“30 Minutes to Air” is episode five of season three of Continuum.
In the previous episode, “Minute Changes”, Alec Two discovered the existence of Original Alec. Already, the two of them seem to be diverging quite strongly. Alec Two, probably due to the nature of the revelation, has permanently gone off Emily after discovering that she was spying on him for Escher. Emily (okay, not her real name) has therefore gone to Original Alec. Alec Two seems to be becoming a much harder person than Original Alec is and is taking control of Piron as if he means to do it. He is starting to look like the type of person that Future Alec seemed to regret becoming.
The fact that Betty is spying for Liber8 has also been discovered, and she has been made to become a double agent. She can come to work as normal, but otherwise she’s under house arrest. What she passes on to Liber8 will be determined for her in advance, to gain benefit from it.
This episode opens in the future, but not with Kiera for once. A woman is entering her apartment with her daughter, when she sees a window is open. She is then grabbed from behind by Travis – who, it seems, is the girl’s father. Although he’s not completely welcomed by the mother; their daughter’s DNA is forged so people don’t know that she’s Travis’ daughter. The apartment is raided by the CPS, however, whilst Travis is hiding in it, and he is found.
Back in the past/present a couple of people are breaking onto the rooftop of a building owned by a company called Fermitas. They then hang a sign from the roof. Fermitas is apparently one of the largest weapon manufacturers in the world. Carlos still seems a bit short with Kiera. So Curtis approaches Kiera, and suggests that she needs a partner, because her two current relationships are damaged. Kiera doesn’t trust Curtis, so she speaks to Catherine about it, to get her opinion on the matter. Catherine shows Kiera something.
The two protesters from earlier are brought in, and it looks like Carlos recognises the girl. She is questioned by Dillon with Kiera and Carlos watching on, and it comes as no great surprise when it’s revealed that the girl is actually Dillon’s daughter. Which is awkward to say the least Dillon’s own daughter being pro-Liber8 would look great on the news. Nora, who took over from Dillon when he was removed in “Second Opinion”, suggest spin. So Dillon goes on television, the same show that Julian went on. The show gets a bit confrontational, but not half as much as when Travis and Lucas arrive and holds Dillon, and eight other people, as hostages.
What Liber8 have done doesn’t make sense to Kiera; they’re holding hostages and demanding access to the satellites. Lucas is perfectly capable of hacking the networks and getting air time without exposing them, so they are clearly up to something else. Dillon, on the inside, believes that Liber8 is after something specific, but not what they are claiming to be after. Carlos asks Kiera to infiltrate. The secret owners of the network are unwilling to give over the codes. But what do Liber8 want access to the satellites for? And where are Sonya and Garza?
Kellog is speaking to Alec Two, and is subtly suggesting that he be brought in to help. Alec Two seems not that interested and Kellog isn’t happy; Alec Two offers to buy Kellog out of Sadtech. Kellog is really not happy. Alec Two also appears to have cut Original Alec off from the money. Alec Two has got a lot nastier very quickly. Which means there’s an obvious mutual area of interest.
There are also some interesting twists at the end.