Well, I’ve found a new favorite show recently that our family has been really enjoying and we finished watching it a few days ago for my birthday. I really think it’s only fair that I share my newfound treasure with all you guys.

-cough- Plus the fact that this show had a close call with being canceled and the word must be put out to build a fandom and keep it going.

I trust you all. And I hope you trust my tastes enough to give this show a try.

OFF WE GO

Timeless: TV Review

Synopsis:

Timeless follows the adventures of an unusual trio — a history professor, Lucy Preston, a scientist, Rufus Carlin and a soldier Wyatt Logan — as they attempt to stop Garcia Flynn, a time-traveling criminal, from changing the course of American history. 

 

Good Stuff:

• Characters

Yep, you know this is a review of something I love when “characters” is the first positive point. XD

But it’s really, really true.

The characters in this show are amazingly done. All of them. Every single one. It’s hard enough getting a crew of main characters who are realistic and identifiable and all. But it extended on to all the minor characters as well. The villain . . . oh my gosh.

The dialogue and acting and just everything . . . it’s incredible.

Lucy’s motivation and the way she is is so real. Seriously, she’s such a person and I just want her to be happy.

Rufus was amazing and totally kicked butt, especially in the second half of the season. (Also a sidenote that they handled the whole thing with black history in America really well with him and all the time travel.)

Wyatt was so awesome. The level-headed, if sort of trigger happy, soldier dude of the crew. The subtle facial expressions and the backstory motivation with his wife and everything were really well done. He also. . . actually might have made me cry a couple times. (Confession: he’s very distinctly the type of character that always steals my heart and did so from the very beginning. My friend even predicted this from just seeing the trailer. So yeah, he’s my favorite character here.)

Garcia Flynn . . . I sadly can’t say much about him without venturing into spoiler territory but I’ll say that he’s possibly one of the best written villains I’ve seen. The motivation and the character mask and way he does things . . . just . . . –shuts up because of spoilers-

I could go on. Jiya’s great. Agent Christopher. Lucy’s family. Mason . . .

Oh and the slow-burn romantic subplot going on that actually got my anti-romance brother shipping it before me?

But I’ll spare you all. Please just go watch and see for yourself.

 

• Plot

You guys see that synopsis up there? You could make a pretty good show off just that concept, right?

Right.

Did the writers just stick with that concept?

Haha.

No.

That synopsis basically shows the pinhole entry into the huuuge multi-layered plot and crazy world that is this story. It’s incredibly well laid out and every little thing is important. I just love when I can trust the writers to put everything there for a reason. The cliffhangers and slow plot reveals help the suspense along too. XD

 

• Writing quality

Sort of a sub-division of the previous two parts, but this thing is very well written. The sheer quality of the dialogue that’s being exchanged and the timing is masterful. The use of characters and their motivations and the way they play off of each others. The character arcs and revealing of backstory and information . . . Just as a writer, it’s dazzlingly good.

 

• History

I’m a Whovian okay. Whovian and proud and I will certainly defend the awesomeness of Doctor Who time travel. The awesomeness of other time travel stories as well, actually.

But this is the first time travel show that I can really say that I’m actually learning a lot about history in. And it’s not info-dump-y in doing it, either? The history is an extremely important part of the plot and it’s shown in a really cool way.

Also Lucy’s amazing costumes certainly don’t hurt anything. (Her haaaaiiir guys. Man they have some cool getups in these episodes.)

 

• Morals

This is a bit of an interesting point here. It’s not morals like . . . say showing some super moral person and how they head about their life. It’s that nobody here has the perfect morals and there are hard questions brought up about what the moral thing to do is. Killing is not treated lightly at all. Everyone is trying to be a better person. It really just makes you think and has a lot more depth than a lot of other shows.

 

 

Bad Stuff:

• Innuendo

Probably the most iffy thing around in my opinion. The bit of history Lucy’s teaching in the opening shot we have of her is a little . . . well, it was awkward. There’s some stuff in episode 3. There’s things hinted at and referenced at various points.

Thankfully nothing is really shown/talked about in detail, but it’s present and I’d certainly watch out if you’ve got little people around and such.

 

• Blood

It’s history. Bloody, actual history. People get shot. People get killed. They don’t shy away from that fact and sometimes things get a little gory and gross. Be warned.

 

• Language

I’d put it at about PG-13 level here. Around the area of Marvel-movie level swearing. And it’s not the main part of anyone’s vocabulary, thankfully. Pretty predictable in the fact that if someone is frustrated or angry or freaked out, there’s probably a word or two.

 

• Homosexual references

Something that made me/my fam uncomfortable here. The last episode has some stuff + one of the minor characters. But it’s able to be fast-forwarded/avoided pretty easily, so that was good.

 

 

Overall:

For older audiences, but a really well written, awesome show that I give my heartiest recommendations to watch.

 

What do you think? Have you watched Timeless? Think you will?

Please comment!

~writefury