Traveler started with a bang: the explosion of the Drexler museum. Its finale closed with a bang, but only after cramming in a shootout, a break-in, a foot chase, a betrayal, a kidnapping, and a death.
(Spoilers, obviously.)
It was great to see Will, Tyler, and Jay together again, this time without pretense. Naturally, the boys spent half the episode asking if they could trust each other, but there were hints of the friendship that was still there between them – especially when, as they often did, they confidently asserted that one of the other guys wouldn't shoot them. (And what do you know? They were right!) After fending off Marlow, at which point Will got shot (but don't worry about him; after the first fifteen minutes, he was totally fine), the guys went to retrieve the painting from the back of Tyler's car. Since the car was in the police impound lot, this meant that Jay had to break into the impound lot, slip into the car, and then fall from the car when it was on a moving flatbed truck, in a very tense and creative action sequence. Nicely done, Traveler.
Marlow, meanwhile, was suspended, but the minute she was, it became clear that she was going to crack the case. It's an undisputed law in any crime drama: the lead investigator must be taken off the case in order to solve it. And, in fact, Marlow made astonishing progress once she wasn't actually allowed to work on the case. She called an NSA buddy to get Joseph's name, and went to Joseph's house just in time for someone to call ordering her death. After their shootout, though, it was Joseph who ended up dead, and it was at that point that I realized that I haven't been giving Marlow the respect that she deserves. She's smart and tough, and it wasn't her fault that the plot kept requiring her to hit dead ends.
The corollary to the rule of suspension, of course, is that no investigator who plays by the rules can be trusted. And no FBI agent was more by-the-book than Chambers – unless it was Borjes. See, I knew one of the two had to be a bad guy. So when Whaley shot at Carlton Fog (Is he dead? I don't know. Will we ever find out? Probably not.) and Borjes cornered him, closely followed by Chambers, I was prepared for something very bad to happen. Or, at least, I thought I was prepared; it was still a shock to see Borjes murdered by Chambers. Poor Borjes. I'm sorry I suspected you. But you have to admit, you were kind of too good, you know?
Once Will and his pals had the painting, they set up an exchange with Freed – the painting for Tyler and Jay's lives back. But here was where you were supposed to think that Will was double-crossing his friends, because Freed really just wanted Tyler and Jay. But – surprise! – Will wasn't about to give up his friends, especially after he saved their lives, so it was all just a fake-out. Their real purpose was to record Freed's confession, including the part about how the Drexler was just for "fear and control" and "just the beginning," as if that whole conspiracy wasn't scary enough. By the way, have I mentioned how great Neal McDonough is? If I haven't, it's only because I thought it was implied.
Even though there's no word on a second season and nothing yet that makes me believe that there might be one, Traveler couldn't resist going out with some cliffhangers. Kim was in the clutches of Operation Hometown, Marlow discovered that Chambers ordered Joseph to kill her, Freed dropped some tantalizing hints about something called a "Fourth Branch," and then the limo Freed was apparently in exploded before the boys could deliver him to the press and start the process of clearing their names.
To be honest, I was expecting closure from Traveler. I thought that, when its episode order got pared down and it was forced to wrap up the story early, that the show would take that opportunity to come to a satisfying conclusion, in case it didn't come back. And although the episode did raise new questions, like the "Fourth Branch," and left Jay and Tyler on the run, I still found it satisfying. It was full of action and suspense, like the rest of the series, and it was the best episode so far. If Traveler has bowed out for good, then it went out on a high note, and there aren't very many shows which can say the same.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Traveler goes out with another bang
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Friendship conquers all on 'Traveler'
The last time we saw the boys of Traveler, Jay and Tyler had just had a nasty fight and separated. But the show has been all about them, their quest to find answers, and their reliance on each other from the beginning. How would it fare with the guys left to their own devices?
(Spoilers ahead.)
As it happened, Jay and Tyler spent a lot of time missing each other, and each found less than satisfying companionship in a woman. I don't know if the show is trying to send a message here that heterosexual life partnership is the greatest love of all, but certainly the women – Jay's girlfriend Kim and a bartender so dumb, drunk or desperate she didn't realize that Tyler was the "bomber guy" until the very end of the episode – didn't stack up favorably to the guys. Kim I have never found compelling, because "supportive girlfriend" is not the most exciting role there is and she doesn't bring much to the table beyond that. That said, she did try this week; cutting out the lights in a club so that Jay could make his escape was the most constructive, and most daring, thing she had ever done. More of that sort of thing and I just might start to like her.
