One of the most intriguing and thought-provoking sci-fi dramas on television, Continuum follows a group of fanatical terrorists, known as Liber8, who escaped their planned execution in 2077 by traveling back in time to 2012, inadvertently taking City Protective Services officer Kiera Cameron (Rachel Nichols) with them.  Trapped in the past, Kiera infiltrates the local police department and, with the help of Detective Carlos Fonnegra (Victor Webster), tries to track down the terrorists before they change the course of history.  Now in its third season, there is a new timeline and more than one version of some of the characters to contend with, setting everyone’s life course on a different path.

During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor Victor Webster talked about his character having to rediscover who he is now, being the moral compass of the show, how Carlos is in a serious grey area this season, why the future is not set, the state of Carlos and Kiera’s relationship, that he hopes Carlos will get to kick some more ass, his favorite fight scenes, whether he’d want to travel in time himself, and how he’s looking forward to seeing how it all plays out for Carlos.  Check out what he had to say after the jump, and be aware that there are some spoilers.

continuum-victor-webster-1

Collider:  After the events of last season, does it feel like Carlos has been left having to rediscover who he is, in a sense?

VICTOR WEBSTER:  The beginning of this season was very strange because he gets hit with a huge right hook from life and he’s got to find his bearings and stabilize.  Carlos goes through a lot this season.  He has a lot of obstacles to overcome.  Unfortunately, that puts him in a pretty dark place, and he’s gotta work his way out of it.

What are Carlos’ motivations now?

WEBSTER:  At the end of last season, Carlos went to the farm to see Julian, I think to weigh his options and see what Julian has to say.  But now that Alec has gone back in time, at the end of last season, to a week before all of that happened, Carlos never goes to the farm in Season 3.  It’s a week before he made that decision.  And then, shit just goes haywire from there.

A lot of this show is about fulfilling destiny.  Do you ever think about what Carlos’ destiny is?

WEBSTER:  I think Carlos hasn’t made a decision, either way.  That’s probably the cop in him.  He’s still investigating and figuring out what all the facts are.  He wants to make an unbiased position in his own life, and that’s been difficult.  Every time you turn a corner, Liber8 is doing something good, and then they’re doing something bad.  And Kiera is doing something good, and then doing something bad.  There are no perfect characters in this story.  The only person that stays through is Carlos because he’s the moral compass of the show.  It’s pretty difficult for him to figure out where he’s going because nothing is 100% right or wrong.

Is he in more of that grey area this season, then he’s ever been before? 

WEBSTER:  I think he’s in a serious grey area this season.  He’s just trying to hold it together this season.  You’ll see, as the season unfolds, what he has to deal with.  There’s a lot thrown at him.  If there’s a really deep, dark shade of grey, that would be where Carlos is at.

continuum-victor-webster-rachel-nichols-image

This show talks a lot about whether the future is set or not set, and if it can be changed or affected.  Do you believe, at least for the world of this show, that the future is set, or that it’s not set and that these people can change or affect it in different ways?

WEBSTER:  On our show, especially this season, the future is not set, by any means.  Everything we do, even the slightest thing we do, can have a ripple effect and repercussions that emanate.  If you throw a pebble into the water on one side of the ocean, it can create a tidal wave on the other side.  That’s literally what we explore this season. 

What sort of relationship do Carlos and Kiera have this season?

WEBSTER:  They definitely have a relationship because they’ve been through so much together.  They’ve had each other’s back on numerous occasions, and there’s a lot of mutual respect there.  Carlos just has internal things he has to deal with.  When he sees dead Kiera’s body, and he’s talking to Kiera about dead Kiera, that’s a seed that’s planted that starts to grow and grow and grow, and really starts to mess with his mind.  First, it was time travel.  Now, it’s multiple versions of the same people.  And people can die, and then not die.  It’s very strange.  Everything that he’s experienced with Kiera, he puts on dead Kiera.  This new Kiera is almost a whole new entity.  It’s a different person, completely.  He doesn’t know if he should trust her or not trust her.  There’s an exploration of that relationship this season, for sure, and it’s very rocky.

