Just shy of a year of its second season hitting Netflix, the third season of Travelers drops worldwide this Friday. And it’s a very welcome return.
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]
I’ve seen the first three episodes, and they’re a perfect storm of picking up the pieces from the finale and blazing forward on the larger task at hand. That mix of mission vs. personal lives is more volatile than ever. The team’s drastic decision on how best to preserve the official story will percolate all season long.
The first two episodes introduce a new foil for MacLaren in Agent Joanne Yates (Kimberley Sustad). She vaults to the top of the “need to know” list when she receives a very specific and startling message. That sets in motion a new and uncomfortable sort of oversight for the team, but she soon realizes she’s in way over her head.
We also meet Ivan Teslia (Benjamin Ratner), and I am totally taking his name as a wink nod to Tesla himself, whether that was intended or not. Teslia becomes intertwined with the team and Joanne due to his work on a bold new iteration of Artificial Intelligence.
As for the team itself, Marcy and David and MacLaren and Kat are navigating that weird space of misinformation and secrets between romantic partners. Carly is deal with the fallout from her beat-down of Jeff. Philip and Trevor find themselves in close quarters, which turns the observer Philip into the observed, just as he starts to slip.
The episodes are very timely (no pun intended), exploring the current climate of sensationalism in the media. An attempt to crack that old chestnut of nature vs. nurture is also suddenly very, very big when its ramifications literally span time.
There are a few callbacks to earlier seasons, but these episodes completely work if you pick the series up now. There are standalone “mission” moments with serialized history woven in. I’d definitely recommend that if you start now, you make time at some point to dial it back and see how we got here.
Eric McCormack, MacKenzie Porter, Jared Abrahamson, Nesta Cooper, Reilly Dolman, Patrick Gilmore, Leah Cairns, and Jennifer Spence continue to be one of the best ensemble casts working today.
That’s evidenced by how seamlessly they hit the ground running again with this season. When you also take into account that the actors playing Travelers are deftly layering the duality of their characters’ original identities and who they’re supposed to be in the 21st, the performances are that much more remarkable.
There’s a standout moment in Episode 3 that reminds us these are soldiers on a path who gave up so much for the mission. We see what happens when the scars of that sacrifice bleed through at the most unexpected times.
Look for more great Vancouver talent, too, as Ben Cotton, Zak Santiago, and David Cubitt pop up in addition to Sustad and Ratner.
Season 3 of Travelers launches worldwide this Friday on Netflix. Season 1 and 2 are available now. Here’s a sneak peek of Season 3. Welcome back to the 21st!
