Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 30, 2018 3:54:25 GMT -5
I group around with a bunch of sci-fi nerds. Myself and a group of friends get together every week to watch Star Trek: Discovery, though we're kind of bummed that it's ending in a few weeks. Since the gatherings have been fun, we kinda wanted to keep doing them regardless of whether Trek is on. I've been wanting to subject them to Westworld, but the problem is we have kids with us at these things and Westworld is...not a family show (although we have discussions on how family friendly Discovery can be at times). The solution to our problem hits in March. Because last year a few of us became quite addicted to another sci-fi show that had just hit the air... Timeless is not a perfect show by any means, as it's sometimes predictable and cliched. But there's one thing that makes it worth watching to me and everyone I watch it with, it's a throwback to those sci-fi shows of our youth. Shows that offered adventure of the week, often slightly building to something bigger that usually came into play at the end of season. Shows like Quantum Leap, The X-Files, Sliders, Buffy, Angel, and so and so. None of that serialized "watch all episodes or you'll be lost" crap. It's not a huge surprise that Timeless never really hit it huge, because it is so old fashioned that I doubt it holds a lot of appeal in this age where each episode of a TV show needs to be a portion of one story because BINGE WATCH. Though if you were to ask me I was always more likely to binge watch shows like Timeless because of the diversity of each episode. A lot of people ask me why I haven't watched Stranger Things or other hot Netflix shows on the market, and that's because for the most part watching their programming grows monotonous to me, especially halfway through, because their mid-season episodes feel like their dragging their feet. And of course it bore the mark of all great sci-fi shows...Timeless was cancelled. But somehow it defied that and rose from the dead, when mere days later the cancellation decision was reversed. This was awesome because it almost felt like Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus went back in time to fix the timeline and made this happen. Timeless is about a historian, a soldier, and a scientist hired by the government to track down a group of temporal terrorists who highjacked a time machine and intend to alter history in an attempt to wipe out an Illuminati-like organization called Rittenhouse, and in doing so might change the timeline entirely. They find themselves conflicted with their desire to preserve history yet discovering Rittenhouse might be more diabolical than those they're chasing. But more importantly, it's a show made by nerds for nerds, as evidenced by the fun nostalgia drops at most every turn... Like what you may ask? Well, just take a look at our main characters: Lucy Preston, Wyatt Logan, and Rufus Carlin. Wait...read those names again...Preston, Logan, Rufus, and Carlin? As in Bill Preston, Theodore Logan, and Rufus played by George Carlin? Of all the time traveling homages you could have made you chose Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure? That is TOTALLY BODACIOUS! I'm rewatching the entire first season in preparation for the second season in March. I'm not holding my breath for a third, so I'm going to savor these ten episodes while the last. Right now I'm hopping into the Lifeboat and revisiting the past in the first sixteen episodes that captured my heart a year ago. PilotDestination Date: May 6th, 1937 The pilot episode of Timeless tries to accomplish a lot, almost feeling like it should be double length. The show needs to introduce us to the concept of time travel, how it exists, our villain and his objectives, three main characters, give us characterizations for them to try and hook us, all the while juggling a story around the Hindenburg disaster. It's not successful at everything, but it's fast-paced, interesting, and exciting. The bad guy of our show is Garcia Flynn, an NSA agent who raids a government facility with a group of followers and highjacks a time machine called the Mothership, and kidnapping the head scientist behind the team who invented it, Anthony Bruhl. In an attempt to stop Flynn and retrieve the Mothership, the government reaches out to a college professor named Lucy Preston to guide Wyatt Logan, a soldier, successfully through 1937 America to find Flynn and "take care of him." Tagging along is Rufus Carlin, a scientist familiar with the time technology who can successfully pilot and repair it. The trio take a prototype machine called the Lifeboat and follow Flynn to the Hindenburg disaster. The rushed pace of the episode sometimes does it no favors. Our introduction to Lucy is pretty weak, as she relates a story to her classroom that feels a bit isolated with no possible context that really makes sense. It does get her profession across to the viewer and we instantly have an idea of who she is however, even if it is a bit dodgy. Wyatt's status as a widower seems to rear it's head at a somewhat convenient exposition times, which is a bit maddening from a storytelling perspective. It might have been more interesting to linger the viewer a bit with him and have the death of his wife be revealed a few episodes later than to cram it into this busy episode. But perhaps it's important to note that he's single, because it helps plant the seeds for the shippers and make Lucy and Wyatt the show's "Will they, or won't they?" couple. I will give the show credit in that they somehow turned this into a love triangle with Wyatt's deceased wife, because of Wyatt's determination to bring her back via screwing around with the timeline. While the show's attempts to give us an idea about these characters stumbles a tad, their introduction to Rufus is a bit more successful. When discovering he is going on the mission as well he gives us the hilarious on-the-nose observation of "I am black. There is literally no point in American history that'll be awesome for me." This pays off later in the episode where he is hassled by a guard in jail and he rants about all the famous black men that eventually pop up in history: "I hope you get to see Michael Jordan dunk, Michael Jackson dance, Mike Tyson punch...just any black guy named Michael!" Rufus is also given a romance of his own with a programmer named Jiya, paving the way for an adorkable relationship later on. The seed is planted here, though it doesn't bloom for a while. When it comes to plotting, the episode is genuinely kinetic. It never stops moving. We're thrust into Flynn stealing the Mothership almost immediately, then we are given a brief intro to Lucy and her family life before sucking her into the storyline so fast it'll make her head spin. Wyatt is already there and waiting, though he was obviously not ready for it either since he is hungover (a hint at his depression). They're given little to no time before being thrust into the Lifeboat. After that is mingling with people of the time in a search for Flynn before going all-out action for the second half. But the episode is at its most interesting at this point as well. But most of the best moments of the episode are spoilers. Read at your own risk. What started to get me really intrigued about this show was the point in which Flynn had prevented the Hindenburg from exploding. I loved this moment for two reasons. One, it makes us even more curious about what exactly Flynn is doing. They had just chased a man through time who just rescued dozens of people who were destined to die. And yet, even saving these people could damage the timeline as well. There's a interesting conundrum here. And the second is that it shows that the show isn't always just going to hit the reset button and have history be exactly as it was when their mission is over. It's a ballsy move to alter history so significantly in just the first episode of the series. It gets me to wonder just what else they might do down the line.
