Travelers (TV series)

This article is about the 2016 Canadian-American TV series. For the 2007 ABC TV series, see Traveler (TV series).

Travelers
Genre	Science fiction
Created by	Brad Wright
Starring	Eric McCormack MacKenzie Porter Nesta Cooper Jared Abrahamson Reilly Dolman Patrick Gilmore
Composer	Adam Lastiwka
Country of origin	Canada United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	15
Production
Producer	Eric McCormack
Production locations	Vancouver, BC, Canada
Running time	45 mins
Original release
Network	Showcase (Canada) Netflix (international)
Release	October 17, 2016 (2016-10-17) – present

Travelers is a science fiction television series created by Brad Wright, starring Eric McCormack. The series is a co-production between Netflix and Showcase. The first season comprises 12 episodes and premiered on Showcase on October 17, 2016; the entire series premiered globally (outside of Canada) on Netflix, on December 23, 2016. On February 8, 2017, Netflix and Showcase renewed the show for a second season. Season 2 production began in March 2017, ahead of the Canadian premiere on Showcase scheduled to air on October 16, 2017, which will be followed by a Netflix release.

Premise

Thousands of special operatives, sent back in time from the future, are tasked with preventing the collapse of society. These operatives, known as "travelers", take over the body of a 21st-century individual via a transfer of consciousness; to minimize impact on the timeline, it is performed moments before the person's recorded time of death. The transfer requires the exact location of the target; smart phones and GPS have made this possible only from the early 21st century onward. Prepared using social media and public records concerning their targets, small teams of travelers must maintain their hosts' pre-existing lives as cover while carrying out missions, dictated by their director in the future, aimed at saving the world from a series of catastrophic events. The Director communicates with travelers via pre-pubescent children used as messengers; unlike adults, any child can safely be taken over for a few minutes and then released from control. The show focuses on one team of five travelers, starting from their transfers of consciousness. As the series progresses, travelers affect the present and future in unanticipated ways.

Cast

Main

• Eric McCormack as Grant MacLaren (Traveler 3468), the team's leader, who assumes the life of an FBI special agent.
• MacKenzie Porter as Marcy Warton (Traveler 3569), the team's medic, who assumes the life of an intellectually disabled woman.
• Nesta Cooper as Carly Shannon (Traveler 3465), the team's tactician, who assumes the life of a stay-at-home single mother.
• Jared Abrahamson as Trevor Holden (Traveler 0115), the team's engineer, who assumes the life of a high school athlete.
• Reilly Dolman as Philip Pearson (Traveler 3326), the team's historian, who assumes the life of a college-aged heroin addict.
• Patrick Gilmore as David Mailer, Marcy's social worker.

Recurring

• Ian Tracey as Ray Green, Philip’s lawyer and later friend; a gambling addict.
• Arnold Pinnock as Walt Forbes, Grant’s partner at the FBI.
• J. Alex Brinson as Jeff Conniker, Carly’s abusive ex-boyfriend and the father of her son; a policeman.
• William MacDonald as Gary Holden, Trevor’s father.
• Teryl Rothery as Patricia Holden, Trevor’s mother.
• David Lewis as Major Gleason, a hotheaded military officer.
• Kyra Zagorsky as Dr. Delaney, a brilliant scientist who developed a method for collecting and storing antimatter.
• Leah Cairns as Kathryn “Kat” MacLaren, Grant’s wife who works in antiques restoration.
• Kristine Cofsky as Officer Victoria Boyd, Traveler 3185, a fellow traveler assuming the life of a police officer.
• Giacomo Baessato as Private Wilson, a military soldier who works for Gleason.
• Alyssa Lynch as Renee Bellamy, a high school student and Trevor's girlfriend.
• Jennifer Spence as Grace Day, Trevor’s high school counselor, and later Traveler 0027, a programmer who helped create the Director.
• Tom McBeath as Ellis, Traveler 0014, a programmer assuming the life of a farmer.
• Eileen Pedde as Mom, a fellow traveler who assumes the role of a mother in a family of four.
• Yasmeene Ball as Charlotte, a misfire traveler historian; later a traveler assassin.
• Douglas Chapman as Luca, a traveler on Hall's team.
• Glynis Davies as Jacqueline, a representative of Child Protective Services.
• Melanie Papalia as Beth, an FBI analyst working for MacLaren.
• Karin Konoval as Bloom, Traveler 0117, a high ranking traveler engineer.
• Louis Ferreira as Sergeant Rick Hall, a jaded traveler team leader.
• Jason Gray-Stanford as Aaron Donner, Traveler 4022 (and later Traveler 4024), a bomber.
• Enrico Colantoni as Vincent, Traveler 0001, the creator of the Traveler technology, who was sent back to September 11, 2001 who then went off mission.
• Amanda Tapping, as Dr. Perrow, a psychologist.