But the guys weren't totally helpless without each other. Both Jay and Tyler managed to help advance the plot a little bit. Jay discovered an audio recording of Will and Joseph discussing the bomb plot, and attempted to bring this to Marlow. Tyler found a link between his dad and Freed, a former FBI guy we've seen before – he's the one played by Neal McDonough. Freed, it turned out, was also the one running the whole conspiracy at his own whim. Will and the others had never really been working for the government at all. Yeah, I'd been wondering why the government wanted to blow up a museum to get a painting. This makes more sense; or, as much sense as anything does make on a show about elaborate conspiracies.
Speaking of Will, he was nothing short of cold-blooded this week. First he strung up his arms dealer to get information out of him about the man who killed Maya. Then when Will actually found the man who killed her, Will killed him. Not for what you'd think, the whole killing Maya thing, but for getting Maya's name wrong (he called her Mary). I'm surprised that the show dared to go that far with Will, since he's supposed to be a good guy, or at least one we're meant to root for. There's a lot of shades of gray in what he's doing now, torturing and killing people for revenge, but it's paying off in a character I can't take my eyes off of when he's on the screen. I can't predict what he's going to do next, and that's why he's so exciting.
The only one who's giving Will a run for his money at this point as an intriguing character (aside from the Porter, who comes and goes as he pleases) is Chambers. Stephen Culp does a great job as this smarmy, unpleasant suit, and maybe, just maybe, there is something more to Chambers. He came down hard this week on Borjes for going behind his back to investigate ex-FBI agent and conspiracy guy Otis Whaley. It wasn't necessarily out of character, because Chambers is a controlling jerk, but with the growing insistence this week that the FBI cannot be trusted, it was hard not to believe that Chambers may be in on the whole conspiracy. Or maybe the squeaky-clean Borjes is the one not to be trusted. Oh, it's all so very mysterious.
The episode ended with Tyler coming to Jay's rescue (aw, he can't stay mad at Jay!), holding a police officer hostage to get Jay away from the FBI. Tyler wound up in a tense standoff with Marlow, both of them refusing to let Jay go, until – this was when I actually cheered – Will showed up. So now Will is back with his buddies. They're looking for answers, and, since next week's episode is the finale, they're going to get them. It's going to be great.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Traveler: Who can you trust?
It's taken a surprisingly long time for such a conspiracy-laden show, but Traveler has finally reached the point where its main characters have run out of people to trust.
(Caution: spoilers.)
Before, Jay had his girlfriend, Kim, and Tyler had his dad, Carlton, to turn to for help. (Although, in the case of Carlton Fogg, it was rather dubious help to begin with.) Now, however, the boys have no one. Kim left New York without even saying goodbye, except in a flashback. And Carlton turned out to be just plain bad. He was the one who sold shares of that fine art insurance company before the bombing, and when Tyler confronted him about this, Carlton pretty much confirmed that his plan was to a) make lots of money on the bombing, and b) get rid of his wastrel son in the process. Now that is a bad dad. And, granted, I've never been much of a Tyler supporter, since I always thought that he was the dumber of the two runners, but he was in his element this week. When Jay and Tyler followed the paper trail of the stock trades, it was Tyler who knew what to do and what to look for, because this was his world, and he came off rather well. So, Carlton, your son really isn't as worthless as you thought he was. (Or as I thought he was. Sorry, Tyler.)
Will, too, had problems trusting his former friends this week, although that could have been because he'd just launched his Summer Revenge Tour and the Conspiracy had orders to take him in. He had to shoot a colleague of his when she tried to take him down, and, thanks to some torture that Jack Bauer himself would have been proud of, learned that he had something they wanted – the painting, presumably. And can I just say what a joy it is to watch Will work? Fighting, pickpocketing, interrogating, amassing a little stockpile of weapons – it's like watching some fresh, new version of 24. Go Will!
As for the FBI, they just get smarter and smarter. And I'm not just talking about Marlow, who I could almost call psychic, except that she knows what Jay and Tyler have done after they've already done it. But those flashes of insight she gets, such as her sudden certainty that Jay and Tyler went back to New York, are just as uncanny. No, I mean that the entire unit learned more about what was really going on, including, finally, getting a glimpse of Will Traveler and realizing that he was still alive. Also, the prints the FBI got back on the escapee – Bleached-Blond Conspiracy Guy – revealed him to be an undercover federal agent.
