‘Timeless’ Retro Recap: ‘The Murder of Jesse James’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

​When we hear the word, ‘hero’, certain images come to mind. We see strong human beings, with a squared jaw and a stare that shows they understand more than we do in life, and these people are fearless and brave and will do anything and everything to ensure that good prevails in our world and that lives are always saved and that vision of a hero exists in our mind thanks to years of superhero storytelling and incredible feats from people who went above and beyond when their fellow man needed them most.
 
But what we often forget about heroes, the real kind, not the ones with capes, is that they are in fact, everyday people. Sure, they did something more and we tell tales of their incredible deed, but they eat like the rest of us, they sleep like the rest of us and sometimes, they struggle like the rest of us. And that reality is why I firmly believe I’ve found myself seeking out different types of hero related stories as I get older because I find flawed heroes, the kind who need to earn their elevated status to be supremely fascinating and that is precisely why I loved the next episode of Timeless, ‘The Murder of Jesse James’, because it put every single flaw of our beloved Time Team on display by way of some fascinating complications.
 
For in this tale, Wyatt actually took the time to visit the man that killed his wife and facing that man didn’t have the positive impact that he hoped it would, instead, it seemed to rattle him further and rattle his faith in the system and he wasn’t alone in being shaken up in this tale since Rufus came to learn that his brave move ended up causing harm since Mason now has to train Jiya to become the Lifeboat’s pilot so Rittenhouse can be free to push their agenda and to top it all off, Lucy forgot her own sister’s birthday thanks to everything that was going on and the harsh reminder that she was gone, and the fact that she forgot, put Lucy in a dark place and really, the flaws on display here were simple; Wyatt could find no peace when it came to Jessica, meaning he needs something more to resolve his pain, Rufus could not escape the threat of Rittenhouse, jeopardizing his quest for external and internal peace and Lucy, felt as though she wasn’t doing enough in these missions and had failed her sister.
 
But, despite having all of that weighing upon their souls, they still had to head back to the Old West to stop Flynn from messing with the timeline once again and well, they didn’t exactly find themselves at peak performance during this mission. Because their minds were elsewhere, and they were either at one another or chomping at the bit to make someone pay for their pain and well, we saw them stumble and fall in this tale since Lucy ended up killing Jesse James in cold blood, Rufus regressed when it comes to his boldness and Wyatt was consumed by revenge and almost stepped into Lucy’s shoes and while history was mostly preserved by their actions, bigger problems still arose from this mission since Emma Whitmore entered the story and found her way back to present day with Flynn’s help. 
 
Yet, the show wasn’t done stunning us with ugly moments just yet, since Wyatt did ask Rufus to help him steal the lifeboat, no doubt to stop Jessica from dying and well, had I been watching this episode without having seen season two, it would have concerned me greatly. But I know this team finds its way to a brighter and bolder place, and that they do become heroes. So in the end, I really enjoyed this episode since it served as the genesis of that journey and seeing them stumble here and struggle here, made them more relatable than ever and their mistakes are going to make their journey toward the light all the more powerful and well, it just speaks the quality of writing this show put together week in and week out. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to watch Wyatt make a mistake, so that he and the team can learn from it. Until next time.    

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