Timeless - Review
Jan. 13th, 2019 10:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWatched the Timeless two hour movie finale and was reminded why I gave up on Timeless. It's slow. The plot doesn't work at all, holes a plenty, which is the problem I have with time travel series. Unless you are a really organized writer and willing to play by your own rules, and plot every single variable ahead of time -- with an outline for all the seasons, the story will fall apart sooner or later. It always does.
Why? Because if you pull a thread in the time-line or change one thing -- you change a million things, many of which you don't even know about. And if you keep doing it, you will either create a Butterfly-Effect of sorts or collapse the time line completely and/or - far more likely -- set up an alternate parallel time line.
That said, I realize television writers know less about physics than I do, and what I know I could fit into a thimble, so I can handwave a lot. But...this plot is a mess and the pacing couldn't be slower. [Probably doesn't help that the hook for me -- was potentially bringing Lucy's sister Amy back, I didn't care about the others. Spoiler? That doesn't happen.]
It's a very frustrating and somewhat slow show to watch. The time-travels aren't that interesting except the final one. There's a lot of talking about previous episodes and meandering over romantic relationships.
I think the writers wrote themselves into a corner and couldn't figure out a way out -- which again, always happens with time travel series. Sci-Fi is dicey when you don't know anything about physics.
So as a result, a lot of contrived things happen to wrap everything up neatly. But I found it rather boring.
Not one of the better series finales. Shame, the series had potential to start, but then it got overly convoluted with the whole conspiracy story-thread. Manifest is falling into the same hole -- the All Power Evil Organization that is manipulating everyone...gets old. I wish television writers would stop relying on this trope. It's been overdone and it's lazy writing.
Why? Because if you pull a thread in the time-line or change one thing -- you change a million things, many of which you don't even know about. And if you keep doing it, you will either create a Butterfly-Effect of sorts or collapse the time line completely and/or - far more likely -- set up an alternate parallel time line.
That said, I realize television writers know less about physics than I do, and what I know I could fit into a thimble, so I can handwave a lot. But...this plot is a mess and the pacing couldn't be slower. [Probably doesn't help that the hook for me -- was potentially bringing Lucy's sister Amy back, I didn't care about the others. Spoiler? That doesn't happen.]
It's a very frustrating and somewhat slow show to watch. The time-travels aren't that interesting except the final one. There's a lot of talking about previous episodes and meandering over romantic relationships.
I think the writers wrote themselves into a corner and couldn't figure out a way out -- which again, always happens with time travel series. Sci-Fi is dicey when you don't know anything about physics.
So as a result, a lot of contrived things happen to wrap everything up neatly. But I found it rather boring.
Not one of the better series finales. Shame, the series had potential to start, but then it got overly convoluted with the whole conspiracy story-thread. Manifest is falling into the same hole -- the All Power Evil Organization that is manipulating everyone...gets old. I wish television writers would stop relying on this trope. It's been overdone and it's lazy writing.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-14 05:34 pm (UTC)Yeah, they mentioned Amy --- Lucy was given the option to use the time machine to bring her back. But she chooses not to -- after Flynn dies bringing back Rufus, and Rufus had died when they brought back Wyatt's dead wife who turned out to be a sleeper agent working for Ritten house and brought back to manipulate him. Lucy decides fiddling with time just makes things worse. There's no telling who will die or be lost if she tried to bring Amy back now.
The only good thing about the two hour finale is how they closed off Flynn's arc. Flynn figures out that all the horrible things he did in S1 just made life worse for everyone and didn't save or bring back his family. That vengeance leads nowhere. And he sacrifices himself to save Rufus, by killing Jessica (Wyatt's evil wife). Outside of Flynn, not a lot happens, and it's sort of boring.