This all-but-forgotten NBC series may not have the reputation of others, but was loved by its following and is now getting a new lease of life thanks to this Blu-ray set released by Australia’s Via-Vision Entertainment.
The plot follows history professor Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer), Master Sergeant Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter), and engineer/pilot Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett), who as part of the ‘Lifeboat’ team, who traverse time to stop a thief, Garcia Flynn (Goran Višnjić), changing history with the ‘Mothership’, a time machine he has stolen. After the first mission, Lucy arrives home to find her life has totally changed. Her mother is no longer on her death bed, stricken with cancer, and her sister doesn’t exist at all. As their adventures go on, something much more sinister as it turns out Flynn is trying to rid the world of a nefarious Illuminati-type group called Rittenhouse. An organisation that is more deadly and closer to the team than they can imagine.
With elements of Quantum Leap and Back to the Future (which gets the obligatory namecheck), Timeless is a fun show that managed to rise above its simple premise to become a series with a lot of heart. The opening episodes were directed by Neil Marshall, and he sets the pace well. There are very few saggy moments as the crew navigate their way through some key historical moments. The natural moral argument constantly arises – Rufus, a black man, struggles with not being able to save Abraham Lincoln, damning a whole race of Americans to a lifetime struggle – and these moments are handled compassionately. The show was originally cancelled after one season, even though it ended on a cliff-hanger, but Sony quickly managed to get that reversed, only for the axe to fall after the second season. Luckily, there was a special two-part finale that takes place at Christmas and ties all the pieces up nicely (also included in the box set).
For a show that no one talks about, it’s a mighty fine one and well worth either revisiting or discovering. The Blu-ray set includes some outtakes and inessential deleted scenes, but it’s the quality of the series that is the pulling power.
