“Seconds” is episode nine of season two of Continuum.
In the previous episode, “Second Listen”, Garza kidnapped Alec, after first killing a couple of his friends. It seems that older Alec had, in the future, asked her to kill his younger self, if she deemed it necessary. Kiera and Gardiner’s investigation into the missing bodies resulted in Escher telling the former about the so-called Freelancers, people Escher says are out to manipulate time to build power. He made out that they were nothing to do with him but he also had the tattoo that he stated identified their agents. However, Emily – who is working for Escher – killed one of the Freelancers in “Second Degree”. So perhaps Escher isn’t working with them, but he may have been in the past. Do they know about what he is currently doing, if that’s the case? Whilst Kiera was distracted with Alec’s kidnapping, Gardiner followed up a lead by himself that led to a lawyer. Said lawyer might have been more important than thought, as a result of which Gardiner was killed by one of the Freelancers – perhaps one of the more important ones.
As always, the episode opens in the future – but this time not as far in the future. It opens in New Pemberton, 2035, with Kiera giving a voiceover about how, before her birth, society was a mess and governments collapsed and people had to work together to create a better future, and how people were doing so at New Pemberton and other factory cities, but how this was all overthrown by one man and the zealots who followed him. Guards are going into what looks like a prison looking for a particular individual, who has been convicted of non-payment of debt. She is implanted with something and seems to basically turn into a robot – along with many others. The scenes do not match the voiceover, and what happens is shown at the end.
In the present, Kiera is looking at a news story about Julian’s release. The murder of the judge by Travis at the end of “Second Degree” means that they won’t be able to get the evidence needed to overturn the case and prove the judge had been manipulated (he had). Dillon then walks into the room and goes to his replacement – he has a letter from the new chief and his old job back. Dillon then speaks to Carlos and Kiera – Escher, and Piron, is essentially privately funding the department, so that they can take the fight to Liber8.
As Julian is collecting his things from custody as he is being released, he is given a note. Dillon is also going to have him watched around the clock. Alec’s mother, Ann, meets Julian, and leads him outside in front of the press. She makes a statement about justice being served – as would be expected from such a straight line, someone takes a shot at Julian, blaming him for the death of his daughter (presumably in the terrorist attack in “Endtime”), but hits Ann instead. Carlos wounds the shooter and Julian runs away, after Ann tells him he is in danger and to run. Kiera follows but Julian is picked up by someone before she can catch him. He is taken to a group, led by Travis, who like what Julian – Theseus – wrote. Julian is not that happy with Travis being there, and isn’t willing to work with them. For now, at least. Julian heads to see Sonya instead, who of course knows Julian’s role in the future. Lucas starts spreading doubts about Sonya in Julian’s mind – is Liber8 disintegrating even further? Or is this a ploy? Julian reaches out to Alec.
There’s something on the internet portraying Julian as Theseus, which gives Kiera a shock – for she knows who Theseus is in the future. The inspiration behind Liber8, the man she was raised knowing as a monster who murdered tens of thousands. She just didn’t realise that Julian was him in the past. Now, she considers hunting him down and permanently stopping Julian before he can kill people in the future, her past. Alec is put in an awkward position, as his mother obviously thinks Julian is worth saving. Both Julian and Alec are considering their own futures; Alec knows more about the future than Julian does. Kiera also seems willing to assist in doing everything and anything necessary to stop Theseus, because Dillon has a hidden agenda. Neither Carlos nor Alec are happy about this.