‘Timeless’ episode 7 review: ‘Stranded,’ Nonhelema, and the Rufus / Jiya story is back
We feel like we now very much have a top contender in the race for “strangest episode of ‘Timeless‘ to date.” After all, how else are you meant to describe an episode that featured almost no Garcia Flynn, but a plan that still seemed perpetuated by him?
The flimsiest part of the story was that that occurred in the past this week, largely because there was so much of it that didn’t make a whole lot of sense from the onset. Let’s put it this way: If you are Flynn, obviously there are big plans that you have for her Lucy’s. Unless you are 100% confident that she, Rufus, and Wyatt will make it out of the 1700’s in one piece, why leave them stuck there? Why run the risk of having your team do something like this? This episode had its fun moments in that timeline, but it also felt more like filler than any that we’ve seen so far this season.
To us, the most interesting part of the story was seeing the show’s take on Nonhelema, a famed Shawnee chieftess who lived during the time and was renowned as a warrior. We always enjoy this show the most when they find these forgotten people in history and bring some new life to them. It’s similar to what we had during the Rat Pack episode, and we wish there was more of her.
The remainder of the story revolved around the Big Three working so that Rufus could get the materials needed to travel back to the present, while in the present Mason in Jiya, who had her most significant airtime since potentially the pilot, worked on their end to bring them back after they were able to uncover a note Rufus left for them deep in the pace. The final few minutes of this were particularly exciting, as was the proclamation that perhaps Lucy is going to work more independently through time to try to bring back her sister and the life that she had.
The romantic subplot you may have forgotten about – Rufus has a thing for Jiya. It was so early in the show that we’d almost had it slip our mind completely, but it came roaring back in a big way tonight. Maybe for the two of them, what they really needed was a feeling as though they’d never get to see each other again to ignite some sort of feelings again. They each went through what we’d consider to be time-travel relationship therapy, admitted to some feelings, and not too long after Rufus returned, the two of them kissed. Maybe this is not a guarantee that there’ll be a wedding episode later this season, but we do like the two of them together. Can we get an episode where she gets to travel with them through time? Maybe you go to the days of early Silicon Valley and put more of her skills to use.
Mason gets suspicion – Why did Cahill want to bring in Lucy of all people for the operation? Now that we know that Cahill is her father, and that the two are fully aware of each other, this is a game-changer for the remainder of the show. It also allows us to see people in new lights. For Mason, this means getting to see more of his suspicious side.
Overall – We didn’t really care much for Rufus, Lucy, and Wyatt’s invasion of the French community to gather the materials or much of the whole A-story this week in general, largely because we’ve been predisposed at this point to these storylines mattering a little bit more. However, the Rufus / Jiya relationship is promising, and at the very least we’ve got a sign that answers are on the way. Grade: B-.
Next week – The space race is here! Head over to this link if you’re interested in watching a promo all about it. (Photo: NBC.)