Episodes

Season 1 (2016–17)

The non-Canadian Netflix release was on December 23, 2016, before the final two episodes of Season 1 aired on Showcase.

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Travelers"	Nick Hurran	Brad Wright	October 17, 2016 (2016-10-17)
Four unconnected people suddenly undergo personality changes at what would have been their moments of death: Marcy, a young woman with a learning disability, is assaulted but fights off her attackers and is no longer impaired; high-schooler Trevor concedes a mixed martial arts fight after being overmatched; heroin-addicted college student Philip drops his syringe just as his roommate injects a fatal overdose; and young mother Carly stares down her baby's abusive father. FBI agent MacLaren tracks their subsequent communication and confronts them; they reveal that they are among thousands of time travelers sent from the future to avert a global crisis, and that MacLaren was to die that night while pursuing a murderer they have already killed; MacLaren is taken over by a fifth traveler.
2	2	"Protocol 6"	Andy Mikita	Gillian Muller	October 24, 2016 (2016-10-24)
To prevent an explosion that kills thousands, the team steals antimatter from a military convoy. The material's intended recipient is a new traveler who fails to prevent his host's suicide, forcing the team to improvise. After failing to upgrade their containment device, the team returns the antimatter to its origin facility. They form a tenuous alliance with Dr. Delaney, who produced the antimatter; history records her as complicit in the weaponization of antimatter, but she actually opposes Major Gleason's ambitions. MacLaren informs Delaney that they will return soon. Philip retains his host's heroin addiction. MacLaren meets his wife, Kat, but also resumes a preexisting relationship with Carly. Marcy works to build trust with a confused David.
3	3	"Aleksander"	Andy Mikita	Tara Armstrong & Mika Collins	October 31, 2016 (2016-10-31)
Philip obsesses over the lives the team is forbidden to save, writing the names and T.E.L.L.s of all potential candidates on the warehouse wall. He secretly tips off the FBI to prevent killings. He leads the team to rescue abducted child Aleksander Andrieko before his murder, falsely claiming it as a mission from the Director. As a messenger, Aleksander exposes the ruse. MacLaren decides to abandon the "mission", but Philip refuses, drawing his weapon. Aleksander is saved, his captors are killed, and Philip survives a gunshot wound; Marcy reveals his heroin addiction to the others, and plans to wean him. Jeff investigates the assault on Marcy, and detects the personality changes. David covers for her. The team adjusts to the 21st-century's contrast with the scarcity of their native era.
4	4	"Hall"	Martin Wood	Pat Smith	November 7, 2016 (2016-11-07)
MacLaren and Forbes stake out a criminal transaction that becomes a shootout. MacLaren's team is directed to assist an older traveler team: the incident's survivors, whose leader, Rick Hall, reveals that the deal was the assigned transfer of a device with a Russian traveler team. MacLaren is shocked by the violence between teams and by Hall's jadedness. Hall's teammates, Carter and Luca, are both dying, but Marcy saves Luca by transfusing Carter's blood; Marcy suspects Luca is her brother due to his suffering from night terrors. Hall demands that he become the leader of a merged team, and demands MacLaren kill Forbes to prevent their exposure. MacLaren and Forbes arrest Hall and Luca, and the team transfers the device. Trevor quits football to focus on his grades, but is grounded. Ray demands more gambling information from Philip. Carly rebukes Jeff, who harasses Marcy. Carly and MacLaren sleep together.
5	5	"Room 101"	Martin Wood	Brad Wright	November 14, 2016 (2016-11-14)
A family of four are about to die in a car crash when the mother, father, and son become travelers. Charlotte, the daughter, retains her identity when the team's historian's transfer misfires, so MacLaren sends her to stay with her grandparents until the others complete their mission. Trevor, Carly, Marcy, and Philip are abducted and interrogated about the future until Carly kills their guard. David alerts MacLaren when Marcy doesn't come home, who is able to find and rescue the team with Officer Boyd. MacLaren was forced to cancel the team's mission with the family team, and Carly speculates this was their unidentified captor's goal.
6	6	"Helios 685"	Helen Shaver	Rebecca Hales	November 21, 2016 (2016-11-21)
Travelers transfer into a cult preparing for mass suicide. MacLaren's team, the cult, and many other travelers, including senior engineer Bloom, meet at the antimatter facility. Bloom reveals that the future is not as united as it once was. Dosed with antitoxin, they release a toxic cloud to force a local evacuation. Gleason interrogates Delaney until MacLaren returns her to the facility and explains the nature of travelers. Gleason discovers Delaney's escape and prepares to return to her lab. Using the antimatter to power an x-ray laser, the travelers intend to deflect asteroid Helios 685, saving millions of lives and preventing the environmental catastrophes and devastating wars that led to their dark future. Deflecting Helios has been the Director's main goal, even though it could possibly prevent the travelers' own births in the future. Gleason leads an assault, killing most of the cult travelers and Bloom before she can fire the laser. However, travelers transfer into him and his soldiers, sacrificing themselves to complete the mission. Gleason fires the laser while MacLaren and his team save Delaney from the antimatter explosion on Bloom's orders. MacLaren is unsure of the mission's success, as his team remains in the present.
7	7	"Protocol 5"	Helen Shaver	SB Edwards & Ashley Park & Pat Smith & Jason Whiting	November 28, 2016 (2016-11-28)
