Timeless “The Miracle of Christmas” Photo Recap

SPOILERS ABOUND

Oh, Timeless, you beautiful, brave little engine that could. You swept into our lives and delighted nerds around the globe with your historical references, your talk-science-to-me, your social commentary, your timey-wimey-wibbly-wobbly, and your adorable will-they-won’t-theys.

The series had its ups and downs, with a cancellation after the first season, a second life thanks to a new negotiation with Sony, then another cancellation after the second season, which was final, no take-backs. OR WAS IT??? The fans once again rallied, and Timeless was given a reprieve with a 2-episode finale “movie”.

Honestly and sincerely from the very depths of the cheesecake that functions as my heart – thank you, NBC. The show, and everyone who worked on it, deserves this. And we needed it. IMAGINE IF WE HAD JUST BEEN LEFT WITH THAT SEASON 2 CLIFFHANGER?? I shudder to think.

If you’re here reading this, then you’re a fan of the show. You don’t need me to summarize the whole deal. If you HAVEN’T already watched all of Timeless, then go sit yourself down for the next 3 days, subsist on fun-dip, cheesy bread, and emotions, then come back.

Okay, now that the newbs are gone, let’s talk The Miracle of Christmas. Was it everything you guys were hoping for? Did you get closure? Did your ships sail? Did you cry a lot? Are you satisfied, or are you already on your fifth draft of the letter you’re going to send to the producers, begging for more?

For me – I’m happy. Would I be super pumped if Timeless got yet another reprieve? Yes, I would (producer Shawn Ryan has hinted that there’s still hope). But if it doesn’t, if this is the last we’ll see of the Time Team, then I’m grateful for what we got. The show didn’t give us the mega-happy-ending I was expecting, and I respect that. Flynn didn’t get his family back. Lucy’s sister Amy doesn’t re-exist. Jessica didn’t switch sides to the good guys. The team didn’t all move into a 2-story brownstone together with Lucy’s gay grampa, living out their days reminiscing about old adventures, having weekly board game nights, and meeting up with all the now-old people they met/saved in the past, blowing their minds with how little they aged.

Heck, we didn’t even get a definitive end to Rittenhouse. Sure, they’re down, but out? Who knows.

But it was enough closure to leave us with a sense of satisfaction, while still leaving the door ajar, and boy howdy was it ever fun.

Speaking of, let’s dive in!

The finale picked up where season two left off, with Future Wyatt and Future Lucy literally popping in to drop off Future Lucy’s journal and tell the team to smarten’ up. They left behind a new and improved life boat (with autopilot, for all your pesky plot needs), and whizzed away with the promise that everything will be better if they somehow save Rufus.

It was obvious those two had seen some shit, you know? Like, they were NOT having a good time. Lucy and Wyatt were all, “yeahhhhh… let’s not turn into them, shall we?” So they got to reading her journal, which apparently had the clue on how to save Rufus.

Ohhhhhhhh Flynn kissed Lucy!! Her journal gave us a glimpse of the season 3 love triangle that never was. I guess Lucy’s type is ‘men who are desperately trying to bring back their dead wives”. We’ve all been there, girl.

Meanwhile, Emma was large and in charge of Rittenhouse, giving out orders and making Jessica her right-hand-woman.

I know she’s the antagonist, but you have to admit, this chick has style. It would have been awesome to see her as the season 3 villain. *sigh* alas.

Jiya wanted to hop into the new-and-improved lifeboat and go save Rufus pronto, but Mason filled them in on what happens when you travel into your own timeline.

The progression is horrible sickness, insanity, then death. A barrel of laughs, basically. Which means Future Wyatt and Future Lucy were likely foaming at the mouths the instant they got back. Haha, those two! Always in a pickle.

Present Wyatt wanted to calm Jiya down a bit, so he went ahead and gave her the Christmas present Rufus got for her. This was a very nice moment for a number of reasons, one of them being that we haven’t really seen Wyatt and Jiya interact a whole bunch. Their friendship is something I would’ve liked to see develop had the show been given a longer run. ALAS. They were interrupted by the mothership going after the gold in them thar hills! Sorry, I had to. So off they went to Coloma, California, 1848!

