"Timeless" review by Suzanne
10/6/16
Airs Mondays, 10/9c on NBC
First I must confess that I love time travel shows and
movies. I loved "Quantum Leap," "Time Cop," "Seven Days,"
"Continuum," "12 Monkeys," and even "Time Tunnel," which was
a terrible show, but I was a kid and just fell in love with
it (the handsome stars). What often goes along with
time travel is alternate timelines or alternate realities (I
also loved "Sliders"). "Timeless" is another fun time
travel show, but it also has alternate timelines.
In the first episode, they take you right full on into the
action. You barely get to find out what's going on and who
the characters before they're flying away in a time machine.
First, some crooks steal the time machine, and then the
government, having learned of all this, recruits a history
professor and some others to take an older time machine and
follow the bad guys to keep them from changing the past.
We've seen this done many times before, but in this case,
we're not really sure who the good guys are, and who the bad
guys are, which makes it more interesting. The star of
the show is Lucy, played by Abigail Spencer. She's
just been turned down for tenure (we're not told why), and
her mom is dying, but she's taken by the government for this
time travel adventure because of her vast knowledge of the
past. The "bad guys," headed by Garcia Flynn (ER's
hunky Goran Višnji)_, have jumped to the Hindenberg
disaster. Lucy travels in the time machine, along with
grieving soldier Wyatt (Matt Lanter), who lost his wife, and
techie Rufus (Malcolm Barrett). Rufus, however, has
been tasked to spy on his traveling companions by his boss,
Connor Mason (Paterson Joseph), whose company developed the
time machines (we don't know why yet).
While they attempt to blend into the 1940's and stop the bad
guys, the Hindenberg is saved, instead of exploding, and the
group is thrown in jail instead, after killing one of the
bad guys. Also, Flynn tells Lucy that she may be working for
the wrong side. Presumably, we'll learn more about
what's going on in future episodes as they chase around the
past.
They've set up some interesting things here. They're not
allowed to go back into the same area of time because they
can't risk meeting themselves. When they return,
Lucy's life is really changed, so I'm looking forward to
seeing what else happens to her and her family in future
episodes, as well as the answers to the other mysteries!
If you like scifi or time travel stories, you should check
this out. The characters are fun, and there's lots of
action. It carries you along quickly. The show's
creators have done many good shows, such as "Supernatural"
and "The Blacklist."
MORE INFORMATION:
From Eric Kripke (“Revolution,” “Supernatural”),
Shawn Ryan (“The Shield”) and the producers of “The
Blacklist” comes this thrilling action-adventure series
in which a mysterious criminal steals a secret
state-of-the-art time machine, intent on destroying
America as we know it by changing the past. Our
only hope is an unexpected team: Rufus (Malcolm
Barrett), a scientist; Wyatt (Matt Lanter), a soldier;
and Lucy (Abigail Spencer), a history professor, all of
who must use the machine’s prototype to travel back in
time to critical events. While they must make every
effort not to affect the past themselves, they must also
stay one step ahead of Flynn (Goran Višnjić), a
dangerous fugitive. But can this handpicked team uncover
the mystery behind it all and end his destruction before
it’s too late?
The cast includes Abigail Spencer (“Rectify,” “True
Detective,” and “Suits”), Matt Lanter (“90210,”
“Star-Crossed,” and “Commander in Chief”), Malcolm
Barrett (“The Hurt Locker,” “Dear White People,” and
“Better Off Ted”), Goran Višnjić (“ER,” “Extant”
and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), Paterson Joseph
(“The Beach,” “In the Name of the Father,” and “Aeon
Flux”), Sakina Jaffrey (“House of Cards,” “Mr. Robot,”
and “The Mindy Project”) and Claudia Doumit (“Faking
It,” “Scandal,” and “New Girl”).
Shawn Ryan and
Eric Kripke are the co-showrunners, writers and
executive producers. John Davis (“The Blacklist”), John
Fox (“The Blacklist”) and Marney Hochman (“The Chicago
Code”) also executive produce. “Timeless” is a
production of Sony Pictures Television, Davis
Entertainment, MiddKid Productions and Kripke
Enterprises.
AN UNLIKELY TEAM IS TASKED WITH TRAVELING
THROUGH TIME TO CHASE A CRIMINAL MASTERMIND -
AND PROTECT THE PAST. When one of the world's
most dangerous fugitives steals a
state-of-the-art time machine, the U.S.
government asks a history professor, Lucy
Preston (Abigail Spencer), a soldier, Wyatt
Logan (Matt Lanter), and a scientist, Rufus
Carlin (Malcolm Barrett) to embark on the
adventure of a lifetime and chase the criminal
mastermind, Garcia Flynn (Goran Višnjic) to the
Hindenburg disaster of 1937. While there, Lucy,
Wyatt and Rufus each have to draw on expertise
to save the present and protect the
past-possibly at great personal cost. Can this
unlikely trio stop Flynn and unveil the mystery
behind it all before it's too late? Also
starring Paterson Joseph, Sakina Jaffrey and
Claudia Doumit. Guest starring Matt Frewer and
Chad Rook.
THE
ASSASSINATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN (TV-PG)
THE TEAM CAN SAVE THE LIFE OF ONE OF HISTORY'S
GREATEST MEN. Lucy (Abigail Spencer), Wyatt
(Matt Lanter), and Rufus (Malcolm Barrett) chase
terrorist Garcia Flynn (Goran Višnjic) to the
night of Lincoln's assassination, where they're
horrified to learn that Flynn's linked up with
history's most notorious assassin, John Wilkes
Booth (guest star Kelly Blatz). Putting aside a
tragedy of her own, Lucy speculates that Flynn
intends to send the fragile nation into chaos by
making a bad thing worse, and a debate rages
among the team: should they alter history if it
means changing it for the better? Also starring
Paterson Joseph, Sakina Jaffrey and Claudia
Doumit. Guest starring Neal Bledsoe, Michael
Krebs, Terry Lewis and Lucia Frangione.
THE
SUMMIT AT THE SANDS (TV-PG)
THE TRIO NAVIGATES RAT PACK-ERA VEGAS TO LOCATE
GARCIA FLYNN. After landing in 1962 Las Vegas,
Flynn (Goran Višnjic) has the team on the run
with the era's most infamous mistress. During
the restless, neon-lit night, Rufus (Malcolm
Barrett) meets his old mentor Anthony Bruhl
(guest star Matt Frewer), whose motives may be
darker than anyone suspected. Meanwhile, Lucy's
(Abigail Spencer) personal life is falling
apart, Wyatt (Matt Lanter) attempts to change
history for himself, and we discover Flynn
intends to gamble with far more human life than
we realized. Also starring Paterson Joseph,
Sakina Jaffrey and Claudia Doumit. Guest
starring Elena Satine, Irby Gascon, Scott
Bailey, Marc Senior, Ronnie Scott and Peter
Grasso
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