Travelers 03x01 Ilsa

Travelers season 3 is here! I've been waiting for this one with bated breath ever since that crazy cliffhanger in season 2. Finally we get some answers- maybe?- about what happens now that the Travelers have been outed. Or- have they? I guess we need to watch and find out! So without further ado, here are my thoughts on episode 1 of season 3. This post will be a little spoilery- just a heads up. 

We're introduced right away to agent Joanne Yates, who is at her mother's bedside- she had a stroke and isn't expected to recover- so imagine Yates' surprise when her mother wakes up and delivers her a message. And then dies. The message is apparently from the Director? You know, the AI that runs the traveler program in the future. The whole thing with this episode is our favorite Travelers are taken to an FBI safehouse where their significant others, who were all made aware of their true identities at the end of last season, can be debriefed. However, the Travelers have a memory inhibitor which all the SO's have been treated with- the question now is did it work and can they go back to business as usual, with their SO's none the wiser as to their real identities? 

You know I thought the real kicker from the season 2 finale was the realization that oh my gosh my significant other is someone- a stranger- from the future, inhabiting the body of my husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/whatever. What would that do to someone? The feelings of betrayal, of fear- I mean you're living with or interacting with someone you thought you knew- same body but different person inside. That would be freaky AF. And that's where the SO's were- but now we have a convenient memory inhibitor. I kind of hope they don't take that question entirely away though- I want them to explore that. 

It looks like they may, as well. Kat seems to suspect that something isn't right- she even has a daydream of Mac dosing her with something to make her forget- and Jeff says he outright remembers something. So yeah. The other thing happening is that a strike team is about to hit the safehouse and take our favorite Travelers out- and the people running the hit are agent Yates' superiors. That's what the message her mom delivered was about- she's supposed to tell Stevenson, the head guy, to abort the hit. It's not just our Travelers either- they're taking out Traveler teams worldwide. What's going on?    

Yates also meets Ilsa- hence the title of the episode- an AI which apparently is cutting edge tech and also just happens to be able to communicate with them from the future. The Director talks to Yates and tells her that the worldwide assault on Traveler teams must stop or civilization- ending events will occur. It also says discovery was inevitable, hinting that it's okay that Travelers have been outed. However... Simon shows up at traveler HQ and thinks he's on a mission from the Director to do damage control on the whole situation. So... there's a question of who's really working for who? 

Bottom line though is the hit is called off- Yates proves her bona fides to Stevenson by telling him something only he knows- what his daughter said to him before she almost died of cancer. The Director spoke through her as well, and then she got better- with the help of future tech from the Director, apparently. Realizing only the Director would know that, Stevenson aborts the hit. Simon meanwhile is in the body of a paranoid schizophrenic, and questions why the Director would do that. Trevor replies that the Director makes mistakes.  

Stray Thoughts

"Would you like to play a nice game of chess?" asks Ilsa when Yates meets it for the first time. Wargames reference!!! I did get it (Ilsa's handler says no one ever gets it). 

Grace is still the best. Also- this show still feels like a Continuum reunion. I count three actors from that earlier show here- Wakefield, Grace and Ray? 

Grace comes on to Phil in this one! 

The seeds are set for conflict as Carly is pissed that Mac and Grace risked the Traveler program for their significant others- she says the Director is just making shit up as it goes along. Mac's response is- stick to the Protocols.

We need lots more Wakefield.   

"Ilsa is an AI that replaces Boolean logic with quantum law on an algorithmic level." Okay then. "A sentient multi-zettaflop quantum frame" speaking from the future, Yates is told. Sure.