Timeless Review: The Miracle of Christmas Parts 1 & 2 (Season 2 Episodes 11 & 12)
The two Timeless episodes fans have been waiting for are here and it is everything we hoped for and more! When this movie was announced there was no question that it would be amazing and it delivered on so many fronts. They tied up a dangling loose-end very well and managed to give viewers a satisfying ending on all fronts, and it’s hard not to want more.
The Beginning
Folding in the recap with future Lucy’s narration of the events that have led the team to this point is a brilliant narrative move.
While I think viewers were hoping to see a little more of the dystopian Lucy and Wyatt that stepped out of the upgraded Lifeboat in Timeless Season 2 Episode 10, “Chinatown,” this was a great way to give viewers just a little glimpse of what their life was like.
In the end, the fix for getting Rufus back relies on Lucy’s journal and getting it into 2018 Lucy and Wyatt’s hands. It’s brilliant how direct and yet vague this this plot point is. Giving the journal to Wyatt and telling him the answers are in there stays true to the Timeless mythology that the writers have built since the very first episodes.
While future Lucy and Wyatt’s interaction with the team might have been brief they served their function and that’s really all they needed to do. The rest was a product of the mechanics of time travel.
Emma As the Villain
Seeing Emma in “The Miracle of Christmas” after taking out Nicholas and Carol in “Chinatown” just serves to affirm that she belongs on our most compelling villains list. Emma is ruthless, but quiet, and seeing her thrust into the leadership role is something that I have been looking forward too.
Annie Wersching did not disappoint. I just wish we had more time with Emma in the driver’s seat. Early on in the episode she talks about doing away with the cult and bloodlines portion of Rittenhouse, but I am very curious as to what her vision would ultimately be and how it factored into the Rittenhouse of 2023 that future Wyatt and Lucy came from.
It was especially interesting when Benjamin Cahill came to chastise her for her motives and actions as head of Rittenhouse.
BENJAMIN: That incredible machine used so you can–what? Collect art?
That makes me wonder what Emma values and what she sees Rittenhouse as a tool for. I really do wish that we had time to delve into and scratch beneath the surface.
Removing Jessica From the Timeline
Jessica’s return at the end of Timeless Season 2 Episode 3, “Hollywoodland,” but a monkeywrench the size of a Volkswagen in Lucy and Wyatt’s relationship.
Having Wyatt realize that Jessica lied about the baby and was the root cause of all their strife was a realization that he had to come to on his own. It might have been interesting to see this play out over a few different episodes before he finally landed on what had to be done, but after his actions in Chinatown the decision absolutely needed to come from him.
Flynn deciding to go back and take out Jessica himself because he feels he’s the expendable one, also feels appropriate. Seeing the fight the night that Jessica was supposed to have died is something that really puts the events into perspective.
The thing about these characters not being able to go back into their own timeline is that we often only have their word for how things in their past played out. Giving viewers the chance to see some of the most pivotal scenes from such a wide angle is enlightening, and having Flynn be the one who goes back and kills Jessica is surprising.
Going back to 2012 also gave Flynn a chance to not only right history and save Rufus, but it also gave him the chance to go see his family.
Timeless is really good at keeping their characters consistent, and for Flynn one of the only things that he wanted was to go back and save his family. If he can’t save them, then the next best thing is to see him.
Flynn doesn’t get a happy ending, but he died a hero. He redeemed himself and that’s one of the most important things. It’s especially redeeming when Wyatt thinks about Flynn and how he both ruined his life and saved it at the same time.
Rufus Returns
I don’t think you could have written a better entrance for Malcolm Barrett than to have him walk into the scene with, “Merry Christmas you filthy animal!” It’s one of those moments where you don’t realize exactly what you’re missing until you see it again.
One of the things that first third of “The Miracle of Christmas” was missing was Rufus’s jokes and humor. The tone of the show just isn’t the same without this hero in a hoodie, and it’s such a relief to see him back.
The writers make up for the lack of jokes in a big way including lots of service to the fandom. Much like how they made Clockblockers canon in Timeless Season 2 Episode 1, “The War to End All Wars,” for a brief instance Rufus mutters “HeliCLOCKter,” a shout out to the fan campaign to save the show.
Timeline Angst
Here’s the thing I love about time travel storylines. There are consequences to everything. Timeless has always handled those consequences well and managed to do it in a way that keeps viewers compelled even when events are removed from their timeframe.