In the midst of some casual street harassment, these fine gentlemen unwittingly gave up the information that Emma and Jessica were wandering around these here parts. At first the team thought it was to mess up history, but nope! It’s to get rich, and as a bonus, hopefully destroy the team’s day/lives.

So they stole some horses and got the heck outta there, in pursuit of their lady nemesi. Of course, in their downtime, Lucy needed some GD answers from Flynn about their would-be romance.

Flynn was straight-up with Lucy, basically summing up what this little love triangle would have resulted in had there been time to flesh it out. “It ends badly because your heart always belonged to someone else.” I wanted to high-five him.

Then we met Zorro! Well, one of the real-life outlaws that Zorro was based on, Joaquin Murrieta, who agreed to let them ‘borrow’ his horses in exchange for information on where to mine for gold.

Okay, okay, yes, I just referenced 90s SNL sketch about Antonio Banderas, and I am NOT ASHAMED.

Flynn had a touching talk with Zorro about getting revenge on the people who murdered their loved ones, and I wanted them to hug so bad, you guys. So bad.

Meanwhile, Jessica took a shit-ton of gold from Rittenhouse’s last sleeper agent (did ALL of them die horribly? That’s a terrible company record).

She was not very nice to this man. Management is key to success, Jessica!

Wyatt got the hint from Lucy’s journal that the only way to bring Rufus back was to “erase Jessica from the timeline”, which was a very polite way to say murder. The entire team volunteered to go do it, which made Flynn roll his eyes, because NO YOU AIN’T, guys.

They awoke to find him missing because he went to “scout ahead”, then they promptly got captured by bounty hunters.

Honestly, how they survived an entire season without Flynn is beyond me.

Okay so I have questions! Later on, Wyatt was all, “Flynn lied about who killed Jessica because it was him the whole time!” But… it wasn’t, right? The original Jessica was strangled, yes? Not shot. I wonder where the original murderer was. Do you think he saw the whole thing go down and was like, “ugh, drama,” and decided not to get involved?

Flynn sent the lifeboat back to the team without him in it, then watched his pre-murder family through the window. It was very, very sad.

You guys, I need to take this time to talk about how much I love Flynn. Dare I say he was my favourite? And that’s saying something, because this entire cast of characters is wildly likeable. It is my absolutely favourite thing when the original antagonist becomes a reluctant ally, and boy oh boy did Flynn knock it out of the park. Not only did he gel with the team and actually start caring about them, but he was just so damn funny and charming about it. I wasn’t about a Lucy/Flynn romance, but I WAS about a Flynn/everyone friendship, and I GOT IT, so thank you, show.

Anyway.

Back in the bunker, Mason and Agent Christopher were discussing the pros and cons of destroying both time machines. Christopher was all, “should we set it on fire, or just drop it off a cliff, or, OH OH, what if we put it in a giant microwave and see if it explodes???” and Mason frowned really hard.

His point was; now that it’s out there, someone else will invent time travel, and the team will need their machine to keep it in check. I don’t know where I land on this reasoning, but in this one case I’m team Mason.

Huzzahhhhhh!! Wyatt was correct. Taking Jessica “out of the timeline” solved all of their problems, so now Rufus was back, and didn’t know that he ever left.

The letter Flynn leaves for Lucy in her journal is rather heartbreaking, and I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.

Anyway, Rufus was like, “all this for little ol’ me?”, and Wyatt was all, “yeah, buddy, you’re a main character (I may be paraphrasing). Like they WEREN’T going to bring Rufus back. There would have been riots in the streets.

Emma returned from a mission to find Jessica erased, and the gold she collected, gone.

This made her understandably upset, so she did what any frustrated time traveler would do – go back to 1950s North Korea and set a trap for her advistaries to die in a cold, war-ravaged land, lost in time and space. As one does.

