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Tal Shiar Agent · Jan 7, 2017

So I came across this Canadian science fiction show (which is a Netflix exclusive in the US) the other day. I was initially going to pass over it until I saw it was created by Brad Wright, one of the creators behind the three Stargate TV series. I couldn't find any threads about it here (thus "First To The Party") and I didn't want to make an OT yet since there isn't word on a second season as far as I can see.

There is the possibility for minor spoilers here.

The thing that makes this stand out is their method of time travel. Coming from an apocalyptic future hundreds of years from now with the goal of preventing the destruction of the Earth, the Travelers come to the 21st century by supplanting their consciousness onto people who were about the die. This is only possible in the 21st century because things like social media, built-in GPS tracking on phones, and so on allow for those in the future to get a down to the inch and minute location and time of death, which is needed to transplant a consciousness successfully. They could technically supplant onto anyone, but they choose people who die prematurely of preventable deaths to prevent killing anyone who either wasn't' supposed to die or who is chosen to die for the mission.

I binge watched the entire 12 episode first season the past three days and I really enjoyed it. I could tell that Brad Wright was the showrunner, it has his style that permeated Stargate. Has anyone else watched it here?

Parahan · Jan 7, 2017

Another binge watcher here. Absolutely loved the show. It's smart and respects viewers time by mostly cutting down on fillers. I haven't read that of much of sci-fi, but the concept of a director and travelers who transfer theirs minds back in time, seemed very original to me.

I did have some problems though with how the character of david was dealt with. He has zero character growth after third episode and Carly, her baby and abusive husband's story got too repetitive.

Also it's a fairly niche show, I am not sure it was the best idea to end on a massive Cliffhanger, as you mentioned there has been no word on season 2.

Vic_Viper · Jan 7, 2017

Just started watching this myself the other day after finishing Narcos. Netflix has been really doing well with their Netflix Originals, even though Travelers isnt necessarily a Netflix exclusive since it aired on tv in Canada.

Glad they didnt take the shows premise to far. Its a nice lite show to watch here and there which is super refreshing.

Where is House of Cards Netflix!?

Spoiler about the idea behind how the show works:

A big part of the show is not taking a life and not saving a life so they dont mess up the past timeline. If thats such a big deal, doesnt taking over the lives of their hosts and preventing their deaths also effect the timeline lol? Wouldnt have been smarter to just take over a host that isnt about to die?

Tal Shiar Agent · Jan 7, 2017

Vic_Viper said:
Just started watching this myself the other day after finishing Narcos. Netflix has been really doing well with their Netflix Originals, even though Travelers isnt necessarily a Netflix exclusive since it aired on tv in Canada.

Glad they didnt take the shows premise to far. Its a nice lite show to watch here and there which is super refreshing.

Where is House of Cards Netflix!?

Spoiler about the idea behind how the show works:

A big part of the show is not taking a life and not saving a life so they dont mess up the past timeline. If thats such a big deal, doesnt taking over the lives of their hosts and preventing their deaths also effect the timeline lol? Wouldnt have been smarter to just take over a host that isnt about to die?

I think the idea is that once a person dies their temporal potential is gone. But it is a flawed premise and I get the feeling that the "show" is aware of it being flawed and if this gets a second season I can see it being addressed.

Caramello · Jan 7, 2017

Yeah I watched this last week and really enjoyed it. Really looking forward to season two.

Slayven · Jan 7, 2017

Will put it on the lists. Canadian saving Scifi one show at a time

Lexad · Jan 7, 2017

Loved the show. Very likable cast and it was a wheel house of former stargate stars. When the finale ended I was desperately looking for the second season haha.

Matty77 · Jan 7, 2017

SG-17 said:
I think the idea is that once a person dies their temporal potential is gone. But it is a flawed premise and I get the feeling that the "show" is aware of it being flawed and if this gets a second season I can see it being addressed.

Actually they begin addressing the actual ethics behind it when

trevor saves grace and the director sends the traveler anyway. It's a sticky wicket that bothered me from the first episode but they seem to be aware and ready to use that as part of the story do it's all good and actually part of why I like the show.

