Let's talk about time travel. It's a great time to be reading if you're a time travel fan. With the explosion of YA titles and science fiction fandom hotter than ever there's a lot of time travel out there. For this post though I want to focus on time travel on the small screen. There are two shows right now that I think really do a great job of exploring time travel- Continuum and 12 Monkeys.
Continuum is on Netflix and is about Kiera who goes back in time when a group called Liber8 are sent back prior to their execution. The future is controlled by corporations and Liber8 wants to destroy that future- they're on a suicide mission with no plans to go back. The show has some great action sequences, two great leads and good writing. All the paradoxes and twists you would expect from a time travel story are here, and Kiera has to make some tough choices. Plus the Liber8 are fascinating, especially Jasmine Garza who is a one woman wrecking crew- she is awesome in every episode she's in.
12 Monkeys is even twistier than Continuum, if that's possible. Cole comes back to the present to stop a virus that wipes out most of the population. Unlike Continuum, he goes back and forth between the present and 2043. The time jumps take a toll on the body and Cole will die eventually from the stress. His partner in crime (literally) is Cassie, a virologist who is important in the fight against the virus. There's a lot of great tension and writing in this show as well, and add to that a simmering attraction between Cole and Cassie and you have a winner.
I'm slightly obsessed with Continuum. Especially young Alec Sadler. I definitely think they do good work of handling time travel!
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to start 12 monkeys, and if you say it's even twistier you can sign me up! Sounds so good.
Great post topic!
I love Continuum, just finished S4 recently. Good stuff! Kiera and Garza are great. :)
DeleteI haven't seen Continuum but did mostly like 12 Monkeys. It sometimes works better on screen than in books but have read some good books based on time travel.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I'm curious to see how S2 of 12 Monkeys goes... and Continuum is awesome!
DeleteI haven't seen either of these, but you've got me curious. I will have to add them to my Netflix queue. Quantam Leap was a favorite in my house when I was growing up. And my husband and I really enjoyed Journeyman and Early Edition when they were on. Not quite at the same level as Continuum and 12 Monkeys. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm not familiar with those but I'm sure they were fun. :) Continuum is on Netflix and is a good show. 12 Monkeys I don't think is on Netflix... :(
DeleteI've never seen Continuum or 12 Monkeys, but both look good!
ReplyDeleteThey're fun, if you ever get a chance to watch 'em. Continuum especially. :)
DeleteI haven't watched either of these yet, but now I really want to! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog earlier!
Thanks for stopping! Hope you get a chance to check 'em out!
DeleteI love time travel in books so much but haven't really watched much on TV. WIll have to check those out!!
ReplyDeleteHope you like 'em if you get a chance. I like a good time travel book too.
DeleteOk so, I'm at work atm so I can't watch the videos you shared. But I need to check them out at some point next week. I had NO clue about Continuum, I haven't explored on Netflix in too long it seems. Is 12 Monkeys the show based off of the movie? It must be but you never know I guess LOL! Thanks for sharing these Greg, I LOVE time-travel so I appreciate the recs :D
ReplyDelete12 Monkeys is based loosely on the movie I guess, but really I think it's pretty different. They do their own story. It's better than i thought it would be- and I LOVE Continuum!
DeleteInteresting. I hadn't heard of either of those series yet, just the movie 12 Monkeys. Thanks for sharing about them.
ReplyDeleteThank you Laura. Hope you get a chance to see them sometime.
DeleteThey've started showing Continuum here and I've been following it. Still have to watch season 2 finale though. I hope they continue straight on with season 3.
ReplyDeleteI hope so too! If I remember right a lot happens at the end of S2 and it gets pretty twisty! I was sad when the show was done. :)
DeleteNot a huge fan of time travel books but I do like the genre in shows - Continuum sounds really good - I think I will give it a try!
ReplyDeleteJen @ YA Romantics
I hope you like it if you try- Continuum is a fun show.
DeleteSo... I actually avoid books/movies/shows that involve time travel, for the most part. It just doesn't make sense! I'm a firm believer in the butterfly effect, and I feel like, for time travel to make sense, then whatever the person does when they travel into the past would have had to already happen. Like, the current timeline has already taken into account that this person went into the past and did something, and that's what caused everything to be exactly as it is right now. If it doesn't work like that in a book/movie/show, I can't deal with it. Look what you've done, now you've got me started on this lol. It's just, there's always something that doesn't make sense, some plot hole, etc. The only time I've ever felt time travel was handled perfectly in a way that made sense and didn't have flaws was in The Time Traveler's Wife.
ReplyDeleteSo basically, it wouldn't matter how amazing character development or action or tension or anything like that is, I'm just too distracted by my annoyance to enjoy most time travel stuff lol.
What, no time travel for you? :) I get it though, time travel can be so hit or miss- and you might be right, how can you go back and change something when the past has already happened? I'm actually doing a post for next week on some of this and it's kinda fun. I've never seen the Time Traveler's Wife...
DeleteYeah you might not like these shows then lol :) Continuum actually had a whole season that was basically an alternate timeline, and I was like no go back to that other timeline! It kinda irritated me :)
Oh, I read the book for The Time Traveler's Wife, but I haven't seen the movie. So I don't know how different the two might be. But I will save any further thoughts for your next discussion if that one will be more about the, like, mechanics of time travel.
DeleteBut yeah, I probably wouldn't like these shows lol.
I do enjoy time travel but I'm never found a show where it's well-executed. I typically just read about it:) this one sounds pretty good though!
ReplyDeleteEmily @ www.rabbitholereviews.com
I haven't heard of either of these, but I'm always looking for new shows to binge watch - I'll have to check these out because I love time travel!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I am going with the unpopular opinion now, but I hate time travel of any kind in books or movies. We're watching Star Trek DS9 at the moment and always skip the time travel episodes as both my boyfriend and I dislike them. I think it's mainly because time travel doesn't make sense and the whole paradox thing bothers me. If you go back in the past and change the future and that prevents you form even existing then you never get to go back in time and change. It just doesn't make sense and I don't like that. So I'll be staying far away from these series ;). I have read a few books where I didn't mind it as much, mostly time travel romances where it's more about the difference in time period than the actual time travel aspect.
ReplyDeleteOooh, I will put both of those shows on my to watch list!
ReplyDeleteI don't really like time travel stories. Haven't see it done in a new refreshing way or in a way that avoids paradoxes.
ReplyDelete