What I’m Watching: Timeless

Timeless: Season 1, Episode 8 “Space Race” (B-)

I’m not losing faith altogether in this show, but it hasn’t been as gripping lately as it initially seemed. There has always been a lightness to this show that makes it entertaining but also detracts from its semi-serious subject matter, and that was working well previously but now just feels flighty. Flynn continues his quest to disrupt all major world events in history to chart a new course for humanity, and it feels unlikely that he could really fail each time and let our friends stop his plan, especially when he worked so hard to strand them in the 1700s only to find them right on his tail in 1969. Rufus coming face-to-face with Anthony and killing the man he was with was supposed to illustrate the person he’s become as a result of this job, but he’s too comic a character to really be taken seriously. His emphasis of just how important this mission was to him made some sense but didn’t track entirely, and I can’t comprehend where Anthony’s allegiances lie and why. The most crucial and powerful moment was when, upon returning to the present, Lucy expressed her dismay on behalf of the team that Flynn was doing precisely what they had wanted to do – going back in time to save the people they loved – and they were still prohibited from doing the same. That’s where this show gets interesting, and I’m hoping that we’ll get more answers about Lucy’s shifted perspective sooner rather than later, and maybe even meet her time-traveling self from the future!