Barzul · Jan 7, 2017

I watched this. It was pretty interesting. I mean I had to suspend my disbelief a lot as if you start poking holes at the time continuum, it pretty much crumbles but still it was a good watch.

-Deimos · Jan 7, 2017

Also loved the show, it's a hidden gem for sure. I really hope there's a second season.

Kard8p3 · Jan 7, 2017

Matty77 said:
Actually they begin addressing the actual ethics behind it when

trevor saves grace and the director sends the traveler anyway. It's a sticky wicket that bothered me from the first episode but they seem to be aware and ready to use that as part of the story do it's all good and actually part of why I like the show.

Actually,

that traveler came illegally, iirc. Trevor or Grace say as much.

Syriel · Jan 7, 2017

Was wondering why GAF didn't have an OT for this.

Just figured good sci-fi wasn't of interest here.

Matty77 said:
Actually they begin addressing the actual ethics behind it when

trevor saves grace and the director sends the traveler anyway. It's a sticky wicket that bothered me from the first episode but they seem to be aware and ready to use that as part of the story do it's all good and actually part of why I like the show.

The

director didn't send 00015. She did that herself. Same as her reboot of the director

.

-Deimos · Jan 7, 2017

Kard8p3 said:
Actually,

that traveler came illegally, iirc. Trevor or Grace say as much.

I think he was talking about sending Grace's original traveler back even though Trevor saved her. Though she did call the cops and jeopardized the entire operation, so I guess they had no choice.

Syriel said:
Was wondering why GAF didn't have an OT for this.

Just figured good sci-fi wasn't of interest here.

The

director didn't send 00015. She did that herself. Same as her reboot of the director

.

Oh, never mind I guess. Must have missed that.

Keyser Soze · Jan 7, 2017

Never knew this was a thing. I love time travel and loved Stargate.

I also seem to really enjoy sci fi shows from Canada. Lots of great ones over the years.

I should watch this.

Link · Jan 7, 2017

I really enjoyed it. It reminds me a lot of Continuum. Hoping for a Season 2.

Matty77 · Jan 7, 2017

Kard8p3 said:
Actually,

that traveler came illegally, iirc. Trevor or Grace say as much.

Syriel said:
Was wondering why GAF didn't have an OT for this.

Just figured good sci-fi wasn't of interest here.

The

director didn't send 00015. She did that herself. Same as her reboot of the director

.

Yup your right so was just thinking of the scene itself and Trevor's response to the morality of it.

My larger point still is though I think the showrunners are aware of the different moral and ethical questions and do not seem ready to sweep it under the rug.

Parahan · Jan 7, 2017

Vic_Viper said:
A big part of the show is not taking a life and not saving a life so they dont mess up the past timeline. If thats such a big deal, doesnt taking over the lives of their hosts and preventing their deaths also effect the timeline lol? Wouldnt have been smarter to just take over a host that isnt about to die?

I don't think the show considers it all too important.

Isn't one episode all about saving a congressman who is supposed to die on a crashing plane?

Matty77 · Jan 7, 2017

Parahan said:
I don't think the show considers it all too important.

Isn't one episode all about saving a congressman on crashing plane?

I think it's less the show doesn't think it's important and more as the season goes on they start to understand that maybe there's more going on than just a benevolent director and the reason they are kept apart is less to "protect the future" and more some of the missions are shady and they don't want individual groups questioning it because once they do they start going off book.

jason10mm · Jan 7, 2017

I like the show a lot but it is totally silly time travel nonsense saved by the really earnest effort of the actors. The travellers attachment to and maintaining the hosts life is so dumb given their ultimate mission, but it supplies so many great moments in the show.

D1337 · Jan 7, 2017

Great show.
There is an episode where a family is in a car driving real fast etc. and when they stop the car and have dialogue you can see the cameras mounted to the windows haha. Don't know how nobody caught it.
But definitely a fun show

Syriel · Jan 7, 2017

Parahan said:
I don't think the show considers it all too important.

