(S01E08) Well... that sucks. Not the episode, but the fact that there won't be any more episodes. I actually thought that the show had hit full speed at the end of last week's episode when Will popped up with his gun trained on Marlow. With the three boys back together again working to bring down Freed, and Marlow more convinced than ever that things were not what they seem, it could have been the perfect kickoff to the second half of the season. Instead, we are left with what was a pretty entertaining hour of television, but one that suffered greatly from ten pounds of plot stuffed in a five pound bag, and the fact that so many of the questions that were brought up will never have an answer. Really, short of confirmation that the TV Squad readers correctly fingered Agent Chambers as Freed's man inside the FBI, they didn't really give us much at all in the way of answers.
The painting, the porter, Kim, Carlton, Otis, Joseph, Marlow and Chambers... it's all just kind of up in the air. For a moment there, when the boys pulled the recorder scam on Freed, I thought we were at least going to get a rushed conclusion. Unfortunately, not so much. Worse than that, did their plan to punish Freed make any sense to anybody? Drop him off in front of the newspaper and tell him to tell his story to them. And he's going to do that because he is such an honest, upstanding guy? Why wouldn't he say, "I'm Jack Freed from Homeland Security and I was kidnapped by the terrorists who bombed the Drexler. Call Agent Chambers at the FBI." Their power over him ended the moment they no longer had a gun on him.
It does all leave many doors open for speculation. Freed's limo blowing up would seem to point to someone even higher up in the food chain. I would assume they caught on to what was going on after he didn't show up for the planned exchange in the park. I would also guess that Kim was being taken hostage to be offered as a bargaining chip. The fun of all of that speculation is rather hampered by the fact that no answers will be coming to tell us if we are right or not.
So, I guess we take it for what it was. Five and a half hours of very fun television leading up to a huge train wreck. I think Traveler was a casualty of the other failed serials on the ABC schedule. After watching all of those other shows go in the tank earlier in the season, there was just no faith left to give this one a fair shot. I'm left wondering what would have happened had it been given one of those fall slots. It may have met with the same fate that The Nine did. On the other hand, given what we have seen, I think there was potential for a Prison Break level hit that could have continued. Oh well, I guess we'll all just have to tune to cable tonight and watch Burn Notice.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-19-2007 @ 10:47AM
Manda said...
Yuck. I hate incomplete stories.
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7-19-2007 @ 11:03AM
Diane Purdy said...
My husband refuses to watch shows with continuing plot lines...too many get pulled mid stream. I finally agree. Traveler, which I enjoyed very much, will be my last time getting caught up in these kinds of shows. I'll stick with Law and Order, CSI. None of which are ABC. ABC deserves whatever happens to it. Of course '24' is the exception.
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7-19-2007 @ 11:06AM
Erin Martell said...
Great review, Brett! You and I are definitely on the same page with this episode. I kept waiting for the Porter to pop up again, and now we'll never know anything about him.
Our only hope for closure is show creator David DiGilio's blog on TV Guide. He has promised to answer any final questions when the show is officially cancelled. Fingers crossed!
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7-19-2007 @ 11:17AM
Nika said...
I'M SOOOO ANGRY!!! Why did they have to do that to us? Why couldn't they have wrapped it up nicely, and left us w/ a good feeling about the whole show? I'll be waiting for David DiGilio to start answering some questions....hopefully he'll bring sense to this madness :).
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7-19-2007 @ 11:31AM
O said...
NUTS!
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8-01-2007 @ 11:41AM
Chris said...
Traveler is one of the best shows I've seen. Sure home someone decides to pick it up for the fall season.
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7-19-2007 @ 12:00PM
KazamaSmokers said...
These show-runners knew at least a month ago that Traveler was not going to get a longer run. They had plenty of time to fix this problem. All it would have taken would have been a couple alternative takes during the shoot and some judicious editing to give us more of a wrap-up. Yes, there still would have been unanswered questions, but not like this. Is anyone thinking over at ABC? This kind of stuff alienates the audience over the long term. Is it any wonder no one watches network TV anymore?
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7-19-2007 @ 12:10PM
Carissa said...
Check out the Traveler page on imdb...the creator was posting there quite frequently and promised to give his vision of how it would have ended if it wasn't picked up. He answered everyone's questions, it was great! His name on the site is Creatorofwill. His most recent post regarding the ending is on page 41.
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7-19-2007 @ 12:24PM
Pamela said...
Series finale??!! WTF??!!
I feel like someone that bought a book and the last chapter is missing.
I'm boycotting ABC. They did the same thing with The Nine. Unprofessional and discourteous to their viewers.
