‘Timeless’ Recap: ‘The Miracle of Christmas’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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The series finale of a television series has to be a daunting and tricky venture. For it truly serves as the last opportunity to wrap up the story in proper and satisfying fashion, and please fans of the show in the process and let’s be honest, we’ve all seen what happens reaction wise when it doesn’t go well. But while those inept and ugly finales often make us nervous to settle in and see how the story ends, a majority of these episodes turn out to be solid more often than not and sometimes, they’re downright legendary when they get everything right and it just so happens that the final episode of Timeless fits into the latter of that criteria, since ‘The Miracle of Christmas’ ended up being one powerhouse farewell.
 
After all, it delivered in just about every single way imaginable. Lucy and Wyatt finally professed their love for one another after all this time and found the happiness they so deserved. Rufus was saved and he and Jiya also found their happily ever after and the wins for Clockblockers didn’t end there. Garcia Flynn finally redeemed himself for his many, many crimes by sacrificing himself on a suicide mission in order to ensure Rufus could go on, which ended up being a beautiful farewell for Flynn I might add, especially when one considers the hell he’s been through. But what matters most, is that Rittenhouse was defeated in this tale, and not by way of some wild shoot out or epic action sequence, but in satisfying and simple fashion.
 
But a great finale goes beyond merely wrapping up pertinent plot points and answering questions, it needs to offer something lasting and special to the audience, and well, in this particular farewell, the show seemingly tipped its hand as to what it stood for all along and that is what will make this finale stay with us for ages to come because this ended up being a series about living in the moment and taking full advantage of it. Which seems pretty out of place to say in all honesty, since the entire saga was about venturing to the past and stopping evil from changing history, but everyone’s journey in this tale speaks to that particular theme, and several key moments reinforced this notion, which made this story downright inspirational in its own right.
 
Because this story truly served as a fine reminder that the past is just that and chasing after it and attempting to reclaim what yesterday had in store for us is a dangerous game, one that consumes our souls and potentially our lives, as was evidenced by Flynn’s journey in the series. Which means we simply have to leave the past behind, and embrace everything that surrounds us in the here and the now and that the only way to ‘correct’ the mistakes we made yesterday, is to learn from them and do the right thing in the present so that we forge a better future and honestly, I wasn’t expecting that kind of beautiful and inspirational message to appear in this finale, but it did, and it was welcome and it was fitting and it was fantastic to say the least because shows in this vein, rarely go to such philosophical and uplifting places.
 
When all is said and done however, I have to admit that this is one of the finest series finales I’ve ever laid eyes upon, and I tip my cap to the Writer’s Room for putting together one incredible script. For this story was supremely satisfying. There are no loose threads hanging over this farewell, the journey of the Time Team simply feels complete and honestly, while I know so many fans want another season, or more movies in this vein, if such a thing doesn’t occur, I’m fine with this being the last story ever told in this universe. But make no mistake about it, I will miss this show, and it’s incredible writing and performances because this one, was special and different and captivating to say the least and well, I certainly hope Timeless inspires other shows down the line to follow its example of quality and bold storytelling, and I most certainly enjoyed geeking out about this lovely little adventure with all of you, and I cannot thank the cast and crew of this magnificent series enough for taking us on one hell of a ride…

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