![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Snowflake Challenge #2
Jan. 3rd, 2023 12:07 pmAhh, a perfect opportunity to gush about my current favorite show, Travelers. I don't rewatch things much, but I'm on my fifth watch-through now. It may seem crazy to watch a show about the end of the world for comfort, but it is comfort-viewing for me.
Where do I begin to talk about what makes it so great?? Well, let's just get this out of the way: great acting, great directing, great writing, great production. An intriguing original soundtrack. Some good eye candy: Philip for emos like me, Trevor for people who are more into jocks, and, you know, it's t.v.; pretty much everyone is attractive.
For Stargate fans, Travelers is the other show Brad Wright created, and apparently there's a lot of crossover of people from Stargate, including Amanda Tapping, who acts and directs, and one of the main characters, David, played by Patrick Gilmore, who IMDb tells me played Dr. Dale Volker (WHAT an actor!), along with the AMAZING Jennifer Spence (who played Dr. Lisa Park), who also has two major roles in Travelers (many of the actors get to play multiple characters). She's equally fantastic in both roles on Travelers. Seriously, all the acting is great, and the writing loves fandom tropes as much as fandom does.
One of the many things I love about Travelers is that clearly there's a lot of lore that's well hammered out by the creators that's never directly mentioned in the script. It was super fun writing fic for it, because even after this many viewings, I learned a lot about the characters from writing the fic (a crossover with Supernatural; you can read it here). They are well-rounded people who sometimes do the unexpected, but clearly they have reasons for behaving as they do. I love that it's a show that assumes its audience is intelligent enough to read between the lines and fill in the gaps for themselves.
I got lucky when I found the show in that I was completely unspoiled. The pilot is cleverly constructed, throwing you into the action without explanation, with a surprise ending that's easily spoiled if you've watched any of the promos. My friend and I were simply looking for a new show on Netflix, it was promoted there, we tried it, and were instantly hooked. But we did know the general premise, which shouldn't spoil anything in particular: Four centuries in the future, humanity has been almost completely wiped out. However, they've developed technology allowing them to supplant the consciousness of someone living in this century with their own, so they're utilizing that technology to try to avert the disasters that essentially brought an end to humanity.
There are just a few glimpses of what things looked like in their century; everything else takes place in the present, which provides many opportunities for social commentary ... and some of what they presciently warned about has already come to pass, including shortages and a pandemic. For all that, it's not annoyingly preachy; it's far more focused on the characters and telling a story than giving dire warnings about the future ... but they're there.
I will say that after so many viewings, the third season is the only one I find a bit wanting. Tapping directs a bunch of episodes, and ... sorry guys, I'm just not a fan of either her acting or her directing. Her directing gets the job done and nothing more, whereas other directors made creative choices that added to the atmosphere and pervasive dread and strangeness of the show. Also, she picked the most hideous locations--disappointing, in a show that is frequently so beautiful, as it celebrates the beauty we have all around us in this century, absent from the century the Travelers come from. That said, the writing and acting in season three are just as good as always, with a perfect ending. It's a dark show, run through with tragedy, and the ending hits the perfect notes to be both satisfying and true to itself.
That's all structure, though; what I adore most about the show is its heart. Also, some of the actors put on subtle performances that communicate far more than is in the script. Philip, in particular, played by Reilly Dolman, exudes a sense of determination warring with soft despair and resignation that imo embodies the spirit of the show and holds the whole thing together--but all the main actors contribute something specific, indelible, and irreplaceable in providing believable world-building.
Be forewarned: season one is pretty dark and angsty ... but buckle in, because that's the fun season! It's all downhill from there.
I was quite pleased, but unsurprised, to find it included on Reddit in a list of excellent shows most people have never heard of--and other commenters were also unsurprised; it's just that good. Light scifi, heavy angst. If that's your kind of thing, I highly recommend you check it out.
Travelers can be found on Netflix, probably forever, since they produced it!
Where do I begin to talk about what makes it so great?? Well, let's just get this out of the way: great acting, great directing, great writing, great production. An intriguing original soundtrack. Some good eye candy: Philip for emos like me, Trevor for people who are more into jocks, and, you know, it's t.v.; pretty much everyone is attractive.
For Stargate fans, Travelers is the other show Brad Wright created, and apparently there's a lot of crossover of people from Stargate, including Amanda Tapping, who acts and directs, and one of the main characters, David, played by Patrick Gilmore, who IMDb tells me played Dr. Dale Volker (WHAT an actor!), along with the AMAZING Jennifer Spence (who played Dr. Lisa Park), who also has two major roles in Travelers (many of the actors get to play multiple characters). She's equally fantastic in both roles on Travelers. Seriously, all the acting is great, and the writing loves fandom tropes as much as fandom does.
One of the many things I love about Travelers is that clearly there's a lot of lore that's well hammered out by the creators that's never directly mentioned in the script. It was super fun writing fic for it, because even after this many viewings, I learned a lot about the characters from writing the fic (a crossover with Supernatural; you can read it here). They are well-rounded people who sometimes do the unexpected, but clearly they have reasons for behaving as they do. I love that it's a show that assumes its audience is intelligent enough to read between the lines and fill in the gaps for themselves.
I got lucky when I found the show in that I was completely unspoiled. The pilot is cleverly constructed, throwing you into the action without explanation, with a surprise ending that's easily spoiled if you've watched any of the promos. My friend and I were simply looking for a new show on Netflix, it was promoted there, we tried it, and were instantly hooked. But we did know the general premise, which shouldn't spoil anything in particular: Four centuries in the future, humanity has been almost completely wiped out. However, they've developed technology allowing them to supplant the consciousness of someone living in this century with their own, so they're utilizing that technology to try to avert the disasters that essentially brought an end to humanity.
There are just a few glimpses of what things looked like in their century; everything else takes place in the present, which provides many opportunities for social commentary ... and some of what they presciently warned about has already come to pass, including shortages and a pandemic. For all that, it's not annoyingly preachy; it's far more focused on the characters and telling a story than giving dire warnings about the future ... but they're there.
I will say that after so many viewings, the third season is the only one I find a bit wanting. Tapping directs a bunch of episodes, and ... sorry guys, I'm just not a fan of either her acting or her directing. Her directing gets the job done and nothing more, whereas other directors made creative choices that added to the atmosphere and pervasive dread and strangeness of the show. Also, she picked the most hideous locations--disappointing, in a show that is frequently so beautiful, as it celebrates the beauty we have all around us in this century, absent from the century the Travelers come from. That said, the writing and acting in season three are just as good as always, with a perfect ending. It's a dark show, run through with tragedy, and the ending hits the perfect notes to be both satisfying and true to itself.
That's all structure, though; what I adore most about the show is its heart. Also, some of the actors put on subtle performances that communicate far more than is in the script. Philip, in particular, played by Reilly Dolman, exudes a sense of determination warring with soft despair and resignation that imo embodies the spirit of the show and holds the whole thing together--but all the main actors contribute something specific, indelible, and irreplaceable in providing believable world-building.
Be forewarned: season one is pretty dark and angsty ... but buckle in, because that's the fun season! It's all downhill from there.
I was quite pleased, but unsurprised, to find it included on Reddit in a list of excellent shows most people have never heard of--and other commenters were also unsurprised; it's just that good. Light scifi, heavy angst. If that's your kind of thing, I highly recommend you check it out.
Travelers can be found on Netflix, probably forever, since they produced it!