S03.E13: Last Minute

[Chip]

 

Kiera battles old friends by allying with former enemies. Alec stands on the precipice of power with one man in his way.

 

[bagert]

So, it's now been seen in Canada, right? :)

[brisbydog]

Yes, finished about half an hour ago.  Lots happened. :)

[Ariah]

What an ending! I need Season 4 greenlit ASAP!

[Aliasscape]

The second Brad started showing off his device and how they could contact the future and check and see if they'd succeeded I was like "And now this episode will end with them doing that and either fade to black not telling us anything" or it will actually get an answer.

Those things looked like mechs from Falling Skies.

[Agent Dark]

About 2/3 of the way through I was a bit 'eh'.  Then the end sold me.  First it was the Carlos as Commissioner Gordon/Kiera as Batman line (hehe), then the futuristic soldiers in power armour.  I'm on board for Season4 for sure.

[AudienceofOne]

I'm a little ambivalent. Not because of what happened exactly but because some of the performances and some of the dialogue felt off to me. I think I might have to digest it and mull it over a little first.

[shapeshifter]

So those time travel orange slices double as weapons. Good to know.

I'm a little ambivalent. Not because of what happened exactly but because some of the performances and some of the dialogue felt off to me. I think I might have to digest it and mull it over a little first.

Aww, you're right, but don't kill my finale buzz. This episode was everything that's been missing from this season, especially clarity of WTF's going on. But is it too little too late? I've wondered for a while if TPTB base renew decisions for bubble shows on the finale and whether it looks like it has a good story for the next season. If I'm right, this show should get renewed. But as a whole, I'm not so sure.

I was a bit confused as to which Alec was which in the fight to the death scene--and I guess that was on purpose. When the survivor told Kiera something like 'when I was wasting away in that white room,' I was wondering if he was really the Evil Alec and just had intel on time-traveling Alec. But then they pulled the locator chip out of dead Alec's wrist and put it in the other Alec.

Yet Kellogg knew. They didn't show any surprise on his face when surviving Alec announced his intentions. So: Does this mean Kellogg anticipated the Alec switch and it was part of his takeover plan?

I did love that they only had Carlos say Commissioner Gordon and left the name of Batman unsaid.

At the end, when Kiera said, "What do we do now?" and Brad replied, "Run!" it was an unintentionally funny Dr. Who reference for me. Maybe the writers had given up on renewal and were tacking that on for their own satisfaction? If so, is there a word for when that happens?

Edited June 23, 2014 by shapeshifter

[greenbean]

It was a good enough episode, once again lifted by Kellog at the end. Stephen Lobo is such a good actor, that moment when he says, "I haven't told him yet", was awesome, everything switched! I really was not expecting that. Any Smallville fans? His performance reminds me of Michael/Lex. That smoothness.

 

During the Alec fight, I was waiting for a twist. That suit!Alec had survived or something. Kellog taking over Piron is much better.

 

I thought the Scooby8 plan was questionable tbh, I'm not sure Sonya would have agreed. Maybe that's why she was killed off. It now seems like Kiera is going to come and go, using Liber8 whenever she wants. I don't think Sonya would have been down with that. She would have had her own aims, she's a leader.

 

So Kiera and Brad are at a point where they can hold hands. Okay. Why did he disappear during their plan? It's suspect, and he was looking suspicious during that group meeting. I think he's playing Kiera, he knew his device would bring the soldiers through the timeline. That's why dreaded guy said "It has begun".

 

Who could Dreads possibly be!? I really thought it was Brad, but it doesn't seem likely. Julian was a good guess in the other thread. Maybe Alec? Maybe Kiera's husband? What if he started messing with the timeline to try and get Kiera back? It would extend the romance angle with Brad.

 

So Carlos has taken over from Dillon!? Yes!

 

It seems like this season was one long reset, but I like where the show seems to be going.

Edited June 23, 2014 by greenbean

[Aliasscape]

About 2/3 of the way through I was a bit 'eh'.  Then the end sold me.  First it was the Carlos as Commissioner Gordon/Kiera as Batman line (hehe), then the futuristic soldiers in power armour.  I'm on board for Season4 for sure.

