Travelers [Showcase/Netflix]

Mr E · 22-12-2016 08:48AM #1

Came across this sci-fi show during the week and it's a nice hidden gem that few seem to have heard of. Yeah it's yet another time travel show (seems to be the genre in vogue this year) but this seems to be a bit different. The IMDB description is:

Hundreds of years from now, surviving humans discover how to send consciousness back through time, into people of the 21st century. These travelers assume the lives of others, while attempting to save humanity from a terrible future.

Credit where it's due - there is no hand-holding in this. There is no proxy for the viewer giving length explanations for what's happening. You just have to go along with it and figure things out for yourself. It's intelligent and inventive sci-fi that flew under my radar and I'm glad that I found it. 10 episodes have aired on Showcase in Canada, and all 13 will be on Netflix in Ireland from tomorrow.

I won't post the trailer as I think it gives a little bit too much away from the first few episodes (you can find it here if you really must).

Check it out.

Skerries · 22-12-2016 09:22AM

yes it's a bit more hardcore sci-fi than Timeless which I also like

ixoy · 22-12-2016 01:12PM

So are talking something closer to 'Continuum' / '12 Monkeys' in terms of time travel complexity?

Mr E · 22-12-2016 01:18PM

Yep. "Something bad" has happened in the future, and these travelers have sent their consciousnesses from the future into people of the 21st century at their times of death. The hosts don't die and the travelers take over the lives of those they inhabit.

The goal is to prevent key events from happening that lead up to whatever catastrophe happens in the future.

A bit like a more serious Quantum Leap without Al.

pixelburp · 23-12-2016 03:36PM

Definitely looks intriguing for sure; though like Mr E said the trailer is quite spoiler-heavy. I saw it a few days ago and did a double-take, because I was pretty sure a big plot point was spoiled within it.

Slydice · 23-12-2016 05:40PM

It caught my interest earlier cos it's by the co-creator of Stargate SG1, Atlantis and Universe.

Agent Coulson · 24-12-2016 02:52PM

Really enjoyable series I have been watching it over the last couple of months ended on a great cliffhanger so hopefully it will be renewed either by Showcase or Netflix.

Yggr of Asgard · 24-12-2016 05:22PM

At first I was like even if he works for SHIELD, how did he get 11/12 already but than I realized that Netflix Ireland has all 12 Episodes already while Space is only on 10 with 11 airing on the 26 December and 12 on 2 Jan.

So maybe for those of us keeping it with the Space rhythm, can we please mark spoilers if needed? Please....

Jimmy Garlic · 24-12-2016 05:51PM

Beam me up Pa's John.

Yggr of Asgard · 24-12-2016 09:05PM

Holy Moses.. So I decided to watch the last 2 on Netflix now and the pace/quality really picked up in that ones.

While I had my suspicion about the director and the motives but that one came down like a hammer and the cliffhanger really took my by surprise.

I so hope Space/Netflix give this a 2nd season because I really would like to have some answers to several now burning questions.

De Bhál · 25-12-2016 12:54AM

Three episodes in and I'm not sure.

Yggr of Asgard · 25-12-2016 09:28AM

While I would usually say if you don't like it 3 episodes into a new show (with no Season 2 confirmed) to abandon ship, in this case, I'm glad I stuck with it through some of the worse story lines because I think there were some nice lines and Episode 9-12 are really good because some of the characters are acting up and there is more conflict.

But that is just my 2 cents, maybe someone else can chime in.

Slydice · 03-01-2017 04:14PM

Just finished. I liked it!

The way they handled the Science Fiction in it kinda felt refreshing and new.

I'd also like a Season 2.

Though this really seems to have flown under the radar.

FunLover18 · 11-02-2017 09:54PM

Just finished this and loved it. I'd love to know how the Director keeps track of things in the past but I'm guessing that that's a sci-fi that's probably best not asked. Delighted to see it got renewed for a second season although I hope it doesn't get derailed too much into personal melodrama.

12-02-2017 12:40AM

one of a few i sat through in recent times and didn;t feel like I had my time wasted.

Occono · 12-02-2017 01:31AM

FunLover18 wrote: »

Just finished this and loved it. I'd love to know how the Director keeps track of things in the past but I'm guessing that that's a sci-fi that's probably best not asked.

Security camera feeds, social media posts etc.

FunLover18 · 12-02-2017 09:53AM

Occono wrote:

Security camera feeds, social media posts etc.

But surely as the travelers change things the future changes meaning that the director may not remember certain missions given that they technically never happened.

JohnK · 12-02-2017 11:01AM

FunLover18 wrote: »

But surely as the travelers change things the future changes meaning that the director may not remember certain missions given that they technically never happened.

