Timeless Review: The Lost Generation (Season 1 Episode 14)

Timeless explores eerily prescient themes on Season 1 Episode 14, “The Lost Generation.”

Midway through “The Lost Generation,” I found myself concerned. The conversation between Lucy (as a flapper!) and Charles Lindbergh starts in familiar territory: Lucy, recounting a bit of her past in order to connect with someone from history’s past.

However, the narrative takes a turn. Timeless begins to explore Lindbergh’s hopes and dreams of a future free of his family’s ties to Rittenhouse, and free from a future where he did not become an accused fascist.

At first, I was taken aback — is Timeless really trying to get their audience to sympathize with the Nazi sympathizer? 

But, that was not and is not the case. Instead, Timeless gently nudges us in the ribs to remind us that science fiction is always at its best when reflecting the world around us.

In this case, it’s the lesson that power, money, and status are more tempting bedfellows than honour and dignity, and that it takes more than a wish to change your fate — it takes true bravery. Bravery, sadly, that Lindbergh did not have.

Following the thread of Rittenhouse, we see Agent Christopher ousted from her job and Mason taken over by Rittenhouse itself, under the guise of the NSA.

While it’s disappointing to see her lose her position within Homeland Security, Christopher is now free to go completely rogue and do as she pleases to help save Wyatt, Lucy, and Rufus from their respective perils. I love her.

I would also love if she and Jiya joined the team full-time. I’m just putting that out there into the universe.

Good news for those keeping count: Lucy gets kidnapped by Flynn again, which means everyone can take a shot of whatever their drink of choice is!

Speaking of Lucy, however: a huge piece of her future puzzle gets slotted into place in the form of her journal. It’s a gift from her mother, and it truly raises more questions than answers. What power does the journal really have, and what rules of time does it bend or break?

One of the most notable aspects of the rebooted Doctor Who is the mystery of the Doctor’s wife, River Song. She, too, carries a journal — she calls it her diary — that contains all the secrets of the Doctor’s future, penned by herself to allow her to keep track of where they are in their relationship.

It doesn’t take much to connect the story mechanics of River’s diary to Lucy’s journal.

If the things Lucy writes become a self-fulfilling prophecy, then she cannot escape her future. Neither can River, who is always hurtling towards a hundred first and lasts with the Doctor. However, as River says: “Time can be rewritten.”

If Lucy chooses to rewrite history, just as Flynn has, then everything Flynn has done becomes a paradox. If she ever writes the journal, he never finds it, which means he never goes back in time and forces her to chase him.

Boy, my head hurts just thinking about how the finale is going to go.

Seen in Vancouver:

Oddly enough, I was fortunate enough to quite literally walk into the production of this episode. A group of friends from Unity Days (read Tell-Tale TV Senior Writer Samantha Coley’s recap here) entered a bar, and right next to us was the main Timeless unit!

As we sat chatting, a two-way window between our building and the next allowed us to peek Abigail Spencer and Malcolm Barrett in their period costumes, rolling a take that eventually became their entrance into Hemingway’s Parisian revue.

Here’s a look behind the scenes, and Malcolm Barrett goofing off after spotting us sneaking a picture:

Just another day in Vancouver.

Spare Thoughts:

• RIP, not! Wyatt, we hardly knew ye, but you were pretty cute.
• Rufus’ outburst at the revelation of who Lucy’s father is is beautifully done — he was rightfully angry, but quick to withdraw his misplaced feelings.
• A whole series needs to be done on Josephine Baker, and soon.
• Of course Wyatt can break himself out of jail using only a paperclip. Of course.
• Unexpected Beyoncé shout-outs: 1.

What did you think of this episode of Timeless? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Timeless airs Mondays at 10/9c on CBS.

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