“Second Listen” is episode eight of season two of Continuum.
In the previous episode, “Second Degree”, Kiera had discovered that someone was stealing the bodies of dead time travellers. So she informed Agent Gardiner, to get him to pursue this and keep him out of her hair. And he found something. Alec’s girlfriend, Emily, is working for Escher – no surprise – and she’s also very dangerous. When a strange man came looking for Alec – with unusual technology – she quickly disabled, and then killed, him. Carlos’ friend Jim, who is running for mayor, is definitely working with Sonya, having helped get the judge at Julian’s trial to set him free. Travis then promptly killed the judge; probably not for the release of Julian.
Once again opening in the future, Kiera is bringing in a load of what look like prostitutes, one of whom is Garza. These would appear to be for the older Alec Sadler to pick one. He seemingly picks Garza at random – but he also knows her name, so was it truly random? There are clips from their meeting in the future later in the episode, and this meeting has an effect on Alec in the past.
In the past (present?) Kiera and Gardiner pull up a couple of men who appear to be stealing a car. Not for that, but because they have been traced to the thefts of the bodies. They were paid to get the bodies and drop them off. So Kiera and Gardiner – who actually appear to be working well together – go to where the bodies were taken. They aren’t there of course. Kiera wants Alec to trigger the CMR of one of the bodies, so that they can look through the eyes of the dead person to see where the body is. Alec points out, justifiably, that this is creepy – although kind of reanimating the dead is cool. They do get an image of another person involved in the bodysnatching.
Kiera and Gardiner continue working the case with the bodysnatchers. They turn up at the court to question them further, only to find that both are likely to be released. But they both promptly drop dead. Apparently of an aneurysm. Which is unlikely. The person from the morgue is involved, and according to Escher, from a dangerous group, one that he says aren’t affiliated with him, time travellers out to gain power. They are supposedly identifiable by small dots tattooed between their fingers. Said tattoos have cropped up on some other bodies – including that of the man that Emily killed. Kiera is also uncertain about Emily, just like Kellog. It seems Emily may have genuine feelings about Alec, whatever her motivations.
Alec is also working with Jason on the time machine, as he offered in “Second Opinion”, but Kellog is not impressed – and he’s currently funding everything. Kellog wants him to work on another project first, Ark; time travel later. Alec is also wondering about Jason – after seeing him after using Flash in “Second Thoughts”, and seeing how easily Alec’s mother lied in court, he’s wondering if his father is really dead and whether Jason is his father. He did arrive back in the past a couple of years before Alec was born, so Emily suggests doing a DNA test.