'Timeless' Retro Recap: 'The Alamo'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​It’s difficult to properly quantify exactly what it is that makes NBC’s Timeless such an amazing series because there are simply so many reasons why we enjoy this magnificent show. But for me, one thing that keeps me coming back over and over again, is the sheer fact that this saga is incredibly versatile in how it tells a particular tale. At any given moment, it can give us a tense and powerful drama, or a story filled to the brim with action and adventure, and it can flat out put smiles on our faces by giving us a lighthearted story filled with laughs and quirky moments. Or, as was the case with the next episode in this series, ‘The Alamo’, it can drop a powerful character study into our laps.
 
Because this is a tale that not only took us to an incredibly important time in American history, since the Alamo and everything that happened there galvanized the people of Texas to rise up and fight General Santa Anna, leading to the creation of the state of Texas, but it also really dug deep into the nature of heroism. Specifically, what makes a hero, a hero, and how the people we admire in that role, have their own demons and fears when it comes to tough situations and oddly enough, all of that was accomplished by focusing heavily on Wyatt in this story. Because we came to learn in this episode that he has some skeletons in his closet, the kind that can rattle a man in the most inappropriate of moments.
 
In fact, the entire siege at the Alamo was reminiscent of an incident that Wyatt ran into while he was in the field, wherein he was chosen as the sole survivor of a no-win scenario that would cost his team their lives, all so that important intelligence could make it back to his superiors and this, along with the fact that he was potentially looking at his final mission with the Time Team left Wyatt rattled and out of sorts for a fair majority of the episode, and that was supremely important when it comes to what the story was trying to accomplish, since it humanized the Trio and every hero in this story for that matter as well.
 
If anything, reminding us of a hero’s humanity never stopped being a focal point as this episode went on, and to hammer the notion home, Davy Crockett admitted to Rufus that he fudged the facts when it comes to a few of the stories about his life in order to inspire others. But what is truly interesting about all of this is that the push to demystify heroism managed to provide us with a reason as to what exactly separates a hero from the rest of the pack, in that they make a choice to overcome their fears and their doubts in order to make something special happen, and eventually the Trio did just that and in the process achieved wonders in this tale since they foiled Flynn’s plans once again and helped history stay on track. As an added bonus, they showed unity in this story as well since Lucy and Rufus made it clear that they wouldn’t travel through time ever again without Wyatt on their side.
 
When all is said and done however, I have to admit that this episode was in many ways inspiring, thanks to Wyatt’s storyline really. Because despite the fact that he’s been through hell, and that the trauma from that dark day still haunts him, he still finds a way to put it aside and tend to the mission at hand and save as many lives as he can in the process and well, that’s about as heroic as it gets and it was just wonderful to see what makes Wyatt tick in this tale, and see the Time Team display unity and strength in front of whatever government doofball tried to break them up, because let’s be honest, that’s a stupid idea. Either way, this was just another amazing episode, and I’m ready to start another. Until next time. 

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