Incidentally, should the show ever make a series finale, I halfway expect somehow a reset of the timeline is probably what they're building toward. But for now I'm enjoying the paradoxes.
Following this point the action sequences are fun and exciting. Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus are arrested, leading to a fun escape involving Rufus's above mentioned rant and Lucy's bra. The Hindenburg still explodes, but not until after it takes off again because Flynn was targeting people who were meant to board the ship. Rittenhouse is namedropped, though we know very little about it other than the word. Rufus is revealed to be spying on Lucy and Wyatt, but the reason why is not yet revealed, though it's obviously against his will. When all is said and done everybody returns home and tries to live their daily lives as if nothing happened: Wyatt goes back to boozing, Rufus asks Jiya out on a date, and Lucy returns home to her ill mother to discover the timeline ripple somehow cured her mother. But all is not sunshine and roses for Lucy accidentally erased her little sister from history. This is one of those WTF moments that make me just go "Oh man, I GOTTA watch the next episode now." The episode ends with Lucy receiving a phone call stating that Flynn has taken the Mothership out through time again. In one of those deliciously cheesy moments that I unapologetically love, Lucy does a dramatic pause as the camera zooms in on her face and she asks "When?" like she's ready to hop back into action. It's a bumpy ride getting there, but the pilot episode gets its job done and is wildly entertaining to boot. If you're looking for a sci-fi adventure show to get into, I say put it on and see if you dig it.
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Post by crowschmo on Jan 30, 2018 13:15:36 GMT -5
I kinda forget what happens in these episodes. I'll have to watch them again, too.
Travelers on Netflix is good, too.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 30, 2018 15:18:24 GMT -5
The Assassination of Abraham LincolnDestination: April 14, 1865 And of course if you're going to do a time travel show that revisits important events in American history, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln is probably at the top of the list. They get it out of the way early, which is probably a sign of being low on ideas, however the episode is executed fairly well and feels like a natural progression for the series. Upset after the disappearance of he sister from the timeline, Lucy makes demands of the heads of Mason Industries to help her fix the timeline, but they are more concerned about Flynn's latest destination, just hours before Abraham Lincoln is shot dead. Given the importance of this event Lucy agrees to help and she, Wyatt, and Rufus travel into the Lifeboat to 1865. There she finds Robert Todd Lincoln, the son of the President, who becomes infatuated with her, and she wrestles with he conscience over whether it's right to "let" Abraham Lincoln die if she could prevent it. The episode is not as action packed as the previous and tries to emphasize character and moral conflict to help make it more interesting to the viewer. I'd say this is quite a bit better because it has breathing room to let us gradually learn who these people are instead of just thrusting information in the face of the viewer. Also helping is that the spotlight isn't trying to highlight the entire trio anymore, instead focusing on Lucy. The aftermath of the butterfly effect that personally affected her provides a strong dramatic push for her, and given the fact that she's a history teacher being thrust into one of the most tragic assassinations in American history she is given a dilemma that she tries to be objective about, but ultimately is conflicted by. But as overwhelming as a story revolving around Abe Lincoln could be, the disappearance of Amy isn't quite thrust onto the sideline. Even when Amy isn't mentioned (though Lucy is upset by the loss throughout the episode) the episode does a great job of letting us know there is progression to the storyline being made. Jiya, who's date with Rufus apparently didn't go very well, offers her services to Lucy, to try and figure out a link between her family and the Hindenburg. The results are simple but interesting, providing even further conflict within Lucy. Lucy and Amy's father married a woman who descended from the survivors of the Hindenburg instead of Lucy's mother. The fact that her parents never met and Amy never exists means that Lucy's father isn't the man she knew as her father. Now curious about her lineage Lucy tries to confront her mother, but is interrupted by her own fiancee, who didn't exist in the pre-Hindenburg timeline.
