviously, he can. It seems that Alec the second did indeed come back for Emily because he loves her and is willing to forgive her past indiscretions. Alec from this time line, is not. Alec from this time line is definitely going to the dark side.
Julians interview was interesting. Why is he telling the world on television that Carlos gave the kill order on the three college students, which included Rebecca who was a follower of Julian awhile back. Why is Julian threatening Carlos in particular? Liber8 still seems to have that “movement for the people” thing going on. So far, that seems like a positive. I have a feeling things are about to make a turn for the worse in the next episode. By the way, who wants a Theseus T-shirt?