Many of us here at Fangirlish miss the series Timeless. The NBC drama, which aired from 2016 to 2018, just had so much going for it. A thrilling time-travel plot, appealing characters, and an excellent ship to root for. The show cast a spotlight on forgotten history as well. A dedicated fan base stayed loyal to the show through two cancellations to get a Timeless Christmas finale movie. That finale aired five years ago, and the epilogue even takes place in 2023. So now is a fitting time to revisit our favorite moments of the Timeless series finale.
Historian Lucy (Abigail Spencer), soldier Wyatt (Matt Lanter), and scientist Rufus (Malcolm Barrett) went through a lot as they took the Lifeboat through time to keep the evil Rittenhouse organization from using the Mothership to shape history to their own ends. They were joined by Flynn (Goran Visnjic), the NSA agent who had stolen the Mothership in the first place, in trying to stop Rittenhouse. The finale provided closure to this conflict and more. With Christmas as the backdrop, several moments in the Timeless finale were so memorable and emotional that they still give us feels.
Wyatt and Lucy’s Happily Ever After
Attraction was evident from the beginning with these two but seeing Wyatt and Lucy’s trust and respect for each other grow was especially satisfying. Almost as satisfying as when they consummated their feelings in season 2. Of course, right after that, Rittenhouse brought back Wyatt’s dead wife Jessica (Tonya Glanz) because of course they did, this is TV. Wyatt did the adult thing and tried to make the marriage work. Particularly because Jessica said she was pregnant. But we were all relieved when it turned out Jessica was working for Rittenhouse and the pregnancy was a lie.
The finale had to reconnect Lucy with Wyatt, which it finally did during a mission to the “Miracle of Christmas” evacuation during the Korean War in 1950. Lucy tells Wyatt she loves him (reciprocating his love declaration from the previous episode) and he assures her he did want to choose her. Lucy realizing the past shouldn’t stand in their way anymore is a joy to behold. With church bells ringing, they kiss, and we know they are together for good. The development of their relationship was executed so effectively, and Spencer and Lanter share such strong chemistry, that this moment is the perfect culmination of their storyline. It is also stunningly romantic.
Rufus Lives!
The most pressing plot point the finale needed to address was the devastating death of Rufus at the hands of Rittenhouse agent Emma (Annie Wersching). This character was everyone’s favorite cinnamon roll. He was sweet and funny. There was no way he could stay dead. In a jaw-dropping moment, a battle-hardened future version of Lucy and Wyatt appeared to tell the team Rufus could be saved. In fact, he HAD to be saved if they wanted to stop Rittenhouse. And they left the journal Lucy had given to Flynn to guide them. They determine that Jessica must die again in the past for Rufus to return to the timeline.
Flynn sneaks off and accomplishes this (more about that later). Lucy and Wyatt are with team member (and Rufus’ girlfriend) Jiya (Claudia Doumit) in 1848, being held captive by Rittenhouse’s final sleeper agent, when the timeline is corrected. They hear someone take out the sleeper agent and then…Rufus bursts in! He’s back! And quoting Home Alone too! “Merry Christmas, you filthy animals,” he says before freeing his friends. The joyous looks on the team’s faces and their hug afterward still make me tear up. Watch Wyatt pound Rufus on the back as they embrace and try to tell me these people aren’t family to each other. You can’t. Emotional isn’t a strong enough word to describe it.
Flynn Sees His Family Again
The emotions don’t stop there. Flynn was presented as an antagonist at first. His theft of the Mothership started the entire story. But then the team realized he was fighting Rittenhouse and they were all on the same side. Rittenhouse killed Flynn’s wife and daughter when he reported to his superiors at the NSA that they had commissioned the time machine to benefit themselves. Flynn was in hiding, drowning in grief, when Lucy found him. She gave him the journal showing him what he had to do, starting with stealing the Mothership. There was tension when the whole group started working together but when the time came to save Rufus, Flynn took action. He took the Lifeboat to 2012 and killed Jessica on the night she originally died. This restores Rufus to the present.
But Flynn makes another choice. He knows he is dying from the effects of traveling within his timeline, so he sends the Lifeboat back to 1848 for the rest of the team without him. Instead, he goes to his home to see his family one last time. He looks inside the window and sees himself with his wife and daughter at the dinner table. We know exactly why he has sacrificed himself– because stopping the people who murdered them is more important than his own life. Flynn’s tragic and heroic ending makes his character arc truly remarkable.
Rittenhouse Is Defeated
The first season of this show established Rittenhouse as a sinister, shadowy coalition of powerful families who have existed for pretty much all of America’s history. They only want to consolidate their white supremacist power. The team meets the founder in 1780 in one episode and he is as despicable as you’d expect. Lucy found out that both her father and mother were from Rittenhouse families and they were painful moments for her. Season two, in particular, had a theme of her fighting against this legacy. Even though much of the organization was arrested in the season one finale, the remnants need to be dealt with. And Lucy’s choices are the catalyst for that resolution.
By the time the team goes to 1950 Korea, only Emma is left alive and at large with a small group of followers. The team’s Homeland Security handler, Agent Christopher (Sakina Jaffrey), finds them with the help of Lucy’s incarcerated father. But the team needs to be rescued from Korea, so Agent Christopher must take Emma to pilot the Mothership to save them. During a tense standoff, Emma offers to help restore Lucy’s sister Amy to the timeline if she goes free. Lucy had lost Amy after the first mission changed things and she’d been fighting to get her back the entire series. Lucy chooses the bigger picture over her wishes. Emma tries to escape but she becomes a casualty of the invading Chinese army. And so, Rittenhouse is no more.
A New Time Machine
The 2023 our team is living through in the epilogue seems better than the one we’ve got right now. Lucy and Wyatt are married with twin girls. Rufus and Jiya have their own company and help students in science. Wyatt still works for Agent Christopher and Lucy gets tenure as a professor. The team use the Lifeboat one last time to take Flynn the journal in 2014 and start the sequence of events that has to happen. It’s so satisfying to see these characters we’ve come to care about living fulfilling lives. But there is another exciting moment yet to come. One of those brilliant science students Rufus talked to is working on plans for something that looks an awful lot like the time machine.
This is just the perfect final image for this show. A series that cheated cancellation more than once should leave the door open for time travel to exist again. And of course, if it does, our team will be there to save history. An important motif throughout the show is how everyone is important. The characters learned that from history’s hidden figures and their own experiences. A story that values that lesson can never be truly gone forever. The hope of the future mattered in this show and that’s what this moment is all about. A new time machine represents possibility, and that’s exactly how this series should end. With hope.
Timeless was such an excellent television show in many aspects, and the finale gave viewers so many moments that proved why. Though, sadly, we don’t have this incredible story on our screens anymore, the finale was a wonderful Christmas gift we will always be grateful for.
Timeless is streaming on Hulu.
