RE: Travelers (Netflix) and a Crypto Mention!
Hey, @bitfiend.
I watched the last season of Agents of Shield, which I thought was very well done, probably the best season yet, though I did enjoy the one before it, too. It's too bad ABC doesn't seem to know what it wants to do with it (after almost getting rid of it) now that it's getting good.
DC Legends of Tomorrow I've not been watching as much, primarily because that show, along with The Flash, likes to time convolution so much, that it's at the point of ridiculousness. Having someone running around changing time is one thing, but having time coming undone just because (or so it seemed the last time I watched), became a bit too much.
Plus, I've never really been able to get into the newer characters.
I used to be a pretty big fan of time travel (really loved Dr. Who back in the 80s, along with Back To The Future and then Quantum Leap), along with the idea of a multiverse or alternate Earths, a la shows like Sliders and the movie The One.
Now, I'm not so convinced any of that exists, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was some situation where multiple planes of existence, with different people, with their own lives, societies and timelines, were all occupying the same space, but at different chronal frequencies.
Anyway, I'm glad you've been enjoying Travelers and that it's a step above many other time traveling shows. I can't go as far to say that Hollywood has its pulse of much of anything, especially the future, though a lot of the material shows draw from or are based on do a better job of it. Timing is the hard part, along with the actual sequence of events. Clothing and hairstyles have pretty much been off, too. :)
However, when it comes to making predictions, it can serve as a self-fulfilling prophecy if enough people like the idea or believe it. That's one thing to watch out for regarding predictions, especially ones that people can influence.
I know exactly what you mean about the time convolution. There were parts that really confused me, and then there was all the crossover episodes. I wrote about this a few months ago because I started with "The Arrow". Not knowing about the crossover episodes, I got to an episode that had zero continuation. I was confused until the end. I ended up having to watch The Flash, The Arrow, Super Girl and DC's Legends of Tomorrow just to understand what the hell was going on. Especially when Super Girl showed up for the first time and they're talking to her about past events. When it comes to all the weird time stuff on Flash/Legends it's because there's more than one person changing time around. The whole time that the Legends are working, the Flash and his nemesis are also doing stuff to change time, which affects things on The Arrow as well. It affects Super Girl slightly and even affects "other earths" where another time traveling speedster helps with time traveling stuff and he is barry's dads doppleganger. It's quite the story line and I had to actually look up crossovers so that I could watch in proper order and understand what was going on. There are a few times where it explains why something happened later, and who caused it. Then you're like "oh that's what happened", but of course the confusion is damn near gone by then because it was multiple episodes ago.
So yeah -- in order to fully understand what the heck is going on with the Flash, and/or DC Legends of Tomorrow, you have to watch The Arrow and Super Girl as well. Especially because half the team on Legends of Tomorrow started out on The Arrow which gives them a backstory for you to recall when you start watching Legends of Tomorrow. When they just up and disappear from the arrow, you're left wondering what happened to them. When they "show up again", it may be confusing if you haven't already started Legends of Tomorrow.
I actually enjoyed Legends of Tomorrow. It was silly and I found it funny, but it was a less serious approach to time travel and saving the world. It's almost like the writers got bored and wanted to focus on funny. I laughed at the season finale though. I loved the ending, as silly as it was. Definitely unexpected, and it's quite the "inside joke" for anyone who's watched every episode.
Agents of SHIELD was definitely my favorite too. I was upset when I finished watching and found myself wanting more.