Heh my favorite line was Lucas looking at Travis, Kiera and Garza. "Whatever this is, I want in!" Cracked me up.

[ottoDbusdriver]

It seems like this season was one long reset, but I like where the show seems to be going.

 

Time travel has that effect.  It becomes an adaptive recursive loop a la Terminator.

 

With Kellogg in charge of Piron, does this mean that Brad's future is still in play ?  Or are those soldiers from yet a 3rd future ?

[pwin]

About 2/3 of the way through I was a bit 'eh'.  Then the end sold me.  First it was the Carlos as Commissioner Gordon/Kiera as Batman line (hehe), then the futuristic soldiers in power armour.  I'm on board for Season4 for sure.

 

Exactly how I felt! I wonder about Alec because he was downright angry with Kellogg at the end. Who knows what that young man is capable of doing now.

 

Since the super soldiers recognized the signal Brad sent and could respond to it, it seemed that Brad's future was created when Piron Alec was killed. Or maybe the future was similar enough. Regardless, Brad seemed to understand what was happening. Did the neon dude look like Brad? Greenbean suggested it might be Kiera's husband. That would be awesome! In the flashbacks that involved him where Kiera was being mentally reprogrammed in her sleep, chosen to guard Liber8 during their execution, or declared dead before a proper search was done, the husband always acted suspicious and displeased. 

[Grammaeryn]

I really liked the finale, ignoring some draggy parts and hacky dialogue.  When Lucas said, "Whatever this is, I'm in." I laughed because I agreed!  Gray pragmatic Kiera is so much better than previous ones. Brad didn't wow me this episode but hey he had a handy doodad!. He's kinda Kiera's Emily, a character that is just there. The mecha at the end reminded me of Robotech (Masters not Macross).  The swerves in storytelling were great: not an assassination, Dillon being alive, and Kellogg's upset. I have to say, suit Alec seriously does not deserve a corporation if he doesn't read legal documents before he signs them.  It's not an iTunes release kid! So, Continuum is on the bubble. Should we send Space TV chocolate wedge balls to save the show? Much better than tabasco...

[shapeshifter]

The swerves in storytelling were great: not an assassination, Dillon being alive

Wait. Did I miss something? Dillon's not alive, is he?

I have to say, suit Alec seriously does not deserve a corporation if he doesn't read legal documents before he signs them.  It's not an iTunes release kid!

I assumed suit Alec knew what he was signing, although it didn't make sense, but, yeah, I think you're right. So does that mean all they had to really do to prevent the end of the world was change the contract language?

So, Continuum is on the bubble. Should we send Space TV chocolate wedge balls to save the show? Much better than tabasco...

Hah! @Grammaeryn, I think I just took a spin in a time machine at the mention of tabasco, and yes, chocolate is way more effective for changing minds.

[millerlite]

I’ve always felt ambivalent about how the show’s writers have portrayed Liber8.

In the beginning, I got the feeling that the writers were almost trying to give us the impression that we should be rooting for the corporate future that dead!Kiera came from.

 

Liber8 were “the bad guys.” And I got the feeling that the writers genuinely started out wanting the audience to hate them - thus, portraying their movement as violent and presenting them as mass murders. In the meanwhile, on a IRL level, the show started at around the same time that the whole Occupy Wall Street movement had started to make people aware of how out of control the inequality of the 1% {including multi-national corporations} vs. everyone else - had gotten.

 

So, by making a movement with a message that would resonant with a good bit of the audience - and then making that movement violent and portrayed as “bad”- I never fully understood what the message the writers were sending the audience by making Liber8 as “the bad guys,” the way I got the impression the writer’s initially wanted us to.

 

Then, one day, I get the feeling that the writers must have taken a step back, and realized how badly they were messing up the narrative as to who, we, the audience were supposed to be rooting for, and realized how off track they had gotten.

 

Which then explains the way we have been getting the set-up for the entire reset of the show this season. And, I’ll be honest, at times this season, I’ve felt that the show had lost its way.

 

But, with this finale, I feel like things are back on track.. We now have some game changing events that set up for some interesting events happening next season.