I love when characters give answers to questions for dramatic value, but don’t actually provide any information. I always imagine what the other character says AFTER that, you know.

“Get the ship ready.”

“For where?”

“Hell.”

“Okaaaaaayyyyy… but like, where and when, is what I’m asking.”

I think the thing I’m lamenting most about the abrupt end to this show, it’s that we never got to explore Jiya’s story. Girl LIVED IN 1880s CHINATOWN FOR THREE YEARS. Girl SEES VISIONS OF THE FUTURE. Like… Jiya spin-off anyone? There was so much to explore with her character, which I imagine they would have done in a season 3. *sigh*

Her and Rufus didn’t get a chance to chat about it, because the alarm went off, and they were told the mothership went to an historical event; the miracle of Christmas (hey you guys it’s the title of the episodes!!).

So off our heroes went to stop whatever nefarious deed Emma was up to, not realizing it was all a trap.

PART 2

They’re not dead! Not yet anyway. The helicopter pilot is dead (his poor daughter with polio!), but, as Agent Christopher informs us, the team will die the next day when the Chinese army invades.

Rufus and Lucy had a fun chat about her love life, and how in HIS timeline, she and Wyatt are a happy couple with no double-agent-back-from-the-dead-wives to contend with. Thing is, she doesn’t want to be anyone’s second choice, and FAIR ENOUGH, GIRL.

As the boys fiddled around with a car, the girls went into a church and met a friendly Korean lady.

She was like, “soooo… do you WANT to be beheaded, or…?” She was nice, and hopeful, and very jazzed to be reunited with her husband and son when the war ends “in a few days”.

Outside, the boys were having a nice broment where Wyatt was all, “you should be mad at me,” and Rufus was like, “I’m not, though,” and then they hugged for a full minute (in my mind), and sang a harmonized version of Thank You For Being A Friend (also in my mind).  

I love this broship.

They decided to take the nice Korean lady to the evacuation port because they know what’s about to go down. “What’s the point of saving history if we don’t save the people in it?” Lucy sure has changed her tune, hasn’t she! ‘Member in the first season when she was like, “history is the most important!” You guys, I love Lucy. I love her. Then, now, and always.

Emma was celebrating the deaths of the team when Daddy Cahill showed up with Agent Christopher. He helped track Emma down in order to save Lucy, which was a nice paternal moment… I guess. Anyway, Agent Christopher forced Emma to pilot the mothership, and off they went!

Things were going just swell back in the past, but then whoopsie, Young Hee went into labour (because of course she did). Lucy and Rufus went to fetch a doctor while Wyatt and Jiya delivered the baby. But there was an explosion! And everyone died! Except no they didn’t!

This moment was hilariously over the top, and I loved every second. I’m not even sure what the explosion was, or how the team knew to avoid it, or how Young Hee managed to give birth in the MAYBE ten minutes since Lucy and Rufus had gone, but I don’t care. I just plum do not care because it lead to our girl Lucy realizing that holding onto past hurt is plain stupid when you could lose the one you love any minute.  

Lyatt sails!!! After reuniting the nice Korean family, the team had to hide in a church and smooch a bunch to avoid the Chinese army. And NO ONE was mad about it.

Agent Christopher to the rescue!! She forced Emma to pilot the ship to save them just in the nick of time. After Lucy rejected Emma’s offer of a team-up, Emma was shot by the Chinese army, and the team barely made it back to the ship.

This surprised me, you guys. Lucy decided not to go back to try and save her sister, in case it changed something about the present. I understand Lucy’s reasoning, but it was still shocking and sad.  

Aaaaaaaand now that the antagonist has been defeated (maybe?), it was time for the (mainly) happy ending! Rufus and Jiya awkwardly and adorably decided to move in together, and Agent Christopher hung a mistletoe in Wyatt and Lucy’s room.

Look, I loved it, but this would have been a problem with HR, FOR SURE.

Agent Christopher announced that they will NOT be destroying the lifeboat, because of Mason’s reasoning that they someday might need it to clean up other people’s time-travel messes, and also in case they get picked up for a season 3. Yay!

