Travelers Season 3 Review: If You Like Time Travel, You SHOULD Be Watching This Show

Season 3 of "Travelers" dropped on NetFlix on December 14 without much fanfare. That's a shame since it's one the best shows on TV. It was produced in Canada and has an all Canadian cast. "Travelers' is directed by "StarGate: SG 1" creator Brad Wright and stars "Will & Grace's" Eric McCormack. If you like time travel, I STRONGLY encourage you to watch this series.

Before we get into the specifics of the new season, a refresher on the basics. An AI program (called the Director) has sent a number of teams from the future into our present. They must stop the events that lead to the near destruction of the planet. Travelers enter hosts at the time of their death (as is reflected in the historical record). They inherit the hosts medical/psychological disorders (so if the host was addicted to drugs, the traveler will be as well).

Each traveler team consists of five people. They are a Team Leader, Tactician, Medic, Historian, and Engineer. Our team includes FBI agent Grant "Mac" MacLaren (Traveler 3468), Carly Shannon (Traveler 3465), Marcy Warton (Traveler 3569), Philip Pearson (Traveler 3326) and Trevor Holden (Traveler 0115). They are later joined by one of the first programmers Grace Day (Traveler 0027).

There are six protocols that govern travelers behavior (plus Alpha, Epsilon, and Omega):

Protocol Alpha- All travelers will do whatever it takes to resolve the issue at hand.
Protocol 1- The mission comes first.
Protocol 2- Never jeopardize your cover. Protocol 2H- Updates are never to be shared with anyone ever (this applies to Historians).
Protocol 3- Don't take a life. Dont save a life unless otherwise directed. Do not interfere.
Protocol 4- Do not reproduce.
Protocol 5- In the absence of direction, maintain your host's life.
Protocol 6- No inter team/deep web communications except in extreme emergencies or when sanctioned.
Protocol Epsilon- The archives are in trouble. Protect the archives.
Protocol Omega- The Director will no longer intervene in this time line.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. If you havent watched season 3 turn back now.

At the end of season 2 Traveler 0001 (originally Vincent Ingram and later Dr Katrina Perrow) has kidnapped all the traveler's loved ones. He makes the travelers profess who they really are and releases the tapes to the public.

Season 3 picks up where the finale left off. The loved ones-- David (Marcy's boyfriend), Kat (Mac's wife), Jeff (Carly's ex) and Ray (Philip's bookie) all have their memories of the last 24 hours wiped. Grace of course doesnt because she's a traveler. Carly's baby is along for the ride.

Mac has a new FBI partner in Joanne Yates. Since the FBI now knows about travelers, her job is to keep an eye on him and to try to get intel. This doesnt work so well. The travelers still dont realize how close they were to being wiped out worldwide. The only reason they weren't is the Director speaking through Yates's dying mother. Grant reminds Joanne his REAL job is to "save the f$%^ing world".

There are several "mission of the week" episodes. My favorite involves a serial killer whom a traveler jumps into. That throwing up scene was quite a surprise. The traveler must complete his vital mission and then accepts the fact that he will spend the rest of his days in prison.

Phillip is not taking his pills and thus is experiencing lots of different time lines at the same time.

Kat, David and Jeff continue to struggle with the aftereffects of their abduction. Kat thinks Mac is trying to kill her. David decides he needs to learn to protect himself. Jeff continues to be a jerk and has a confrontation with Carly. She would have shot him but a traveler takes his place instead. He is on a solo mission and asks for Carly's help in adjusting to this new world.

Trevor is the one of the oldest living humans in history. He begins to suffer from temporal aphasia due to the number of hosts he has inhabited. He freezes in time and the episodes are becoming more and more frequent. Trevor is content with his situation but Grace is not. She has feelings for him. I'd like to take this moment to profess my love for Grace (Jennifer Spence). She is caustic and hilarious. I would SO watch a spinoff with just her and Trevor in it.

It's interesting to see how the travelers feelings about the Director change over the course of the season. At first they are all blindly obedient. Now several people are not so sure the Director knows what it's doing. Are they far off from becoming part of the Faction (a group of travelers that think humans instead of the Director should fix history)? This may be especially true since nothing they've done has affected the future in a positive way.

All hell breaks loose. The Faction gets Vincent/0001 on their side. They kidnap a number of historians and archivists including Phillip. They blow up the archives in China and Russia (via nuclear bombs) in order to hinder the Director's knowledge f current events. The only reason the US archive wasnt affected is David is able to successfully disarm the bomb. He gives his life to save thousands of people. Marcy pleads with the Director to save David but to no avail. That was very painful to watch. I'm not crying. You're crying!

It turns out Jeff is now controlled by 0001. He wants to access the backdoor to the Director via code Grace says is in Marcy's brain (from when her memory was wiped). Marcy foils him by shooting herself in the head. Man, this show is kicking me in the teeth. First it's David. Now it's Marcy. Jeff/0001 is not successful in accessing the Director.He instead unloads his consciousness to the internet.

The Faction begins taking over world leaders. Russia and China launch nuclear weapons against the US. They're all about to die. Joanne is correct when she tells Mac that travelers havent helped saved humanity. They have speeded up it's demise.

The Director instates Protocol Omega (which means it wont help the travelers with anything going forward). They have failed. Their only hope (and it's a long shot) is to send someone back in time to BEFORE Traveler 0001 was sent on his mission.

Mac successfully goes back and joins Kat on the same day they originally met (which was her birthday). She had recently reminded him of their meeting. That's why they know the TELL (time, elevation, longitude, latitude). Instead of getting together, he chats for a moment and then leaves her to a life with John the artist.

In the past, Mac delivers a letter to a younger Samantha (who is the clean energy scientist we met earlier this season). It's about Helios (the meteorite that destroyed the Eastern seaboard). Hopefully that disaster is now averted. He heads for the World Trade Center on the morning 9/11. This is where/when Vincent came through in the IT guy's body.

Mac sends an email to the Director of the future saying the mission is a failure and to not send through any travelers. We see on a screen that version 1 has been aborted. It's now time for version two. And with that, everything we have seen up to this point has been wiped out. Mic drop. Wow.

And in the final scene Marcy and David meet on a bus. I assume this is an alternate timeline (and not a dream sequence). This encounter is before she was experimented on by Vincent so she is not mentally disabled. Looks like these two are going to hit it off. Just a reminder. This is the REAL Marcy (and not the host we've gotten to know).

One of the best things about "Travelers" to me is the love story of a girl from the future and a lovable guy from the present. Remember host Marcy fell for David not once but twice (since she had her memory wiped in season 1). They're what all the travelers are fighting so hard for-- a chance to be in love, settle down and have a happy life together.

Grade: 5 Monsters (out of 5). Wonderful! This may the best season yet. I just wish more people were watching the show. I'm a sucker for time travel stories so "Travelers" fits the bill. With just 10 episodes, it's a fast binge. The tech is fun. The show has compelling and heartbreaking story lines. Make sure you stay for the ending. I'm really rooting for our gang of travelers to make it (and to eventually save the world). Let's hope we get a season 4 to find out.