Thursday, May 31, 2012

Ho Hum "Continuum"

It's frustrating when you have a show with all the right elements in place, except for one big, inescapable problem right at the center. The new Canadian science-fiction series “Continuum” is nothing groundbreaking, though its effects are a notch higher than what you usually see on television. Its premise is pure pulp – in a corporately controlled cyberpunk future, a group of terrorists are condemned to death but escape to the past, which is our present day. They accidentally bring a lone policewoman with them, Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols), who is intent on hunting down the convicts and returning to her own time. She quickly rounds up some allies, including a tech geek, Alec Sadler (Erik Knudsen), who can appreciate all the spiffy advanced technology Kiera uses, and Carlos Fonnegra (Victor Webster), a police detective she cons into believing she’s a colleague from Portland.

So far so good, right? “Continuum” could be a lot of fun. It’s exactly the kind of high concept, techno-babble-heavy, cheesy sci-fi action show I loved watching as a teenager. However, that big problem I was talking about? It’s the lead actress, Rachel Nichols. She’s terrible. She has exactly two expressions, stoic and vulnerable, which is fine when she’s playing the one-woman army, but not fine when she has to interact with other characters. Kiera falls into the trap of being one of those morally upright, dedicated, professional women that we’re all supposed to admire for her skill and effectiveness, but who has no damn personality to speak of. She’s also a mother with a young son waiting for her in the future, which certainly gives her good motivation, but doesn’t automatically make her sympathetic or interesting. I tried to think of how Kiera might have come across differently if she were a male character, but I kept coming up with the same two descriptors – blank and humorless. A better actress could have made up for the deficiencies in writing, but I'm not optimistic in this case.

The plot has some interesting ideas, but I think the creators tipped their hands too quick, with all the harping on how the governments of the future are all controlled by corporations, and personal freedoms have been severely curtailed. It’s pretty much inevitable that at least some of the terrorists Kiera is chasing will turn out to have been the good guys all along, and Kiera will learn the error of her ways and switch sides after a lot of emotional turmoil about destroying a future she has a lot invested in. Or maybe not. The episode pointedly also offers up multiple theories of time travel, suggesting the possibility that Kiera’s intervention in the past may have created the future she came from. I don't think subtlety is going to be one of the show's big strengths.

What I did find impressive were the special effects, which feature lots of scenic CGI cityscapes, lots of augmented reality technology, and lots of little gadgets and crime-fighting apps that Kiera shows off over the course of the hour. Many of these are integrated into right into her uniform, which allow her to access funds from ATMs, to generate electric shocks, and analyze data with the results popping up on her sleeve instead of a computer screen. All fun stuff, all well-realized and integrated into the show. However, clothing and hairstyles don't appear to have changed much otherwise between 2012 and 2077, which dates it immediately. And considering how the show has been constructed, I don't see Kiera checking in too often with the future in the weeks to come. Well, a few glimpses of a certain mystery man played by William B. Davis aside.

Now "Continuum" and its leading lady have plenty of opportunity to improve. There have been some famously terrible pilots and even whole first seasons of genre shows like this, where it took a while for everyone to get their act together. While Nichols isn't inspiring much confidence right now, maybe some of the supporting cast will pick up the slack. The pilot didn't spend much time with the villains, if they are the villains, who could be the souce of more interesting material. I'm being harsher on "Continuum" than I probably should be because it does have a certain ambition about it and a certain potential that could yield some good television. For now I think I'd class it with shows like "The Cape" and "The Bionic Woman," that had good ideas but hit some major stumbling blocks in the execution.
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4 comments:

  1. I stumbled upon your article and felt it required some response. I agree that Rachel Nichols is lacking in acting prowess here and reminiscent of her time on Alias. I would chalk it up to age or experience but she has both now.

    That being said I had my reservations about the show as well but sticking out these past 10 episodes has proven to be a good idea. The initial premise had issues but when you loop in that the future was created by these people going into the past it really throws a LOST factor in.

    I agree that the execution has to be brought up a level and that it requires some "better" acting on behalf of the leads. I have been a fan of all of the Stargate shows, LOST, and Fringe and they all started on shaky ground but with promise. I truly believe this show has what it takes to grow an audience and I can even see Syfy looking at picking it up since it has done so well in Canada.

    Just the thoughts of a IT guy looking for something better to watch than "reality TV"!!

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  2. All shows like this start out "bad", I watched all 10 episodes of Continuum over the course of a fea days and will admit that Kiera acting was groan worthy, but the show itself is excellent. Guess its ok to release some spoilers, since season is over, the "terroists" are the good guys, but they are bad because they kill so many innocence as collateral damage.

    They did have to deal with time-travel paradox, and will inevidibly fail at it. It already doesn't make sense that they've killed grandmothers and nobody disappeared Back to the Future style, but yet, its circular because the fact that Kiera came back with the tech gave the barn kid the info he needs to create the tech in the first place. Circular and I'm not buying it. BUT will play along anyways.

    can't wait until next season, hear its already picked up. great.

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  3. I Googled "Rachel Nichols not good actress" to see if anyone else noticed. I found your article and agree. She's pretty, but she can't act. Every time she tries to show an emotion besides "I'm pretty; aren't you amazed", it turns into some sort of awkward, forced twitch of the lip or crank of the neck. It's like she's spent her life so self conscious of how good her lips look she can't bear to furrow her brow or show a real emotion.

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  4. She stinks in person as well, I worked w/her on Alex Cross. I thought she was part of the film crew until she spoke a line to Ed Burns. Bonnie Bentley was friendly and much more believable.

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