At this point, I don’t think I necessarily have to say it, but I got another weekly theme for you! We are talking “Freaky Sci-Fi” today and on Friday and are starting it all off with Travelers. From what I’ve noticed, not that many people know it. So, I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to showcase it a little.
So, far there are 2 Seasons of the time travel drama out there. You can watch them on Netflix, but they originally air on Showcase in Canada. There’s definitely more to tell, but it has been well received among viewers and even made it onto some list of Netflix, ranking it among the top 10 shows to marathon/binge-watch. So, here’s to hoping Season 3 will be greenlit soon.
The future is in peril! To prevent humankind from extinction, brave souls go on a suicide mission and transfer their consciousness into the 21st century to change what’s to come.
Usually I decide whether I am going to keep watching a show or not within the first 10 minutes. Whatever you do, do not base your opinion of Travelers on the first ten minutes! I might be sightly exaggerating, but they were dreadful. I didn’t understand what was going on and when I finally did, I didn’t enjoy seeing those situations over and over with different people. It just took way too long to really get going, felt hacked up and not like a good flow at all, but in the end I am really glad I stuck around.
The so-called Travelers leave their original identity behind and enter their new host body shortly before their moment of death, which they then prevent. Most of their information is based off of social media accounts or official records and digital papertrails. This makes for a great fish-out-of-water-scenario as the main characters have to pretend to be someone they don’t know in a time they’ve basically only read about.
Other than most Sci-Fi shows, Travelers is very understated. There’s not a lot of CGI or pompous effects, but rather a focus on interpersonal relationships and the drama that comes with wanting to save the world, but also having to preserve the cover of being an ordinary person. It’s more on the slow paced side, which gives the show room for character development and the exploration of the moral predicament the cast is facing at every other turn. After all, there are rules to time travel but nothing is what it seems and there comes a time when they have to decide which rules might be worth breaking and which ones aren’t.
Now it’s time for a new official part of my #CurrentlyWatching posts. I’ve already started to implement this a little in the past, but most of the time, it’s really the characters that make the show worth watching. So, from now on, I want to do a specific section to feature and spotlight one or several characters of a show that particularly enticed me. I am trying to get you attached here, but at the same time, I will try not to give too much away. Otherwise where is the fun in watching, right?
Already I struggled a bit to just spotlight one person for this post. After all, there is Trevor – one of the oldest travelers, yet the one who ends up in the body of a High School student. He is invigorated by youth, but struggles to fit into the shallow and reckless life the real Trevor used to lead. Then there is Philip – the historian of the team who has perfect recall and has to carry the weight of remembering all the deaths of all the people they might encounter, knowing that he is not allowed to change history, while also coping with a drug addiction that wasn’t made privy in death records of his host. Or maybe Carly – the tactician and soldier of the group, who finds herself with an abusive boyfriend and newborn baby that she cannot help but feel maternal for. But in the end I went with Marcy.
Marcy, the team’s medic, also fell victim to expecting a different life from her host, due to fake social media profiles. In truth, the real Marcy was a intellectually disabled woman and did not in fact have a relationship with David, who, in reality, is Marcy’s social worker. On the one side, I really enjoyed watching Marcy’s journey as she is one of the most enigmatic characters, but then again there is so much … problematic (not sure that’s the right word, but it’s what I am going with for now) with her character. Aside from the fact that they basically “cured” an intellectually disabled woman (which gets a whole new spin in Season 2 that I will not go into right now but I am also still not sure how to feel about), there is also the fact that she then proceeds to have an on and off relationship with her former social worker. Don’t get me wrong, they are incredibly cute. David is one of the most precious people out there, but the implications that come with that are staggering.
I am glad that it’s a topic that is discussed, challenged and by no means just accepted. David in particular struggles with his growing feelings for Marcy and knows what that means for his career and life.
There’s a lot happening in the two seasons so far. Some things I really liked, others I felt more iffy about. There is a tranquility to the show that is really appealing to me, but there are also single episodes that don’t work particularly well for me. In general, I feel like the show works better as a binge than one episode per week. There’s still so much potential in this story and their characters, so I am curious to see where they will go next.
Have you ever watched Travelers? Do you think you would want to check it out?
Life and Other Disasters 
Kat, you seriously make me want to watch ALL the shows with your currently watching posts. I just need approximately 23943 more hours every day to do so, hahaha.The synopsis sounds so interesting and I love that it focuses on the characters a whole lot… it’s strange, actually, except from you, I haven’t seen much buzz around this show and I feel like it’s so bad, I mean, it sounds quite unique and promising, too.
I love your new character focus, too 🙂 Marcy sounds like such an interesting and complex character for sure 🙂
Lovely post, as always ❤ ❤
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Hahaha as Queen of TV, I decree that everyone in all the lands has to have time to watch at least 5 episodes of something per day. Employers must comply with this new rule. How about that?
I am really glad you like the posts though, they are always a lot of work, but I enjoy talking about shows way too mcuh to stop.
