The much anticipated Timeless premiered on October 3 with the “Pilot” written by co-showrunners Erik Kripke (Supernatural, Revolution) and Shaw Ryan (The Shield, The Unit, Lie to Me, Terriers, Last Resort) and directed by Neil Marshall (Black Sails, Game of Thrones, Constantine, Hannibal). The show’s premise feels a lot like both 12 Monkeys and Legends of Tomorrow – a small group of people have to travel through time to save the world/save history – but it’s all in the execution. Unlike 12 Monkeys, Timeless is trying to prevent history from being changed, and right off the bat, the writing is a lot better than Legends of Tomorrow. Timeless also has the benefit of re-visiting one of Kripke’s favorite themes: destiny versus free will. A theme that is particularly well served by the premise.
The “Pilot” does a good job of moving through the basics of exposition while still setting up some intriguing questions and delivering an action-packed plot. Connor Mason (Paterson Joseph) has invented a time machine that Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic) steals in an attempt to change history. Agent Denise Christopher (Sakina Jaffrey) of Homeland Security enlists the help of an historian – Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer) – and a soldier – Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter) – to go after Flynn. Mason sends one of his scientists – Rufus Carlin (Malcom Barrett). Wyatt's name has echoes of the wild west (Wyatt Earp) and
Logan's Run - classic dystopian science fiction.
I really liked the two versions of the time machine. The one Flynn steals looks very space age with its sleek white body and flashing blue LED lights, whereas the lifeboat looks like a clunky piece of junk – with a bicycle chain propelling it! Both look creepily like giant eyes. It turns out that the lifeboat’s CPU is linked to that of the mothership and can tell WHEN the ship went if not where.
When Wyatt and Lucy are shown video of the mothership taking off they don’t believe it. Wyatt even asks if it’s some kind of special effect – which is hilarious. Mason explains that they use a closed timelike curve – which a real thing! Lucy really doesn’t want to go, but Denise plays on Lucy’s inherent curiosity. Lucy is a professor and a teacher – of course she wants to see history! Spencer is particularly good when Lucy is faced with actual history, nicely conveying her delight and awe.
Rufus really doesn’t want to go, telling Mason that “there is literally nowhere in American history that is awesome for a black man.” This is another dimension of the show that I really like – the opportunity to really examine some of the problematic aspects of history, especially when it comes to African Americans, and the show does a really good job of this. Rufus is forced to ride in the back of the bus, and is clearly not wanted/allowed in Harvelle’s bar. The best scene is when the three are in jail and Rufus has to create a distraction.
Rufus tells the Deputy (Primo Allon) not to call him “boy” – and then proceeds to tell him that he hopes he lives to see Barak Obama become President in 2008. It’s also amusing as he tells him to watch out for any black guy named Michael – Jordan, Jackson, Tyson. It’s not amusing when the other cops are going to beat him for speaking his mind. Barrett, according to Kripke’s Twitter feed, improvised most of this speech!
I also liked that Lucy did call them on the historical inaccuracies of her wardrobe, including her underwire bra. Happily, that comes in handy when Wyatt needs to break them out of jail – just in time to save Rufus. They also address the problem of what could happen if Wyatt’s gun were to fall into Nazi hands – which it luckily doesn’t, though the deputy is pretty intrigued by it.
Wyatt appears to be the brooding muscle of the team. I have to admit, I could have done without his angsting over his wife’s death. Supernatural fans will no doubt have picked up on the use of the name Jessica – Sam Winchester’s dead girlfriend’s name, whose death sends him back to hunting monsters with his brother. He also clearly has a drinking problem as he’s been drinking when Denise pulls him in and we last see him sitting at a bar with a picture of his dead wife. We also learn that he wanted to revisit the time of his wife’s death because he feels responsible for it. There are no do-overs however. It’s disastrous to revisit any time where you’ve been before.