The fact that Lucy was engaged in this timeline was revealed in the previous episode, but with everything that Lucy discovered about with mother and Amy it seems like a small potatoes revelation. Letting this revelation stew a bit before putting it into play at the end of this episode was the right call. It wasn't the most important thing to concentrate on. There's a subplot in the episode involving Rufus and his own conflict in letting Lincoln die. He provides the perfect emotional counterpoint to Lucy's logical thinking. This also intertwines in a slight storyline about Rufus questioning how brave he is and whether or not he can do what's demanded to get the job done. There is a pretty solid representation of Rufus's conflict in his relationship with a group of black soldiers who see through his disguise and accuse him of being an impostor. At the end of the day, Rufus is a hero, and he taps into a courage he never knew he had. The better of the two episodes aired so far, The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln is calmer, more confident, and an overall strong sophomore effort for the series. It's definitely a highlight of the first season.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Jan 31, 2018 13:38:34 GMT -5
Atomic CityDestination: September 21, 1962 Flynn travels to September, 1962, but without a specific event tying into that date the team relies on Jiya to track the Mothership through time. Jiya finds Flynn in Las Vegas, Nevada and the team investigates. In a stroke of luck Rufus finds Anthony there and tries to take him back with them, but Anthony is unwilling to go back, having joined Flynn's side. Meanwhile Lucy and Wyatt discover Flynn has been blackmailing Judith Campbell, John F. Kennedy's mistress. And what she can provide in return could be catastrophic. Ultimately when you have a show that portrays the Hindenburg exploding and presidential assassination, a story about blackmailing a promiscuous woman in Vegas doesn't quite seem to cut it. I didn't particularly care for this episode when it aired, because I didn't really care about the Judith Campbell storyline. Watching it again now this episode has a few things going for it, though it's easily the weakest of the three so far. I have to say that once Flynn's plan comes to light, the episode becomes more interesting in retrospect. Flynn uses Judith to gain access to plutonium, which is scary to think that Flynn would be nuclear capable (though his plans for the plutonium are fairly modest once we learn it later on). I also quite liked Flynn's way of transporting the plutonium through time. Also of interest to me were the love woes of Lucy and Wyatt. Through a time paradox Lucy finds herself living with a man who she barely knows, though he knows her very intimately. She is backed into a corner here, where she can't tell him why she's acting like they're strangers because he wouldn't understand, and yet deep down she realizes she probably wouldn't be engaged to him if she didn't love him. One can't help but feel sorry for the guy, who seems like a genuine catch, but these circumstances are...special. Wyatt on the other hand tries to play with fate. He takes a plot point from the Back to the Future films and tries to send a letter to his deceased wife in hopes of preventing her murder. In the end it doesn't work, and we don't even know if she ever recieved the letter. The subplot is slight, but it's strong. On the downside, this isn't the best script the series has seen. Charles Mason, who is the industrial head over this time travel team, suddenly speaks of a suspicion of Anthony's loyalty at the beginning of the episode only to have it justified about ten minutes later in the episode. A stronger storytelling device would have been having these doubts played up in an earlier episode leading the viewer to mull it over before a reveal, or to just leave it a surprise. Even still, Anthony's betrayal is a fairly predictable move on the writers' part, and it's one that I saw coming since episode one. This is all not mentioning this storyline hinges on Rufus stumbling upon Anthony by coincidence while Flynn just lets the guy roam around out in the open. The entire scene plays out like it was written by a teleplay novice. And then there's just the main storyline, which really isn't that interesting. Judith Campbell is a dark corner in Kennedy's past, but in a sci-fi action show it just doesn't get the juices flowing. It's just an excuse to have an actress doll up, look pouty, and talk about sex frankly to get the male demographic excited. It doesn't quite work on me. Atomic City isn't without its charms and it has great moments (I love Rufus's method of stealing a car), but it doesn't enthuse me that much. It's not horrible, not great.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 1, 2018 13:43:52 GMT -5
Party at the Castle VarlarDestination: December 9, 1944 Jiya tracks Flynn's power usage to a specific location and the Department of Homeland Security dispatches a group of soldiers to find him. Flynn manages to escape in the Mothership to 1944 Germany, where Rufus fears that Flynn intends to make Germany nuclear capable before the Unites States using the plutonium he stole in the previous episode. The team travels to 1944 and once there meets up with British spy Ian Fleming, future writer of the James Bond novels, and they team up to stop Flynn from giving the plutonium to Germany. However they find no trace of the plutonium at all and Lucy begins to suspect Flynn has something more complicated in play involving Wernher von Braun, a German scientist who developed the rocket technology for Nazi missiles who would eventually defect to America and develop his technology for NASA. Flynn intends to kidnap Von Braun and hand him over to the Soviets, providing them with what they need to win the Cold War. "Dude, James Bond's hittin' on Lucy. And she's into it!" The fun factor in this episode mostly lies in the parallels to James Bond it features. Bringing in Ian Fleming as a real-life-Bond-like-spy proves to be a wildly amusing pace changer. I'm not familiar with any specifics of what Fleming did during World War II and if the episode is accurate to it, but as escapist fantasy this episode is a blast. But Timeless is more interesting to me than your average Bond story because Timeless has more focus on character, and the character conflict helps keep this episode afloat. Wyatt and Lucy have several arguments over whether or not they should kill Nazi soldiers in Nazi occupied Germany. Wyatt takes the soldiers route of less Nazis being a good thing while Lucy is adamant that the timeline be preserved at all costs. Ian Fleming gets into the argument as well, who wishes retribution for von Braun's actions that caused death and destruction, but Lucy has to talk him out of killing von Braun because of the damage it will do to history. Somewhat out of nowhere is the subplot of Lucy having jitters of being on mission, relating a story about a car accident she had when she was younger and her desire to be in situations she can control. The story has very little to do with anything and is more or less an excuse to put into motion Lucy making the demand that if she continues to fight Flynn then she wants her sister restored to the timeline. This, as Wyatt puts it, gives her "something to fight for." It's effective enough, but barely passable. This leaves several loose ends to ponder, like what Flynn intended for the plutonium. It turns out that he intended to use it to create a sustainable fuel source for the Mothership, which ties into the fact that the Department hunted him down through power usage in the opening of the episode. His non-desire for using it for destructive purposes but rather practical application is smart storytelling on his end. And finally we have Rufus, who's subplot of spying on Lucy and Wyatt finally starts moving in a direction. Rufus refuses to record their conversations anymore and is confronted by a man from Rittenhouse, who threatens his family. We see this man again later in the season. Party at the Castle Varlar is an improvement over the previous episode, though it might not match the greatness of the first two episodes of the season. But as far as weekly adventure goes, this one passes with flying colors by being exciting, interesting, and giving us an emotional center to latch onto.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 2, 2018 12:21:43 GMT -5