Now, all this time, I've been calling these guys the Conspiracy, because I was assuming that they had some nefarious anti-government scheme going. This could still be the case, but it's much more unlikely if everyone is actually a government agent. So the question becomes: why does the government want all this stuff to happen? Why pin it on Tyler and Jay? What do they want with the painting? And if the government really does want the painting, why can't they just take it?
Finally, and most importantly, those trust issues affected the relationship between Jay and Tyler too – the boys fought over Carlton's involvement in the bombing, Tyler punched Jay, and they went their separate ways. Will they find each other again? Are they just on a break? Can Tyler outrun the feds, who just spotted him on the corner? Those are questions for another week, but if I had to guess, I'd say the answer to all three is "yes."
Thursday, June 21, 2007
'Traveler': Where there's a Will…
After weeks of only appearing for a few minutes at a time, in mysterious cameos or in flashbacks to his undercover days, Will Traveler finally came into his own this week, and I don't think it's a coincidence that Traveler picked up speed at the same time. Questions were answered about the Drexler bombing, the Conspiracy started to coalesce, and Will, I assume, has only just begun to kick some butt.
Last week, Will was kidnapped by the Conspiracy, and this week, we discover the reason: Will deviated from the plan when he refused to kill his buddies, and they want to know why. At first, I was ready to call this the world's softest interrogation, what with the tea and the cushy hotel room and the pleasant female questioner, but then Kate the interrogator pulled out a Taser, and I shut up. Things didn't really heat up, however, until Kate began asking about the painting – you know, the one Will tried to sell a couple of episodes back. She threatened to kill Maya unless he told the truth, and from that point on, it was shocking twist after shocking twist. They killed Maya! But it was a recording and Maya was already dead! Will broke free and killed Kate! The hotel was a stage! The car Will claimed the painting was in was a bomb! And somewhere in the middle of all this, Will became a fascinating character. He's smart, he's got his own agenda and now he's got a grudge against the Conspiracy. I can't wait to see what he does next.
Speaking of fascinating characters, the Porter made another brief appearance and made the most of his time. He calmly fessed up to planting trackers on Will and Tyler and explained to the guys that if the Conspiracy wanted Will dead, they would have just shot him and not bothered with the kidnapping. With just his few minutes on screen, the Porter managed to impart useful information, provide a cool counterpoint to Jay's and Tyler's squawks of consternation, save their lives and get them on their way to Boston in Will's car. Truly, his ruthless efficiency is a wonder to behold. Don't be a stranger, Porter. Once in Boston, Maya's key led the guys to a research locker containing the usual spy stuff – money, gun, fake passports – and the trail of breadcrumbs eventually pointed back in the direction of New York City.
Meanwhile, the FBI just started to catch on to the fact that they were dealing with a capital-C Conspiracy here. A DNA match on the body from the Drexler tipped them off that Will wasn't dead and led them to the bleached-blond Conspiracy guy who stole Kim's photos a couple of weeks ago. It's a struggle to keep the FBI scenes relevant when the whole point is that the agents are two or three steps behind the audience, but a combusting mattress ought to do it; that was how the Bleached-Blond Conspiracy Guy managed to escape from custody. I hope this means that the FBI starts to look into the Conspiracy and leaves Jay and Tyler alone for a while, because I've never had much patience with that line of inquiry. After all, we already knew they didn't do it.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Traveler: Making great time
Already we've reached the fourth episode of Traveler, and somehow it has only been 44 hours since the museum explosion. Jay and Tyler must be covering ground in New England as fast as Jack Bauer does in L.A., and they don't even have a helicopter. They've gone from New York City to upstate New York to New Haven, and now, they're in Maine, searching for Will in his hometown. Or is it?
Well, it would make sense if it was, because the town, from what I saw, was entirely populated by shady characters. There was Maya, the owner of the bookshop "Have Books – Will Travel" (Get it? Huh?), Will's sometime girlfriend and co-conspirator, who confided a mysterious key into Jay and Tyler's safekeeping before getting captured by the Conspiracy. There was a man calling himself Daniel Taft, who tried to blow the boys up. Naturally, this involved the guys escaping at the last moment and running away from the big explosion behind them. I mean, come on. The show couldn't call itself a thriller if nobody ran away from an explosion, right?