[greenbean]

Then, one day, I get the feeling that the writers must have taken a step back, and realized how badly they were messing up the narrative as to who, we, the audience were supposed to be rooting for, and realized how off track they had gotten.

You may well be right. At first I thought the show was being bold with its portrayal of Liber8. That they were asking the audience to view the violence in a more considered way. I think today it's not so easy to label someone a "terrorist", and then right them off with cartoon villainy. I think more people are open to the complexities of the world. So I too never saw Liber8 as the "bad guys."

 

But it seems the writers just never knew what to do with them. That whole bit when they were hanging around biker gangs was just odd.

Edited June 24, 2014 by greenbean

[xaxat]

I enjoyed this episode, and really hope it's not the series finale. One thing I really liked was the fact that Kiera got to mend fences. Her increasing isolation from Carlos and Original Alec this season made her a pretty unlikable character. It was nice to see them as friends again. Although, as Kiera noted in the opening scene, that's when things go to shit. 

 

 

Wait. Did I miss something? Dillon's not alive, is he?

 

Yes, he is. When the reporter was interviewing Suit Alec, she mentioned they were all hoping for a speedy recovery.

 

 

Yet Kellogg knew. They didn't show any surprise on his face when surviving Alec announced his intentions. So: Does this mean Kellogg anticipated the Alec switch and it was part of his takeover plan?

 

I think he anticipated that there was a possibility that the two Aleci could eventually confront each other and only one would survive. So Kellog had a plan that would put him in charge no matter which one survived. A Kellog that knows he can become that powerful in the future is a dangerous thing. 

 

I was a supporter Emily at the end of last season, but the writers clearly don't know what to do with her (outside of providing motivation for Alec) so they can get rid of her.

 

Did anyone hear what Ty Olsson's character said to Brad after he told him that Brad was going back in time? I heard something about the Traveler and a contact in the past, but couldn't make out the rest. 

 

My first thought when the two bullets went past Suit Alec was "Garza doesn't miss."

[greenbean]

I was a supporter Emily at the end of last season, but the writers clearly don't know what to do with her (outside of providing motivation for Alec) so they can get rid of her.

 

It was odd how they brought her back and then quickly pushed her aside. I'm not a fan of their romance, but Alec didn't even want to talk to her after she was arrested! Instead asking Kiera(?) to pass on a message. This is supposed to be the girl he went back in time for!

[shapeshifter]

Yes, he [Dillon] is [alive]. When the reporter was interviewing Suit Alec, she mentioned they were all hoping for a speedy recovery.

Wow. Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I thought when Sonia clapped her explosive laden hands together in Dillon's face the whole place blew up. No?

 

Did anyone hear what Ty Olsson's character said to Brad after he told him that Brad was going back in time? I heard something about the Traveler and a contact in the past, but couldn't make out the rest.

I couldn't hear that exchange either. Anyone have captions on?

Slightly OT: Brad also showed up on the first episode of season four of Falling Skies this week. I was so confused. Heh.

[xaxat]

Wow. Maybe I'm not remembering correctly, but I thought when Sonia clapped her explosive laden hands together in Dillon's face the whole place blew up. No?

 

That's what it looked like to me.

 

After paramedics arrived, they rolled out two people on gurneys. One (Sonya) was in a body bag. The other had bandages wrapped all over his face. I thought it was another police officer, but apparently it was Dillon.

[dr pepper]

Doesy Doe, promenade once more

Change partners, you're ready for Season 4!

 

 

Ok, let me get this straight:

 

Corporate Alec is Dead, at least for now.

 

Outlaw Alec thought he would be Corporate Alec, but now he's Unemployed Alec.

 

Kellogg is Corporate Alec.

 

Kiera is Liber8.

 

Liber8 is Freelancers, but apparently without any Freelancer tech.

 

Resurrection Man and Future Future Man are, well, they'll get back to us as soon as they figure it out.

 

Coporate Fascist Oligarchy World may, or may not, have been averted.

 

Tribal Warfare Apocalypse World may, or may not, have been averted.

 

There is at least one timeline left downstream where someone has time travel.

 

That someone is about to intervene.

 

Did i miss anything?

[Agent Dark]

Did i miss anything?

