Shuvrajit Das Biswas
‘Travelers’ is a Canadian-American sci-fi drama series that has been created by Brad Wright of ‘Stargate‘ fame. The series aired on Showcase in Canada before Netflix took over, and thus it is also available to a worldwide audience. It first premiered on October 17, 2016, in Canada, and on December 23, 2016, worldwide.
The show follows a team of operatives from the future sent back to the 21st century. Each team member has a specific skill set (medic, historian, engineer, etc), which allows them to work together to stop or alter “historical” events. The travelers’ consciousness is deposited into the bodies of people whose historical death time means the team is able to carry out their missions without negatively altering history. The show has received wide critical acclaim and has been loved by the audiences. Critics too have loved it, with The New York Times using adjectives like ‘tasty’, ‘enjoyable science fiction’ with ‘some attention-grabbing flourishes and fine acting’ to describe it. If you love ‘Doctor Who‘, this is a show you should definitely check out.
Travelers Cast: Who is in it?
The cast of ‘Travelers’ is led by Eric McCormack as Grant MacLaren, the team leader who assumes the life of a married FBI agent, and Mackenzie Porter appears as Marcy Warton, the medic of the team who assumes the form of a woman with intellectual disability. Nesta Cooper plays Carly Shannon, the tactician of the team, who appropriately takes on the life of a stay at home mother. Among other cast member is Jared Abrahamson as Trevor Holden, the technician of the team and Reilly Dolman plays Phillip Pearson, the historian who assumes the form of a heroin addict, and Patrick Gilmore is seen in the role of David Mailer, someone who starts off as Marcy’s social worker and later her love interest.
The recurring cast members including J. Alex Brinson as Jeff Conniker, Carly’s abusive ex-boyfriend who is a police officer, Leah Cairns as Kathryn MacLaren, an interior designer and Grant’s wife, Chad Krowchuk as Simon, Arnold Pinnock as Walt Forbes, Jennifer Spence as Grace Day, and Ian Tracey as Ray Green. They all have their roles to play, either directly in helping the travelers, or in being there for them as the family members. There are also several guest characters who change over the seasons depending on how the plot unfurls.
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Travelers Plot: What is it about?
‘Travelers’ begins with an entry point hundreds of years into the future when the surviving humans of the earth discover how to send consciousness back in time, specifically to the 21st century, to take control of certain people in an attempt to change the course of history and the path of humanity.
Why is this change so necessary? Well, of course, because humans have gone and messed it all up and the future is a post-apocalyptic world. Here we are introduced to the actual ‘travelers’ which is a name given to the thousands of special operatives who attempt to prevent the collapse of society by traveling back in time. They don’t physically travel obviously, but they send their consciousness back in time. This is transferred into the hosts, that is, bodies of present-day individuals. One might be asking themselves the obvious question of the impact on the timeline due to this traveling. Fortunately, these operatives only control hosts who are moments away from their deaths in order to minimize the unexpected impact on the timeline.
Although the transfer requires the exact location of the target, this is not at all difficult in the 21st century, thanks to smartphones providing GPS and TELL, that is, time, elevation, latitude, and longitude. The operatives have to learn about the hosts that are being controlled and what better way to do this than social media and public records. Once undercover, they must lead out the host’s life without raising suspicions, while carrying out their own missions in teams of five. All of this is coordinated by someone from the future called the Director whose aim is to avoid catastrophes. Since the Director cannot enter a host without killing them, the only safe way to communicate is through prepubescent children.
In the show, we realize that the travelers live by a code, as any worthy operative should. The rules are – the mission always comes first, never to jeopardize your cover (2H: Historians, who receive occasional updates on changes to the timeline, must never reveal these to their teammates), never take or save a life, unless otherwise directed, do not interfere or reproduce, in the absence of direction, maintain the host’s life and don’t communicate with other known travelers outside the team unless sanctioned by the Director. Apart from this, the Director can invoke protocols during emergency measures which pose a threat to either the travelers or their mission.
The show leans towards hope and humanity despite the knowledge that the future is dark. For a show about science fiction, it also does not focus too much on futuristic things, instead choosing to deal with how the group of travelers adjusts to the 21st century.
Travelers Season 4 Release Date: When will it premiere?
‘Travelers’ Season 3 of premiered on December 14, 2018, on Netflix. Unfortunately for the fans, the show was canceled some time after season 3 premiere. Star Eric McCormack revealed the news via social media. “A lot of you have been asking about the possibility of a season four, but many of you have been saying, ‘Look, if this is it, what a moving and surprising and profound ending it is,’” McCormack wrote. “Well, I’m afraid it is. Who knows what the future holds, but Travelers Program 1, as we call it, is complete … Much love from 3468 in the 21st.”
Travelers Trailer:
While we wait for any positive news on ‘Travelers’ Season 4, check out the season 3 trailer below. If you haven’t seen the show yet, head over to Netflix to catch all the episodes of the previous seasons.
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