Are you happy about the fact that those two characters have never been forced down a path of romance, and are you surprised that that’s not something the show has explored?

continuum-rachel-nichols-victor-webster

WEBSTER:  I’ll be honest with you, I think most people like that.  I think most people are so used to that happening.  It’s expected, and it works on a lot of shows.  But, our show is not most shows.  Our show deviates from the normal path, quite significantly.  And our fans and our viewers really appreciate that ‘cause it’s a breath of fresh air.  You never know what’s going to happen, and that’s exciting. 

Will Carlos get to kick some more ass this season?

WEBSTER:  I sure hope so.  Carlos loves kicking ass, as long as he’s not fighting super soldiers.  Our fight coordinator, Kimani [Ray Smith], has free reign to do whatever he wants within the storyline.  What’s great about his fights are that they support the story.  They’re not just fights.  The action in our show supports the story.  It’s interesting because it almost feels like another character in the show.  They do such a great job.  They use a lot of props, and found objects around you, and different and interesting locations.  I’m always excited when I see a fight scene written on the page, and then to see what he comes up with is pretty incredible.

Do you have a favorite fight scene or action sequence, or even a type of fighting, that you’ve gotten to do?

WEBSTER:  One of my favorite fights was in the first season, I think in the third episode.  It was a big fight in an industrial kitchen where we were throwing each other around.  We were smashing each other into racks and pushing each other, and I got slammed into a wall.  And the fight scene you saw on the show was only half of the fight that we shot.  Time wise, it was way too long, but it was incredibly fun.  And the fight in the back of the van with Roger Cross was a lot of fun.  I’ve never done a fight in such a confined space.  I could barely stand up in that van, and I was getting smashed into the roof and thrown around.  So, that was quite fun, as well.  And we added some comedy in there, at the end of the fun, which I always like because it lightens up the moment.

continuum-rachel-nichols-victor-webster-2

If Carlos had the opportunity to travel in time, do you think he’d want to go to the past or to the future?

WEBSTER:  Wow, I don’t know.  That’s a good question.  There’s two schools of thought on that.  For me, I would like to go to the future to experience technology and how its advanced and all of the gadgets that are available.  But, I don’t like where our future is headed.  Very much like the show, it’s headed towards too much government involvement.  We’re losing a lot of our freedoms.  The way that we were raised, you’d just let the kids run out in the street, and when the street lights would come on, they’d go home.  That doesn’t happen anymore.  The mentality has changed so much.  So, there’s something to be said for going to the future, but there’s also something about the freedom of the past, going back to the ‘50s, where you could drag race in the streets and you could swing dance.  Life was easier and less convoluted.  So, it would be a toss up for me.  I think I’d just like to get in a time machine and travel and never come back.  The ‘20s would be an incredible place to be, dressing up in tuxedos with fancy cars.  That sounds incredible. 

Because this is a smart show that really challenges the viewers, were you ever worried that it wouldn’t connect with audiences, or do you think that TV watchers are smarter than people tend to give them credit for?

WEBSTER:  I believe sci-fi fans are incredibly intelligent.  We can’t get anything by them.  That keeps us on our toes, and I appreciate that.  It makes us work harder.  And I agree that TV audiences are much smarter than we give them credit for.  I think people, in general, are.  You have to challenge people.  If you’re not challenged, you’ll get bored. 

Do you ever think about how you would like to see things play out for Carlos, by the end of the series, whenever that is, or do you just trust whatever the writers come up with, at this point?

WEBSTER:  More than just trusting the writers, I’m excited by what the writers have to offer.  I find that their imaginations in the writers’ room have surpassed what I could think about, myself.  So, I don’t really worry.  I feel like I’m in really good hands, and I’m actually very intrigued with what they’re gonna have, like at the end of Season 5, for where Carlos is going to go.  I know they have something awesome up their sleeve, and I’m just looking forward to the reveal.

Continuum airs on Friday nights on Syfy.