Last night NBC debuted their version of a time-travel show, Timeless. Time travel shows seem to be the new superhero shows, and everyone wants in on the action. The only problem is much like superhero shows, not too many networks do them well enough to last. There’s usual too many stall episodes, or bad special effects, or even just bad acting. Timeless seems to have overcome a few of those with its premiere episode, so just how good was it?
Too often, time travel shows take too long to get to the point. They either spend too much time explaining the theories of time travel or too little time on a central plot. Timeless isn’t one of those shows. It jumps right in early on, getting right to the point of its first episode. Maybe the show circles back around to how they ended up on the project. Hopefully, it progresses more of the future storyline rather than revisiting the past. Which is odd because that’s what time travel shows are designed to do. Unfortunately for viewers, shows often spend too much on the main character’s past than the actual past/future. If it can avoid this roadblock it will have a decent amount of success.
Starring Abigail Spencer and Matt Lanter, the show does little to separate itself from other time travel shows. The one hurdle a show like this will run into is similar to Terra Nova. While it’s a great concept and has a ton of potential, how long can they keep it going? Once the audience loses interest in the relationship between protagonist and antagonist, how will they create new villains on the show? Will the show run its course too soon if they keep a consistent one through the entire series? How will the show evolve once it gets past its first season?
When it’s all said and done, the show has a decent enough concept to keep going. One of the key plot points that will carry the show moving forward is, who will be the reason behind it all. If the show can be driven by a power hungry company that is looked to capitalize on this technology, then the show might have a leg to stand on. However, if it comes down to just one crazy psychopath hell bent on domination, it may fall short.
Either way, Timeless is intriguing enough to be given a few episodes before giving up on it. Much more than that and it will have to get to some major wow moments. This one isn’t going to top the list of your favorite shows. It could end up being one of those shows you watch when there’s nothing else on.
However, you’ll still watch. If the show can build off of its core concept, there’s plenty of potentials. There’s just no wow. NBC’s time travel show earns a 2.5/5 for its first episode.