Continuum (US) Season 1 Discussion Thread (Spoilers)

[Christopher]

Forbin wrote:

---

I don't think it's particularly creative, mind you - a sci fi show that's set in present-day so they don't have to spend money on sets, props and scenery (I'm so thirsty for a good old fashioned space opera I could scream and throw some Farscape eps in the player).

But that's not about creativity, it's about budget. Space operas are expensive because of all the exotic sets and makeup and FX and so forth. It's much more economical to do something set in our world so you can use existing locations and props, ordinary costumes and vehicles, actors without elaborate prosthetics, etc. Heck, even Star Trek had a bunch of Earth-duplicate cultures and time-travel episodes so they could reuse stuff from historical movies, and the TNG-era shows had holodecks for the same reason. The whole reason Roddenberry came up with the silly duplicate-Earths idea was because he knew it was the only way he could convince a network that the show would be affordable to make. Pure creativity is all that matters in print, but in television, you have to be creative within the restraints of budget and practicality.

[Guy Gardener]

Remember when Andromeda tried to save money in the final season?

They lost the ship and set the rest of their adventures in an unkempt dive bar on a planet.

As I said earlier, at least 20 percent of every episode of Continuum is set in the future.

Well, Kiera's memories of the future that are pertinent to her current pickle.

[davejames]

Finally watched the first episode, and thought it was pretty decent, but nothing to get very excited about. The effects were good, and the lead actress is just interesting and sympathetic enough that you care about the situation she's in... but too much of the story and concept still just felt awfully tired and derivative.

The chasing criminals from the future, the Minority Report-style technology, the computer geek sidekick who's never seen action before....

Although the fact the future-cop is a woman this time does feel a little new (and she's certainly nice to look at), so I'll probably keep watching for a little longer at least.

[Forbin]

Christopher wrote:

---

But that's not about creativity, it's about budget. Space operas are expensive because of all the exotic sets and makeup and FX and so forth. It's much more economical to do something set in our world so you can use existing locations and props, ordinary costumes and vehicles, actors without elaborate prosthetics, etc. Heck, even Star Trek had a bunch of Earth-duplicate cultures and time-travel episodes so they could reuse stuff from historical movies, and the TNG-era shows had holodecks for the same reason. The whole reason Roddenberry came up with the silly duplicate-Earths idea was because he knew it was the only way he could convince a network that the show would be affordable to make. Pure creativity is all that matters in print, but in television, you have to be creative within the restraints of budget and practicality.

Yes, I know. That's what I said, only with less words.

[Christopher]

^No, it's a direct refutation of what you said. You claimed that setting a show in the present day showed a lack of creativity. My point is that it has nothing to do with creativity one way or another. A lot of creativity -- often by necessity -- is about working within an imposed set of constraints. Indeed, the more constrained you are, the more essential creativity is. So it's dead wrong to equate the constraints of budget and practicality with a failure of creativity, as you did.

[Guy Gardener]

So if the writers wanted to prove thenselves, Kiera would have landed in the Salem Witch trials?

She'd hide as a goodie until the bad guys showed up and then risk being burnt as a witch to save the town from Liber8.

[hyzmarca]

The Green Mushroom wrote:

---

I liked it. I don't know if it will have legs, but I liked it.

The Cigarette Smoking Man does seem to know something in the future.

I can believe the technology that FutureCop has.

I don't think the show is a ripoff of either Time Trax or Time Cop. Time Cop was more about preventing the misuse of time travel than anything else, while Time Trax, as I remember, was simply (mostly) about rounding up the fugitives. Continuum is more nuanced. If nothing else, the criminals have a goal that they themselves can't really benefit from and, if they had avoided collateral damage, they could almost come across as being the good guys.

The great thing about time travel is that it doesn't matter how many people you murder in the future, when you go back time all of those deaths will be nullified. They haven't been born yet so you couldn't have killed them. Assuming that history can be changed, you effectively get the slate wiped every time you go back.

[Guy Gardener]

Killing individuals? pishaw.

You just killed everyone in the universe.

Actually... You kill a couple people just before you backstep and they go to the front of the line for heaven before the other 6 billion turn up to queue after you've made the timeline unsupportable.

It's a kindness.

[Brent]

This series takes a stance on what kind of rules they are living in as it pertains to the killing of one's ancestors. I won't spoil it, but something happens that confirms one of the common theories about time travel.

[CaptainDonovin]

Just finished episode 1, I'm hooked.

[Caretaker]

Brent wrote:

---

This series takes a stance on what kind of rules they are living in as it pertains to the killing of one's ancestors. I won't spoil it, but something happens that confirms one of the common theories about time travel.

Just watched the pilot, and I'll watch episode two sometime this week. Whatever time travel rules they have established behind-the-scenes, I just hope for the writers to be consistent with them.

[davejames]

Thought the second episode was pretty good, although I'm already getting tired of the escaped convict storyline. None of them are particularly interesting or scary, and the giant gun battles at the end (which everyone somehow survives) are starting to get a bit ridiculous.

Frankly I'd rather just watch Kiera use her skills and cool technology to catch present-day killers and criminals.

[jayceee]

davejames wrote:

---

Thought the second episode was pretty good, although I'm already getting tired of the escaped convict storyline. None of them are particularly interesting or scary, and the giant gun battles at the end (which everyone somehow survives) are starting to get a bit ridiculous.

Frankly I'd rather just watch Kiera use her skills and cool technology to catch present-day killers and criminals.

Without giving too much away, quite a few episodes don't involve liber8 directly or they aren't the main subject.

[davejames]

Cool. Nice to know!

[Valin]

I've seen the first two episodes and am liking the show so far. I've likes RN since she starred in The Inside. In that series she showed that she was a decent actress as well as quite a looker.

This show does remind me of Time Traxx, but in a good way.