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7-19-2007 @ 12:38PM
Jasmine said...
I enjoyed Traveler very much. However, I'm not surprised that the bone-heads at ABC let the show go. What idiots! First, they got rid of the best actor on the Grey's show, ISAIAH WASHINGTON, now this! Well, it makes it easier for me to drop ABC completely. I will hate to drop Brothers and Sisters, but after the crap they pulled on Isaiah, addios ABC!
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7-19-2007 @ 12:53PM
rick said...
i love this show,and are pissed that ABC treated it like an unwanted child. This is perhaps the best show not only this summer, but this season. I 'm hoping ABC has a change in mind, cuz this show was the best surprise. A Traveler fan.
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7-19-2007 @ 1:50PM
GhoXt said...
Well its very sad what ABC had done ... one of the best shows ... why why why why ... can we do something ?
a manifest agaisnt ABC ? ... just something to bring the show back.
they cant just end it ! is not fair!
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7-19-2007 @ 2:04PM
Amy said...
Damn ABC - I'm so pissed. Up until last night I was resigned to the fact that Traveler probably wasn't coming back but after "The Exchange" I'm really ticked! It was FINALLY hitting its stride, bringing together the trio and finally giving the FBI story some muscle by setting up a Chambers vs Marlow showdown. I've really looked forward to this series and if treated well by ABC from the start, instead of quickly backing out of their commitment due to the failure of several other serials that didn't have the potential of this show to begin with, it could have garnered a loyal following with the deomographics TV suits love. BAH!
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7-19-2007 @ 2:45PM
treacherous said...
I wish they'd give Traveler 16 episodes in the Fall and Lost 16 episodes in the Spring. That would be a killer combo that would keep ABC's Wednesday night 10 PM slot covered.
But they weren't smart enough to see how good of a show this is this fall and pulled a CBS.
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7-19-2007 @ 2:51PM
Stan said...
I cannot believe that was the series finale? I love this show. What is ABC thinking?? I am so mad at ABC! They cannot leave us like that, not after the last episode. The show needs a second season. There are so many questions still open to be answered. It's the best show I have watched in a long time. Why does ABC not see it?
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7-19-2007 @ 4:26PM
Will said...
If any writer or producer has a good drama that they would like to appear on one of the networks, they would be crazy to take it to ABC. ABC has a history of cancelling good dramas without letting the show reach a conclusion. I can't name all of the ones that they've cancelled but a few come to mind: The Nine, Invasion, DayBreak and now Traveler. There's now no program on ABC that I watch. Will
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7-19-2007 @ 4:34PM
vacelts said...
I thought the producer did the best he could on this last episode since he had to pull it together at the last minute.
I just wished we got another season of Traveler. It was one of the best offerings this summer on network TV.
http://redlightnaps.wordpress.com/2007/07/19/traveler-the-exchange/
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7-19-2007 @ 8:58PM
dan said...
what has happened to television the last few years ? My wife refuses to watch any new show that premieres now because she refuses to "fall in love" and then have it yanked by network execs. Point in fact - she made me Tivo "Drive" episode after episode until she was sure itwas going to be a full season. As soon as she read they yanked it.. she made me delete it off Tivo w/o watching one episode.
She says it is not worth investing your time unless you know it is going to be at least a season.
We did the same with Prison Break - we didn't watch one episode until we heard it was renewed... crazy.... but at least we're not throwing knives at the television every time we fall for a show and have it yanked..
I got suckered into Traveler and watched every episode - my wife watched the first 2 episodes - and then stopped even though sh eloved it -
last night she said "suckerrrrrrrrr" "screwed again" to me... as I was kicking and screaming with that crap ending ...
ugh
Burn Notice BETTER n ot get yanked too or I am just going to watch MASH 24/7
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7-20-2007 @ 12:45AM
John said...
"Jeez-O-Peete, I want to kick a network executive in the crotch."
Y'know, kicking a network exec in the crotch just sounds fun regardless of what I thought of the episode. =)
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7-20-2007 @ 3:30AM
Brent McKee said...
I hate to say it Pamela, but if you boycott ABC for dropping "Traveler" and "The Nine" you'll have to boycott every other broadcast network as well because, except perhaps for CBS (because Smith and 3 Lbs were really bad), they've all done something similar this year: NBC - Kidnapped, The Black Donellys; Fox - Justice, Vanished; The CW, Hidden Palms. The thing that is absolutely clear is that the networks are way to fast with the cancellation notices. I yearn for the days of my youth when it was virtually unheard of for a show to run less than 13 weeks.
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