Travelers - Ave Machina/Protocol 4 - Double Review

Hello, friends! After various hectic schedules, illnesses, and Internet issues, which include the contents of this post being deleted a few times, I've finally got a double episode review for you! I should have a review for latest two episodes ready by the weekend since I haven't been able to catch either one yet, but for now let's focus on the first two episodes of the season! This may not be terribly in-depth, but I'm happy to go further into any topic down in the comments! Also, if you're patiently waiting to watch the season until it pops up on Netflix, stop reading! I'll post a season review a week or so after the Netflix debut so you can join in the fun too! Now, onward we go.

Ave Machina

Our season opened with us learning about a new Traveler; new in the sense that we've never met him, but it turns out he's actually the first ever Traveler! His mission was to take over a body doomed to die in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, send a message to the future, and then perish in the building. The mission, however, did not go as planned, and the Traveler, Vincent, ended up in the wrong body. Even worse, he was unable to get a message sent to the future due to computer issues (I feel your pain, Vincent). Upset with these issues, Vincent decided he shouldn't have to die for a failed mission, and, after trying unsuccessfully to warn the people in the office, he set out and escaped before the buildings came down. He eventually convinced a man, Oliver Norton, of a software that could predict market trends (the software being Vincent's recollections of the past) and Oliver went into business with him as partners. Vincent tried to live a life of isolation as best as he could, but he ended up falling in love and having a child. This didn't last long, as the woman shared a photo of Vincent sleeping with the baby, giving the future everything they needed for a TELL to send a message to Vincent. The message sadly, was delivered in the form of her having an aneurysm. This happened again when Oliver attempted to make a call while arguing with Vincent. This time, the future was able to relay their message--that he was outside of mission parameters and needed to terminate himself--before Oliver succumbed to an aneurysm. All of this was told to a therapist in a secluded home as a way for him to finally vent out his feelings, such as his frustration and confusion over the fact that The Director's AI should by no means have been able to kill two people who weren't meant to die. The therapist clearly doesn't believe any of this and is concerned these delusions are more than she is equipped to handle, but he offers to pay her handsomely to keep coming for these visits and she reluctantly agrees. When she leaves, her cell phone is returned to her in her car, and an unknown number attempts to call her as soon as the phone returns to her possession. Scared, she smartly decides not to answer the phone. Alone again, Vincent receives an alert from his computer heads over to it. We see a man tied up in chair as Vincent begins typing a message we are all familiar with: WHEN ARE YOU FROM? Surely there will be more on him in the future. Or, I guess, the present. Technically.

Meanwhile, our Travelers have been dealing with issues of their own after being captured at the barn trying to destroy The Director, with Grace and Trevor undergoing lifesaving procedures at a hospital, and the others being held and questioned. After several rounds of questioning, they decided to attempt a prison break, but found the machine in the gym and made a detour to try and destroy it again. Grant realized that this was a set-up, but unfortunately, he realized it a bit too late and they were recaptured, learning that the higher ups just wanted to see if they really would try to destroy the machine again. Later, many employees of the FBI were sent messages about a meeting in the gym, but once there, all 25 of them (including Walt) were overtaken by new Travelers. The machine had a fail-safe to have it level the building if it were inappropriately tampered with, making everyone that worked there host candidates, technically. After new Walt let our Travelers go, they went to the hospital to check on Grace and Trevor, both of whom are still alive. Trevor was revealed to be paralyzed from the waist down, but Grace injected him with nanites to help heal him. Marcy returned home to David, who spent his day answering questions about the shooting in his apartment. Upon her return, she discovered David obsessively scrubbing at the blood stain on the floor, clearly affected by what happened there.

Protocol 4

In our second episode, we learned, thankfully, that Phillip's turtle is still alive! This was Phillip's high point for the episode though, as the rest of the episode saw him slip into a new addiction with a new Traveler named Jenny. She claimed to be sent by The Director with eye drops to help curb his addiction, but when she also began partaking in the eye drops, it was clear there was more to it. After Jenny took him to watch a presentation she had rigged to make the speaker (who apparently was not a good person) look bad and cause a scandal, the two were intimate and Phillip ended up bringing her back to the base for some alone time.

Grant spent this episode trying to teach New Walt about life in the 21st as they worked on a case involving a group of people disappearing from a timeshare meeting. After watching some video footage, they were able to deduce that the group had been taken over by Travelers, and when two of the group members were caught on a traffic cam, the case was no longer FBI jurisdiction and the case was taken from them. On the personal side, Grant attempted to repair his marriage to Kat, but was presented with divorce papers that he signed later. After signing, though, Grant discovered that Kat is pregnant (a clear violation of Protocol 4, which states that Travelers should never reproduce), and tries to talk through this development, reminding her that it was something "they" have always wanted. She ended the conversation by saying she hadn't decided what to do with the baby yet, and that it is a decision she was going to make alone.

While Grace and Trevor spent the episode healing up in the hospital, and Carly and Jeff began working on getting their child back, Marcy spent her time taking care of David and trying to treat his PTSD. After settling on pot as a good form of treatment, Marcy told David that she was going to move out. In order to try and make her stay, David revealed that they had been intimate before her memory loss and that they loved each other. She regrettably told him she doesn't remember, but said she does care about him and that's why she needs to go. When she returned to the base, she found Phillip and Jenny, which severely displeased her. She yelled at Phillip for being foolish enough to bring someone into the base, and for taking eye drops without even knowing what was in them. There was a bit of a jealousy moment between the two of them, but Marcy ended the conversation before they dove too far into that territory.

At the end of the episode, we sat in on another time share meeting with a whole new set of people. As the presenter left the room to go "talk to her manager" to get them a better deal, she locked them in. Seconds later, there was a flash of light as another group of timeshare hopefuls were taken over by new Travelers.

Mission Review
So far, it looks like we've got another good season on our hands! I'm really happy we were able to learn about the first ever Traveler, as I've been wondering about that for some time now. It was very intriguing to see everything Vincent has been through since he came to the 21st. The twist with him being the kidnapper, though, caught me completely off guard and I can't wait to learn more about what he is doing there. I'm also wondering if we're going to be seeing any more of the therapist this season, because she seemed pretty thoroughly spooked at the end of that first episode. It's very interesting that the FBI has more Travelers within their ranks now. I feel like that is going to make a lot of things easier to get around, and Grant will certainly have fewer hurdles to cross.

I'm very upset that Marcy has left David. I completely understand why she chose to do it, but I'm still not happy with it because I'm selfish and I need them to be together. The interaction between Marcy and Phillip was interesting to me, and I may be forgetting a key piece of information. Were they together in the future? Because this scene definitely alluded to a previous relationship. But if that was just a casual way to give us more information, I applaud them!

That's all I have for you at the moment! Please feel free to comment on these first two episodes below, but please don't spoil the next two. I'll cry. Real tears. It won't be pretty. We'll talk again this weekend!