It's easy for things to get lost in the slog of endless "reality" shows, sitcoms and other dramas begging for our short attention spans nowadays. And it comes at a time when consumers have more choices than ever over what they're watching (Netflix, Roku, Hulu, Amazon Video and on and on it goes). That's why I want to make the case why you should choose to watch the first two seasons (now streaming on Hulu and available to watch with a free 30-day subscription) ahead of the 2-hour 'finale movie' event December 20th at 8 p.m. on NBC.
Now, Clockblockers are aiming to change history once again and push the network to order another season. But in order to even have a fighting chance of that happening, the viewership for the Timeless 'movie' need to be off the charts. And the fact that NBC hasn't promoted it once and there's only a week to go before it airs, it seems NBC is doing everything to prevent an unprecedented third revival for the show.
So, here's my case for why you should binge the first two seasons (Just 26 45-minute episodes) and tune in on December 20th to #SaveTimeless again:
- It's escapism at its finest
"Timeless" hasn't won many awards (just one actually), and it's premise is a tad campy. And sure, there are the occasional loopholes that won't fool any die-hard sci-fi fan anymore than the attempt to squeeze the complexities of the Watergate scandal into 40 minutes will impress any history buff. But, for an hour, it transports fans to different eras and poses the question "what if." It isn't bound to one specific era and allows me to bounce around in history, oftentimes learning about players involved in some of the biggest historical events that I had never knew about. For about an hour, you can get whisked away to a new place, a new time -- watching Sinatra perform or meeting Fleming, Ian Fleming -- as our complex characters trying to solve an ever-evolving mystery. But beware, you may find you don't want to return to your reality. - The historyI was a history nerd in High School. Well, truthfully, just an all-around nerd. But I did take all the AP History courses available at my school (World History, US History and AP Government & Economics), but I'll admit many of the dates, names and details went out of my head the second those exams were over. And while some of the times and events the Time Team visits are familiar (the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the Alamo, and the Apollo 11 mission for example), the show makes them easily accessible even for the non-history buff and may even teach a history buff a thing or two about people involved in making that history.
- Focus on under-represented historical figuresIt would be easy for the show to only focus on well-known events and people, forcing the audience to think about "what if" something different had happened. But the show does more than that. It probes into what we already think we know about history and opens our eyes to other people who the history books sometimes forget -- typically people of color, women or anyone who is different. It makes for some fascinating interactions, especially given two of our time team members could fit into those categories (Lucy, a woman, and Rufus, a black man). Some of my favorite episodes revolve around under-represented figures who are now getting their chance in the spotlight. In Season 1, "Space Race" focuses not on the male engineers, but rather on how mathematician Katherine Johnson, an African American woman working for NASA at the time, made crucial calculations that led to several successful NASA missions, including the Apollo 11 mission. Now granted, this was after the book and movie "Hidden Figures" had come out, but Mrs. Johnson is worthy of more than just five minutes of fame.
In Season 2, the team introduced me to two people I had honestly never heard of. They travel to November 23, 1936, where they must save the music of Robert Johnson, an African American guitar virtuoso, known as "King of the Delta Blues." His music was so influential, it's often tied to the beginnings of Rock n' Roll and the 1960's counterculture movement. And I'll bet at least half the people reading this didn't know his name either.
And in the next episode, they travel to 1919, a date I immediately recognized as the year leading up to the ratification of the 19th Amendment, affording women the right to vote. And while there is focus on the suffragist movement, they don't pick the familiar names we know -- Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton -- instead they pick Alice Paul and a female detective, Grace Humiston, who was nicknamed "Mrs. Sherlock Holmes." I was so fascinated by her, so upset with my education and myself that I didn't know she even existed, that I actually bought two books about her. It's that attention to people who we don't know about, that can inspire people to learn more about history and context that makes me so giddy about this show.
- It's not afraid to make a pointThe previous point leads me to this one. It would be irresponsible for a show to deal with time travel and not talk about consequences. It's one of Lucy's recurring subplots: they bring a world-renowned historian on board to preserve the past and therefore the future. But this show isn't afraid to address glaring issues in history and point out when people didn't make the right choices and forces the audience to think about how things today would change if people had made different choices. Sure, some of the points may seem obvious, but the show isn't afraid to go there and push us to think about how past events have led us to where we are today, our attitudes, our prejudices, our views, our politics. It makes historical commentary relevant to today. Rufus has many of the best one-liners, but I'm still partial to his monologue when in 1937, he's rebuked by a white police officer because he's black and Rufus comes back with this:
"I hope you live a long, long life. Long enough to see Michael Jordan dunk, Michael Jackson dance, Mike Tyson punch, really, just, any black guy named Michael. O.J.? Yeah, he gets off. He did it, but we don't care. And Obama, he's the president. 2008. That's gonna suck for you! I hope you see it all. Because the future is not on your side, boy." - The costumes
Anyone who knows me knows I am not a fashionista, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate good clothing when I see it. That, plus my background in theatrical costumes has me geeking out over and over again with each new "Timeless" episode. Each era has its own style, its own joie de vivre, its own charm and costume designer Mari-An Ceo nails it every time -- from the abolitionist era to old Hollywood glam to the 1920s to the Civil War. While the costumes may not always be spot-on accurate, they give fans a fantasy and feeling of the time. Anyone who loves vintage clothing, Halloween or just fashion in general can appreciate the attention to detail -- from fabric choices to props to skirt lengths and everything in between. - The chemistrySure, it's a story line that we've seen before: a ragtag group of misfits must band together to save something or do something important. But that plot rings hollow if the team doesn't gel -- and this one does. Their friendship is not without issues or complexities and yes, there are times when the Time Team doesn't feel like much of a team at all. But it's that humanity that makes the show both believable and relatable.