Kiera is Batman!

[dr pepper]

Oh, right.

[AudienceofOne]

Kellogg is Corporate Alec.

 

 

 

I don't think we'll ever know anything in this show for sure, but it seems to me that Kellogg didn't send Brad back in time to STOP the future they were living in but actually sent him back to create it. Brad doesn't know this, of course, but Kellogg would have chosen him specifically because he knew it was his knowledge of a chaotic future that caused Keira to react in the way that he wanted.

 

My problem with Kellogg though is that I've never quite worked out what the writers are doing with his character. He's always been self-interested but I feel like in Season 1 there was more to him than that. He cared about his sister. He cared about his grandmother. He cared about Keira. He cared about Alec. Now he's just a rogue element they use to fuck things up when necessary. I wish they'd articulate who he's supposed to be.

[greenbean]

My problem with Kellogg though is that I've never quite worked out what the writers are doing with his character. He's always been self-interested but I feel like in Season 1 there was more to him than that. He cared about his sister. He cared about his grandmother. He cared about Keira. He cared about Alec. Now he's just a rogue element they use to fuck things up when necessary. I wish they'd articulate who he's supposed to be.

 

Yeah, I hope they balance him out and not make him a cartoon villain. Which I'm kinda worried they will in S4.

.

[Bort]

Since Brad said several episodes ago that Kellog was the Big Cheese in his future, I don't know why they thought that SuitAlec was the variable that had to be eliminated. That said, the whole Team Kiera-Liber8 collaboration Swap Alecs Plan was fun. I knew something was up when Garza's two shots weren't even close. Garza doesn't miss!

So did the beginning imply that Kiera finally got laid?

[sjohnson]

I'm so glad to see Kiera and Carlos leaving the dark side I can put up with Dillon being alive and even Neon Sternum. 

 

I don't think Brad is treacherous but I do agree that Old Kellogg may have played him. 

[AlliMo]

So, Alec hides his important things in the same place that I hid my pot and birth control pills when I was a teenager.

 

That fight scene with the Matrix trio taking down the guard was brief, but beautifully choreographed and shot.

 

I loved both Carlos scolding Evil Alec like an irritated dad and his Commissioner Gordon crack. Victor Webster plays him as a pretty intense guy, but gives him some much needed levity.

 

As soon as Original Recipe Alec headed back into Piron, I thought, "First order of business - kill that assistant. She's shady." I was totally right.

 

I actually really enjoyed this season - it was complicated but added a lot of layers that will be interesting to explore. I know the actor has been busy with other things, but here's hoping Julian and Alec team up to take down Kellogg.

[wmdekooning]

Does this mean Kellogg anticipated the Alec switch and it was part of his takeover plan?

 

Why not? He IS from the future...

Ty Olsson's character

 

Who is Ty Olsson and what would I have seen him in?  He looks familiar. (Edit) Checked IMDB and seen several movies and teevee shows with him in them, but do not remember any of the characters he played.

 

Brad also showed up on the first episode of season four of Falling Skies this week.

 

Doesn't the actor who plays "Brad" (Ryan Robbins) appear in any genre television shot in Canada?  I think it's some sort of law there...

That fight scene with the Matrix trio taking down the guard was brief, but beautifully choreographed and shot.

That scene reminded me how bad arse Garza really is.  Both Kiera and Travis have the future suits.  Garza doesn't.

Edited June 28, 2014 by wmdekooning

[Bort]

This Travis doesn't have the suit, though, does he? I haven't seen him with it.

[xaxat]

Last season he did. (Remember the fight he had with Kiera in the atrium of Piron?) But I don't think it was mentioned this season.

[Bort]

I know he had it last season, but they're maintaining that shit changed the second Alec made the jump, not from him actually doing anything differently (like saving Emily). And since we haven't seen or heard about Travis having the suit, I've been assuming he didn't acquire it here.

Which really makes me wonder how many episodes from the first two seasons have been rendered null and void. It's kind of like on Fringe season 4 where Peter and Olivia were the only ones who remembered the previous timeline. In this case, it's Kiera and Alec.