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THAT would be awesome haha, if only it could happen haha 😛
Oh please never stop these posts, they are SO interesting to read, I love them ❤
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I, at least, don’t intend to stop them anytime soon haha
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I would definitely watch this show. It sounds really interesting and I like that you have a spotlight on one of the characters so I could better feel out if I’d enjoy this show or not. If all goes as planned, maybe my husband and I can watch ep 1 tonight!
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I feel like plot summaries are alright and necessary, but most days it’s the characters you stay for. So, I am happy you like that addition to the posts 🙂
I hope you enjoy the show if you end up watching it! Definitely let me know 🙂
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I’m all about character driven stories! I’m still watching supernatural and it’s like 12 seasons and I am STILL thrilled by it.
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Hahahaha well, a lot of people are still into Supernatural. You are not alone in that.
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I am a massive fan of the time travel genre, so I definitely need to watch this (or add it to my mile long to-watch list along with everything else I’ve promised I’ll get around to sooner or later!)
This sounds like a great show, and I’m glad you’ve said to stick with it even though the first ten minutes aren’t great. I tend to do the same thing, judge a show based on the first episode so I may have been tempted to give up on this one if I didn’t know any better.
Anyways, this sounds like exactly my mind of show so I’m sure I’ll love it as well, when I get around to it that is. 🙂
Thanks for introducing me to Travelers Kat, and great post as well. 😀 ❤
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I seem to make everyone’s to-watch-list a mile longer all the time hahaha
I really think it’s a great show. The low budget shows at times, but I like how character focused it is and how much they manage to explore over time.
I hope you enjoy it if you end up watching it!
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Honestly I don’t think I’d even mind the low budget, sometimes that works as part of the overall charm you know.
Thanks Kat! 🙂
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Yeah, sometimes I find it really bothering if you can see the lack of budget in very obvious ways, but most of the times I don’t mind anymore. I just still feel the need to point it out sometimes haha
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Yeah I get that as well. Honestly most times I just take things as they come, for TV shows the main thing that matters to me is the storyline! 🙂
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This actually sounds really cool! I love time travel fiction (hello Doctor Who!) but rarely find something that is both entertaining and makes sense. I’m glad this one ticks both boxes off!
I do like the premise of changing bodies and having to act like someone else. And how it’s not about the CGI but the writing itself. That is really cool.
I really enjoyed your review, Kat. And thanks for letting me know about this show!
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Nothing can beat Doctor Who! But if you like time travel shows, also check out Timeless. It’s really fun and also shows the repercussions of time changes.
I do appreciate the character focus on this one as well. It’s what makes it different from other shows. The time travel is really just the smallest part about it.
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Thank you, I’ll check it out! 🙂 Yeah that sounds really unique an compelling. I’ll give it a go as well 😊
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Kat, you’re on fire with your Currently Watching themes and tv show posts!! Hi, I’d like to have INFINITE more hours in a day to watch all these shows, thanks?? 😂 This show seems so interesting. I love your new character spotlight idea as well ahah. Marcy sounds so lovely, though I must admit the whole curing aspect is kind of troubling, I guess? But I will definitely have to keep this one in mind for a binge sometime! Great post, Kat! ❤️
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Just you wait, there’s some really stupid themes coming up as well where creativity just abandoned me hahaha I was grasping at straws.
I guess Marcy’s storyline could be interpreted as ableist, it’s really difficult to put into words. But she has technology and medical advances from the future … also, there’s a super weird explanation in season 2. I am just not going to get into this. She’s still my favourite character.
It’s another show that was shot in Vancouver and I just recognise so many places and I even was in one scene once (although you cannot see me) hahaha that show has a special place in my heart.
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Yay for having another theme!! And what a cool one! That’s really good to know that you need to give this more of a chance. I really like the concept as well. So many of the characters sound amazing as well. I’m certainly very curious about this one- even though certain aspects sound iffy. Amazing review!!
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I am going to run out of logical themes (in think the themes in two weeks is “British shows” even though one of them isn’t even set in the UK and the other one was made by Americans .. creativity kind of abandoned me on that one and I am still trying to figure out what to call that one instead.
Glad you liked the sound of the show as well! It’s another one of my favourite ones from set visits in Vancouver haha
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haha I get that- but I like the sound of that anyway 😉
Great!
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Sigh,,, how do you always make me want to watch things I usually wouldn’t be interested in when I really don’t have the time to?? Dear lord, I love this post!! And the show sounds so interesting :((( I’m usually not big on SciFi tbh but man, am I interested now.
Great post!!
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Hahaha this is my single greatest talent. Unfortunately one that I have yet to discover a way to make money off 😂. I’d like to be a Netflix hype girl or something like that. I watch almost all their stuff anyway.
If you ever feel like exploring SciFi without toooo much scifi in it, this is probably a safe bet. But you watch what you want to watch and only if and when you have the time. These shows don’t tend to disappear 😉
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You’d be great at being a Netflix hype girl haha!
👀 This sounds more and more interesting aghhh my soul and free time are Escaping Me™
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I wish that was a real job! I’d be so good at it!
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