Date of airing: February 20, 2017 (NBC)
Nielsen ratings information: 3.371 million viewers, 2.0/4 in Households, 0.89/3 with Adults 18-49, 0.5/3 with Adults 18-34, 1.2/4 with Adults 25-54
written by: Arika Lisanne Mittman
directed by: Matt Earl Beesley
Up until the hospital room moment in San Francisco, it was quite a solid season finale, and one that might have served as a potential series closer, in case NBC wanted to be cruel again and cancel the show, as they have done so many times since they stopped being number one in the yearly Nielsen charts after losing their Must See Thursday block to audience erosion. But the entire final act made this episode a bit absurd, and all of a sudden, TIMELESS has a villain in a military prison, another villain who slept in the 1800s for a decade and has now been woken up, a villain who turned into an ally halfway into the episode, a character who might be able to hope between two alternate timelines or universes, and a family of Rittenhouses that makes the entire mythology ... well, not bigger, only more complicated.
In Connor’s case, his change from a
villain to an ally of the time-traveling crew came over with some
eyesroll-worthy moments, although it would explain why he has been a
poorly-written character for most of the series. But yeah, this episode
made too many efforts to make sure that the season ends in a tower of
cliffhangers, and that actual fans of the show would have been outraged
when they learned that TIMELESS was not to be continued. Why waste so
much time on a second season that is not even guaranteed yet? And
TIMELESS was indeed canceled by NBC after the first season. Only renewed
negotiations with the studio (and a social media campaign) gave it
life for another season. A fight that was kind of unnecessary, as TIMELESS was not particularly a show I would have cared about if it had not been renewed and revived by NBC.
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| Were you always interested in finding out how the Golden Gate Bridge was constructed? Build a time machine! |
I did like that Flynn’s story was pretty much over and done with in this episode. His mission failed, his family is still dead, and if he is not breaking out of prison, he will not be able to do anything anymore, essentially killing the reason for his existence in the continued narrative. But because this is Goran Visnjic we are talking about, and he is somewhat of a well-known name in television circles, there would have been no way for him to exit the series, although who knows what happened between NBC canceling the show and Sony renegotiating a deal for another season – actors’ contracts would have most likely been renegotiated as well.
At least Flynn’s character arc here ended with a scene of some depth, when Lucy was arguing her case about how to stop Rittenhouse without necessarily killing anyone. I almost felt that Flynn understood for the first time that there can be a better way to eradicate Rittenhouse from history, instead of changing history so much that it will look like a crapshoot in 2017 – a present that may still exist somewhere, if I think about Jiya’s eye-twitching vision of the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge a little longer. I would breathe a loud sigh if TIMELESS were to return Flynn to the story, but I would welcome him if the writers were trying an entirely new story him with. As I said before, Flynn could easily be the hero because he is anti-Rittenhouse, like Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus always will be, so there is a connection.
The trip back to 1953 was okay. I liked the story of Lucy telling her grandfather Ethan all about what Rittenhouse was planning in the future, that time travel existed, and I liked that there seem to be some members in Rittenhouse that might have some issues with the organization’s agenda. Ethan’s background as a gay man fit well into the story, and it made Rittenhouse look like an organization stuck in a conservative era from the mid-1900s – I wonder if their plan was to bring the world back to that kind of lifestyle (like real-life Nazis like Matt Walsh want to), with one of their missions being “cleaning up the world from all the gays, Jews, Muslims, blacks, maybe women.” It would be imaginable, because so far I have not seen one single non-white Rittenhouse member, and Lucy’s mother turned out to be the first female Rittenhouse member (besides Emma, but she always felt more like a hired gun). There is no reason not to believe that the Rittenhouse in this fictional universe is comparable to the Republican party of 2023.
By the way: The 1953 storyline was painfully inconsistent when it came to Flynn’s plan to blow up the castle Rittenhouse had their meeting in. Considering the organization and the threat they pose to life and time, one might have expected them to bulk up their security around the once-in-a-quarter-century event, especially since Rittenhouse has been attacked by lone forces over the course of their history, with none of the victims of violence or death opening the eyes of Rittenhouse leadership that someone may have been after them all this time. But Flynn got into the basement quite easily, and Ethan was able to distract the guard without a problem (maybe the guard was gay as well and the two had a ten-minute fling in the woods?). Rittenhouse did not deserve to exist when they could have been eradicated this easily during their summit.
Meanwhile, the show made it clear that four people traveling in the lifeboat is a dangerous thing. When Jiya and Rufus had their romantic moment in the hospital, I was thinking one of them might die soon, because that is the trope of television to kill one part of the romantic storyline since there can never be happiness, so I was glad that Jiya was not dead by the end of the episode. I liked the idea of her being able to see potential alternate timelines, or maybe even be able to travel through time without having to be in the time machine. Granted, the image of the Golden Gate Bridge was fleeting and could have meant anything (not just its construction between 1933 and ’37), but it could easily be the beginning of a storyline about alternate timelines or “remote time traveling” that will be helpful to the characters, in case they cannot get out of the past for some reason.
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| The villain has finally been captured. |
Connor’s change from villain to a guy with a heart was dopey. So, he accessed the NSA toy Rittenhouse promised him, just to find out stuff about Ben Cahill? How convenient for the story to twist that into the narrative in this episode, just to Agent Christopher can get out of eternal imprisonment and Rufus gets a chance to appreciate his mentor again. But I have no idea if I would have liked the character more if he had been a villain, or if I could like him more now because he seems nuanced in the way he behaved throughout the past few episodes.
It was nice to see though that he deeply cared about Rufus. Another character connection with some depth that should have been established long ago, just to get a bit more drama into the plot. But the question is how easy it was for Connor to investigate and hack Ben Cahill behind his back (I cannot imagine the ever so powerful Rittenhouse did not notice that), or for Ben (or Neville) to not notice that Connor was playing them all along. I do not think Connor was that smart, or Rittenhouse was that dumb. Connor was close to being a member of Rittenhouse because he was already doing their bidding – I am sure they were checking all of their sources, so they would not be burned later on. It is a revered club among white Americans (okay, I just gave myself the answer as to why Connor would not be a member and easily go against them if it suits his overall plans), so maybe it should be harder to work for them?