“The Miracle of Christmas” is no exception to that rule! Considering everything our characters have been through in just this episode, it’s understandable that there is going to be some shifting events.
For one, with Jessica gone from the timeline, Wyatt and Lucy are together. For another Rufus and Jiya have a three-year rift in their relationship now—and it’s a rift he doesn’t even remember.
This all feels like a hyper-exaggerated version of what happened in the pilot with Lucy’s sister. There’s a timeline that only Lucy knows, but it only affects her. Now, we have a timeline that multiple people remember and yet the people involved have their own baggage to work out.
Yet, they manage to treat it with a certain dash of levity that only this team could bring to the table. For example, the scene between Lucy and Rufus when they talk about their relationship:
RUFUS: So this is weird. In my timeline you guys are still a couple. You think you’ll get back together again, because I’m still totally shipping team Lyatt.
LUCY: What? What’s that?
RUFUS: You guys are like, Han and Leia. Arwyn and Eragorn? Bella and Edward? You guys have obstacles too.
This is what’s so dynamic about time travel plots that deal with history, and this is the first big change we’ve seen since Jessica’s return in “Hollywoodland.” The difference is that while most of the other changes have been about historical figures, this one affects them and their lives including the way people interact with them.
It’s incredibly juicy to get into these details and it’s something that I wish that Timeless had the chance to explore more of. Especially when you consider that there is now a whole other universe that possibly existed and different events that likely occurred there too.
Come on, is anyone at least curious about what happened on the Titanic?
Lucy Gives Up Amy
Like Flynn, Lucy was missing someone she lost, but in “The Miracle of Christmas” she lets that desire go after seeing all the things Flynn did to try to get back to his family.
I can’t say this wasn’t entirely unexpected. Emma did tell her that she took some trips in the Mothership to make sure that Lucy would never be able to get her sister back, but still when presented with the chance to, she turns it down.
There’s something so final about this moment, but Lucy talks about how she’s thinking about this for a while and she’s comfortable with this. What really happened here was accepting grief.
Lucy’s been living with the knowledge that her sister can’t come back for a while now, and since finding that out has gone through a process. Yes, she may have had hope, but she’s finding a way to live a reality and move on.
The New 2023
It was disheartening when future Wyatt and Lucy showed up in 2018 saying that Rittenhouse still existed, but fortunately after everything that’s happened, it looks like Rittenhouse isn’t a threat.
Seeing both Lucy and Wyatt and Rufus and Jiya have their happily ever afters is a terrific way to send off these beloved characters. Wyatt and Lucy’s two children Flynn and Amy are adorable and the news that Lucy finally made tenure brings the fight she had in one of the first scenes of the series full circle.
Then there’s Rufus and Jiya who are looking to give back to the community with their charity. Rufus wanting to give back to kids that are like him fits him as a character and it’s absolutely fitting that this would be the ending they’d choose.
The Final Mission
The thing about time travel is that you have to pay attention to the timeline. When it comes to Timeless that means going back to 2014 and giving Flynn the journal.
After hinting at the scene in Season 2, it’s gratifying to finally see it play out. In a similar way that the fight with Jessica on the night she died is satisfying, this scene really helped us see where Flynn was coming from in the first few episodes.
Launching from that scene, to see Flynn about to storm the castle in the pilot was another interesting montage. Showing the audience clips of the team throughout the series to confirm that everything did play out as it should.
The Oppenheimer Complex & The Future of Time Travel
From the very beginning of the series, Agent Christopher thought that Connor Mason’s invention of a time machine was reckless and irresponsible. It makes sense that she would be the one who wants to destroy the time machines, but Mason also has a point.
Connor Mason did invent a brilliant piece of technology, but he can’t uninvent it. It already exists.
The fact that the final shot of the series ends with a girl sitting at a desk, drawing sketches of a machine is fascinating. And I bet you, in ten years they will be very happy they didn’t destroy that lifeboat.
—
As of this writing these are the final episodes of Timeless. While it does feel like there’s room for this show to continue telling its story, and doing what it does best if this happens to be the end of the series, I’m okay with it.
I, of course, want there to be more of this story, but if this is where the story ends then we have some closure.
What did you think of this episode of Timeless? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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You can watch Timeless Seasons 1 & 2
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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.