Contiuum Season 1 Review

21st Jan 2013

In this world in which we live feminism is a dirty word, women express supposed freedom by removing all of their clothes and being sexually explicit and the role of the woman in the work place and at home is so conflicted we don’t know who we are. It therefore makes me so happy that as a tv geek I can watch interesting, intelligent, flawed and unique female characters taking the central role in science fiction, action and detective tv shows. Let me just take a moment to salute Buffy, Sydney Bristow, Olivia Dunham and Temperance Brennan to name a few.

So how does Contiuum fit in my little feminist love-fest here? This is one of those shows which have snuck through on the SyFy channel. If you don’t have the channel I doubt you’ll have heard much about it and that is a shame. Unlike the big budget, flashy sci-fi which have been widely promoted like the failed Terra Nova or currently lame Revolution, Contiuum is a small budge Canadian science fiction detective show which outshines them both. Don’t get too excited, it’s no Fringe, but it is well executed and has some real potential. We have a great female lead and a really substantial plot.

The premise of the show is that in 2077 the world is run by corporations rather than a government. A group of terrorists are about to be executed when they are sent back in time to 2012 (a wider conspiracy?). Keira (Rachel Nichols) is a protector (police) of this future and accidentally (or is it?) gets taken back in time with them. The series plot follows her as she adapts to a new time, trying to prevent the terrorists changing the future. She is aided by a technical genius Alec (Erik Knudsen) and a detective, Carlos (Victor Webster).

For me the only real weak link of this show is Carlos. He is the epitome of the dumb detective, he is utterly useless and Nichols seems as though she is holding up his acting. My advice to the show creators is to kill him off quick. And thankfully there will be the opportunity to do so as Contiuum has been signed up to another season.

So what of the positive? I find Rachel Nichols highly watchable, the chemistry with her tech partner Alec is spot on and similar to my other favourite tv heroines she has to play a female lead who’s obsession with her job creates conflicts with her personal life even when that life is 50 years in the future. The use of technology in this show is so much fun, suspension of disbelief is required but my god do I want one of those suits Keira wears. The hidden gem is one of the terrorists Kellog (Stephen Lobo), there’s something between Keira and Kellog and I’m interested as to how it will unfold. These are just a few of the reasons I loved the show. Another is what appears to be a intelligent and well thought out plot, addressing issues of the two sides of terrorism, the concepts of fate, destiny and characters looking at the present even though it is now history.

What I really found promising about this first season is that the show doesn’t get bogged down in the whys and whos just yet. It doesn’t get wrapped up in the mythology it is creating and manages not to slip into formulaic detective show patterns. It teases and reveals just enough to make you want more but not so much that there’s nothing left to tell. This for me is a sign this show has some great seasons ahead of it. And there are some great reveals towards the end of the season, I was left shouting “why?” at the final credits.

I loved this show and certainly will be watching season 2. A definite hidden gem worth investing your time in.