A Fun, Fluffy Historical Sci-Fi Show

When I started it on Prime, I thought Timeless was going to be another dud. The public rated it something like 4 out of 5 stars--a bad sign. Turns out it's perfect for treadmill time.

In Timeless, a female historian, a military guy, and a techie pilot all keep getting snatched back to work for top-secret adventures in a time machine, chasing down a dark character who is trying to meddle in historical events. The protagonists land their craft in key places like Nazi Germany and the Atomic City. Meanwhile, another sinister plot line keeps intruding on our arc.

This show could have been a cheesy mess, but it works for me. I enjoy the immersion in random eras, our protagonists skulking around whispering in almost-there costumes, the fact that the history expert isn't secretly a martial arts pro--not yet--but a feminine, worried, intense character who happens to know her stuff. I like the re-creations of past events, and found myself unexpectedly euphoric at a dramatization of Lincoln's assassination that was just as this book described it. As I watch, I learn new details about important historical episodes, while finding the realism of revived history book characters to be convincing, almost thrilling. For example, in the Alamo episode, which I didn't expect to love, Davy Crockett is noble, and saving the Texan's revolution is shown as a worthy goal.

The costumes are one of the most fun aspects, especially for our history expert, an actress who was chosen not just for her ability to appear serious and stressed, but also to look sharp in any era. Then, in addition to the usual snappy dialogue and quips we see in these types of shows, our heroes start bonding and growing through their challenges.

Of course, if we could really send a crew on missions back in time, even a well-intentioned one, the present would be littered with changes as they lumbered around with our ancestors (but how would we know?). Timeless shows us some of these consequences, but most of the time, viewers have to play along, as well as overlook how the trio seems to have extra time on their hands before they prevent whatever the world-altering deed is--to talk to each other, go into a bar, have conversations with their favorite famous people, and so on. And the characters rarely plan for questions before they have run-ins with friends or foes, so their aliases are wretched.

Despite its improbabilities, the fun, suspense, drama, clear moral core, and moments of satisfaction and even delight will have me watching Timeless past Episode 6, and maybe even into the second season. Watch it beyond the pilot,* and tell me what you think.

*I never finished the Hindenburg pilot, as Prime skipped me forward to the Lincoln episode, but I didn't mind.