‘Continuum’ Q&A: Simon Barry on “The Dying Minutes”Show creator explains Liber8's latest casualty, The Traveler and sets up next week's season finale.
by Greg David, June 15, 2014 10:00:13 PM With one week to go before
Continuum‘s third season finale, Sunday’s “The Dying Minutes” closed a few doors while opening others. One Liber8 member said goodbye–in this storyline anyway–The Freelancers fought to stay alive and a mysterious new character was introduced. Series creator Simon Barry had lots to tell us this week, including what it was like directing his first-ever action sequence and what fans can expect in next Sunday’s finale.
TVGuide.ca: Another huge episode. Following up on last week’s realization that nothing Liber8 could do would change history, Sonya allowed herself to be arrested and then detonated a bomb in the police precinct, killing her and grievously injuring Dillon. Was her exit an homage to Kagame? Simon Barry: In light of what had happened, this was one of the few plays that she had left, to be a martyr in the way that Kagame was.
TVGC: What was Lexa’s reaction when you told her what was going to happen to Sonya? SB: Lexa is a real pro, and she understood that the only thing worse than being killed as a character is not being used well as a character, and I think that because we were in the position that we were coming to a conclusion in the Liber8 story that the opportunities for her going forward were not as interesting. When I mentioned it to her the first time, she was pretty clear that the opportunity to go out in a blaze of glory was something she not only thought was possible, but she liked it.
TVGC: I’ve enjoyed Sonya’s back story this season; learning about her past and how she became part of Liber8 has been really interesting. SB: We knew early on that we wanted to fill in some bits and pieces and that this was one of our options. We definitely felt like, in Episode 7 for example where we see the Sonya back story, was one way for us to kind of honour the Sonya storyline. Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t have more opportunities to tell Sonya’s story. As you know on this show if somebody dies in the present, it just means that storyline may or may not be over. We certainly have many more stories about Liber8, before they went back in time, that we want to pursue in Season 4.
TVGC: You introduced another new character last night in The Traveler. Is he the first Freelancer? What can you tell me? SB: The speculation, at least from Kiera’s perspective, is that the original Freelancer that she had been told about by Catherine, was sent back 1,000 years to set up this safety net and it had to start with one person. In The Traveler we thought it would be interesting to take that journey. And obviously given the technology that he has to be able to bring Curtis back, we are alluding to the fact that there is technology embedded within him that is related to time travel.
TVGC: Is there any religious connotation to the fact her can bring back people from the dead with the touch of a hand? SB: If you want to make the religious connection … we’re not necessarily saying it’s religion …
Simon Barry directing Sunday’s episode
TVGC: The Freelancer’s headquarters was the site of some epic fights last night. That fight between Brad and Kiera vs. the Freelancers was crazy; the choreography from Kimani Ray-Smith must have been something because they were all in that really small space.SB: That was my very first action sequence and as I director I was really interested in making sure that Kimani made me look good! [Laughs.] That’s what he does; he makes directors look really, really good. I think he made me look like I knew what I was doing. But the truth is, I had approached Kimani and said, ‘What if we do a really crazy fight in the narrowest corridor I can find?’ And he looked at me and said, ‘Yeah, that’s a great idea.’ I think with most fights you tend to choreograph the space as an asset and we really wanted to turn it around and make the space dictate how the fight would play out. I think Kimani came up this notion of ‘gung fu,’ a play on kung fu and the idea that we could have a fistfight in close quarters with the gun play as well would be an interesting blend of both. I have to say, give credit where credit is due: Kimani really raised his game for me.
TVGC: Curtis went on that killing spree in the Freelancer HQ; is there anyone left from that massacre besides The Traveler? SB: Technically, yeah. We’ve pretty much cleaned out the Freelancer facility for all intents and purposes. There are some people that you didn’t see get killed, like Miller.
TVGC: The final scene at the cabin with Brad and Kiera was interesting because I think that’s the first time we’ve seen Kiera smile all season. SB: [Laughs.] Well, we’ve been softening up Kiera since John Doe/Brad came on the scene. His sense of humour has started to chip away at Kiera’s tough exterior. But I also think that’s symptomatic to the things that Kiera has come to terms with. When you realize that this character has been fighting something for so long and has now relieved herself of the obligation of that fight that that character can now start to live and breathe as a human being. Rachel and I have talked about this in the last few episodes of the show to allow for that part of her to start to come through because, let’s face it, she no longer has the chip on her shoulder about pursuing Liber8 or protecting the timeline. She has redefined her place in the universe in a way.
TVGC: OK, let’s talk about next week’s season finale. We were left with a very angry-looking Piron Alec … SB: Piron Alec was pretty confident in his belief that the other Alec was no longer an issue and that’s the one thing in his universe that is a loose end. By Kiera freeing the other Alec and not telling him, Kiera has chosen a side. We definitely wanted to tee up that. But we also wanted to indicate with regards to Kiera and Alec and Emily and Brad that they have, in their minds, come to a point where they were done and their work was done. In a weird way we’ve almost come to the end of a chapter and that new chapter would be driven by an inciting incident, and that’s what we have to look forward to.
TVGC: Do all of our questions get answered next week? SB: Yes, and more questions may be posed.
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Subject: Continuum 3x12 "The Dying Minutes" 
Thu Jun 19, 2014 5:02 am