Resuming their hosts' lives, the team suffer paranoia and hallucinations, side effects of the antitoxin. MacLaren's coworkers hold a surprise party for his 15th anniversary with the bureau. Kat confronts him about lying to Forbes; he seduces her, but she is certain he is cheating. During their kiss, MacLaren hallucinates that Kat is a woman with a shaved head, likely from the future. It is revealed that she has Carly's number tattooed on her neck. Their intimacy growing, David reluctantly helps Marcy perform surgery on herself to prevent seizures. Carly rebuffs a representative of Child Protective Services. Trevor reins in his host's delinquency, and he and Renee meditate. Ray takes Philip to a twelve-step meeting for drug addicts and gets him a pet turtle for which to care. Trevor and Philip learn the team has a new mission.
8	8	"Donner"	Will Waring	Ashley Park & Pat Smith	December 5, 2016 (2016-12-05)
A suicide bomber and his victims are set to become travelers, but the bomb explodes and only Donner, the bomber, survives. Devastated by his failure, Donner tries to betray the traveler program to the authorities, but the entire hearing is populated by travelers who hold a trial and convict Donner of treason. Donner is overwritten by a new traveler, who must serve Donner's prison sentence, and reports that things in the future are getting worse. Luca approaches Donner in prison, implying that he has lost faith in the Director. Ken, David's boss, believes David's relationship with Marcy is inappropriate. Upon meeting Marcy, he believes she has defrauded the system. Marcy saves David's job by repaying her benefits. Grace, Trevor's guidance counselor, and Jacqueline, Carly's social worker, genuinely care about them, respectively. Grace tries to help Trevor with his academics, and Jacqueline promise that she will not let the system fail Carly and her child. Philip discovers that gambling outcomes are deviating slightly from the historic record.
9	9	"Bishop"	Will Waring	Amanda Smith	December 12, 2016 (2016-12-12)
After asking Marcy to move out, David admits he can't bear to be without her. She tells him she is dying, and they kiss. Trevor tries to connect with his father. Jeff files assault charges, preventing Carly from finding a job. She asks him to take the baby for an afternoon, unaware he has tipped Kat off to Carly's relationship with MacLaren. Under orders, a traveler murders her host's Cabinet-member husband, and instructs MacLaren to board a flight as Congressman Bishop's seatmate. In flight, MacLaren learns he is to activate a stasis field to save himself and Bishop, while all others aboard will die in a crash. MacLaren discovers Kat followed him on board, believing she would witness his infidelity. He instructs Kat and Bishop to use the stasis device, and attempts to survive impact unaided, using only Philip's knowledge of the crash. At the crash site, the team resuscitate Kat and Bishop, and Bishop is overwritten. MacLaren is taken away by traveler paramedics before the team can reach him to Carly's dismay.
10	10	"Kathryn"	Andy Mikita	Jason Whiting & SB Edwards	December 19, 2016 (2016-12-19)
Marcy erases Kat's memory of the crash and of the preceding day, and stage her home to make it appear as if she drank too much the night before. Philip removes MacLaren's car from the airport, but Forbes believes it is theft. Carly extracts Philip, while Forbes and Kat search for MacLaren. Carly loses custody of her son until the trial. An advanced traveler medical team treats MacLaren with nanites to repair his massive internal damage. Trevor undergoes a painful procedure to grow a transplant heart for MacLaren. Unconscious, MacLaren experiences memories of his host's life with Kat. He discovers that they were deeply in love, and that she very much wanted to have children. She didn't because MacLaren feared losing Kat after she suffered a life-threatening miscarriage. He also sees that they began to grow apart due to MacLaren's work commitments. MacLaren recovers in time to stage a cover story for Forbes, claiming that Philip is MacLaren's confidential informant and went rogue to prove that MacLaren's life is insecure. MacLaren returns home, and tries to apologize to Kat, but she avoids him.
11	11	"Marcy"	Andy Mikita	Jason Whiting	December 26, 2016 (2016-12-26)
Grace is due to die, so Trevor kidnaps her to save her life. Believing he is insane, she flees and is overwritten despite having avoided the accident that would have killed her. Grace and another newly arrived traveler, Ellis, are computer programmers who have fled an anti-Director faction in the future. Ellis has developed a code that is sought by this faction, and has returned to the 21st-century to keep it from them. David and Marcy consummate their relationship. However, her condition worsens and Boyd stabilizes her, but Marcy is near death. In the future, Grace was in charge of social media research and identifying the candidates. She wants to correct Marcy's condition with a experimental overwrite. She offers to redirect Marcy's original transfer into the functional part of her brain, saving her at the cost of her 21st-century memories. MacLaren lets Marcy decide, and she decides to speak to David first. However, her condition becomes critical shortly before David returns home, and she is overwritten by her earlier self. Her team introduces her to David.
12	12	"Grace"	Amanda Tapping	Ashley Park	January 2, 2017 (2017-01-02)
Kathryn confronts MacClaren about an affair she believes he is having, leading him to end his relationship with Carly. Charlotte, the misfire historian, is overwritten and murders her team. She attempts to assassinate Grace, but Trevor stops her. Grace reveals that the anti-Director faction was responsible for the team's abduction. Charlotte is shot by Jeff while attempting to kill Carly. Ellis reveals that he has built a quantum frame that the Director, an advanced AI, can use to travel to the present to escape the faction. David is held at gunpoint by another assassin but is saved by Marcy. The team arrives at the farm where Trevor has received a text to destroy the frame. Carly reveals she received an order to kill MacLaren and holds him at gunpoint. Assassins surround the farm as Ellis shoots Trevor to keep him from harming the frame. Grace jumps in front of Trevor and is shot as well. Ellis shuts down the perimeter shield in the hope that the Director will help them and delivers a message to destroy the frame shortly before he dies. It is revealed that the people surrounding them are not anti-Director assassins, but FBI agents led by Forbes.