The AlamoDestination: March 2, 1836 Wyatt is fired from the mission for having not yet killed Flynn, but the Mothership is tracked to 1836, mere days before the battle at the Alamo, before he can be replaced. Wyatt is forced into a final mission with Lucy and Rufus, and they infiltrate the Alamo Mission and try and figure out what exactly Flynn wants to do with one of history's most famous defeats. Soon after, Flynn kills William B. Travis before he can finish his historical 'Victory or Death" letter that rallied the United States to defeat General Antionio Lopez de Santa Anna and lead to the formation of Texas. To make matters worse, Flynn alters history more than he wanted and Santa Anna raises the Red Flag, signalling he intends to take no prisoners and kill women and children as well. With time counting down, Wyatt tries to help Jim Bowie rally his men, Rufus tries to smuggle the women and children out, and Lucy does her best to finish one of the most iconic letters in American history. At times Timeless struggles to make its main characters interesting because they're pretty much just run of the mill sci-fi characters for a show like this. The whirlwind of fun scenarios is usually where the series shines. We've seen the pilot try and juggle these people and give us an idea of who they are and for the most part it failed to do so. The Alamo is the first episode since that has tries to put all three of them in the spotlight and it does so in a far more balanced fashion. If I were to single out a character that this episode belonged to it would most likely be Wyatt. Our eyes our mostly on him since the opening, where we learned he is being replaced on the mission. If this is to be his last time with the team we look to see if he grows in the episode enough to be worthy of staying with the series or maybe they might be better off replacing him and hope the next guy is more interesting. Wyatt hasn't really done much on the show so far. He has bemoaned not taking shots at Flynn, brooded about his dead wife, and pretty much is just a straight man for Lucy and Rufus to talk to, both of which are far more lively and engaging. So what does this episode do for Wyatt? It lets him take his largest personality trait, being a soldier, and lets it shine. Wyatt struggles with the setting of the Alamo because it reminds him of a failed mission in his past where he was the sole survivor. He has often struggled with the idea of letting people die because history demands it, here he wants to die with history because as a soldier that's what he feels like he needs to do. If this were to be his final mission he would rather go down fighting than retire in disgrace. It is only after Lucy makes him realize that his allegiance is to her and Rufus that he decides to live and fight another day, in a moment that's sure to drive shippers crazy. Despite Wyatt taking center stage, Rufus is actually the character the show opened with. In the previous episode Rufus's entire family was just threatened by Rittenhouse, forcing him back into spying on Lucy and Wyatt. Rufus's storyline isn't as developed as Wyatt's, but he forms a bond with Davey Crockett and learns about the man behind the tall tale, and gains a sense of call to action and fighting for what he believes. While he doesn't stand up against Rittenhouse just yet, he stands by Lucy's side and defends Wyatt to his superiors. Lucy is mostly regulated to the backseat, since her story in the episode is pretty much just her writing a letter. It's refreshing that her male companions are given more screentime in this episode when she has been hogging it so much in the previous episodes, but she is given several moments of progression as well. She argues with her mother about the identity of her father and toward the end she gets something of an answer. It's not a huge amount of progression, but it's a sturdy amount given how little any of this has to do with the rest of the episode. We're even given more of a peek into the head of Flynn, who has no problem with killing William Travis in cold blood and altering history via an unwritten letter, but is troubled at the idea of General Santa Anna killing women and children. This humanizes Flynn in a way no episode has yet explored and it makes him less of a one-dimensional villain. It makes us more eager to further learn what makes him tick and give us more details as to why he's doing this. While we don't see Flynn since this moment in the episode, it's a wonderful tease to where they might be taking him. As for the story itself, it has a tight pace and keeps the audience invested. But the character development is why this episode largely succeeds. We've been asked to remember the Alamo throughout history, Timeless ensures us it's an episode to remember as well by being the best episode yet.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 3, 2018 13:21:42 GMT -5
The Watergate TapeDestination: June 20, 1972 Timeless doesn't beat around the bush this week. It knows if it is going to do the missing eighteen minutes of Nixon's recorded conversations then the audience is very curious to know what their take on it will be. So they get straight to the point in revealing what this universe's version of those missing recordings would be, and of course they're Rittenhouse related. Flynn takes the Mothership back to 1972 to gain access to the missing recordings from Nixon's Watergate tapes, and Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus are hot on his trail. Soon after arriving, however, they are taken captive by Flynn and his team. He played them the long lost conversation, in which Nixon is concerned about a missing "doc" that Rittenhouse is looking for. Satisfied that he has given Lucy proof that Rittenhouse exists, Flynn provides her an ultimatum: that she and Rufus find the "doc," presumed to be a document, and bring it to him or he'll kill Wyatt. Racing against the clock, Lucy and Rufus's trail leads to a Black Liberation Army housing the "doc." But the doc turns out to be a woman, not a document. Problems arise when Rufus, still spying on Lucy and Wyatt for Rittenhouse, is ordered to kill her. The obvious parallel in this story is that, like Nixon himself, Rufus has been recording conversations for Rittenhouse since the beginning. This storyline starts to move full steam ahead with this episode, in which Rufus is finally pushed to the breaking