Isn't one episode all about saving a congressman who is supposed to die on a crashing plane?

No. That episode was no different than any other

in taking over someone at recorded time of death. They didn't "save" the congressman. They "saved" the body for an incoming traveler. The only rule-breaking in that episode was saving Kat, though my MacLaren's rationale, she wasn't meant to be on the plane and was only there because of him, so it wasn't "breaking protocol" to save her. One could argue he was fitting the rules to his actions, but then again, he's only human.

Parahan · Jan 7, 2017

Syriel said:
No. That episode was no different than any other

in taking over someone at recorded time of death. They didn't "save" the congressman. They "saved" the body for an incoming traveler. The only rule-breaking in that episode was saving Kat, though my MacLaren's rationale, she wasn't meant to be on the plane and was only there because of him, so it wasn't "breaking protocol" to save her. One could argue he was fitting the rules to his actions, but then again, he's only human.

Yeh you are right actually. But it was a very convoluted plan come to think of it.

A traveler in wife's body kills one dude in the prologue, who was responsible for the pipeline. So why not just kill this congressman too and time it to swap his mind instead of waiting for his actual death.

I suppose the writers needed to make the Kat-Grant side plot more organic to the overarching story.

Link · Jan 7, 2017

Parahan said:
Yeh you are right actually. But it was a very convoluted plan come to think of it.

A traveler in wife's body kills one dude in the prologue, who was responsible for the pipeline. So why not just kill this congressman too and time it to swap his mind instead of waiting for his actual death.

I suppose the writers needed to make the Kat-Grant side plot more organic to the overarching story.

Or why not just

take over the congressman's body before the flight and just not get on the plane.

zou · Jan 7, 2017

Syriel said:
The only rule-breaking in that episode was saving Kat, though my MacLaren's rationale, she wasn't meant to be on the plane and was only there because of him, so it wasn't "breaking protocol" to save her. One could argue he was fitting the rules to his actions, but then again, he's only human.

He was warned off by the director, so clearly it was against protocol

And yeah, second the comparisons to Continuum. Though imo Travelers manages to build a more compelling scenario and the future doesn't feel as distant as it did in Continuum.

iFirez · Jan 7, 2017

Watching right now. The mechanic in which people time travel is super interesting already.

Tal Shiar Agent · Jan 7, 2017

Link said:
Or why not just

take over the congressman's body before the flight and just not get on the plane.

They needed

an exact time and place to he a transfer,maybe they didn't have one before?

Adree · Jan 7, 2017

I enjoyed the first season. It gets a bit ridiculous at times but it has a great cast.

Was cool to see Amanda Tapping directed an episode.

Link · Jan 7, 2017

SG-17 said:
They needed

an exact time and place to he a transfer,maybe they didn't have one before?

I feel like that's a cop out. It's pretty easy to

find out what terminal and gate the flight left from. Worst case, do it while he's in his seat before the flight takes off and demand to get off due to an emergency or something.

It's a fairly big plothole, is all I'm saying. The episode itself was still great, though.

Parahan · Jan 7, 2017

Link said:
Or why not just

take over the congressman's body before the flight and just not get on the plane.

Yeh that's what I meant too. The writers seem to forget simpler resolutions all the time.

Ri'Orius · Jan 7, 2017

Link said:
I feel like that's a cop out. It's pretty easy to

find out what terminal and gate the flight left from. Worst case, do it while he's in his seat before the flight takes off and demand to get off due to an emergency or something.

It's a fairly big plothole, is all I'm saying. The episode itself was still great, though.

I mean really, based on what happened with

Grace being Traveled to via her 911 call establishing time and location, I'd expect anyone calling the congressman on a cell phone before he gets on the plane would be enough to make a Travel possible.

There were thousands of Traveler agents: it could not have been that hard to arrange a time/loc-stamp that the future could pick up on. Far easier than the process they went through of reconstructing future tech in the 21st.

