Parents' Guide to

Travelers

By Mark Dolan, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Smart time travel show balances thrills with humanity.

TV Netflix Action 2016
Travelers Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.

Community Reviews

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age 15+

Based on 6 parent reviews

concernedwithmedia
concernedwithmedia Parent of 13-year-old
July 31, 2022
age 14+

Too much sexy stuff to relax and enjoy.

Lots of sexual situations with character marcie. Side boob and bare back shown. Multiple characters in bras and underwear. Very disappointed because ruins an otherwise good show. Season 2 contains more sexuality than season 1 so far. Sexuality of teenagers shown multiple times. Really uncomfortable seeing a teenager in her bra.

This title has:

Too much sex
1 person found this helpful.
christianfreiss
christianfreiss Adult
December 15, 2019
age 17+

Lifeless

The show is a story that slowly spins out of control. I won't spoil the ending for the person who wants to watch it after this review, but keep in mind their is a steady smearing of faith and all intimate relationships fall apart. There is a twist, but overall the mission takes the forefront, and relationships fail. The upside to it was that the previous reviews were correct about it not being dark or crude. There is still profanity, shirtless scenes, blood, ect, but the tone doesn't stoop to such a primal level. Finally, thank you Commonsense Media. I'm grateful for this resource
See all 6 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Four people: a single mom, a junkie, a high school athlete, and a janitor with a cognitive disability, all of whom are supposed to die on the same day, have their bodies inhabited by TRAVELERS from the future (led by Will and Grace's Eric McCormack), sent here to prevent the eventual extinction of the human race. In addition to their missions, they also have the challenge of seamlessly integrating into their new hosts' lives without anyone finding out.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6 ):
Kids say (5 ):

Surprisingly low-key for such a high-concept show, this series offers a good mixture of suspense and personal drama. With five characters to feature, each with different lives and personal problems, as well as a mission of the week to focus on, the scripts do an excellent job juggling the separate elements and keeping all the relationships easy to follow. The wide variety of characters means the show gets to explore many different kinds of stories: young love, marital drama, and family conflict, in addition to the more action-focused plotlines.

Travelers isn't groundbreaking television by any means, but there's a real humanity to the characters that gives it an unexpected gravity. What's particularly refreshing is that even though Travelers takes its premise seriously, it never becomes self-serious, and in this genre that isn't always an easy feat.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about time travel in Travelers. What do you think would be the coolest part of traveling back in time? The hardest?

  • Imagine it's possible to transfer your mind into another person's body. Would you do it? Is there a specific person or kind of person whose body you'd want to inhabit?

TV Details

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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