point by Rittenhouse and unable to do what they ask. He also reveals to Lucy and Wyatt of what he has been doing, and both feel betrayed. But Wyatt comes up with the idea that Rufus continue his dealings with Rittenhouse, and become a double agent. We also learn a bit more about Flynn, as he gets more up close and personal with Wyatt. Flynn reveals more about the murder of his family and why he despises Rittenhouse. Flynn and Wyatt are almost kindred spirits in that they have both lost their families and would do anything to bring them back, yet Wyatt seems desperate to deny this because Flynn is still his target. Because of great character building like this, there is a lot to like about this episode. And yet, it feels a tad short. Rufus reporting to Rittenhouse in the 70's feels a bit like a messy plot development, as it only real purpose it seems to serve is to have Lucy catch him in the act. Hell, Lucy actually catches Rufus calling Rittenhouse twice in the episode and only questions it the second time when it was convienient for the plot. I also was not crazy about the revelation of the "doc" being a human. It felt like a weak MacGuffin to introduce a character supposedly important like this, and they never really bother to give her a character at all. But overall, The Watergate Tapes is one of the stronger episodes of the series. There's too much here to enjoy. Hell, Lucy's adorably clumsy way of trying to rescue Wyatt alone makes this one to watch. And we even finally find out who Lucy's dad is, and you'd definitely want to tune in for that. And of course, he is Rittenhouse. PLOT TWIST!
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 4, 2018 12:44:59 GMT -5
StrandedDestination: September 15, 1754 Flynn's team lures Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus to the French-Indian War and sabotages the Lifeboat. The trio finds themselves stranded in 1754 without hope of getting themselves back safely without help from the present day. Rufus uses a last resort method of getting a message to home by burying it underground, but 250 years of time ages it very poorly and it's nearly illegible, leaving Jiya to decypher it and bring the team home. An episode where Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus are stranded in time was almost inevitable, though I think a smart show would save such an episode until at least the second season to ensure total attachment to the characters. But Timeless has a trump card in using this story when it feels like they can use it effectively to further the story. The last episode nearly tore the team apart through lies and distrust, and by stranding them in time the show forces these characters to rely on each other and earn that trust back. Out of the three main characters I'd say this episode is mostly reliant on Rufus. He's the one who they seem to resent the most and the one with the most to prove. The entire plan to get them back to their own time relies on what he comes up with. Only he knows how to repair the Lifeboat and only he knows of way to get a message to modern times for help. Rufus is a strangely neurotic hero of the episode, and even he doesn't think his plan is going to work. But things come to a head halfway through the episode in which Lucy and Wyatt are to be executed at the hands of a Native American tribe while Rufus has a chance to survive because they believe him to be merely a slave, but Rufus interferes and claims that if they are to be executed, then so should he. This is a firm commitment by him, showing us that they are in this together. Relating to modern day, Rufus still steals the show as the series puts in motion a "star crossed lovers" romantic connection between him and Jiya. Jiya is the only one who knows Rufus well enough to figure out what his partial message means, though it's a struggle to figure it out. In the meantime Jiya mopes about trying to deal with the idea that she may never see Rufus again, and how she really feels about him. Rufus in return also verbalizes that he never had the full courage to tell Jiya that he had feelings for her. This of course, leads to the climax where we get a full blown kiss between the two once they're reunited. Cue shippers whining that it's not Lucy and Wyatt. I mostly don't care if those two get together, but I'm all in for Rufus and Jiya, baby! NERD POWER! As for Lucy and Wyatt, surprisingly there's not a lot for them in this episode. And yet what screentime and character growth they do show seems just about right for this episode. At the end of the episode it feels like the team has earned their respect for each other and are genuine friends. Several episodes ago I claimed Timeless was having trouble making its characters interesting. And while I stand by my statement that they're expected character tropes for a show like this, they sure turned that around in a hurry. And now I genuinely like these characters and I want to be around them every week. And that is how you build a successful TV series.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Feb 4, 2018 16:33:20 GMT -5
Never heard of this show before now, but I think I definitely need to track it down...
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 5, 2018 13:36:07 GMT -5
Space RaceDestination: July 20, 1969 I remember the same week this episode aired a friend of mine had just seen the trailer to Hidden Figures and she punched me in the arm and said "Wasn't there just an episode of Timeless about her?!?!?" I don't know how much of a coincidence Space Race and Hidden Figures coming out around the same time is, considering Timeless is made by Sony and Hidden Figures was 20th Century Fox, though in the episode Rufus mentions that in the changed timeline there is a movie devoted to Katherine Johnson. On the surface that certainly feels like an advertisement, though supposedly reality is the unaltered timeline, so I don't know if that was a nod to the soon-to-be-released Oscar nominee or not. Perhaps this episode, like Hidden Figures itself, was just an attempt to shine the spotlight on this unsung hero. In this episode Flynn has Anthony infiltrate the Spacecraft Center in Houston on the famed moon landing day of July 20, 1969. Anthony sabatoges the communications and Houston loses feedback from Apollo 11. Rufus and Lucy seek help from NASA mathamatician Katherine Johnson to help fix what Anthony did. Meanwhile Flynn begins following a secretary at the center and befriends both her and her child. Wyatt follows Flynn and tries to figure out what his play is. If you were to ask which character Space Race centers on, I think at first I'd say Rufus. Then I might be silent for a minute and say that actually maybe it's Flynn's episode. Flynn's storyline is covered in so much shadow that it's easy to overlook it considering the "RUSH RUSH RUSH" importance of the Apollo 11 storyline. But I don't think we've ever seen Flynn this laid back and open about himself. Usually Flynn is a very intense and focused man, talking with a low pitched grumble in this voice, but here he almost looks at ease...as if he's at home. It turns out he almost is. The woman he persues has no bearing on his mission but is actually his mother, and he chooses to follow her because today is the day that is would-have-been half-brother died of a bee sting. Flynn saves his life, for once changing history for the better. It's a fairly strong and refreshing turn for his character.