Naturally, things do get steamy for some, but each relationship develops at its own pace, stringing the audience along, giving us tantalizing nibbles here and there until things finally reach their boiling point -- and boy, do things get steamy. But again, like with the friendships, the relationships are not without their struggles or their faults, and that is what keeps us coming back for more. On top of that, anyone who follows the actors online know that the group genuinely clicks off-screen as well -- and that makes it all the more fun to watch.
- The diverse castJust as important as the main cast, are the supporting characters. While we have our main time trio, the supporting characters get just as interesting (sometimes more interesting) backstories and plots to pursue. What's more -- they are a reflection of our world now rather than what Rittenhouse hopes to make of the world (i.e. they're not all stuffy white men). Instead, they are racially and ethnically diverse and defy stereotypes and tropes: Agent Christopher (Sakina Jeffrey) is Indian, a lesbian and a top agent in the Department of Homeland Security. Connor Mason (Paterson Joseph) is a black billionaire who used his intelligence to build the time machine. And Jiya (Claudia Doumit) is a young woman who is also a brilliant coder, and all-around nerd who Rufus is crushing on from day one (yay for men who like smart women!)
- The humorFor all the high-stakes drama, this show finds a refreshing, charming way to be downright funny. Some of that comes from joking commentary of the time period or history, some from the sheer absurdity of a situation and some comes in the form of self-depreciating humor (any good show knows not to take itself too seriously).
The best one-liners easily come from Rufus. And what's more fun is that they're not all scripted. Malcolm Barrett has said he is often encourage to improvise - throwing in pop culture references from the albeit obligatory "Back to the Future" jab to trying to pass off the "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" opening rap as Langston Hughes' poetry. Here's just a small smattering of some of his classic one-liners:
"We're going back to the Civil War again. (sarcastically) Yay!"
"What's your name?" "Denzel ... Washington."
"Great. Now both my enemies have guns!"
"Sweet! Rittenhouse wants to make Germany great again."
Lucy: Alice Paul is only one of the most influential women in American history.
Rufus: More than Beyonce? - The suspenseThe creators of the show describe it as high-octane drama -- heavy emphasis on the drama. There are twists in every episode, with many of them ending on a bombshell cliffhanger. The writers aren't afraid to double-down on the whole butterfly effect theory, even if that means changing history has drastic consequences for our main characters. And as the season continues, the show continues to peel back the layers of each character, revealing initial perceptions are not always correct. It's that suspense, that drama, those twists and turns that take us in a completely opposite direction than we thought we were going in that are a bit of a mind-warp and what make me coming back to this show again and again.
- The fandomAnd that brings me to my last reason to jump on board this time train: the fandom. Pretty much anything pop-culture has its own set of fans. But rarely do you see a fanbase so dedicated to something that they mobilize not one, but two campaigns to save the show, and pull it off. The fans, who call themselves "Clockblockers," are right to sing the praises of this show. I've read so many stories of how fans' children have been inspired to do their school projects on historical events they learned about by watching this show. I've read accounts of people who have lost someone who can relate to the feelings of loss many of our main characters go through (I won't spoil it). Besides, what other fandom do you know that banded together and spent their own money on a helicopter banner and now, leading up to the 2-hour movie, bought out billboard space in Time Square to encourage others to join in? If that's not dedicated, I don't know what is.
So, if you want to be on the right side of history and help us save the show for season 3, here's how you can help:
- Binge the first two seasons (26 episodes) over the next 6 days. You can get a free 30-day subscription to Hulu to do so.
- Tune into NBC on Thursday, December 20th 2018 to watch the 2-hour Timeless movie, titled "The Miracle of Christmas." Do it on your own TV at home to bump up those rating numbers!
- Tweet what you think about the show using the hashtags: #Timeless #SaveTimeless #TimelessMovie
(additional optional hashtags if you have room: #SaveRufus #Clockblockers)
