Continuum returns after a week’s absence, and Liber8 steps up their game.

Title: “Time’s Up”

Cast and Crew
Director: Rachel Talalay
Writer: Jonathan Lloyd Walker and Simon Berry

Rachel Nichols as Kiera Cameron
Victor Webster as Carlos Fonnegra
Erik Kundson as Alec Sadler
Stephen Lobo as Matthew Kellog
Richard Harmon as Julian Randol
Marilyn Norry as Harriet Sherman
Jesse Moss as Shane Mathers
Tony Amendola as Edouard Kagame
Lexa Doig as Sonya
Roger Cross as Travis
Omari Newton as Lucas Ingram
Luvia Petersen as Jasmine Garza
Jennifer Spence as Betty Robertson
John Reardon as Greg Cameron
Juan Riedinger as Francis Hall

Full cast and crew information may be found here.

Premise

Cameron. Fonnegra, and Sadler race to save the life of a corrupt executive as Liber8, under Kagame’s leadership, begins to act like terrorists with prescient knowledge and a clear political agenda. They’re thinking things through (or, at least, Kagame is) and plotting intelligently.

We also see more of the future’s dark side.

High Point

This episode offers simplified, but worthwhile commentary on political manipulations, corporate corruption, and the methods by which everything, from corporate strategies to protest rallies, can be hijacked and manipulated. It’s far from perfect, and it borrows heavily from contemporary conspiracy theory, but we’re talking about a cop show here. I’m impressed.

Careful watchers will note references to the Occupy Movement (okay– that one was blatant), the Vancouver Stanley Cup Riots, pas G20 unrest, and also to radical chic, online events, and Noam Chomsky.

Low Point

Despite a strong premise, this script featured a lot of stilted dialogue and some less-than-impressive performances.

The Scores:

Originality: 3/5

Effects: 5/6 As usual, effects for the future flashback/flashforward look good.

Story: 5/6 They have a strong story here, and even the tv/movie “hacking as magic” cliché works, because the hackers have future technology. The cliché of the last-minute countdown was less impressive.

Acting: 4/6 Guest star Marilyn Norry gave a great and varied performance as a woman in several difficult circumstances. The cast, overall, was more stilted than usual, perhaps because of some fairly stiff dialogue.

Emotional Response: 4/6

Production: 5/6.

Overall: 4/6

In total, “Time’s Up” receives 30/42