[Grammaeryn]

I got to watch the show with closed captions, legally last night. The beginning with Brad and his commander is less garbled but according to cc Brad wanted to leave his commander his "globe" and the commander has a bunch of other "globes" Is that a captioning snafu? If not, the wedge ball could be called a globe - oooh! They did mention the Traveller. So does that imply the Traveller guy exists out of time or is just really smart about where he hops around to? Another question and I think this is a language difference between Canada and US the way the British have different words or pronunciations. The chip in Alec's wrist in the show he called it a R-FID. But in the U.S. we call them R-F ID chips. Was it a show snafu or is it pronounced as R-FID in Canada?

 

For a good laugh, imagine if the Traveler guy is Carlos - our Mr. Normal.

[wmdekooning]

I know he had it last season, but they're maintaining that shit changed the second Alec made the jump, not from him actually doing anything differently (like saving Emily). And since we haven't seen or heard about Travis having the suit, I've been assuming he didn't acquire it here.

 

I'm about to have a Lukas type freakout like he did last episode with all this time travel paradox stuff.  Lukas is my favorite character by the way...

[Collinwood]

Based on no evidence whatsoever, just a gut feeling, I don't think Brad recognized the soldiers/cyborgs/EdgeofTomorrowsuits  who came through beacon.  He seemed startled and confused to me.  Did anyone else get that vibe or am I all alone?  Could a completely different timeline be monitoring the frequency that the beacon used?  I thought about Kiera talking to Alec when she first arrived. 

[Cobb Salad]

On the re watch I looked closer at the soldiers that came through the beacon at the end. I don't think Brad recognized them either and maybe realized he messed up badly. Since Kellog is in charge of Piron with technology years ahead of time (thanks to dead Kiera's CMR) whatever tech exists 20-30 years from now is probably more advanced than the world Kiera came from. I'm hoping for a 4th season, this looks like it will be a good battle.

[wanderingstar]

I can’t believe how much I’ve enjoyed this season when half the time I had no clue what was going on.

Loved this episode. Absolutely loved the Keira/Liber8/Alec team-up. Such fun.

The twist with Kellog at the end I did not see coming, but I liked it. I adore Stephen Lobo’s performance in this role.

I enjoyed the Keira/Alec rapprochement immensely. That relationship has always been one of this show’s touchstones for me.
 

So Carlos has taken over from Dillon!? Yes!

 

 

This made me break into a goofy smile.

 

suit Alec seriously does not deserve a corporation if he doesn't read legal documents before he signs them. 

 

This nearly took me out of the last Kellog/Alec scene. I guess I can handwave it and say he’d become the type of CEO who leaves reading the fine print to his underlings (Kellog did say Jacqueline had been a big help)

[madam magpie]

"I can’t believe how much I’ve enjoyed this season when half the time I had no clue what was going on."

Right?! I thought this episode was great. Obviously something had to happen after the beacon went off, but I didn't expect it to be robots.

The group working together was my favorite bit. Loved Lucas's "Whatever this is, I'm in." Me too!

[catrox14]

Ha! I said exactly that. I was like," I love this show but I have no idea at all what is going on."  I was especially happy to see Ty Olsson.

[stillshimpy]

I loved the entire season, although like a lot of people, i felt like I must have been mildly concussed at some point and completely unaware of it, because I was experiencing mild-to-moderate what-the-fuckery throughout.   I did like how killing Kierq 1.0 had a lot of narrative significance after all and wasn't just some random "well, we didn't want to confuse the issue with dual Kiera stories."  

 

When Kiera 1.0 died, it really symbolized the death of the person who had believed in the rightness of her role as protector, in a future worth preserving.  Kiera 2.0 was the person who had that moment of clarity, that shift in perception, and perhaps even grew to realize that losing the future with her son wasn't the worst thing if it meant that he was being spared a truly brutal world, with lessons no parent would willingly teach a child about the innate worth of other people. 

 

So that's all pretty deep stuff for an episode that was mainly "Whee! Lots of Kickass! Which Alex will win!"  The entire group of characters save Kellog and Suit Alex works together.  The character I miss the most is the Kellog who had a sister the loved dearly, tried to make his grandmother's life pleasant and just wanted a bunch of creature comforts in world that didn't suck as outrageously.  

