The pace of Continuum Season 3 Episode 2 was a little less chaotic than the season opener, but it points to a darker season ahead than we've been used to.

The hour included a flash forward to a Kiera's past (in the future) that we didn't know much about. Banned media (that means you, books and photos) and punishment by what might have been erasing time off the life of an offender.

Kiera became a Protector just as her father died and in time to save her mother from paying for keeping banned media, but it wasn't why she chose the profession -- she believed in the cause.

Back in the new present, Kiera is trying to figure out how to deal with two Alecs. She doesn't know who to trust or which of the two will take her to the place where she has a chance of finding her family again. She also has to find out who killed her, why and what to do with her dead body.

She takes a chance by bringing Carlos into the big secret. Frankly, it's a bit more than he can take. The woman he has trusted and befriended is dead and even though he knew she was from the future, seeing two of them -- one dead -- drives him to drink. 

Standing in front of her own dead body in the front of a car is where Kiera and Alec learn Escher is dead and she asks Alec, "What did you do?" It doesn't matter, really, if he was the killer, because everything that changes in the timeline is a direct result of his return. There are two dead bodies already; how many more on the way?

It's difficult to maneuver with two Alecs. Future Alec broke the connection with our Kiera's suit so Current Alec wouldn't be privy to there being two of him. Kiera admits to Carlos Current Alec is the only one she can truly trust, but she herself must lie to him in order to maintain a relationship. The longer they're all on the same path, the sooner they will collide.

Mayor-elect Jim Martin is being used by Liber8 and wants protection from Dillon. He doesn't get it. He manages to get himself kidnapped by the group and Current Alec is brought in help, while Kiera utilizes Future Alec in his lab. They both admire each other's handiwork until Kiera has had enough of it and says so out loud.

When Betty is the one to track the Liber8 signal it seems like Current Alec might be surprised she's so on top of things, but it's more likely he's wondering why she's connected. She hasn't been outed as a Liber8 mole in the timeline yet, but that may come sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately for Martin, his career essentially over. By reading the statement Betty tracked on the Liber8 website at their not so gentle persuasion, he committed career suicide. When he realizes all is lost, he takes his own life as a result.

Since Escher is dead, the future of Piron and Dillon creating a giant police state at which everyone rebels may change course. That's one death that might be worth it. When Kiera tells Kellog his relationship with Alec might be altered because he killed his father, he asks which one. He's a crafty bastard. 

We blew by the moment in the timeline in which Emily would have died, so Future Alec is happy. He is unaware that she murdered his father or that Kellog is now using her to suit his own needs because he has that happy accident to hold over her head.

Future Alec decides to get out of the family business and walk away from travel. He realizes he and Current Alec cannot have Emily and there really is no place for him in this timeline. It seems like he intends to remain in the background. Kiera knows that she eventually has to kill one of the Alecs, but his announcement didn't seem to make an impact either way. 

Nothing with time travel is ever what's expected. The cards are constantly being reshuffled with each step a new arrival in the timeline takes. Kiera will have to play the game very smart to ensure her family's existence in the future. In order to return, she'll have to go back as a return from the dead or something because otherwise there will be two of her in the future and that will hardly be what she has in mind. 

Until then, we have Betty's reveal to contend with, the discovery of who murdered Kiera, what will happen to the two Alecs and how Carlos is going to travel down this very dark path. Will all roads eventually lead the same place, with him joining forces with Julian again? Do you have any idea who might have killed Kiera? Could there be another traveler in the timeline doing damage? Catch up when you watch Continuum online and hit the comments with your theories.

Will Carlos learn to trust Kiera again?

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.