15 TV Shows You Have to Watch if You Love ‘Timeless’
15 TV Shows You Have to Watch if You Love ‘Timeless’ (continued)
9. Continuum
Continuum is probably the series that most closely relates to Timeless. It begins in the future, where Kira Cameron is about to witness to the execution of a group of terrorists, but the terrorists escape to 2014 and Kira ends up along for the ride. Throughout the show, Kira has to maneuver her actions so that she doesn’t damage the future and her family.
Why You’ll Love It: Kira Cameron is a time traveler with a family that she desperately wants to get back to. The periodic shifts connecting the past to Kira’s native timeline, and humanity’s future, also plays with the idea that our actions today will affect the future.
10. Peaky Blinders
Another historical drama to add to the list is the British series Peaky Blinders. The story of one of the most powerful gangs of all times, the series follows Thomas Shelby after he returns from The Great War.
But Tommy has greater ambitions than just running the streets. He sees an opportunity to wedge himself and the family into the world of legitimate enterprises. Then Inspector Chester Campbell arrives from Belfast ready to throw a wrench into Tommy’s plans.
Why You’ll Love It: From the start, Peaky Blinders immerses the viewer in the Britain of the period. The series features talks of revolution, women being relegated back to the kitchen now that their husbands and sons are returning from war, and a heaping dose of hedonism.
Not to mention, the cast is fantastic and with only six episodes in each season the storytelling is very tight.
11. The 4400
A unique perspective on time travel, the USA Network’s original series The 4400, explores the idea of what would happen if people disappeared from our past only to reappear in our present.
One night, in Washington State, a comet is passing by Earth. The comet suddenly changes course and heads for a lake near Mt. Rainer. A floating ball of light hovers over the lake and spits out 4,400 people. Some of these people have been gone over fifty years, and none of them have aged a day. To top things off, some of these returnees now have supernatural gifts.
The 4400 follows National Threat Assessment Command agents Diana Skouris and Tom Baldwin as they investigate the returnees and try to figure where they’ve been.
Why You’ll Like It: Make no mistake, the returnees in The 4400 aren’t big historical figures, but the finale of The 4400 Season 1, when the reasoning behind why they’ve returned is revealed, had viewers asking many more questions.
12. X Company
X Company is a high stakes World War II narrative that will delight those who love history and action alike.
The series follows five highly skilled young recruits that are torn away from their lives to train as agents a secret facility called Camp X on the shores of Lake Ontario. The agents then parachute behind enemy lines where no rules apply and sabotage, deception, and glamour are part of everyday life.
Why You’ll Love It: This is an original story about the secret agents who risked everything during World War II. It’s an important period in history and the stories are compelling. While the characters in the show are original, Camp X was a real place, so the story does have some historical roots.
13. Travelers
Another take on how the past affects our future, Travelers follows five people who have been inhabited by the consciousnesses of people from the future on a mission to keep humanity from being “all but wiped out.”
On one night, four people die in unrelated circumstances, but seconds before their death a person from the future takes them as a host, and proceeds to move through their host’s life using historical records and social media.
Why You’ll Like It: Rittenhouse went back in time to try to get their desired results in the present. This form of time travel seems to be a one-way ticket and all of the travelers have to be historians to some extent to live in this timeline and not give themselves away.
Sure, they don’t get to run around in hoop skirts, talk to Old Hollywood legends, or race vintage cars, but it’s still a cool take on what foreknowledge can do.
14. Defiance
This Syfy show from 2013, is a rich complex story with camaraderie, mystery, and intrigue.
Set in a future incarnation of St. Louis, Defiance tells the story of a town founded on the basis of inclusion. It’s a place where the Votan races and humans get along in harmony.
The show follows an arkhunter, Joshua Nolan, and his alien daughter Arisa as they make camp, but the town isn’t entirely utopian, and there are still shadows lurking. Defiance’s storylines are character driven, politically active, and heartfelt all at once, and that makes it a compelling show to watch.
Why You’ll Love It: Defiance is a show driven by its characters; the writers and creators gave each one a rich and complex storyline and history to play off of. It’s not just in the storytelling. Behind the scenes, a linguist created each alien language heard in the show–how’s that for details.
15. Alias
A little bit of action, a little bit of mystery, and a whole lot of spycraft with a dynamic woman at the center of it all. Alias follows Sydney Bristow, who gets recruited into a secret branch of the CIA after learning about her familial history of undercover work.
The branch she joins, called SD-6, leads her to go on undercover missions and recover artifacts all in the name of the clandestine service. Meanwhile, the secrecy surrounding her work complicates her friendships and love lives
But then, Sydney learns that the agency she’s been working for, has no ties the CIA and she becomes a double agent working for the CIA inside SD-6.
Why You’ll Love It: Alias has a lot of action, but it’s also about people. The way that Sydney’s secret life exerts itself on her friendships is the compelling part of the story. Also, Sydney’s boss as SD-6 is obsessed with an inventor called Rimaldi, so there’s a fair amount of mythology to the show as well.
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Have any of these shows caught your interest? Had you heard of any of them before? Let us know in the comments below.
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Lauren Busser
Lauren Busser is an Associate Editor at Tell-Tale TV. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction whose work has appeared in Bitch Media, Popshot Quarterly, Brain Mill Press Voices, and The Hartford Courant.
2 comments
Does anyone know how to find the TV series continuum??? I cannot find it anywhere
It looks like it’s available on iTunes. Also, you may be able to check it out for free from your local library through their inter-library loan (ie, their online ordering) system.
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