Ever since I saw HG Wells’ The Time Machine as a kid, I have been obsessed with movies and TV shows that deal with time travel. I have seen them try to change it up, and most add a little something here and there. Tonight at 10p on NBC, Timeless does something I have never seen before.
Wyatt (Matt Lanter) and Rufus (Malcolm Barrett) travel back to 1934 to save a teenage John F Kennedy from Rittenhouse. In the process of saving the future president, they are being chased and have to do the unimaginable. They bring JFK to our time.
Since the teen was passed out, they think they can get away with not telling him what year it is. It appears like they get away with it, but he is smarter than they think. He escapes the bunker and goes into modern day. He runs to a convenience store for safety and meets some other teens who take them with him. Those kids don’t know who he is. If they did would, would they even believe him?
Wyatt, Lucy (Abigail Spencer) and Jessica (Tonya Glanz) set out to find him. They need to do it before Rittenhouse kills him and before he learns he destiny.
As we know from other time travel shows, you cannot change anything in the past because it will change the future. Therefore, you cannot change past in the future by telling someone from the past what is going to happen. Or can you? What if you could would you tell one of the best presidents of America, what is going to happen him. Would you tell him how and when he is going to die so you could prevent it from happening? It is a conundrum they will face.
JFK has been featured in several time traveling movies and shows. Quantum Leap sent Sam back to save him, but that was not his mission. He was there to save someone else. There was a Twilight Zone episode whereby saving Kennedy someone else dies in his place and WW III begins. Then there was Timequest that actually saved him with no consequences. These are just three of the many examples because we all want to know what the world would be like if he lived. Personally, I think Bobby Kennedy would be the better brother to save, but that is me.
Back to tonight’s episode, that is why I am so impressed that Timeless takes on something that has been done time and time again, and finds a way to do something new with the storyline. Something that makes sense and works. Timeless is doing some groundbreaking work in this genre this season and I wish people would watch what they are doing. For the love all of things time travel tune in tonight and every Sunday at 10p on NBC and watch Timeless.