It was a very nice scene that reiterated what we love about this show. Sure, the time travel is fun and the history is cool and the science is sciency, but it’s the relationships that kept this fanbase so passionate. Seeing them all gathered like that, calling each other family, it was just.. *sniff*, It WAS NICE OKAY?

Then we were delighted to a time jump to 2023, where Jiya and Rufus are big-shots, Lucy is a tenured professor, Mason is under federal contract, and Wyatt is working under Agent Christopher. Wyatt and Lucy have twins named Albus Severus Potter Flynn and Amy (awwwww), and everyone is uber happy.

But they still had one loose end to tie up.

Way to motivate a guy, Lucy! She told him that he’ll be a fugitive, hated, jailed, and generally have a suck-ass time for the rest of his life, and then handed him her journal and was like, “have fun!”

Interesting tidbit to come from this scene – Flynn asked about his family and Lucy told him that he never gets them back. Did… did Flynn KNOW the entire time that he never gets his family back??? Did he think he could change it? Did he not trust Lucy’s answer?

Or, did he go through with it all knowing that he’d fail at his ultimate mission, but succeed in helping them? Did he do it because Lucy called him a hero? Because he knew in the end he’d be a part of ending Rittenhouse, even though his own story would be tragic?

Ugh. That hurt me, you guys. That hurt my damn feelings.

Then we were treated to a montage of Flynn going through with it, and all the events it caused; set a perfect version of Time After Time. *slow clap*

And that’s that! What a way to end a series! Oh no wait, there’s more…

Gahhhhhhhh!!!!! Even if this is the last we’ll see of any of these characters, that ending was perfect. And if we DO get a season 3 on some other network, then the door is open for more adventures.

Well done, show. Well done.

What did you guys think?? Like I said a million years ago at the start of this recap (this was a long one, eh guys?), I’m satisfied. Do I want more adventures with the Time Team? Of course I do. But I’m grateful for what we got. So, thank you, Timeless. This has been a frickin’ journey.

SOME STUFF

• That fake beard sure was something.

• Lucy has an eidetic memory, right? She has to. No one, not even a super mega history nerd, remembers facts and details about the entire span of human existence the way she does.

• Speaking of Lucy, I have such a crush. I liked her in the first season, but the second season made me LOVE her. She was so damn badass and cool. Everything about her was amazing. Hey TV in general – more female characters like Lucy please. Oh, and Jiya. And Agent Christopher. Hell, even Emma. Damn, this show portrayed ladies well, didn’t it?

• Exceeeeeeeeept… okay, look, I love this show, but I have to say it: Jessica was done dirty. Her character never had any autonomy, she was constantly manipulated or used, and then her life was taken for someone else’s gain. And I know it was meant to be a cute moment when Rufus told Lucy that if it were HER Wyatt had to sacrifice to bring Rufus back, then he’d still be dead. Awwwwww, right? Except wait, are they implying that Jessica was brutally murdered because Wyatt didn’t love her enough? His affection towards her determined whether she lived or died? *cold stare* Hmmmm…..

• Soooooo Jiya’s visions/headaches… gone? Or just a useful tool now?

• Does anyone else feel robbed of the Titanic episode that was erased from the timeline?

• They ruined the legend of Zorro! LOL

• Were Rufus and Jiya just chilling out in the church watching Lucy and Wyatt make out? No judgement, I’m just wondering.

• I like it when shows are self-referential without being pretentiously meta or silly about it. Rufus “totally shipping team Lyatt”, the nod to the Titanic episode that never was (*frown*), the OG team throwback at the end, “the three of us started it, so let’s finish it”, even the title itself, ‘A Christmas Miracle’, was a nod to the status of the show, and the stay of execution.

• It was a throwaway joke, but I do feel as if Rufus would share my love of show tunes.

• The first time I saw Matt Lanter was in The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream, one of many movies in the figure skating movie series that I am not ashamed of loving.

Okay that’s it from me! How are you guys feeling? Are you okay?