Review Travellers (2016)

[Doctor Omega]

Travelers is a science fiction television series created by Brad Wright, starring Eric McCormack, Mackenzie Porter, Jared Abrahamson, Nesta Cooper, Reilly Dolman and Patrick Gilmore.

The series was an international co-production between streaming service Netflixand Canadian specialty channel Showcase for its first two seasons, after which Netflix took over as its sole production company and exclusive worldwide distributor. The show premiered in Canada on October 17, 2016 and worldwide on December 23, 2016

A second season followed in 2017, and a third season is due in late 2018.


Premise

In a post-apocalyptic future, thousands of special operatives are tasked with preventing the collapse of society. These operatives, known as "travelers", have their consciousnesses sent back in time and transferred into the body of present-day individuals who would otherwise be moments from death, to minimize unexpected impact on the timeline. The transfer requires the exact location of the target, made possible by twenty-first century smart phones and GPS. Prepared using social media and public records concerning their targets, each traveler must maintain the host's pre-existing life as cover for the rest of their lives, while carrying out missions in teams of five. These missions are dictated by the Director, an artificial intelligence in the future that monitors the timeline, aimed at saving the world from a series of catastrophic events. One method by which the Director communicates with travelers is via pre-pubescent children used as messengers; unlike adults, any child can safely be taken over for a few minutes and then released from control without risk of killing them. All travelers are required to behave according to certain protocols to protect the timeline. As the series progresses, however, travelers affect the present and future in unanticipated ways. Showcase explained the protocols on its blog.

1. The mission comes first.
2. Never jeopardize your cover:
   • Do not call each other by future names—"Leave the future in the past."
   • Do not use future knowledge for personal gain.
3. Don't take a life; don't save a life, unless otherwise directed.
4. Do not reproduce.
5. In the absence of direction, maintain your host's life.
6. No inter-team/deep web communication except in extreme emergencies.

The show focuses on one team of five travelers, starting from their transfers of consciousness.

 

[Doctor Omega]

Cast
Main

• Eric McCormack as Grant MacLaren (Traveler 3468), the team's leader, who assumes the life of an FBI special agent.[6]
• MacKenzie Porter as Marcy Warton (Traveler 3569), the team's medic, who assumes the life of an intellectually disabled woman.
• Nesta Cooper as Carly Shannon (Traveler 3465), the team's tactician, who assumes the life of a stay-at-home single mother.
• Jared Abrahamson as Trevor Holden (Traveler 0115), the team's engineer, one of the oldest humans ever, assumes the life of a high school athlete.
• Reilly Dolman as Philip Pearson (Traveler 3326), the team's historian, who assumes the life of a college-aged heroin addict.
• Patrick Gilmore as David Mailer, Marcy's social worker and later romantic interest.

Recurring

• Ian Tracey as Ray Green, Philip's lawyer and later friend; a gambling addict.
• Arnold Pinnock as Walt Forbes, Grant's partner at the FBI, later a faction member posing as Traveler 4112, and subsequently Traveler 4991.
• J. Alex Brinson as Jeff Conniker, Carly's abusive ex-boyfriend and the father of her son; a policeman.
• William MacDonald as Gary Holden, Trevor's father.
• Teryl Rothery as Patricia Holden, Trevor's mother.
• David Lewis as Major Gleason, a hotheaded military officer.
• Kyra Zagorsky as Dr. Delaney, a brilliant scientist who developed a method for collecting and storing antimatter.
• Leah Cairns as Kathryn "Kat" MacLaren, Grant's wife who works in antiques restoration.
• Kristine Cofsky as Officer Victoria Boyd, Traveler 3185, a fellow traveler assuming the life of a police officer.
• Giacomo Baessato as Private Wilson, a military soldier who works for Gleason.
• Alyssa Lynch as Renee Bellamy, a high school student and Trevor's girlfriend.
• Jennifer Spence as Grace Day, Trevor's high school counselor, and subsequently Traveler 0027, a programmer who helped create the Director.
• Tom McBeath as Ellis, Traveler 0014, a programmer assuming the life of a farmer.
• Eileen Pedde as Mom, a fellow traveler who assumes the role of a mother in a family of four.
• Yasmeene Ball as Charlotte, a misfire traveler historian; later a traveler assassin.
• Douglas Chapman as Luca, a traveler on Hall's team.
• Glynis Davies as Jacqueline, a representative of Child Protective Services.
• Melanie Papalia as Beth, an FBI analyst working for MacLaren.
• Karin Konoval as Bloom, Traveler 0117, a high ranking traveler engineer.
• Louis Ferreira as Sergeant Rick Hall, a jaded traveler team leader.
• Jason Gray-Stanford as Aaron Donner, Traveler 4022 (and later Traveler 4024), a bomber.
• Enrico Colantoni as Vincent Ingram, Traveler 001, whose host was supposed to die on September 11, 2001.
• Amanda Tapping as Dr. Katrina Perrow, Traveler 001's psychologist.
• Stephanie Bennett as Jenny, Traveler 4514, a traveler assigned to help Philip with his heroin addiction.
• Matthew Kevin Anderson as Derek, Traveler D13, a traveler doctor assigned to save MacLaren.
• Stephen Lobo as Agent Wakefield, a faction member posing as a traveler.
• Lee Majdoub as Dr. Barker, a doctor with a crush on Marcy.
• Sunita Prasad as Blair, David's girlfriend.
• Melissa Roxburgh as Carrie, Travelers 5001–5007, a skydiver assigned to prevent the assassination of MacLaren's team.
• Paloma Kwiatkowski as Abigail Paris, a young woman that Trevor befriends.
• Dylan Playfair as Kyle, a friend of Trevor, later Traveler 5532.
• Chad Krowchuk as Simon, Traveler 0004, a specialist that set up the Travelers' communications system in the 21st.

Critical reception

Neil Genzlinger, writing for The New York Times, described the show as "tasty", and "enjoyable science fiction", with "some attention-grabbing flourishes and fine acting".[8] Hanh Nguyen, writing for IndieWire, describes the series as "fun and freaky," finding the series' appeal "in how the core group of five travelers adjust to life in our present," noting the "human nature in the travelers".[9] Lawrence Devoe, of TheaterByte.com, called the series "tautly paced and suspenseful" with "well-developed characters", declaring that "Brad Wright has a real knack for creating futuristic series".[10] Evan Narcisse, reviewing the first five episodes for io9, appreciated the moral dilemmas offered by the series premise and the awkwardness presented by the characters' interactions with their hosts' friends, colleagues, lovers, or caretakers: "This is a superhero show in double disguise, offering up clever explorations of the secret identity concept that touch on the guilt and contortions that come with living a double life."[11] Netflix announced that the series was one of its "most devoured" series in 2017.[12]

Season 2 is described as "bigger and better" by Forbes, which notes: "There’s a lot to love about what Travelers brings to the table this season. The show has truly come into its own."

 

[McQualude]

Great show, I hope it continues.