‘Timeless’ episode 6 review: Who is Lucy’s father?

Hey look, everyone! It’s a paternity twist almost everyone could see coming!

Okay, we’re kidding — sort of. This week’s new episode of “Timeless” on NBC was both a reflection of everything that we enjoyed previously about the show, but at the same time also some things about the medium in general that frustrate us. Having everything be connected constantly for no good reason is something we don’t care so much for.

The big reveal at the end of the episode was simple: Lucy’s father, and the man that her mother was so desperate to shield from her, just so happened to also be the man who’s been spending much of his own spare time threatening Rufus about Rittenhouse and knowing finer details about his brother. Basically, consider this man to be further proof that sometimes in this world, threats do work and are somewhat effective.

Insofar as good villains go, he’s decent, but at the same time the whole ambiguity of Rittenhouse, including their goals, needs to be cleared up in due time since it’s otherwise difficult to be invested in them. What we know is that Garcia Flynn is also after them in a way, and holds their actions responsible for much of the pain in his life, including the loss of his wife and daughter. The story he told to Wyatt, if every element turns out to be true, was fairly heartbreaking and shows further that his own life is not so cut-and-dry. That common ground he has with Wyatt, which includes him also losing a loved one and knowing a great deal about what happened, is at least something to watch as we start to push a little bit further into the story.

For Lucy, meanwhile, we saw from her for most of the episode was a concentrated effort to course-correct after Rufus and Wyatt realized in the 1970’s that she had been speaking with Flynn along the way. We didn’t really consider this during the journey to be something that was all that important or shocking, which is probably why we enjoyed it. It was one of the few aspects of the story we didn’t see coming, while the fact that Lucy’s father was a known character could be telegraphed from the moment we first realized that she was going to have a chance to meet him. To us, we would’ve preferred that he was someone unattached to the whole mythology just for the sake of having this be more of a personally-based storyline and a showcase for Abigail Spencer’s tremendous acting chops.

In going back to secrets, Rufus is now in a precarious position moving forward: After telling Lucy and Wyatt about his secret-agent dealings along the way this season with Rittenhouse, done of course against his will, they informed him that his new job was going to be as a double-agent getting the information needed from them to us to the group’s benefit. He may not love it, but it’s complicated and it makes the most sense moving forward for the three. Seeing Rufus come into his own more as a spy in general during the ’70’s was entertaining, as he realized that the “doc” he needed for the Watergate scandal was actually a woman, and someone with connections to some of the same historians that Lucy had in the present day. On a slightly-related note, it was nice to get a small taste of Rufus’ life, as he’s seemingly the only person of our three leads not combating some sort of recent tragedy.

As a whole, “Timeless” remains entertaining, but Monday night’s episode could’ve done more to embrace the Watergate era and have a little bit more fun beyond Rufus telling people that his name was Kanye West. This whole stunt of using famous people’s names may actually start to get entertaining over time! The twists were for the most part engaging, but as of right now, the writers do have to sell on us on if revealing Lucy’s father to be associated with Rittenhouse was altogether necessary to push the story forward.

Interested in getting some additional news right now when it comes to “Timeless”? Then be sure to head over here, since that is where you can get a further video preview for what is coming up next on the series. (Photo: NBC.)