After the revelations last
week that Curtis was the one who killed the spare Kiera, Curtis gets
himself put in one of the clear cells. They talk about “debriefing” which
sounds ominous, applied to Future Alec as well. Curtis mocks her for the title “protector”
as well – she didn’t protect Alec, her family and barely even realised what was
happening in the future. And now what does she do? She sees one of the other
locked up prisoners, with a tattoo, and remembers him telling her that he’s
freer than she’ll ever be (I can barely remember who this random encounter was –
but the point is made). She cries and asks “what have I done.”
Honestly, Kiera? I think this whole series could be titled “Kiera: What Have I done?”
That calls for a flashback to the future (which sounds so
wrong) when she and her colleague stalked tattoo guy who has been getting busy
with a knife –stabbing someone and cutting their finer so he can use their
DNA/finger print secured gun. A gun that shoots armour piercing rounds that cut
through the Protector suits. When he’s out of ammo he lays a crafty ambush for
her but her suit protects her and lets her electrocute him.
She ships him back on a future plane thing – which then
has a systems failure and crashes. Kiera crawls out of the wreck, the pilot is
dead and her CMR is messing up – so is her gun. And her prisoner is up, alive
and well except for a chunk of “fascist gunship” in his leg which needs
removing and treating. He makes an attempt to bribe her (while taking a swipe
at the system) but she’s not playing, she’s too loyal to her corporate
overlords and keeps chanting the corporate party lines.
The man keeps trying to talk her out of her party loyalty
and that they need to head to civilisation themselves because the corporations will
have just written off the plane. 2 men find them (men with crossbows) and take
them away – once they’re assured by her prisoner that her CMR is broken.
They take them to a camp of “gleaners”, an old derelict
factory turned over to growing plants; they’re self sufficient and try to live
separate and apart from the corporate congress. Their doctor fits Kiera with a
headband that prevents her CMR, even if it were working, from transmitting,
receiving or recording.
Back at the city, Kiera’s husband is informed of Kiera’s
supposed death with a corporate drone bringing a pack of paperwork for him to
sign and absolve them of all responsibility. Yes they’re caring people
At the commune Kiera tries to convince everyone the
system is fair while the farmer points out they were legally required to use
genetically modified crops that produced no seed – so they had to buy seed
every year; which in turn would only grow with proprietary fertiliser and
pesticide. So she and her farm went off the grid “went grey”. Others have
stories of how the system treated them and Kiera offers weak, empty sympathy
that her prisoner mocks as the useless thing it is.
The doctor is actually Sonya – and in the back she is
treating Kagame. And he is sharing banned literature and reminding her that the
Gleaners are always on the edge of being hunted down. When he’s alone he bites
and apple and puts his blood on it… that’s not hygienic.
The Gleaners argue about what to do – they could ransom
Kiera’s prisoner to Liber8 but there’s still the issue of Kiera – and even if
they spent the money they got from the ransom it would allow growth that would
only attract attention and have them destroyed. The prisoner continues to try
and talk people into killing Kiera.
They also find people from the city trading with the
settlement, since their product has more flavour than food bred for yield, they’re
in demand among the elite. Kiera is shocked and appalled that they’d trade with
their enemies, showing again how shallow her understanding of the system is.
We get some more info on Sonya, she left the city because
they were forcing her to join the super soldier programme. She’s afraid of the
implants, the CMRs, because they “nudge” behaviour – and they drive people to
record data rather than remember things like feelings and emotional impact
Kagame continues to challenge Sonya to consider how much Kiera can be
considered to be a dupe of the system as opposed to someone who is knowingly
complicit to it – and that the “freedom” of the gleaners is illusory since they’re
still hemmed by rules that force them to walk a tightrope of the system’s
tolerance.
In the city, receiving an apple with Kagame’s blood and
saliva on it, Old Alec authorises, well, vaguely ominous things which are
probably bad.
The Gleaners check out Kiera and the prisoner, Jowaski.
They confirm the corporations think Kiera is dead and that Jowaski is one of
the 10 most wanted, high bounty – but Jowaski’s own organisation will pay much
much much more. But whole he’s there, the Gleaner, Jayden, checks out Kagame as
well.
Kiera’s CMR continues to hurt her and she’s taken to the infirmary
where, through a curtain, Kagame asks who she is Protecting, who needs
Protecting from the Gleaners. But he does say Sonya convinced him not to blame
the Protectors who are brain washed – but that he does hope she will have a
chance to see things as they really are.
Sonya consults the community leaders who decide to remove
the governor on Kiera’s implant since her damaged implant probably won’t
transmit but the governor could kill her. In the infirmary Kagame is packed to
leave, expecting betrayal (or his apple bait coming back at him) and when he
tries to stagger and leave, Sonya offers to give him a lift – not far, but a
little way.
Jayden takes Jowaski to the trade but things seem to be
going wrong. Kiera leaves her bed and holds one of the residents, Pangea, at
crossbow point and makes her take her to the hand off - where Jayden is dead. They track Jowaski
and, while he briefly holds Pangea hostage, Kiera shoots him when a flier
appears. As she’s picked up, she’s told they’re in a “hot zone.”
Meanwhile Kiera’s husband is dealing with the fact he’s
been bought off with a promotion. He’s visited by Alec and he breaks – he breaks
over life being measured by actuaries and balance sheets deciding how much a
person is worth, how much life is worth. He wants some meaning for her loss –
and Alec gives a big speech about how the corporations enrich lives, to create
a civil society
While his fliers attack the Gleaner camp, bombing it from above, massacring the people.
Kiera sees from the windows of the flier, Jowaski mocks
her for stopping thinking again – and that even in a cage he’ll be freer than
she’ll ever be. And Sonya sees it from a distance where she is with Kagame. He
stops her running back and helping them because there’s nothing left. He asks
her to take the super-soldier job to be their mole and help him heal them all.
And to the present where Kiera says something stunning to
Catherine – Kagame was right, he said Kiera would see through new eyes. Catherine
blames Kagame for the Gleaner’s death (what, Alec didn’t order it?) Kiera also
adds Alec’s own wisdom to her husband “each of is judged by what we leave
behind” and adds that both Curtis and Jowaski said she was asleep. Curtis,
Kagame and Jowaski all had commitment.
Kiera says she isn’t asleep any more and announces she’s going home.
And in the cells Curtis escapes by feigning his own death
This is one of the better episodes of Continuum in that
it carries warnings of where we are heading – for example, certain agricultural
companies are suing farmers for saving seed of genetically modified crops. It’s
not an action packed episode, but it’s future focus reminds us of the
complexities and what both Liber8 and Kiera are fighting for. What’s at stake
in Kiera’s battle.
And you see how Kagame’s subtlety works. Just provoking a response from the corporations exposes them and recruits for him. He doesn’t even have to work hard on Sonya, he sews the seed, pokes Alec and he can rely on Alec’s response to be so abhorrent as to drive her to Liber8 (and, coincidentally, “punishing” the Gleaners for trading with the corporations)
And, as seems to be a growing trend with these episodes
where the dystopia of the future is clearly exposed, we’re getting a creeping
sense that Kiera was becoming appalled – but still went along with it, which
kind of makes her evil. Sure “just following orders” but that’s not exactly the
most palatable of defences; even being brain washed would make her character
seem less, well, knowingly complicit of evil. I think that’s why we’re getting
info on the implants “nudging” people – to try and hurriedly excuse Kiera’s
actions.
So what does Kiera mean by she’s awake? Is she realising
what kind of future she’s fighting for? Am I going to be able to cheer for her
or do I keep waving for team Liber8?
