What I’m Watching: Timeless (Season Finale)

Timeless: Season 2, Episodes 9 and 10 “The General” and “Chinatown” (B-)

There’s a lot to unpack here, and as of this writing, this show has yet to be renewed or cancelled by NBC. The team’s trip back to the Civil War era was full of predictable tropes like Rufus being all too willing to pose as a slave without an exit strategy while Harriet Tubman demonstrated her impressive ability to get stuff done. That was followed by an expected betrayal by Jessica, who apparently had been working for Rittenhouse her entire life, getting close to Wyatt but not killing them all because she still does love him? It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, since she seems to be pregnant but doesn’t want to be with Wyatt even after Emma went and killed both Carol and Nicholas just because she couldn’t stand them telling her what to do anymore. Why all four Rittenhouse operatives that we know by name and face were together looking for Gia and waiting for the team to show up is an inconsistency akin to high-ranking crew members and captains going on away missions on “Star Trek,” and now we’re expected to believe that all of Rittenhouse will take orders from Emma after she executed their previous leader? Rufus still dying was a confirmation that the universe does in fact correct itself after an attempted disruption, but then we got the biggest shock of all with the arrival of a second lifeboat containing rugged presumably future versions of Wyatt and Lucy. That’s the kind of invigorating twist that this show has needed for a while now, and I’d be pumped for a third season based on that, even though there are many questions to answer that I doubt this show will bother to address. Like last year, I wouldn’t champion this show over others, but I’m definitely intrigued about what a revitalized and more action-packed third season could look like.

Season grade: B
Season MVP: Goran Visnjic as Flynn