At this point in the season, it feels a bit like Timeless is checking off boxes on what the show has left hanging while giving their characters something of a sendoff before launching into the finale. For anyone following the ratings, it's very likely the show knows it has limited time left (no pun intended) but it also wants to do the job of servicing most of the characters it has left in some way. In "Delta Blues", the show does what it can in some ways to give Connor Mason a happy ending of sorts.
Connor Mason has always been an interesting character, but in some ways relegated to the sidelines as part of the format of Timeless for a large part of it. His buildup and arc over the first season as a part of Rittenhouse (largely due to their funding of this Mothership/Lifeboat project) constantly had him bouncing back and forth as an ally or villain when needed. At the end of it, he showed everyone he was playing the long game and ultimately helped with the government in apprehending a good chunk of Rittenhouse. In the second season however, there was not much for Connor Mason to do after his company was literally scuttled away by Rittenhouse.
In some ways, early on in the second season, the show did not shy away from reminding us that Connor Mason was but a figurehead and long past his prime in some ways, and the explosion at Mason Industries was there to further disgrace him. Connor didn't have much involvement whereas Rufus and Jiya continued to remain instrumental in the fight against Rittenhouse by being involved in all the operations of the Lifeboat and he was left to really just mope around.
Luckily the story of the week is something that is entirely in Connor Mason's wheelhouse. "Delta Blues" is a fascinating episode because it helps frame and give Connor Mason some extra depth and complexity beyond being an Elon Musk facsimile. Perhaps the initial intent of having a Black Brit contrast with Rufus' sense of race different was but a passing blurb and a reference to Mason's actor - this was referenced way back in the pilot - though it never truly went beyond that. With "Delta Blues", it provides an interesting depth by proving him with the appreciation and expertise in Depression-era blues music, right down to the minutiae of it. It's through Mason that he explains how the birth of the blues is how rock and roll came to be, and Lucy is able to see how it helps explain much of the counterculture that comes through in the twentieth century, and why Rittenhouse might care to stymie the rise of it.
For obvious reasons, Connor starts to see himself through the musician Robert Johnson that they're there to save. As the story goes, Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil to help find his way to achieve success, but now with Rittenhouse's intervention, he starts to feel like it was more of a monkey's paw type of deal. It doesn't take long for Connor Mason to feel like he's met a kindred spirit (that he's also a fan of), but it takes a bit of coaxing and reminder from Rufus that he used to be an inspirational figure himself. It's great to see the show hasn't forgotten about the student/mentor relationship the two men share, even though it was twisted and perverted at times back in the first season; the scene between the two in the juke joint is telling enough that there's plenty of history between the two, and Joseph and Barrett do a fantastic job conveying it. It's an nice bookend to someone like Connor Mason, who was deathly afraid of his own invention after making a deal with the devil to usher it into creation. At the end of the hour, he's the one who needs to save history as we know it, while ending up leaving his own mark on it. The final expression from Connor Mason as he hears himself on the record sells the entire struggle of his character.
Meanwhile, the show moves to bring Lucy and Flynn closer together now that he's been flying more missions with the team. I don't think the show is trying to move them into a romantic angle, but the two are connected by personal losses that they believe can be rectified with some proper application of time travel. Flynn tries to bond with the Lucy from the future and through the journal he's read over and over, though Lucy still can't come to terms with it. It's only when he decides to connect with the Lucy in the present do they establish the bond he thinks he's found in her writings.
As for Wyatt, getting the chance to take down Rittenhouse proves to be an interesting mission for him to tackle solo; at least he got to handle modern equipment and weaponry for once, as he reminds us. The show does not do a great job of showing us the scale of what Rittenhouse is this season. I assume the arrests made in season one mostly hampered the organization to say, a tenth of their current size and they're fighting to come back, and it's supposedly being led by Carol and Emma. It just seems odd because Rittenhouse right now is mostly a bunch of faceless background extras flanking Carol (who's joined their ranks in the weeks prior) along with Emma and Nicholas. They don't seem as menacing as the evil cabal that seemed to control a good portion of America in season one. Even the sleeper agents that our heroes run into in their adventures don't really make much of an impression unfortunately. Adding on to that, the fairly glacial pace with what Timeless wants to do with Carol makes for a relatively uninteresting watch when Rittenhouse is on screen. Luckily, their presence is fairly unneeded to make an episode of Timeless feel magical.
Miscellaneous thoughts:
- Flynn finally getting a gun is incredibly funny, as he cannot contain his excitement, even though I'm sure he's had to acquire a gun or two in his last trip.
- Rufus admonishing Connor for trying to turn their time travel missions into life counselling sessions is a little funny considering most times our heroes end up taking cues and asking for life advice from historical figures they come across all the time.
- I was tempted, but I felt like fitting in a groove pun (both music and vinyl record) would've been a little too much.
- The episode ends with Jiya foretelling Rufus' supposed death, but it's detailed enough that it's just as easy for him to possibly avoid leaving the Lifeboat, unless it's absolutely necessary. Just a tease, really, for the finale probably, so it's hard to see where it goes until then.
No comments:
Post a Comment