 

Also, I sort of assumed that Kellog might just belying to Hoodie Alex and that he'd been patiently filing forged documents all along. 

 

I really hope there is a fourth season pickup and as much as I love all the actors and characters involved in this uber confusing show (but I adore time travel stories and love the mind-screws that tend to come with it) , I have to admit, I think Erik Knudsen is spectacularly talented.  

[iMonrey]

 

This Travis doesn't have the suit, though, does he? I

 

No. Kiera and Alec jumped back in time before he stole the suit from the lab and made sure he didn't get it in this timeline. I don't know what became of it though.

 

Much as I like the character I have to cry foul on Dillon surviving that blast. He should have been blown to smithereens.

 

There was another odd continuity error that makes me think even the writers have trouble keeping all the time traveling stuff straight. When Kiera and Garza were standing by the elevator Kiera said "So that whole I-won't-mess-with-you-if-you don't mess-with-me deal is off right?" She was referencing what they said to each other when they were both being held by the Freelancers (after they helped each other fight their captors in the stairwell). Problem is, this Garza wouldn't have any idea what she's talking about. The Garza who said that died in that timeline, remember Kiera?

 

Overall I thought it was a strong season though. When do they decide if it gets a fourth season?

[wanderingstar]

Question about one of the ending scenes in the finale: is the Liber8 crew now taking over the Freelancer headquarters? Also, they showed Curtis with the Traveler? Are they also still at Freelancer HQ?

[shapeshifter]

This Travis doesn't have the suit, though, does he? I haven't seen him with it.

No. Kiera and Alec jumped back in time before he stole the suit from the lab and made sure he didn't get it in this timeline. I don't know what became of it though.

I hope Carlos gets to wear it next season. :D

Much as I like the character I have to cry foul on Dillon surviving that blast. He should have been blown to smithereens.

Definitely--unless maybe someone time traveled to moments before she clapped to pull him out of the way, but that would only work if that person got blown up.

There was another odd continuity error that makes me think even the writers have trouble keeping all the time traveling stuff straight. When Kiera and Garza were standing by the elevator Kiera said "So that whole I-won't-mess-with-you-if-you don't mess-with-me deal is off right?" She was referencing what they said to each other when they were both being held by the Freelancers (after they helped each other fight their captors in the stairwell). Problem is, this Garza wouldn't have any idea what she's talking about. The Garza who said that died in that timeline, remember Kiera?

I only watched once, but I think Garza did look a little puzzled. Maybe it was an in joke between Kiera and the audience? Edited June 29, 2014 by shapeshifter

[Bort]

There was another odd continuity error that makes me think even the writers have trouble keeping all the time traveling stuff straight. When Kiera and Garza were standing by the elevator Kiera said "So that whole I-won't-mess-with-you-if-you don't mess-with-me deal is off right?" She was referencing what they said to each other when they were both being held by the Freelancers (after they helped each other fight their captors in the stairwell). Problem is, this Garza wouldn't have any idea what she's talking about. The Garza who said that died in that timeline, remember Kiera?

No, Kiera said that in this timeline when she sprung Garza from the Freelancer prison, though Garza didn't have a clue why Kiera was doing her a solid.

[Cobb Salad]

Question about one of the ending scenes in the finale: is the Liber8 crew now taking over the Freelancer headquarters? Also, they showed Curtis with the Traveler? Are they also still at Freelancer HQ?

Looks like it. The scene with Curtis and the Traveler looked like they were somewhere else other than Freelancer HQ but I can't be too sure.

What I've been wondering is who are the other Clan leaders? Could they be Liber8? Alec? Julian?

[Collinwood]

Is it wrong that I want Jason to be The Traveler?  Escher did say that time travel was the family business.  I just really like Ian Tracey.  He makes every episode that he's in better.

 

I don't think Alec could be one of the other clan leaders because Brad had never heard of him.

[wanderingstar]

What I've been wondering is who are the other Clan leaders? Could they be Liber8? Alec? Julian?

 

 

Hadn't even thought about this, but now that you've mentioned it, I'm intrigued to learn about the whole Clan setup in 2039.

