The premise of Travelers is that operatives from an apocalyptic future send their consciousnesses back in time to inhabit the bodies of people just before the moment of their deaths and assume their lives and work together to avoid the disaster in the future. The show follows one of many teams working on different missions at the behest of a mysterious director who’s holding all the cards. Where do they get their flawed information about the lives they’re supposed to take over? From social media of course! Wright, who created the show and executive produces it, elaborates: “What started Travelers to begin with was I was thinking of social media in terms of what we put up there. Is it who we really are or is it a projection of what we want people to see about ourselves? And that evolved into the idea of Travelers.” But it’s not all about the mission to avoid the purposely undefined apocalyptic future. The characters also have to figure out how to live the lives of a teenage jock, a heroin addict, a mentally challenged cleaning lady, a single mom with an abusive cop husband, and of course an FBI agent. “The show is as much if not more about that, about trying to be those people in the 21st century, as it is about the big picture of changing missions and saving the world,” says Wright. “The series lives in those relationships,” agrees Wright, “and that’s what really makes this show unique. It’s not mission-of-the-week by any means. It’s about characters and their unique struggle in the 21st century.” Inside the heroin addict, for example, is a historian who must remember every detail of the past, and the handicapped woman must act as the team’s doctor, despite being surprised by her host’s infirmity. “All traveler teams have a leader, have a doctor, and the historian is someone who has memorized virtually everything about that particular city in that particular period of time,” explains McCormack. “They are soldiers in a war… changing the past to change the future.” Following orders isn’t so easy when your director by necessity doesn’t explain all the details of the missions’ consequences. “They can’t know the big picture; they can’t know the whole thing,” Wright agrees. “In the event that they were compromised, they simply don’t know. They only know the missions they’re being told and what they need to do.” The team begins their mission when Travelers drops on Friday, December 23, on Netflix. There are 12 episodes in season 1, and Showcase is preparing to air episode 10 on Monday, the 16th. Time to catch up to Canada!
The full audio version of the above interview appears on the latest episode of Sci Fi Fidelity (timecode 44:23). Listen below or subscribe! iTunes | Stitcher | Soundcloud
