Continuum 1.05 "A Test Of Time" REVIEW

Continuum 1.05 "A Test Of Time " TV REVIEW

Episode 1.05
Writer: Jeff King
Director: Pat Williams

THE ONE WHERE Kagame’s first move is to bugger up Kiera by killing her grandmother, Lily Jones, thus erasing her future grand-daughter from existence. Cue a mass slaughter of teenagers named Lily Jones...

VERDICT At last, an episode in which the A-plot and B-plot work together perfectly! Kiera and Carlos have to chase down every Lily Jones in the area before Liber8 snuff them out (and possibly snuff out Kiera, too), and the fact they're working together to save Kiera's life – even without Carlos knowing – is very pleasing. There's also a bloody delicious kick to the fact that it was Kiera herself who's responsible for this dastardly plan, after she suggested to Lucas in the first episode that she'd kill his grandparents and erase him from existence. Any revolutionary terrorist group worth their salt just had to try out her idea to see if it works, didn't they?

Kudos to the casting agents who found Katie Findlay for the role of Lily – she's absolutely perfect, a doe-eyed firecracker who could easily be a younger version of Rachel Nichols. Even the way she's written is genius. Check out how the first Lily Kiera finds just climbs into her car and goes with her without question. When the real Lily meets Kiera a few scenes later, she assumes she's being abducted and fights her. That kind of common sense is exactly the same kind of brainpower her future grand-daughter would use. (There's also a nice parallel in the fact that both women first want an abortion when they discover they're pregnant, and yet both keep their child – the strangest things run in families!)

Kellog really comes into his own in this episode as we realise that he actually isn't a double-crossing git after all. Liber8 kidnapping and murdering his young grandmother should ensure that he's sticking with Kiera for the foreseeable future... although it is a pity that there wasn't time to establish a real relationship between Kellog and Maddie so that her death would have resonated a little more. Still, it's an effective scene that provokes a rather chewy temporal question. If his grandmother died and yet Kellog stayed alive, does this mean they're in a different timeline? Will anything they do in the past affect the future? Or will Kellog suffer in a different way as time goes on? Something to ponder...

TRIVIA Katie Findlay is better-known for playing the unfortunate Rosie Larsen, murder victim in the US version of The Killing .

WHOA, SCARY! What the hell is with the giant face of terror in the bad guys' lair?

COOL TECH Kiera takes a pregnancy test in the future simply by licking a piece of paper and sticking it on her mirror. No peeing required!

THERE'S THAT THEME AGAIN Technology is bad, guys! The episode opens with Kiera in Protector mode in the future, being told that her tech isn't going to work against some shielded bombs. Her commanders says she needs to “use her eyes and ears” but the implication is that they'll be useless compared to their gadgets. As we all know by now, Kiera should always trust her instincts.

IS IT JUST US…? Or is there some serious chemistry going on between Kiera and Kellog? There's not much between her and Carlos (if anything, they have a brother/sister bickering vibe going on), but the ex-Liber8 bad boy seems determined to get into the Protector's pants. And she's a married lady! For shame, sir!

SO MUCH FOR FAMILY... While Kiera's fascinated with Lily, she barely spares a second glance for the father of Lily's child, Jake, at the end of the episode. Did she hate her grandfather or something?

BEST LINE
Lily Jones 1 : “I guess we're in an elite club. It's not every day you get chased by terrorists. It's very Terminator .”
Lily Jones 2: “Shut up.”

Jayne Nelson

Continuum is airing in the UK on Syfy, Thursdays at 10pm

Read our other Continuum season one reviews