What is Jason's role / purpose in Continuum?

Question

Continuum Series

Spoiler ahead for beginners:

I've completed season 2. By the end of season 2 we came to know that Jason is Alec's son. Alec sent him from 2077 to the past(1992 or 1990). We saw in season 1 that he tried to build a time machine to go back to future, he also agreed to take Keira with him. Later that didn't work out as they expected and no mention of his time machine in further episodes.

Then we saw in season 2 that he tried to help Alec in different situations. He tried to help making a program using the Arc for surveillance over anyone. That's also destroyed later by Emily with the permission of Alec after there was a chaos that Lucas did by hacking the program.

We sometimes saw Jason in random scenes, basically doing nothing. In future he was shown as if he has a motive, and in 2013 version, he was shown as if he didn't know what he was doing. Sometimes the impression was given that he lost full control over his mind. He wanted to go back in future as we've seen in the season 1 finale.

In short Alec does everything, Jason tried to help. But series didn't explain by the end of season 2, how Jason is helping Alec to shape the future or with what purpose.

So what is Jason's purpose for which he was sent to the past? Am I missing something?

Answer 1

Disclaimer: It's been a while since I watched Continuum so I'm not sure during what seasons some of the following is revealed to the viewer so treat the following with caution for potential spoilers!

Future!Alec tasked Jason with ensuring that the captured members of Liber8 succeed in traveling back in time which he succeeds in doing however as a result of the interference from one of the Freelancers Jason is caught on the edges of the time travel device's effect and is accidentally flung back to 1992. Due to either the way in which he was swept up in the time jump or because of the long time he spends alone (or possibly both!) he goes a little bit insane.

Despite his insanity however he is still hugely intelligent and knowledgeable about time travel and it's technology. It's Jason that provides the 201x-era characters with their first information regarding the Freelancers.

So his in-universe role is to enable the time jump of Liber8 as part of Future!Alec's plan to "fix" the future and out-of-universe his nature as an insane time traveler is to provide information about the future while remaining questionable enough that the viewer is never quite sure whether the information he provides can be taken at face value.

Answer 2

Forgetting the scene with Garza where old man Alec says he isn't like her because he isn't weak enough or strong enough to love? And wants her as his fail safe because she is. So perhaps he sends his son to help with that. Both because he's family and because Jason seems caring and is always encouraging his relationship with Emily - unlike someone like Kellogg who wants him to focus on work and creating an empire.