First, I need to say this is being written at the end of Season 3. Season 4 (the final one) has yet to be completed and shown. Second, though I have written mostly on film, this is my first reflection on a TV show. And one that is not complete, to boot! Though there is a bit of a different way I approach a TV show as compared to a movie, the basics are there. So, since I just finished Season 3, and having been definitely awestruck for many reasons, I figured this would be a good visual to reflect on this evening.
Where do I start? All I keep thinking is that the writers must have known the end when they started writing Season 1, Episode 1. This must have been a complete vision in their mind, as elements you thought were random and included as filler or red herrings now become something of importance. This is the kind of show where a line is given, and that line either explains the purpose of previous events or sets you up for what is yet to come. And sometimes the line does both.
Time travel can be difficult, especially since it is not part of our real world right now and we don't know the 'rules' by which to 'live'. So, there's nothing to bend, to twist, to loop, to break ... and thus, they must have started with something. This sets up opportunities for questions that need answers for the show to be 'logical' ... what happens when the same item/person is in the same moment place in time? Can the 'future' (or an event in time) be changed? In other words, can one go back in time and change something so that, let's say, a world event doesn't happen? (That's sort of the premise the show begins on, but it doesn't stay there.) Can a person affect history to the point where he no longer exists? and what would happen then if he was not there in the future? .... What the show makes clear is that we view 'time' as a very linear concept - past to present to future. But they put forth a different idea - the 'Primaries' (a specially born person) is capable of seeing all of time simultaneously. Reminds me a bit of the movie Arrival. The example they give in 12 Monkeys - there is a line of ants, one following the other. Pick a random ant, and all he knows is the position behind him (past), his position (present), and the position if front of him (future). But if he steps out of the line, he then can see all the ants in all the positions ... all of time simultaneously.
At the end of S3, threads are being pulled together in ways that the viewer could not imagine. Through the first 2 seasons, we are led to believe the Witness is the person who destroys humanity; yet, when we finally meet the Witness (in S3), he is the Witness ... but more than that, he Witnesses. So, one who revered and followed the Witness realizes his weaknesses and takes on the role of the Witness herself ... or maybe she was the Witness all along? Only if we view time in a linear fashion ...
This is why I say the writing is brilliant. They take you on this linear ride, and just when things are starting to make sense, they shift the perspective and it makes sense in a completely different way. But this new understanding, these new piects to the puzzle they give you, also open up doors to new questions, new plots, to new motives, to new developments ... and you wonder if it was in front of you the entire time. This is a series that bears watching more than once. Especially when S4 is done ... binge watching all 4 seasons back to back.
If asked, 'What is this about?', it would be both easy and difficult to answer. At its heart, it's a love story of a man who goes back in time to kill one man who is to start a pandemic that wipes out humanity. While he is back there, he meets a woman ... and that's what sets it all into motion. The show is about love (brotherly love, familial love, romantic love, self love), it's about family (those we are born into and those we choose), it's about destiny, about having a purpose in life, and it's about change - could we change the course of events, even if we tried? or are certain things always meant to be? All these, and many more, questions are used as the foundation to the show. Then it becomes difficult - because of the time travel, the looping in on itself, things like The Red Forest, the Witness, the Primaries, the Daughters, the Markham Group, Splinter, the Pallid Man begin to play a role in the plot ... sometimes more than one role, and sometimes what they started out is not what they became.
The characters ... are brilliant. Each one is distinct and the actor brings their person to life in the most brilliant of ways. Without a doubt, the characters of Jennifer Goines and Deacon are the ones that are most 'out there', the most eccentric and likely the most enjoyable to play. Katarina Jones is the Matriarch, the one who drives the plot forward; and Athan, son and Witness, to whom the plot makes the focus. And James Cole and Cassandra Railley - the foundation upon which the entire story rests, the relationship between these two characters. The show is a love story but not ... I'd say it's more about family and community, about purpose woven throughout. It's about - do we truly have free will? If we go back in time, can we change the future outcome? or are all things already predestine to happen? Regardless of what we do, it will all still roll out as it was meant to be? What do you think? What do you think the TV show would suggest?
At first, I'll admit, I got a bit confused with all the timelines, the flashing back and returning ... and then the began to incorporate going forward in time. Definitely this series is going to have a binge-watching session when it's all over, but in the meantime, you start to get the grasp. (Certain eras bring definite laughs - the 80s, the 50s, the 30s.) You start to pick up on the changes and the plot lines. And by the time you hit the centre of the last season, it's making sense. And, what's more, you begin to feel the pressure on the back of your neck, starting to push you forward into what, you don't know. You thought you knew, but you realize now that you don't, And yet, you know the characters, you love them, you invest in them and you want there to be a positive outcome. The thing is that everything you thought you figured out? The brilliance of the writing spun you right around and you're not where you thought you'd be.
But wait - there's still one more season. They left us on the brink of the final battle. And if this last season is an indicator ... hop on for one long, crazy ride! I promise you, there are things beyond our imaginations yet to be experienced! Are we heading to the end of world destruction? Will the Witness win? Is she the true Witness or are there things yet to be revealed? Was the end of the story already predestined or has free will changed it into an ending different than the one we thought would happen when this series first started? I can hardly wait for 2018 and the final season to come. All I know right now is ... Jennifer Goines has an alter ego!!
