Timeless

Starring: Abigail Spencer, Goran Visnjic, Matt Lanter, Malcolm Barrett, Paterson Joseph, Sakina Jaffrey, & Claudia Doumit

Seasons: 2 (2016-2018) - Network: NBC - Rating: 5 Stars

Timeless is one of those shows that was so ahead of it's time, that it was largely unappreciated for just how good it was. A devoted cult following managed to keep it alive for a second season and wrap up movie, but with all it had to offer, this show should have gone far beyond that.

With the help of a mysterious donor, tech genius, Connor Mason (Paterson Joseph), has developed a time machine. His goal is to explore where we came from, so hopefully we won't make the mistakes and learn where we're going. His mysterious donors however, have other more nefarious plans for the machine. Learning of these plans, an NSA whistle blower, with nothing to lose, Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic) steals the machine. Flynn plans to stop this donor from succeeding with their evil plans, by erasing them from time. This could of course do irreparable damage to the timeline, leaving us all in a world we wouldn't recognize. In response, with the help of Homeland Security, and the small original prototype of the machine, Mason puts together a team with the goal of stopping Flynn and protecting history at all costs.

The team that goes after Flynn is made up of a soldier, a historian, and another tech genius. During the first few episodes, it's difficult to see how such a strange trio would work well together. As time goes on, the chemistry is clear, as it's their differences that brings them together, and makes them such an effective team. Each episode is a trip to another era of American history, that is both exciting and educational. I majored in History, with a focus on American History, and this show has even taught me a thing or two. Timeless combines two of my favorite aspects of Science Fiction, Time Travel and Alternate History into a stunning adventure that can literally take you from one dramatically different time period to another, in the blink of an eye. It is an adrenaline fueled chase through history with everyone and everything on the line, so why didn't it work?

Timeless failed for two reasons, that were easily correctable had the network not rushed it to air without considering all the possibilities, something NBC is unfortunately notorious for doing. First of all, this was a very expensive show to make, with all the sets, costumes, and special effects, meaning it needed to get big ratings in order to survive, so where is the big name star? Timeless had no one of name attached to it, which makes a big difference! Some of these top stars cost a fortune, but they have hundreds of millions of followers across social media, you think some of them might tune in to watch their favorite stars new show? Next the producers seemed to have no concept of demographics. This is an historical science-fiction adventure, your key demographic is going to be men between 18-45, so where are all the woman? I know there aren't a lot of woman across American history, but they could have done something to appeal more to their demographic and improve the ratings.

Timeless is one of the most original shows I've seen come across network television in a very long time. It is well written, exciting, educational, and just fun to watch. You never know where you're going or who you're going to meet. I loved every second of this show, but the networks bottom line is profit, and without ratings, there is no profit, and another amazing show is dead before it even got started.