The Survivors 1.10 - A Breach in Time

The Survivors : A Breach in Time
Genre : Sci-Fi / Mystery / Drama
Showrunner: Tomas Alfredson
Writer : Mo Buck

Based on the French Canadian series

Cast: Brendan Fraser, Cara Buono, M. Emmet Walsh, Logan Lerman, Odeya Rush, Owen Vaccaro, Michael Mando, Clancy Brown, Graham Phillips, Jodelle Ferland and John De Lancie

Plot: Steven (Graham Phillips) is still blown away by the fact he has time travellers standing in front of him. He would ask them to prove it, but he has enough proof in his sight to realise that this is not a prank, this is real. Gerald (Brendan Fraser) repeats his question. Can he help them? He asks what’s the date and after Gerald answers, he says he could try something tomorrow night. He believes there will be a breach in time tonight at the top of Mount Royal and he could try to exploit it. Mary (Cara Buono) asks if it is safe and Steven says he has never been able to travel in time, so he doesn’t know. Mary says it’s too risky and Gerald asks her if she’d rather stay here. Marco (Owen Vaccaro) and Sarah (Odeya Rush) say they wouldn’t mind and Gerald ask them if they have lost their minds. They haven’t been here for long and he’s been shot, Charles and Judy have been kidnapped, they scared poor Horace (M. Emmet Walsh) at the hospital, no less, they were briefly friends with an alcoholic and their weird peculiar couple and their son named Judas of all the names and Sarah was sick because of their food. Mary interrupts him, about that, there’s something they have to talk about. He asks if it can wait and she says it’s rather urgent. Mary grabs Sarah by the arm and Gerald follows them into the bedroom.

Sarah reveals to her father that she is pregnant out of wedlock and he starts to scream at her for whoring herself out like that. Back in the kitchen, the remaining family members with Steven sit in silence and listen to Gerald’s rant. Steven says it’s normal now for girls to be pregnant even if they aren’t married and he looks at Judy (Jodelle Ferland) and Charles (Logan Lerman). He asks them when they’ll have a baby, he can feel the tension between them and Horace agrees. Mary also uses the occasion (probably not the best time) to tell Gerald she got herself a job. He tells her she’s supposed to stay at home for the kids and why on Earth would she get herself a job ? She says she was alone with Rita and she couldn’t say no, after she said her family didn’t have a lot of money. He’s mad at her that she is out there spreading rumors about her family and all they are supposed to do is lay low and not talk to anybody. Mary says that it looks like they’re going to be here a while, she might as well enjoy it, because even if he pretends like he’s looking for a way to go back to 1964, they aren’t closer than they were when they first got here. Gerald can’t take it anymore. He storms out of the room and he asks Charles and Steve to come with him. They’ll head out looking for answers. 

The car ride with Gerald, Charles and Steven is awkward to say the least. Charles asks his Gerald where are they going, exactly. He answers that he’s looking to get his book back. The father didn’t seem like he wanted them to have that book and he doesn’t trust him, his vibe was a little off, especially after he mentioned Chartwell. Steven is having trouble keeping up with everyone’s name and he asks who Chartwell is. They describe it to him, but it doesn’t ring a bell. Charles describes Victor and Steven has a flashback to the time he tried to travel in time and Victor chased him. He also talked about Gerald, maybe they were predestined to meet each other. They arrive at the church and pull over. Another father opens the door and Charles has the time to see Father Logan (John de Lancie) before he hides behind a wall. They enter in the church and Gerald, still pissed about what happened at home, is out to get his book. Father Logan reminds him that it’s safer if the book stays here, they won’t know what to do with it. Gerald asks him to teach him what to do with him, but it’s no need. Steven, who is looking at the book, recognizes that it’s mathematical equations written in symbols. He would need time to analyse it, he has to go back home. The fathers throw them out and Logan expresses his concern of what might happen to them if they keep the book, but Gerald doesn’t care about it.

Steven is back in his apartment and he’s working on something. He will need some time though… they could be here a while. Gerald says they’ll stay with him in case he tries to bail on them. Steven answers they better like ramen, because that’s all he cooks.

That night, Mary can’t sleep. Her husband didn’t come home and Charles is with him. She starts to cry thinking about their argument tomorrow. She shares her concern with Horace who stayed up to watch television and he’s sure Gerald will come back for them before he tries to leave. Sarah wakes up in her room and looks all around for Judy, who usually sleeps next to her. She looks by the window and sees her talking to someone through a machine (a cellphone). Judy realises Sarah saw her and she drops the cellphone and she mouths that she’s sorry before taking off in the dark of the night. 

The following day, Victor (Michael Mando) and Chartwell (Clancy Brown) pull over at Father Logan’s church and get themselves a private meeting with the man. They ask him where the book is and he says he doesn’t have it in his possession. They say they received intel that he had the book with him and after Victor starts to choke him, Logan reveals Gerald’s plan to go back to 1964 at the top of Mount Royal today. Gerald, Charles and Steven left the apartment for the top of Mount Royal, where the father and son duo do their best to keep the people at bay, while Steven places his instruments for the defining moment. Charles asks Gerald when they’ll go back for their family and Gerald says they will come back when the time is right. He asks Steven for a progress report and he says he’ll be getting there soon. He hopes the upcoming thunderstorm will be over quickly, he fears it might interfere with his installations. Charles turns around and he realises that everybody left. He sees a man, Victor, approaching. Chartwell soon follows. There’s lightning now, the thunderstorm will be there any second now. Victor takes a shotgun out of the trunk. Charles and Gerald try to hide and ask Steven if he’ll be ready to leave soon. He asks what about their family and he says he could try now. Victor fires his shotgun and they say they have no time left, it’s now or never. Steven presses a button and at the same time, lightning strikes the machine. The screen turns black and the sound cuts.

It took a while for the series to find its way and some of the characters aren't very intriguing, but it picked up momentum as the season went along. Brendan Fraser and Logan Lerman led the cast ably and made their characters more interesting than they are on paper.

The Survivors may not be a groundbreaking show, but it does what it's suppose to do pretty well. There are some interesting character moments and an intriguing mystery, but it's good and nothing more.

My main problem with this show is that it got stuck telling the same story week after week and treating its central mystery like an afterthought and it wasn't enough to do it for me.