And yeah, super bummed about the cliffhanger season ending. Really hope there's a season 2, but when I noticed there wasn't even a GAF OT for it I can't help but be pessimistic about its chances...

iFirez · Jan 7, 2017

I hope this gets a second season. I just started watching this after reading this thread and I love it, onto episode 3 and it's gold. One of my favourite new tv series in years.

Liberty4all · Jan 8, 2017

Not available on Canadian Netflix :/

Link · Jan 8, 2017

Bamelin said:
Not available on Canadian Netflix :/

It aired on traditional tv in Canada. Netflix has the international rights.

Matty77 · Jan 8, 2017

Link said:
It aired on traditional tv in Canada. Netflix has the international rights.

Yeah in Canada it's Showcase, I am pretty sure they are the ones behind the production of it and Netflix either helps with funds or buys distribution rights because both their names are on it.

Syriel · Jan 8, 2017

Matty77 said:
Yeah in Canada it's Showcase, I am pretty sure they are the ones behind the production of it and Netflix either helps with funds or buys distribution rights because both their names are on it.

Yep. Showcase made it for broadcast in Canada and Netflix picked it up for the rest of the world.

It debuted in Oct on the air in Canada and hit Netflix around the rest of the world a few weeks ago in Dec.

Netflix didn't really promote it in the US, so it was either a cheap pickup, or they didn't expect it to do crazy numbers, but it's definitely a show worth watching, IMHO.

Tal Shiar Agent · Jan 8, 2017

Lexad said:
Loved the show. Very likable cast and it was a wheel house of former stargate stars. When the finale ended I was desperately looking for the second season haha.

When Tom McBeath showed up I yelled "Maybourne!"

Matty77 · Jan 8, 2017

Syriel said:
Yep. Showcase made it for broadcast in Canada and Netflix picked it up for the rest of the world.

It debuted in Oct on the air in Canada and hit Netflix around the rest of the world a few weeks ago in Dec.

Netflix didn't really promote it in the US, so it was either a cheap pickup, or they didn't expect it to do crazy numbers, but it's definitely a show worth watching, IMHO.

Oh I agree. Just saw it there and said what the hell and was also suprised there was no OT for it.

Bonus was after watching it they recommended 3% which I also really liked. Netflix is killing it with the Sci-Fi right now And the international rights shows they are picking up are complementing the full originals really well.

nitewulf · Jan 8, 2017

its good, i liked the first season quite a bit. it has Will from Will and Grace.

Matty77 · Jan 8, 2017

nitewulf said:
its good, i liked the first season quite a bit. it has Will from Will and Grace.

Most of the cast is great. Honestly the only character I don't care for is Carly and she's not bad I guess just not interesting to me. But I like all the others to the point I can't even pick an overall favorite. Even David is really cool.

Green Embers · Jan 8, 2017

I liked it quite a bit. I do agree with many of you though that giving things a little more thought does bring out the inconsistencies more. The director reveal towards the end did surprise me, really should have seen that coming.

Gothos · Jan 8, 2017

Link said:
Or why not just

take over the congressman's body before the flight and just not get on the plane.

They got a rule so they transfer conciousness only just before one's historic death so obviously it couldn't have worked in this case.

kaizoku · Jan 8, 2017

Totes fell in love with Marcy in this show, especially because she

fell for the nice guy rather than some handsome hunk of man

.

Re the controversy being discussed here

they mentioned that the congressman was to become one of the most important people in the world or something like that? Maybe him surviving the crash has massive significance. Or maybe they'll use his. Key for something else and he's officially dead.

Exploratory · Jan 8, 2017

It's actually really really good. Very surprised because it looked mediocre at First glance.

danm999 · Jan 8, 2017

Seen the whole first season. Excellent premise executed well.

I do enjoy how the "rules" and nature of the world (current and future) aren't info-dumped in the first few episodes and are being rolled out organically throughout the season.

I also enjoy that by the last episode

you get the sense that they're simply fucking things up way worse with their meddling and the entire plan is fundamentally flawed. Trevor I think says something along the lines of time being a river, and their efforts are like throwing stones into it; the current just ebbs and flows around the river.

