Quick Time review – Continuum 3×12: ‘The Dying Minutes’

Courtesy of Showcase / Syfy

As predicted Continuum dives down the rabbit hole in the wake of last weekend’s game changer and things get crazy.

Let’s bitch it out…

WTF was that?! I mean, I figured that things would change after Kiera (Rachel Nichols) effectively disbanded the Liber8 crew, but I didn’t figure that the result would be upwards of four minor to significant deaths, two romantic unions and everyone getting crazy emotional. It’s as though the writers realized that they only have two episodes left to wrap things up and send the show into overdrive because a ton of stuff happens in ‘The Dying Minutes’ (a title that more than lives up to its name).

Things move quickly even in the opening scene, which shows in flashback how the Freelancers stole and reanimated Curtis Chen (Terry Chen). In what appears to be a painful and disorienting process that leaves him crying, a new character named The Traveler – the one Catherine (Rachael Crawford) keeps behind the locked door – magically brings Curtis back to life. It’s the first truly supernatural element we’ve ever seen on Continuum, which makes me a little apprehensive. Even by episode’s end, when Curtis has killed Catherine and come face to face with the man who revived him, I’m still unsure what to think of this new character. We simply don’t have enough information to make an informed opinion about how this man will impact the show, but I bet you that it will be someone we know when his identity is inevitably revealed in next week’s finale…

Unlike Catherine and Agent Warren (Adrian Holmes), the other deaths of note are pretty shocking. There’s an argument to be made, though, that Sonya’s (Lexa Doig) decision to sacrifice herself comes out of left field, even in light of last week’s Liber8 break-up. I thought that her scene with Julian (Richard Harmon) in the Piron building – during which she cries and encourages him to become both a saviour and a mass-murderer – is really effective, albeit still out of character. We’re asked to assume that her disillusionment about her ability to effect the future is such that she would blow herself up in order to kill a low-level flunky like Dillon (Brian Markinson). Honestly, that doesn’t entirely resonate for me. Had this occurred in the finale and this episode spent more time building up her decision, I probably would have responded differently. As it stands this development feels like it comes about far too quickly.

Still, I might have given a little cheer when things go boom in the VPD. I’ve long had a dislike for Dillon, particularly this season when he began juggling the interests of the police and Piron. It simply didn’t seem realistic that he would be allowed to compromise the integrity of the force in Piron’s interests, no matter what kind of social and moral argument he makes. Even his conversation with Carlos (Victor Webster) when he defends his actions ring false to me. I have a nagging suspicion that we’re not quite done with the character yet, however, but I’ll wait until next week to see if my fears are true when The Traveler’s identity is revealed.

That leaves Kiera. With Liber8 scattered into the wind, Kiera’s focus shifts back to Alec (Erik Knudsen). She finally realizes that she imprisoned the wrong Alec – something that we all realized weeks ago – and sets about to right the wrong. She and Brad (Ryan Robbins) storm the Freelancer lair in a pretty bad-ass action scene and she manages to smuggle Alec out. The reunion isn’t a happy one, however – it turns out both Alecs hold a grudge – and some pretty nasty words are shared on both sides. Alec accuses Kiera of abandoning him to die (true) and Kiera accuses Alec of ruining worlds (true) and isolating her in the past (umm…mostly true?). Thankfully things get a little less tense when Alec reunites with Emily (Magda Apanowicz) and they head for the hills. Emily’s return is welcome even though she’s given little to do, if only because it felt so bizarre that she simply disappeared when Alec was imprisoned. The preview for the finale suggests that these two don’t get far before Alec decides to return to the city and face himself, however, setting up the conflict we’re been waiting for ever since these two first came face to face.

Other Observations:

• Looks like Halo is being set up as the future tech that ushers in the downfall of the world. Alec’s pitch about its capabilities to Dillon suggest that it could be used to pacify its users, which mirrors the loss of individual control in the future worlds that Brad and Liber8 have spoken about. It’ll be interesting to see whether Halo is destroyed in the finale or if it will continue to wreak havoc moving forward.
• So Kiera and Brad are a couple now? I wonder how the moral-police who rioted when a married Kiera slept with Kellog back in S1 are reacting to this latest development.
• Finally, kudos to Roger Cross. Travis doesn’t get much to do in this hour aside from suggest an escape north with Sonya (ironic given that’s exactly what Kiera and Alec do). It’s his quiet devastation upon learning about Sonya’s death that resonates, though – we don’t often see the softer side of Travis, so it’s disarming when we see him break down and leave town.

Best Lines:

• Alec (to Kiera, as she frees him from his cell): “Just get me out of here. Then you can go to hell.”
• Sonya (to Dillon, when he offers her a deal): “You’re still selling that line when there’s no one in the room but me?”

What’s your take on ‘The Dying Minutes’? Did things move too quickly for you? Were you taken aback by Sonya’s decision to sacrifice herself and kill Dillon? Do you care that Catherine and Agent Warren are dead? Who is The Traveller? And what do you hope will happen when Alec faces himself again in the finale? Sound off below.

Continuum airs its season finale on Sunday at 9pm EST on Showcase (in Canada) and on Friday at 10pm EST on Syfy (in the US)