Continuum: Season Three Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Continuum: Season Three Blu-ray Movie Review

So... many... doppelgängers...

Continuum has always been ambitious. Sometimes to a fault. But with Season Three, the low-budget Canadian brain-bender takes a big, nauseating bite of multi-verse sci-fi and chews, and chews, and chews, and chews, and chews some more. Multiple timelines, multiple realities, multiple characters, to the point that the series nearly chokes on a gaping mouthful of budding paradoxes, potential plot holes and endless exposition. Then it gets worse as its appetite shifts and it starts to eat away at the patience and good will of its devoted fold. The good news? (What little good news there is, anyway.) Just as showrunners Simon Barry and Pat Williams seem poised to clamp down and gnaw off the hands that feed them, the season at long last becomes more palatable. At least somewhat. What was once forced, convoluted and irritating reveals itself to be something a bit more calculated and compelling, although still much too flawed to warrant more than a hesitant apologist's shoulder shrug of approval. For every stride there's a stumble. For every leap, a plummet. For every rise, a fall. For every killer sequence, a dead-on-arrival development. For every strong performance, a distracting dud. For every gripping setup, a lackluster payoff. By season's end, the show fails to surpass or even equal the final seasons of Fringe, which struggled to stay afloat in similar alt-reality waters. Instead, it anxiously, tenuously treads water well past the point of exhaustion, nearly drowning in spite of its best efforts.

• Minute by Minute: Kiera risks everything to stop Alec from altering history in his quest to save Emily, but can the mysterious group Kiera aligned herself with be trusted? ("Minute by Minute" includes a commentary track with creator Simon Barry and executive producer/director Pat Williams.)
• Minute Man: While Kiera investigates the two Alecs in one timeline, the mayor is kidnapped by a reunited Liber8. Carlos struggles with the reality shattering truth of Kiera’s predicament.
• Minute to Win It: Kiera has to solve a series of Liber8 connected bank heists and discovers the robbers are controlled by a recently escaped Lucas. Carlos’ new and unwanted knowledge about time travel begins to affect his work.
• Minute Changes: As Kiera works to free a college student caught in a police cover-up, her perspective on police behavior is thrown into question. Carlos discovers Liber8's influence reaches right inside of VPD. Alec secures an unlikely ally.
• 30 Minutes to Air: Kiera and Carlos work to free hostages including Dillon, taken prisoner by Liber8 at a television station. Meanwhile, Kellog and Alec's business alliance falls apart, turning the two men from partners to adversaries.
• Wasted Minute: Kiera and an emotionally unraveling Carlos, still distraught from a shocking event, must stop Liber8 from committing a devastating chemical attack on the city.
• Waning Minutes: Kiera crash lands her CPS flyer during a prisoner transport and is forced to work with her enemy captive in order to survive. But can this enemy truly be trusted? Or is Kiera placing her trust and life in the hands of a killer?
• So Do Our Minutes in Heaven: Kiera confronts uncomfortable truths while paired on an investigation with Dillon. Julian puts himself in the spotlight by exposing a corporation's dirty deeds. Alec deals with the pressures of his new role at Piron and an uncomfortable secret revealed by Carlos.
• Minute of Silence: Kiera and Carlos, reeling from a shocking loss, hunt down a ring of enigmatic high-tech thieves, even as a handsome, yet distant amnesiac begs for help in discovering his identity.
• Revolutions Per Minute: Kiera's relationship with the Freelancers is pushed to the limit as she forges a deeper connection with the mysterious John Doe. Alec crosses the Rubicon to protect his legacy. Kiera makes a shocking discovery.
• Three Minutes to Midnight: Kiera finally learns the truth about John Doe. Alec must make a difficult choice between business and family. Liber8 is rocked to the core by new information about their mission.
• The Dying Minutes: Something's hidden deep in the Freelancer facility. Kiera and John Doe work to retrieve it, but the price of knowledge may be betrayal. Carlos resolves to wrest control of the VPD from Piron and Dillon. Help arrives courtesy of an unlikely, and deadly, ally.
• Last Minute: Kiera battles old friends by allying with former enemies. Alec stands on the precipice of power with one man in his way. A season's worth of choices come down to one, unbelievable moment. ("Last Minute" includes a commentary track with creator Simon Barry and executive producer/director Pat Williams.)

Continuum: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Like the Blu-ray release of Season Two, Continuum: Season Three features a slick, digitally realized 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that doesn't suffer from any glaring issues. Colors range from warm and capably saturated, with lifelike skintones and pronounced primaries, to bleak and chilly, cast in the light of future-tech blues and gray Vancouver skies. There's also quite a bit of dystopian drabbery and dullery to sit through, as gray offices give way to gray skies, gray alleyways and gray, cloud-cast crime scenes. It's all in keeping with the showmakers' intentions, though, so there really isn't much to complain about. Contrast is consistent and satisfying throughout, while detail remains crisply resolved and largely undeterred (minus a few shots that struggle with subpar visual effects and shoddy CG), with clean edge definition, nicely refined textures and decidedly decent delineation. Artifacting, banding, aliasing and other nasties are nowhere to be found either, and only hints of ringing and crush prevent the encode from being more than it is.

Continuum: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Like its Season Two predecessor, Season Three's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track isn't as flat and front-heavy as its Season One counterpart, nor as full or immersive as other action-laced sci-fi dramas. Still, it's more than serviceable, especially considering the culprit is the series' uninspiring sound design, not Universal's lossless efforts. Dialogue is intelligible and neatly prioritized, and effects are grounded and carefully distributed across the soundfield, without anything in the way of buried lines or mid-shootout mishaps. LFE output doesn't exactly disappoint, especially during the season's more explosive, action-packed scenes, but it isn't all that remarkable either. Likewise, the rear speakers kick in when weapons are drawn or chases ensue, but underwhelm elsewhere. Ultimately, there isn't much to get worked up about, good or bad. Fans won't mind all that much and newcomers... well, newcomers will be too busy trying to get their bearings in the series to worry about how meaty or thin a particular scene sounds.

Continuum: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentaries: There are only two commentaries this time around, with no indication as to why The Complete Third Season has significantly fewer tracks than its predecessor. Ah well, so it goes. Commentaries include "Minute by Minute" and "Last Minute," with creator Simon Barry and executive producer/director Pat Williams, both of whom offer up plenty of insight into the production, storylines, characters and ever-evolving plot devices.
• Season Three Webisodes (HD): Surprisingly, the third season's webisodes add a good deal of additional heft to the story, and shouldn't be overlooked. For once, a series' online tie-in has something substantive to offer. The webisodes aren't crucial viewing, mind you, but are recommended.
• Continuum: Behind the Scenes (HD, 30 minutes): A suitably engaging (though less than extensive) four-part trip behind the scenes of Season Three. Chapters include "Point of No Return," "How Does that Sound," "Making the Cut" and "Two Alecs."

Continuum: Season Three Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Silver linings. Saving graces. Excuses really. Continuum: Season Three tries to tackle too much material and never quite manages to figure out how to balance its fraying story threads. It gains its composure by season's end -- after teetering back and forth for the better part of thirteen episodes -- but it's a dizzying experience that's more frustrating than rewarding. Good enough to bring me back for Season Four? Sure. Barely good enough? There you go. Thankfully, Universal delivers another decent Blu-ray release, at least in terms of AV quality, which is faithful to a fault. The supplemental package leaves a lot to be desired (particularly after Season Two's deluge of commentary tracks), meaning the set simply doesn't offer as much value. Fans will be pleased. Not ecstatic, but pleased.