Continuum: Power Hour review

This Continuum review contains spoilers.

Continuum Season 4 Episode 3

“You’re putting faith in a man that you hardly know who’s a little too cozy with the enemy if you ask me,” says Carlos at the beginning of this week’s Continuum episode entitled, “Power Hour,” and like Travis says, “The man has a point.” Kiera’s actions have never been beyond reproach, but her selfishness and short-sightedness are becoming dangerous now. So why do I still root for her? Therein lies the beauty of this show, and dialogue like the above is what makes this episode my favorite of the season so far.

Consider these other great moments where characters voiced the audience’s frustrations. Lucas tells the long-directionless Theseus to “take action, man up; you’re the author of your own destiny – act like it!” Garza reminds Kiera, “News flash, you’re the only one who wants to go back… [to] that shitty future.” It’s refreshing! Even Alec clarifies what viewers want Kiera to focus on: “So this is all about you then? What about Kellog and his plans?”

Luckily, this episode does focus quite a bit on what Kellog and his future soldiers are up to. The plan to check up on the warehouse where construction of a very powerful anti-matter device is being built is exciting and allows Garza to team up with Kiera in a very dramatic fashion. In addition to the always awesome fight scenes, Garza’s desire to simply blow up the building creates a nice contrast to Kiera’s more cautious but possibly less effective approach. Every moment of their interaction was believable and enjoyable.

Another character who’s becoming more like I’ve wanted him to be for a long time is Julian, who finally starts focusing on his destiny. It totally makes sense that he would worry about second guessing his every move, wondering if he was taking actions towards becoming a mass murderer or making changes to improve the future. I’m not certain what Curtis and the Traveler hope to get out of steering his course, but having Julian ensconced with the young Kagame seems like the right place for him to be.

Likewise, Alec working in Betty’s old office seems just perfect. In wanting to avoid his corporate future, he took a menial civilian job at the police department. How convenient! Now he’s well-placed to help with Kiera and Carlos’ investigations… only they’re not working together so well anymore. Kiera wants to operate outside the confines of the VPD rules, and Carlos wants to use his new position to help no matter how outgunned his men are. I get that. Alec, however, is stuck in the middle being used yet again by Kiera and her admittedly selfish goals.

Maybe not as selfish as Kellog, but who knows what his motives are? Does he even know what Marcellus and his team are up to? He might enjoy having his new, sexier bodyguard, but Kiera’s totally on point when she asks him, “If nobody can trust you, then tell me: how can you trust you?” I completely believe that future Kellog would easily sell out his younger self if it meant improving his own situation. But how? What is the device his Time Marines are building?

Lucas made the ultimate sacrifice trying to answer that question, and although I’ll miss Omari Newton’s nerdy wonderfulness, I couldn’t have wished for a better end for his character. He saved Kiera’s life and went down in a blaze of glory! The fact that he was playing Pong with Alec to cheer him up and helping Julian find who published his Theseus documents earlier in the episode only made his death at the end more poignant. Now Garza’s good and pissed, and Travis is Kiera’s unexpected shoulder to cry on. Things just keep getting more interesting!

I still have plenty of questions, of course, and many of them keep my interest piqued. Wondering how Carlos will react to hearing what Kiera’s been up to over the closed circuit camera is a big one as is how the Time Marines will change now that Zorin is in charge and the more moderate Marcellus is dead. But by far the biggest mystery, and one that is still frustratingly vague with only three episodes left, is what motivates the Traveler – and who the heck is he? I hope that gets addressed sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, if you want more Continuum discussion, join me and Dave over at continuumpodcast.com each week for predictions, nitpicks, and plenty of fan interaction!