Continuum: S01E01 - A Stitch in Time.

 

I don't get paid to do this, so I largely write this for my own entertainment but it's also nice to actually be read and appreciated too, it's rather depressing I get hundreds of comments a day and they are all spam. And although I said I haven't given up on Friday the 13th, I think I may have. My The Apparition review got more hits than any of my Friday the 13th reviews got and that was in its first day, if that doesn't tell me that no one fucking cares what I think of the Friday the 13th franchise then I don't know what does. I don't really know what to review next but for now, le's take a look at another 2012 show since we didn't get to do any TV this week. Enjoy!

All jokes aside, Canadian channel Showcase sure has some great programming, if you take anything away from this, check out Lost Girl, that is a great show. Continuum came out in May of this year and got a ten episode season, then got renewed for a second season of thirteen episodes in August. Oh also the lead actress is the gorgeous Rachel Nichols - who sadly cannot act but thankfully she has a solid cast supporting her including, but not limited too, Erik Knudsen, Richard Harmon and William B. Davis. With that out of the way, let's dig into the first episode...

Honestly, Continuum, in short, is basically Power Rangers Time Force without the Power Rangers (although Nichols does have a super suit, so I guess it has Power Rangers too). 2077 Vancouver is a utopia at the cost of identity and freedom well they are limited at least, not completely gone. And of course there are liberal cunts who think personal freedom and identity is more important than anything else - I hate selfish liberal cunts, I warn you that now. The liberal fucks kill innocent people and drop the world into chaos because they have no grasp of what a real world needs to sacrifice and limit to function, since this is reality and not the magical rainbow world. Thankfully, they are set to be executed, the death penalty was made for these kind of cunts, in my mind. Only, sadly, they jump backwards in time to 2012 moments before the execution happens. Thankfully our hero, Kiera, gets pinged back with them and is left to hunt them down with her future tech only half working, hopefully she makes them all die horrible, painful deaths. And luckily for Kiera, everyone is dumb as fuck in 2012 so her life is not really made any harder, phew. Also corny forced romance, yeah!



However, there is not enough sci-fi in this episode. I understand budget limitations and all that and that future setting would probably get tacky, quickly, but we're in 2012 before the ten minute mark and really, there was little to set it apart in the future section but there is even less to set it apart in the present day section. And at least the sci-fi bits were fun and interesting, once the first ten minutes were done I spent most of the episode wishing I was watching Blade Runner instead. I mean I'm glad the episode got on with it but I hope they dedicate a lot more time to the future over the next nine episodes, I'm largely uninterested in the 2012 part of the show, there are enough police procedural shows out there already and a few sci-fi gadgets and a sexy lead doesn't make your show worth watching above any of the staples of the genre, you need to offer me more and something different. You're supposed to be showing me why I should stick around and right now you aren't.

Being in 2076/77 for such a short amount of time also creates plot issues too, namely that it just didn't look that bad in the future. I know everyone complains but in most first world countries 'rebellions' are normally a bunch of people with signs, shouting at people and refusing to move. The rebellion here involves blowing up buildings, these are full blown terrorists and there is a only a little bit of throwaway dialogue you'll probably forget to even suggest a reason why.

And trust me, these guys are 'proper' terrorists, at some moments they are truly brutal. We don't see a lot of the brutality, but it isn't implied, it's really there. The episode opens up near enough, on a load of innocent people getting murdered in a 9/11 reminiscent terrorist attack and then the terrorists continue the episode murdering policemen and innocents. I mean these guys are genuine cunts and it really took me off guard.

Obviously time travel is a central theme, but honestly don't expect me to talk a lot about it. There is discussion of time travel and the usual play with narrative that they can do when this device is in play but time travel is also one of the most stupid science fiction concepts ever created, I know there is loads of scientific theory around it and stuff but I think Primer is the only movie or show I've seen where the time travel actually makes any kind of logical sense. Time travel is stupid and annoys me.

Continuum looks great, it's nice that it really seems to have a lot of fun with its sci-fi side. Largely the tech seems to lack any kind of practical purposes but it sure makes for pretty special effects. And yeah, the show doesn't do a whole lot new but as said, it's a lot of fun. And just in general too, there is actually some really solid CGI here, especially for a TV show. It's another show that really seems to bridge the gap between TV and movies. I'll expect this all to plummet as the series progresses, though, as it always does.


The action was pretty awful though. I've gotten used to the usual clunky action in TV shows now, but with all the flashy effects, awkward cinematography and editing the action feels more cluttered than anything else and often, under all the gloss, looks and feels surprisingly cheap. Although it's always nice to have a central sexy badass female.

A Stitch In Time was a pretty awful way to open up a show. Nichols is gorgeous and there are some flashy visuals to swing the teenage crowd but not really a whole lot for anyone else. There isn't even a well done action sequence to distract you. Plus, whereas The Apparition took the best parts of shit films, A Stitch in Time takes largely random things from a wide range of great films and TV shows, that I'd rather be watching. Thankfully this is a TV show, so we still have nine episodes for the show to flesh itself out properly and gain a sense of identity, as long as the budget doesn't plummet too much, I will definitely give it a few more episodes to find its footing, I mean the season is only ten episodes long, plus that gives me nine more episodes to dribble over Nichols, excellent. Alternatively though, you could just go watch Trancers and the first two sequels.  

Pros;

• Nichols is yummy.
• This looks great.
• The gadgets are a lot of fun.

Cons;

• The episode moves way too fast. 
• We don't need another police procedural show with a twist.
• This just reminds me of all the sci-fi classics I could be watching instead.
• Bad action.

Think About It!

-Locke