Wyatt is appalled when Lucy happily chats with journalist Kate Drummond (Shantel Van Santen) in the bar, knowing that Kate is about to die, but Lucy tells him that they can’t change anything – even who dies. Wyatt goes off mission when he goes out of his way to save Kate because she reminds him of his wife. I loved the scene when he’s trying to disarm the bomb and Kate asks about the blinking clock – no digital in the thirties! Wyatt tells her that he’s going to tell her the truth – and I really thought he was going to! He tells her, however, that he’s Buck Rogers and the clock came from outer space – another example of the humor that works so well in the show. I also loved the pop culture references that Lucy employs as their cover: “He’s Dr Dre, I’m nurse Jackie, and we’re from General Hospital!”
When they fail to stop Flynn from changing history by not blowing up the Hindenburg, they continue to try to track him down, discovering the plot to blow it up on the return voyage – when it will do more damage due to the people schedule to fly back to Germany on it. Wyatt insists that sometimes you have to make it up as you go along. Lucy embraces this once they’re on the Hindenburg by declaring they’re the Anarchist Black Cross and taking the pilots hostage.
Flynn sends one of his men to ensure the bomb goes off, and there’s a great fight sequence. Of course, the guys gun goes off anyway and the Hindenburg goes up in flames anyway. Kate is shot and dies anyway too, leading Lucy to tell Wyatt, “maybe we don’t get to make it up.” To which Wyatt responds, “So some things are just fate?” Yet when they return to the present, the timeline has been affected. Things are different. Those left behind, don’t realize time has changed because it’s always been that way for them – this part could give you a headache if you try to unravel it!
Before Kate is shot, however, Flynn confronts Lucy. He insists that he knows all about her. He tells her that she isn’t really a teacher. He tells her to ask them why they really chose Lucy for the mission. He also tells her to ask what WhittenHouse (wittenhaus?) is. Lucy insists that she doesn’t know him, so how can he know about her. He knows about her because he has her journal! Again,
Supernatural fans will immediately make a similar connection to John’s journal that his sons rely on for information. The connection is even stronger when we see Flynn going through it at the end of the episode. Like John’s journal, Lucy’s has pictures and clippings in addition to what she’s written.
This is only the beginning of the mysteries opened up by this first episode. Lucy does ask the questions upon her return, and Denise denies knowing the answer to either. We also learn that Mason has tasked Rufus with taping the other two – why? And then there’s the mystery of why Mason couldn’t go himself in the first place – we see him tell Rufus that he has to go because Mason can’t, and Rufus knows why – but we still don’t! What has Mason been using the time machine for?
Lucy has determined that Flynn is trying to destroy America “in the crib” – but why? He has certainly had an impact on the timeline. Lucy returns home to find her mother (Susanna Thompson), who was so ill when Lucy left that she was bed-ridden and unresponsive, is making dinner. Even more shocking, it seems that Lucy’s sister Amy (Bailey Noble) doesn’t exist in this timeline. And if all that weren’t enough, Lucy is also, apparently, engaged in this timeline!
Lucy barely has time to freak out before she gets a call from Denise. They’d come back to the present because the mothership had, but now the mothership – and Flynn – have jumped to another time. Denise already needs to get the team back together!
Lots of great balls are now in play. I really like that what sounds like made up science is actually real. The show has so much potential to examine great moments in history. This first episode does a good job of establishing the characters and illustrating Rufus’ concern about being a Black man travelling through time. The special effects are really good – and not over used. I will admit that I’m not completely compelled by any of the actors just yet other than Barrett. I am a fan of Thompson from
Arrow and Jaffrey from
House of Cards. I liked the chemistry between Spencer and Lanter, but I really hope the show doesn’t go the typical route of building them up as a couple.
What did you think of the show? What did you like most about it? Are you intrigued as to why Flynn is trying to destroy America? What did you think of the main characters? Did you watch because of a particular actor or producer? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, The X-Files, Defiance, Bitten, Killjoys, and a few others! I'm active on the Con scene when I have the time. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.
