The upcoming Timeless finale will be bittersweet for some viewers.
Over the summer, fans of NBC’s time-traveling caper Timeless were disheartened to learn that the network had canceled the series again. The decision made sense business-wise, as the Sony Television production’s being distributed by NBCUniversal, a rival media company, meant a complex web of deals were at play. And if the show at the heart of those deals wasn’t earning enough ratings to satisfy one or both studios, then its chances for survival were moot.
Despite having lackluster ratings, however, Timeless proved to be yet another example of a television program whose audience base was extremely devoted. Like Star Trek and Firefly before it, Timeless found itself in the middle of an intense fan-driven campaign to save it from the ax. It worked the first time it was canceled back in 2017, but this year’s cancellation took. Even so, with the news came a nugget of hope – a deal for a television movie was in the works.
What to expect from the Timeless finale
Six months later, the second season cliffhanger will finally be addressed (and more) in a special two-hour series finale. Titled “The Miracle of Christmas, Part I” and “The Miracle of Christmas, Part II” respectively, the two hours will premiere back-to-back on NBC, thereby bringing the adventures of the “time team” to a close.
And so it does, because everyone from the series is back for the Timeless finale. Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer), the history professor turned “Lifeboat” team leader; Master Sergeant Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter), the team’s military liaison; Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett), the Lifeboat’s lead programmer and reluctant pilot; and Garcia Flynn (Goran Višnjić), former adversary turned ally against the Rittenhouse group. Everyone, along with the rest of the supporting cast, is back. So what’s been happening?
Well, at the end of Timeless season 2, Rufus was dead and Lucy and Wyatt were left to wallow in their guilt. Or, at least that was until future versions of the pair arrived in another Lifeboat and invited them to go and save Rufus. “The Miracle of Christmas, Part I” picks up right where the show left off with the prospect of crisscrossing timelines with future and former selves, but for the sake of avoiding spoilers, that’s where NBC’s official episode description (and ours) stops.
Newcomers tuning into for the first time to Timeless probably won’t know what’s going on following the opening credits, and the show does little to amend this. Why? Because the Timeless finale is primarily for the fans who support the show throughout its rocky run. Yet if anyone unfamiliar with the series wants to catch up, they can stream the first two seasons of Hulu.
When is the Timeless finale?
The Timeless finale premieres Thursday, Dec. 20, at 8 p.m. on NBC.