That in mind, there is way too much coincidence to ignore here. To buy this storyline we have to believe that his mother worked for NASA back during the mission he incidentally needs to sabotage. We also have to believe her son died coincidentally on this very day that he needed to go back to, providing a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. This is...not absurd, nor silly, but let's just say extremely improbable. Rufus on the other hand gets to meet some of his idols and even gets to meet a personal hero face-to-face, meanwhile confronting one that has fallen from grace in Anthony. While Rufus takes some important character turns here, it turns out that this feels a bit simpler than what Flynn is doing, while Rufus is mostly just frustrated with old-timey computers. Rufus has one strong moment toward the end where he is forced to do something that he never thought himself capable of, and in the end confides in Lucy that he's afraid of who he is becoming. If this episode does belong to him, maybe it's for that alone. Space Race has some logic holes in it, but if one were to forgive it's coincidences you might find some strong drama at the center. I probably can't call it a great episode with a central storytelling flaw in its Flynn subplot, but I can consider it a favorite given that I like the payoff.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 6, 2018 14:07:10 GMT -5
Last Ride of Bonnie & ClydeDestination: May 23, 1934 Flynn takes the Mothership back to 1934 in search of a key related to Rittenhouse. Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus follow him in the Lifeboat but find themselves stuck in the middle of a bank robbery of notorious outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, just hours before they were fated to be gunned down. Flynn however has become in league with the local law enforcement and they get into a shootout with Bonnie and Clyde. Lucy and Wyatt help fend off Flynn, earning Bonnie and Clyde's trust. Believing they're outlaws as well, the duo take Lucy and Wyatt on the run with them, while Lucy and Wyatt try to figure out a way to retrieve the key before Flynn gets his hands on it. One of the bigger storytelling woes in Timeless is that when they start a story in modern day there is no telling when they'll get to it, or if it will ever become relevant at all. The majority of each episode is devoted to an adventure in the past, which means modern plot threads will be dropped almost at the instant that they're brought up. This episode begins with Lucy trying to get to know this fiancee of her's that suddenly appeared in the timeline. We haven't seen him for a while. Hell, Lucy hasn't even brought him up since his last appearance five episodes ago. It's almost as if the writers suddenly remembered "Oh right, we did that. I guess we should do something with it." And yet, still nothing is really done with it. This episode uses that point to bring up the seemingly intertwined ideas of "fate" and "love," in which ties into the love that Bonnie and Clyde have for each other. Bonnie and Clyde are fascinating historical figures from a character standpoint, but what exactly does this have to do with Lucy and whats-his-face? Was he even given a name? Or is he going to disappear again and are we going to ignore him for another half a season? Seriously, the fact that Lucy is engaged to this man should be more important than it seems to be. The episode does luck out in that Bonnie and Clyde are fun characters to watch, and watching Lucy and Wyatt interact with them has a certain degree of intensity. Clyde seems to hang on their every word as if waiting for them to slip up, not really having a reason to distrust them, but not willing to trust them either. Most of these scenes make the episode. But it's more or less an episode that is necessary to get to the next one. By the end very little is accomplished other than Flynn getting his hands on the latest MacGuffin. We find out why he needs this in the next episode, though Last Ride of Bonnie & Clyde gets left a bit in the dust as just an amusing prelude
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 7, 2018 9:37:15 GMT -5
The Capture of Benedict ArnoldDestination: September 25, 1780 It's midseason finale time. For The Walking Dead this means kill a character (or four) after seven boring episodes where nothing happened to keep people from realizing that your show has been spinning in its tracks for quite some time. For real television shows this means let some of your plotlines come to a head, reveal just enough of where you're going to keep people interested in that destination, and end on a cliffhanger that makes you go "NO! I can't wait months to see the resolution to that!" Timeless does it just right. Flynn's key leads him to a letter written by Benedict Arnold that reveals the possible origins of Rittenhouse. He then takes the Mothership to the Revolutionary War, at just the point where Arnold defected to the British. Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus are of course on his tail, but they are soon caught by General George Washington, who Flynn has earned the trust of. Flynn covers for them, claiming they're his spies and they seek to help him retrieve Arnold and bring him to justice and Washington agrees to their mission. Flynn urges Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus to help him "cut the head off the snake," and even makes the offer to help Wyatt learn what happened to his wife. With no better options they reluctantly agree, and they pose as deserters and infiltrate the British army. There they tie Rittenhouse to the historical clockmaker David Rittenhouse, who began the secret society to secretly bring control to the chaos of democracy. Flynn, Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus then conspire to kill him, hopefully put an end to the Rittenhouse society, and change the timeline for the better. One thing can be said for this episode, Timeless knows how to leave you wanting more. We discover so much in this episode, but it just feels like a tease for the bigger picture. We see the trio team up with Flynn, and the dynamic is tense and but somehow comfortable, giving us a sense that they should be working together instead of opposing each other. We've previously given a face to Rittenhouse via Lucy's father, though somehow making giving it a physical form in Armin Shimerman's David Rittenhouse is somewhat satisfying, as we