ABC’s Traveler never had a fair chance. Simply getting a debut following Grey’s Anatomy wasn’t nearly enough to give the show a shot at engaging a summer audience that are sticklers for easy, breezy television. Traveler isn’t easy, but it certainly is breezy enough. The series moved at a blistering pace to fit an entire season’s worth of action into a single, short eight episode season. The show’s pilot was a blistering piece of work, an action-packed hour of mystery and intrigue.
It is perhaps, then, interesting to see that this finale is really about the reunion of Jay and Tyler with Will Traveler, this time with very different circumstances than in the pilot. Once three friends on a road trip across America, they’re now fugitives on the loose with the FBI on their trail, and one of them isn’t who he said he was. This isn’t a finale about action, but about emotional payoff for its characters. The dynamic of the three young males is perhaps the most important one, but Marlowe’s payoff has been equally choreographed. And let’s not forget the Porter, a mysterious character who needs an explanation. So, the Traveler finale had a lot to prove.
And, well, it did as you’d expect: a solid finale to a solid series. That is, until its ending.
Cultural Learnings 