I imagine they'd explain that away by having each teams historian make regular reports back so they can compare how things were versus how things are now and use that to judge their success.

Slydice · 12-02-2017 12:35PM

My guess is that the director will have access to all records, not just social media but also government (births, deaths, taxes, social welfare, health etc), commercial (shopping records from tesco/dunnes cards etc) and bills and mobile phone records and so on. So like shedloads of information.

Then for the changes in time, I imagine the director would be working off new data all the time. The stuff the director might not know would be stuff that no longer happened cos the travellers changed things. This is shown in the tv show where some travellers came back later and didn't know what our bunch had done.

Also Starring LeVar Burton · 24-02-2017 02:29AM

Finally got around to watching this over the past few weeks and just finished - well exceeded my expectations and already waiting in anticipation for Season 2.

Loved all of the characters and was just as interested in their personal lives as I was in the overall plot.

10/10, 5 stars, two thumbs up, two pints of lager and a packet of crisps...

geecee · 04-03-2017 09:38PM

Also Starring LeVar Burton wrote: »

10/10, 5 stars, two thumbs up, two pints of lager and a packet of crisps...

Just finished Season 1 too and loved it!

Love how they handle the potential paradox of new travellers not being able to go back in time further than the most recent traveller.

And also the explanation about how they could only go back to the start of the "digital age" in the first place

JamboMac · 04-03-2017 09:53PM

Mr E wrote: »

Came across this sci-fi show during the week and it's a nice hidden gem that few seem to have heard of. Yeah it's yet another time travel show (seems to be the genre in vogue this year) but this seems to be a bit different. The IMDB description is:

Credit where it's due - there is no hand-holding in this. There is no proxy for the viewer giving length explanations for what's happening. You just have to go along with it and figure things out for yourself. It's intelligent and inventive sci-fi that flew under my radar and I'm glad that I found it. 10 episodes have aired on Showcase in Canada, and all 13 will be on Netflix in Ireland from tomorrow.

I won't post the trailer as I think it gives a little bit too much away from the first few episodes (you can find it here if you really must).

Check it out.

Smell's like Quantam Leap

Frank Grimes · 04-03-2017 10:03PM

JamboMac wrote: »

Smell's like Quantam Leap

It's not a Quantum Leap type show, there are a couple of similarities

(they're trying to alter events which take place in the future and the inhabiting of the bodies of people in the past)

but that's where it ends imo. It's basically a completely different show - one that's well worth watching.

_Kaiser_ · 25-03-2017 10:53PM

Been watching this the last few days.. brilliant show that only gets better as the season goes on. Looking forward to the second season now.

The Black Oil · 07-05-2017 09:37AM

Really enjoyed it. Never felt like there was any exposition dump thrown in there. Harry Maybourne of Stargate turns up in the last two and the finale is directed by Amanda Tapping. That and agent MacLaren is pretty cool. Thought the cast gelled well too.

pixelburp · 07-05-2017 10:41AM

It was something of a gem for me too: what surprised me the most was just how aggressively character focused it all was. Like Black Oil said there was very little exposition - in fact there was very little overt narrative related to the time-travelling or the future Earth at all. The last episode had the most 'plot' and even then it was kept fairly discreet, with little actually said that might have got in the way of the personal drama.

The characters led the show instead, and all of the main cast had interesting and diverse range of stories. It never got too sentimental or 'soap'y, nor did it shy away from the inherently creepy concept of taking over dead peoples' bodies, and some of the personal tragedies were legitimately heart-breaking (thinking here of

Marcy's fate

).

Wasn't expecting much from this but when I heard it had been renewed for a second season I was genuinely pleased.

The Black Oil · 09-08-2017 09:17PM

https://twitter.com/showcasedotca/status/893188719087411202

Stylish/intense promo thingy, as above - season 2 kicks off from Oct 16th.

Mr E · 09-08-2017 09:21PM

Not a great teaser, though improved greatly by Radiohead.

Only 2 months away - that's not too bad.

ixoy · 09-08-2017 09:56PM

Mr E wrote: »

Not a great teaser, though improved greatly by Radiohead.

Only 2 months away - that's not too bad.

My main concern is the revival of "Will and Grace" which is getting episode bumps and extra seasons. Will make it increasingly difficult for McCormack , not to mention this show is very unlikely to pay as well.
Worst comes to the worst, I think the show could survive without him.

The Black Oil · 10-08-2017 03:59PM

McCormack has directed an episode of the second season (2.12, assuming IMDb is accurate), that might help to keep him interested too.

https://twitter.com/EricMcCormack/status/890428417958490112

ohnonotgmail · 10-08-2017 04:13PM

amanda tapping guest starring. Nice.

Travelers [Showcase/Netflix]

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