What I’m Watching: Timeless

Timeless: Season 2, Episode 8 “The Day Reagan Was Shot” (B+)

I’ve always wondered why it is that these characters always seem to arrive at the scene of a historical moments just seconds before it’s about to be altered completely, and I caught myself wondering about traveling forward in time rather than just back in this episode. There are a number of things on this show that don’t track, and this is one area that could be worth examining. Mainly, Flynn insists that it was Lucy who came to talk to him and to convince him to fight against Rittenhouse, and while that didn’t happen in their futures here, it did involve her going back to fill him in on everything he needed to know. Similarly, Agent Christopher, who was played in 1981 form by Karen David from “Galavant,” had to be filled in by time-traveling FBI agents Cagney and Lacey about what her future would entail so that she wouldn’t marry the man her family wanted her to and could instead preserve the family she already had. Flynn made a compelling case to the present-day Agent Christopher about what he would give to be with his family again, and he’s definitely transformed into a more compassionate person (perhaps he always was and they just didn’t believe him). I like the notion, put forward by Lucy, that Gia’s visions may be a way to save Rufus, though I suspect he’s still going to die. Wyatt noticed a change in Jessica’s history that suggested Rittenhouse’s corruption of her, but her pregnancy reveal caught him by surprise and is sure to help distract from that revelation. All we have left is a two-hour finale and no word on a third season just yet - let’s hope for a worthwhile semi-conclusion!