Season 2 (2017)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
13	1	"Ave Machina"	Andy Mikita	Brad Wright	October 16, 2017 (2017-10-16)
Grant MacLaren and his team find themselves in FBI custody with no means of escape, while a mysterious new traveler reveals secrets to his psychiatrist.
14	2	"Protocol 4"	Andy Mikita	Jason Whiting	October 23, 2017 (2017-10-23)
Philip makes an unexpected connection, Marcy helps David cope with his trauma, and MacLaren discovers a shocking truth that Kathryn has been hiding from him.
15	3	"Jacob"	Andy Mikita	Pat Smith and Ashley Park	October 30, 2017 (2017-10-30)
After tracking down a missing traveler, the team is led to some disturbing answers about their kidnapping.
16	4	"11:27"	Unknown	Unknown	November 6, 2017 (2017-11-06)
MacLaren and the team must help a fellow traveler plan his own assassination, while helping an unsuspecting activist complete a deadly mission.
17	5	"Jenny"	Andy Mikita	Jason Whiting and Ken Kabatoff	November 13, 2017 (2017-11-13)
A deadly disease is spreading around the world, and the travelers must get to the bottom of where it came from and how to stop it, before it's too late.

Critical reception

Hanh Nguyen, writing for IndieWire, gives the first three episodes a grade of "B+", finding the series' appeal "in how the core group of five travelers adjust to life in our present," noting the "human nature in the travelers". Neil Genzlinger, writing for The New York Times, described the show as "tasty", and "enjoyable science fiction if you can ignore the contradictions", with "some attention-grabbing flourishes and fine acting". Lawrence Devoe, of TheaterByte.com, calls the series "tautly paced and suspenseful" with "well-developed characters", declaring that "Brad Wright has a real knack for creating futuristic series".

External links

• Official website
• Travelers at IMDb