And finally, there was the Porter, making his triumphant return. For me, this guy is the most interesting character on the show, because, as far as we know, he's playing on his own side. He's not part of the Conspiracy, he's not in league with the feds, and he's not officially allied with Jay and Tyler. The show has been very smart to keep the Porter's appearances to a minimum, except that it's made me care less about "Who is Will Traveler?" and more about "Who is the Porter?" There have been so many conspiracies, on so many shows, that it's refreshing to see a shadowy character who's not involved in one.
Since we're halfway through Traveler's run already, it's time for the show to start giving us some answers. Although in the case of one of them, I had forgotten that a question existed in the first place. The big mistake in Agent Marlow's past: she "got soft on a suspect" and another agent died. I can see where this is bad, but if it really bothered her – or if the experience had really changed the way she treated suspects – she wouldn't be the only one at the FBI expressing misgivings about all the mounting "evidence" against Jay and Tyler. Even when the FBI was confronted with an internet video that was supposed to show Tyler, in a variety of places and at clearly different times, delivering a single manifesto, Marlow was the only one who had any concerns about it. And while I appreciate the fact that not everyone at the FBI is blindly accepting the evidence that the Big Frame-Up is putting in front of them, these Marlow/Chambers "with all due respect, sir, you're wrong" scenes are getting old. In fact, it may be the same scene each week. I'll have to check on that.
In the final moments of the episode, Jay and Tyler finally got a glimpse of Will, very much not dead, and, it appears, having done a subtle something to his hair, at a train station. But a train went by just then, of course, blocking Jay and Tyler's view (curse you, trains, for always hiding important things from view!) and allowed the Conspiracy time to hustle Will into a sinister white van.
From the previews, it looks as though we'll finally start to hear from Will himself, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Yes, the show is all about discovering the truth about Will, but I think Will is effective as a mostly unseen presence, the few flashbacks colored by his later betrayal, and his motives unclear.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Traveler: Needs More Running
Getting invested in serial dramas this season has, for the most part, meant nothing but heartbreak. I was burned by the losses of Kidnapped and Day Break, while Liz was jilted by The Nine. Meanwhile, there's a whole Peanut Brigade that won't let Jericho go without a fight. I wondered, before I tuned in to Traveler, whether it would even be worth it to watch. Why get drawn in, if only to get hurt? As it turns out, I shouldn't have been worried.
The premise: three guys who want to pretend to be Kerouac for a while before they have to become working stiffs start a road trip in New York City. Will (the eponymous "Traveler") comes up with a plan for the lamest prank ever – rollerblading through a museum, like, way to stick it to the man – and, when his buddies Jay and Tyler have bladed out, the building explodes. Suddenly, and inexplicably, Jay and Tyler are all over the news as suspects in the bombing, the FBI is after them, and there's no evidence that Will ever existed. It's all part of a shadowy conspiracy, probably a shadowy government conspiracy, if Neal McDonough's appearance as a nefarious Homeland Security agent is any indication.
The exploration of what can happen when you're on the wrong side of the anti-terrorism laws is certainly interesting, and hits a nerve in these times; every time Jay mentioned something that they government could do to them, like declare them enemy combatants and send them to Guantanamo Bay or kidnap them abroad, rather than going through extradition, I felt the tension. Because that, I can believe. But I didn't feel any tension during the action scenes. Even with all the running, and the running, and the more running, and the exploding, and the car chasing, it seems like the show drags on forever. Probably because there's a lot of running. A lot.
The best part of the show is Stephen Culp, as the world's most hard-assed FBI agent, who won't even let his subordinates chew gum and who refuses to entertain any possibility that the guys weren't responsible for blowing up the museum. In fact, part of the problem may be that I'm rooting for him rather than the two doinks running around blindly. It's good to see him again; it's been too long since he left Desperate Housewives.
Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, ABC promo department - why did you promote last night's doubleheader as the "sneak preview" and the "series premiere"? How can the second episode be a "series premiere"? I understand why you called the pilot a "sneak preview" when you first aired it a couple of weeks ago, but it's not a "sneak preview" anymore, not when there's another episode on right after it.