BearPawB · Jan 8, 2017

I thought I was the only one watching this.
While it isn't "GREAT"
I really care about the characters, which is a rarity for this show.
And it keeps surprising me.

Aureon · Jan 8, 2017

Ri'Orius said:
I mean really, based on what happened with

Grace being Traveled to via her 911 call establishing time and location, I'd expect anyone calling the congressman on a cell phone before he gets on the plane would be enough to make a Travel possible.

There were thousands of Traveler agents: it could not have been that hard to arrange a time/loc-stamp that the future could pick up on. Far easier than the process they went through of reconstructing future tech in the 21st.

And yeah, super bummed about the cliffhanger season ending. Really hope there's a season 2, but when I noticed there wasn't even a GAF OT for it I can't help but be pessimistic about its chances...

Pretty sure that the location\time coordinates need to be "As exact as possible", and he

Grace thing was a against-the-rules, risk-way-beyond-acceptable-parameters thing

mm04 · Jan 8, 2017

I'm a big fan of the show as well. I generally like Eric McCormack (RIP Perception) and I'm a sucker for time travel, so I gave it a shot. Really enjoyed it and watched it over 3 or 4 days. Any word on a second season, yet? Oh, and Trevor is my favorite character of the bunch. Really like the cast and how different they all are.

Kingsora · Jan 8, 2017

I just finished and really really really liked it. Loved the characters and loved the concept.

I did however hate the enormous cliffhanger. They should have revealed a little bit more. Any idea if their will be a season 2?

I do have a question about the Marcy episode.

Does the original Marcy die and is she replaced with a 'copy'. Or is she actually exactly the same Marcy but just one who has forgotten about her live in the 21st.

Because if it really is a 'copy' and not the original one then that would explain the whole drama about this event a lot more. Now I was thinking: 'memory loss is no fun, but if you can stay alive then it's a least better than the alternative'.

And where is the love for this show? Only one page on GAF? That isn't a great forecast

jdstorm · Jan 9, 2017

Vic_Viper said:
Just started watching this myself the other day after finishing Narcos. Netflix has been really doing well with their Netflix Originals, even though Travelers isnt necessarily a Netflix exclusive since it aired on tv in Canada.

Glad they didnt take the shows premise to far. Its a nice lite show to watch here and there which is super refreshing.

Where is House of Cards Netflix!?

Spoiler about the idea behind how the show works:

A big part of the show is not taking a life and not saving a life so they dont mess up the past timeline. If thats such a big deal, doesnt taking over the lives of their hosts and preventing their deaths also effect the timeline lol? Wouldnt have been smarter to just take over a host that isnt about to die?

Also a binge watcher. Seemed to me that they only overtook insignificant people. Most were single, no kids ect. So any changes to the timeline would be inconsequential. Its not like they are taking over Presidents ect

jdstorm · Jan 9, 2017

Kingsora said:
I just finished and really really really liked it. Loved the characters and loved the concept.

I did however hate the enormous cliffhanger. They should have revealed a little bit more. Any idea if their will be a season 2?

I do have a question about the Marcy episode.

Does the original Marcy die and is she replaced with a 'copy'. Or is she actually exactly the same Marcy but just one who has forgotten about her live in the 21st.

Because if it really is a 'copy' and not the original one then that would explain the whole drama about this event a lot more. Now I was thinking: 'memory loss is no fun, but if you can stay alive then it's a least better than the alternative'.

And where is the love for this show? Only one page on GAF? That isn't a great forecast

SPOILERS answered.

in the future Marcy did a brain scan. That scan was then downloaded into the body Marcy inhabits in the series. With Marcy Dying, they do a system reboot that sends the same scan Marcy first made when they all left for the past into her body. So its like doing a system reboot on Marcys concious. Marcy has essentially traveled from her origional start point, but missed 6 months of team activities in the past.

Re Grace

Trevor saved Grace from her first death, however it was implied that she died in a car accident while trying to escape Trevor.

That new death was the travel point

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