The way Flynn goes back in time to visit his mother (to save the brother he never met so that she wouldn't be sad like him after losing a child bc he remembers her sadness) and he ends up spilling a little of his grief to her and you can tell he's saying it as her son, looking for comfort, and she tells him, "if anyone ever hurt my boy, I would go to the ends of the earth to stop them - there is absolutely nothing I would not do, and I would not let go" and he says, "thank you for saying that." I'm so incredibly deeply normal about this.
NBC has canceled Timeless after two seasons and 26 episodes.
It is also never coming back for a third season.
It was honestly for the best that the show ended after only two seasons.
For my thoughts on NBC’s Timeless, feel free to keep reading. There will be spoilers.
The show centers around two groups of time travelers, one group that wants to change history in their favor and the other that wants to prevent them from altering the past. The main group consists of historian Lucy Preston, soldier Wyatt Logan, and pilot/technician Rufus Carlin. The three do their best to stop Garcia Flynn, who wants to change the past to bring back his dead family. Throughout two seasons, the group deals with multiple internal and external conflicts like the mysterious organization known as Rittenhouse.
One of my favorite narrative techniques, regardless of the medium, is time travel. When used correctly, great stories can be told of characters being amazed or shocked by the past, present, or future as well as the potential ramifications of altering time. Star Trek, for example, has had at least one episode from each of their series centering around their characters messing around with space and time.
Timeless was not a groundbreaking series in any way, since one can find a lot of similarities with other series and films ranging from Back to the Future to DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. The show’s most unique elements were the time machines. Instead of a phone booth, a car, or even a key, they were giant distinct spherical objects that somewhat resembled human eyes.
The characters were mostly hit or miss. Lucy was a great protagonist, and it was great seeing how she had to deal with her sister ceasing to exist, her feelings for Wyatt, and what she thought about her mother’s allegiance to Rittenhouse. Rufus started off somewhat dull but became a very likeable character by the end of the first season, especially with his newfound relationship with Jiya. Wyatt was the weakest member of the group, solely being there at first to protect the other two. His relationship with Lucy in the second season could have worked had Jessica not come back from the dead.
The rest of the protagonists were OK, although the breakout character was Jiya. While she was mostly in the background during the first season, her role in the season finale and second season made her a great character to follow, going from being just another technician to a great member of the team.
The antagonists, on the other hand, were inconsistent. Garcia Flynn has a good reason to time travel and can be seen as justified in his mission to bring back his family. His only flaw was that his name consisted of two last names.
However, it is still a better name than Chibi Chibi.
Rittenhouse started off as an intimidating threat to both the main group and Flynn, but the second season turned them into card-carrying villains that only lacked thin mustaches. Carol could be at least be seen as an antihero by how she believes that she is doing the right thing. On the other hand, both Emma and Keynes did everything but laugh evilly.
Keynes was just not a very interesting villain, acting more like a one-note character straight out of Arrow.
It would have made more sense for Carol to be Rittenhouse’s true leader after the reveal in the first season finale. Once Keynes was brought into the group, she solely served to protect Lucy from a trigger-happy Emma.
The first season was overall OK and had decent twists. The second season was extremely predictable, especially by the season premiere revealing all of Rittenhouse’s secret agents. The time traveling adventures were still enjoyable, but the season’s overall arc was just boring.
It was honestly for the best that the show ended after two seasons. It would probably have degraded in quality like Sleepy Hollow. Most of the second season felt very similar to that series’ sophomore run, where it seemed like the writers ran out of ideas and were grasping for new ways to continue the story.
I find Timeless to be eerily similar to the anime Soul Eater. While they may have different premises, settings, and tones, both shows had great protagonists and good stories that were only bogged down by terrible villains and lame conclusions.
As for the Series Finale, it was OK and the cliffhanger was clearly a shameless attempt at getting a third season.
It is a shame that the show is yet another science fiction series without a proper resolution. The only way fans could convince NBC and Sony to make a finale movie would be to get more viewers to binge watch the series and buy the show either on iTunes or DVD.
Timeless is available to watch on Hulu as well as Netflix in certain regions. The complete series is available to buy on iTunes. The first season is also available on DVD.
If you still want to watch a show featuring time travel, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is the next best thing to Timeless. It may have its own flaws and require some knowledge of The CW’s other superhero shows, especially Arrow and The Flash, but it is an enjoyable series with great action and a good mixture of comedy and drama.
Garcia “Tough Guy” Flynn is a Nerd and You Can’t Convince Me Otherwise
This Line is 100% a Princess Bride “Inconceivable!” “I do not think that word mean what you think it means!” Reference and You Cannot Convince Me Otherwise.