learn what the purpose of Rittenhouse is. It's a fairly generic purpose that was easy to figure out, sure, but I would have been genuinely surprised if Rittenhouse had anything other than complete control in mind. Hail Hydra? This episode is very plot centric, so there's not much character moments at play. Lucy has dinner with Department of Homeland Security Agent Denise Christopher and her family. We barely know Agent Christopher much at all, so this little glimpse at her family life is welcome. Rufus is threatened by Rittenhouse again, because they're all threat and no action so far. But more Rufus and Jiya adorkableness is always more than welcome. The episode in general belongs to David Rittenhouse though, who seems like he's exactly who he needs to be. He's not physically intimidating, but he has the respect and power to make whatever he desires happen. He also is the right amount of slimeball, taking great pleasure in killing as well as the implication that he intends to use Lucy as a sort of breeding toy. By the way, David Rittenhouse was actually a real person. I have no clue if he would take kindly to being portrayed as the asshat he is here, but hey, it's good to be remembered. The episode's cliffhanger is a doozy. Flynn successfully kills Rittenhouse, but fails to take out his son as well because Lucy lets him get away. Enraged by this, Flynn kidnaps Lucy and takes her with him aboard the Mothership. This is an exciting setup for the next episode where we could potentially see the inside of Flynn's operation and learn more about what his plans are. We also need to see what, if any, the fallout of the death of Rittenhouse is. The prospect of these setups are exciting. As for the payoff...well, I get to that on the next episode. All things considered, this is a rousing midseason finale that will make fans water at the mouth for more.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 8, 2018 13:44:51 GMT -5
The World's Columbian ExpositionDestination: May 30, 1893 All sittin' down to watch Timeless's midseason premiere with high expectations of cliffhanger resolutions. Lucy is captured by Flynn, Rufus is in neck deep with Rittenhouse, the founder of Rittenhouse was killed and repercussions were to be felt, and everything is about to get nuts! I can't wait for this! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...fizzle. Pop. Flynn forces Lucy to search for any sign of John Rittenhouse throughout time, but she comes up empty. Forcing himself to go back to square one and attack any Rittenhouse member he can throughout time, he takes Lucy with him to the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. He then forces famous magician Harry Houdini to help him break into a meeting of Rittenhouse members Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and J.P. Morgan and kill them. Meanwhile he plants a trail for Wyatt and Rufus that leads them to the home of serial killer H.H. Holmes. Here's the thing, The World's Columbian Exposition is not a bad episode. It's a fairly standard episode of Timeless that is adequately entertaining. The problem is that the cliffhanger from the previous episode didn't call for a standard episode to follow it up. We needed to face down the plot points that were brought up, and instead we got an episode that reverted us back to the status quo as safely as possible. But maybe I can forgive that, but there is one burning question in the back of my mind: Just what exactly is Flynn's plan for Lucy? It sure as hell seems like he doesn't have one. Okay, let's say his kidnapping her was a spur of the moment decision in a fit of rage, this is understandable. It explains why he doesn't really do anything with her back in the present. But why bother bringing her back in time with her to 1893? To keep an eye on her? Where he knows Wyatt and Rufus would be on his tail and if they reunited she could easily escape with them? This is a pretty crap plan. No wonder he's not getting anywhere with Rittenhouse, he doesn't think things through. There's a good episode of Timeless somewhere in this episode. In fact, I suspect it's actually several episode ideas they had rolled into one. I imagine this episode started out as two seperate stories around Harry Houdini and H.H. Holmes at some point, before they decided Houdini's famous escape techniques would be perfect to escape Holmes somehow. I think these two storylines don't quite gel together though, you know? Houdini is a fun character with a lot of charisma. He has a grand chemistry with Lucy and the duo are dynamite together. Then you get to the Holmes storyline, which is darker and a bit more disturbing. There is a touch of Saw in the way Holmes's home is portrayed, and an episode with a horror aesthetic is dying to be made out of it. But combining it with the quirkiness of Houdini it just kind of cuts the legs off of the emergency. Character beats are light, though we do end with Rufus putting an end to the Rittenhouse recordings once and for all. This will obviously bite Rufus in the ass later on, but for now it's his moment of empowerment. I don't think it's entirely as strong as they think it is, because we've gone through this back and forth between Rufus and Rittenhouse many times by now, so I definitely think it's time for Rittenhouse to actually carry out a threat instead of making an empty one. I'd say Rufus has good reason to not be afraid of them at all anymore at this point. More interesting is that Flynn pays off his promise and gives Wyatt the name of the man he believes killed his wife. What will Wyatt do with this information? It'll be interesting to find out. This is probably my least favorite episode yet, though that's not because the episode isn't trying to be fun. It just doesn't feel like it's what it should be, both as a payoff to the previous or as a plain episode by itself. It's a mishmash that hurries us back to square one.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 9, 2018 14:36:52 GMT -5
