When it comes to relationships there’s nothing more important than trust. And for our Time Team, that trust was broken in last week’s episode of Timeless when Lucy and Rufus’ secrets were revealed.
“Stranded” did a very good job of addressing the multiple issues at hand. Of course they were stranded in 1754 after their time machine was damaged. But more than that, Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus found themselves stranded with each other and stranded with their fractured relationship.
This episode was all about our team having to really deal with this broken trust and work to repair it. In a way, “Stranded” was the best thing that could’ve happened to our team. Had they not been forced together and forced to address the awkwardness and broken trust then they might not have mended fences.
Obviously there was an immediate disconnect between the team following last week’s revelation. But all it took was being targeted by a group of Frenchmen and being captured by a group of Native Americans and then having to escape these Frenchmen once more for Lucy, Wyatt, and Logan to learn that they’re stronger together than apart. Obviously Wyatt, the lone person whose secret wasn’t revealed, was the one that felt hurt the most. But when it comes down to it, people make mistakes. People keep secrets. But also, people learn from their mistakes. People forgive.
Looking back at it, our Time Team will point to running for their lives and being stranded in 1754 as the turning point in their relationship. It’s when they realized that despite secrets kept and feelings hurt, they really do have each other’s best interests at heart. Every misstep is a chance to grow. And grow they did. This is how you strengthen a relationship. You struggle, you fall, and you rise back up.
But really being forced to have to work together to survive really helped them reestablish that bond. In fact, it strengthened it. Because they now know that even despite the secrets that they can trust one another. When it comes down to it, they’re a team. Despite all of the hardships, the lies, the tears, Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus are a team. No, they’re more than a team. They’re a family.
Change Your Future
One of the interesting, philosophical conversations that ended our episode came when Lucy told Wyatt and Rufus that she’s afraid of what’s to come with Flynn. She certainly doesn’t want to write that journal with these terrible things inside. And she certainly doesn’t want to help Flynn. But she’s someone who believes that things are fated. That everyone has this predetermined destiny that they’ll follow.
As we know, Wyatt doesn’t believe this “fate” stuff. He believes in the power of free will and choices. So he posed the question to Lucy: If you don’t want to be that person who writes in that journal and sides with Flynn, then choose not to. Your choices are what shape your future, not destiny. And I’d have to side with Wyatt on this one. Your entire future is not laid out for you. Each and every decision you make shapes your destiny. You and no one else. So while Lucy was very much about fate, Wyatt was about free will. And I believe that’s what makes Lucy and Wyatt’s relationship so intriguing is that they’re two people who thrive in different mindsets and beliefs. But when it comes down to it they both share one important characteristic: they care deeply for those they care about, including each other.
So perhaps this is going to be when we start seeing Lucy really take her future in her own hands. Her entire life has been spent around this notion of fate and most recently protecting history to ensure what’s already happened is fated to be. It’s something that really sheds light on the person Lucy is and why she feels the way she does. Everything she’s done relates to things being “meant to be.” So it’s definitely out of her comfort zone to really shift that mindset to believing that it’s her choices that shape the outcome.
Given that we still don’t really know whether Flynn is entirely sinister or if Lucy will turn on her team, it’s going to be really interesting to watch Lucy now fight for her own future. Knowing that perhaps she does do something down the line to betray Wyatt and Rufus, Lucy is going to be fighting even harder to ensure that something like that doesn’t happen. We’re going to see her embrace her own destiny instead of being controlled by it. That’s what’s going to make her dangerous to Flynn. She’s not going to be someone that can be controlled. She’s going to control her own fate.
Rufus and Jiya Steal Our Hearts
While the focus has been on Lucy and Wyatt’s romantic potential, lest we not forget Rufus and his blossoming relationship with Jiya. The pair already went out on a date, which was underwhelming to say the least. But the feelings they have for each other have never dissipated. In fact, this week’s episode caused them to flare up as Rufus found himself stuck in 1754 not knowing if he would be coming home. Thus both Rufus and Jiya were granted time to really sit with that harsh realization that they might never see each other again. Circumstances like that will really do it for a potential couple when they realize that they never got to tell each other how they really felt. The “almost” and “could’ve been” can really hurt.
Jiya is a character we haven’t seen too much of outside of her technical skills, but “Stranded” really established her as not only a brilliant mind but a key player with one of the show’s main characters. It was her relationship with Rufus that ultimately saved the entire Time Team as Rufus used a Star Wars reference to help drive them home. Jiya is one of those characters that just lights up the screen and is begging to be utilized. I’m really hoping that we’ll see her character arc continue to grow not only as Rufus’ love interest but as a bright mind inside an organization that is ripe with uncertainty regarding Rittenhouse.
Suspicion Falls on Connor Mason and Rittenhouse
Now, we still don’t know entirely what the hell Rittenhouse is, other than a secret organization that has its hands on significant moments in history. But the time has finally come for others to start asking questions. Agent Christopher finally noticed that something was iffy with Connor Mason and has enlisted someone to investigate Mason and learn about what he’s hiding. Oh, he’s hiding something, all right. And once that gets out, there’s no turning back.
Timeless airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.