 

Collinwood, IA about Ian Tracey. I have really enjoyed him - particularly this season.

[greenbean]

Maybe Garza! Alec could still be around, but going under a different name and living underground. Especially if he's hiding from Kellog.

[shapeshifter]

Collinwood, IA about Ian Tracey. I have really enjoyed him - particularly this season.

I was singing his praises last season, so I get first dibs--if there ever are any dibs of any sort. They better just not kill him off.

Maybe it's Kiera 1.2 under the Darth Vader hood. With a Goa'uld voice modulator. (Stargate reference)

[stillshimpy]

Maybe it's Kiera 1.2 under the Darth Vader hood. With a Goa'uld voice modulator. (Stargate reference)

 

Anubis flashbacks for me.  Oh no, it's the evil black sheet-hamper, back to devil us all.  Who will save us?  

 

Honestly the veiled dude is one of the weaker elements of the show for me because it's sort of an overly-obvious contrivance to keep something from the audience.  "Dude, why is that guy wearing a Corpse Bride Veil? Why would anyone actually do that?"  The answer is: No one would unless it was for a religious purpose, or because they are hideously scarred.  Maybe he comes from a future where we've burned out the ozone so much that he has to have UV light filtered at all times.  But seeing as they're already storing him in the standard issue dank, dark, dim and echoing medieval-style monk's cell (that apparently litter Vancouver, judging by every scifi show I've ever seen) that last doesn't even hold up.  

 

It's hokey enough that the reveal can't possibly compensate for it all.  It sticks out too much as the "oh boy, are you ever going to plotz when you see who is under there, audience!"  device.  

 

One thing I did like, they solved the problem of Kiera's son aging past the point of being usable in flashbacks by having her accept this as her life now.  Then also, when it comes to Libr8, I don't think the show necessarily struggled with how they wanted the audience to view the group.  I think they kind of had to battle with the fact that they wanted the audience to like Kiera as the central character.  To feel for her, at least at first.  To try and pull for her to get home and to actually think that maybe there was some validity to her viewpoint. 

 

So the only real way to not have Kiera come off as the super gorgeous, but tool of the Fascist Regime was to make Libr8 over-the-top violent.  I think the answer does lie in things like Kagame's flashbacks to the Japanese garden speech when he was a boy.  Michael Kellog's repeated mention of the food.  Even Kiera's son saying things like "Soy Moo?  Again?"   I think we were absolutely supposed to be on Libr8's side, but it was going to be so obvious that they had to make Kiera seem a little justified in her views. Also, they didn't want us to despise Alex from the very first second we met him in 2012.

 

But any show that talks about people being born with Life Debt Points to be worked off from birth is taking a negative stance on the whole credit based economy, consumerism and eventual eradication of what we consider basic human rights.  I think their only true struggle was in figuring out how to make us not dislike Kiera from the opening moments.  The way they accomplished that was by just making Libr8 pretty much absurdly violent and uncaring.  

 

I can make that make sense (if I hold it down with something really heavy until it quits struggling) by telling myself they viewed every person they came across as an enemy combatant, because they were the people who built their dystopian future.  However, it just didn't quite work -- although it did serve the purpose of making Kiera look just a little justified in thinking these folks really deserved to be in jail , at least for as long as they wanted that to be the case -- it's just that they had Libr8 doing too many villainous things as they waited to bring Kiera's character around to the point she is in this episode.  

 

Where I can buy that she's formed a relationship with the other time traveler who killed the first her (for an extra "get it? get it?) bit of narrative fun.  

 

The flip-side is that they had Libr8 do things that were just unnecessary.  Snapping some poor cable technician's neck and making sure they beat the shit out of the people they killed before killing them, just made them look like a bunch of sadistic, unjustifiable punks.  

 

I think they were so afraid we'd catch on that the future Kiera was trying to protect really needed to be taken out at the knees that they overcompensated by making Libr8 a bunch of psychopaths at first. 

 

Also, add me to the list of "Oh really? Now that is quite simply beyond unlikely and well into 'no damned way' Dillon survived that blast."  I've been trying to think of a story reason they did that and can't really come up with one.  

Edited June 30, 2014 by stillshimpy