The Murder of Jesse JamesDestination: April 3, 1882 But was it by that coward Robert Ford? Not anymore. Flynn travels back to 1882 and prevents the murder of notorious outlaw Jesse James. He then enlists James to guide him through Indian territory safely to find a remote location housing a person of interest. Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus find a guide of their own, U.S. Marshals Bass Reeves and Grant Johnson, who agree to hunt down James as long as he's taken in alive. But Wyatt, having finally met the incarcerated man who he believes murdered his wife, faces the desire to kill James himself. We're back with an episode that is expected to be straightforward this week, but does more to expand upon the ball that began rolling with the midseason finale than the previous episode did. There are a lot of interesting twists done in this episode. Flynn's agenda here is intriguing. The person he seeks out in this episode is actually a former pilot that is trapped in the past and hiding from Rittenhouse. Rufus intends to recruit her for his fight. We know very little about her overall, but that mystery keeps her exciting. I do question whether or not Flynn genuinely needed Jesse James for this mission. Yes, he was a great gunman, but I can't help but feel Flynn might have had better alternatives to reach his objective. Now he seems to be changing history for the hell of it. Rufus's defiance of Rittenhouse starts to gain traction as well, as Jiya has been selected to begin training to pilot the Lifeboat to replace Rufus on the mission. What happens to Rufus if this is successful is unknown, but it's a creepy little question mark. The fact that they used his girlfriend to work around his ultimatum is a bit of a masterwork in screwing with him too. Wyatt also has a storyline here, where he finds himself face to face with the man who supposedly murdered his wife. Filled with rage he seeks to let off steam by setting the timeline straight and killing Jesse James. There's an interesting conundrum here, because they're faced with the choice of whether or not murdering a man because history recorded he be murdered is the right thing to do. Compounding this is that James is still killing people and leaving him alive will further alter the timeline significantly. But can one kill in cold blood and still be a good human being? According to Bass Reeves, the answer is no. Reeves is the other side of the coin, the lawman who always takes 'em in alive if possible. His final words to the characters are words to ponder, because he doesn't know their reasons for wanting James dead, nor does he really care. He just sees wrongdoing, and he doesn't agree with it. Reeves is an interesting figure, and it should be no surprise that the series pulled him out for their ride through the old west. He is a figure of hero worship for Rufus, who especially seems even more astounded when Lucy tells him he was the inspiration for the Lone Ranger. From what I've heard this "fact" is actually a myth, but the episode does like to play with the parallel a bit, so I'll let them have their fun. The Murder of Jesse James is an interesting little side-tour in questioning the moral values one has to keep with them when trying to preserve the timeline. I think most would probably agree that with everything going on in this show James is better off staying dead, the fact that the show stops in its tracks and ponders the implications of how you preserve the timeline makes me like it just a bit more.
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Torgo
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Post by Torgo on Feb 10, 2018 14:26:50 GMT -5
Karma ChameleonDestination: March 19, 1983 Wyatt convinces Rufus to help him highjack the Lifeboat and travel back to 1983 to prevent the one night stand that spawned the man who murdered his wife. What seems like the most simple job quickly spirals out of control, and as things grow more and more out of hand Wyatt becomes even more desperate to get the job done. Meanwhile Emma tells Flynn and Anthony of Rittenhouse's plans to use the time machines to mold history to their liking, leading Anthony to believe that the time machines should be destroyed. Flynn refuses to destroy his only weapon to take down Rittenhouse, leaving Anthony to reach out to Lucy for help. This is the first episode to really break from the Timeless formula of Flynn goes back in time and Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus chase him. To an extent it's a bit of a breath of fresh air, however at its core most of its main storyline is Wyatt confined to a single location flirting with an 80's chick. To an extent a premise like this demands to be funny, but because this story surrounds his dead wife it's very somber. It's kind of a drag, really. But Wyatt's increasing mania makes the episode more watchable than it probably should be. The theme of his story is desperation, and as little things go wrong everything winds up going sideways. His determination in succeeding in the task he put turns into an outright obsession where his actions start to become more and more questionable. It leads up to pretty much the only place it can go... In a desperate panic to get the father away from the mother, Wyatt accidentally kills the father. Technically this makes the plan a success, but Wyatt killed an innocent man in saving several others. Wyatt is bothered by this, but hopes the ends justify the means. As he returns home he finds that his wife is still dead even though her killer never existed. And for stealing the Lifeboat he is arrested. Anthony's storyline is the juiciest he's been given since the beginning, as he finds himself with the moral obligation to destroy the world's most dangerous weapon: the time machine. His storyline also ends the way it probably only could have... ...with Flynn shooting him and leaving the body behind. In a surprising bit of restraint the show doesn't show the actual act, just the aftermath, and lets us fill in the gaps. There might be a reason the act itself wasn't shown (maybe there's a twist to this that I forgot about, or an eventual reveal in season two), but still the impact is not lost. Rufus loses a father figure, and the one moral connection that linked Flynn's team with Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus is now gone. Flynn is now hosting a bunch of faceless renegades along with his new pilot, Emma, the woman he rescued from the past. There is nobody to rescue anymore, it's just us vs. them. Karma Chameleon was an inevitable episode. We were always going to get an episode where Wyatt tried to change the past and/or Anthony turned on Flynn. It was just a matter of time. I don't think this is the best episode they could have done, as it's pretty slow and a bit sour. But maybe that's intentional, because it's also a breaking point that's tearing the status quo apart.
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