Timeless Character Review: Garcia Flynn

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series Timeless. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the first two seasons.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

In this series of weekly blog posts, I will examine character using the characters from Timeless to explore how writers can create fully dimensional, human characters that audiences and readers can relate to.

Any good story needs a villain. He or she is often the driving force for the narrative, especially when they come into contact with the hero or heroine of the story. But a good villain is there not just to antagonize the main character(s), he or she has a back story and believes that they are doing the right thing.

In Timeless, the villain for all of season 1 and part of season 2 was Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnijc). When the audience is introduced to Flynn, we are told that he is the bad guy. Determined to stop Rittenhouse, Flynn uses a journal written in the future by Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer). It is up to the Time Team to prevent Flynn from changing major events in American history.

Over the course of season one and season two, it is revealed that Flynn’s family were murdered by Rittenhouse. In the second season, Flynn becomes an ally of the Time Team, in spite of their lack of trust in him, especially Wyatt (Matt Lanter). When Wyatt’s wife, Jessica (Tonya Glanz) returns from the dead and sparks appear to be flying between Lucy and Flynn, this arouses Wyatt’s suspicion even further.

To sum it up: It takes a good writer to create a complicated villain. To be evil for evil’s sake is boring. When a villain has a motive, it only adds to the narrative. Garcia Flynn stands out as a villain because the audience understands why he is doing what he is doing.

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Timeless Character Review: Wyatt Logan

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series Timeless. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the first two seasons.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

In this series of weekly blog posts, I will examine character using the characters from Timeless to explore how writers can create fully dimensional, human characters that audiences and readers can relate to.

When one meets a member of the military, there is a certain expectation of who this person is. Especially if this person is male. On the battlefield, they are on the front lines, ready to fight. But when they return to civilian life, things are not as simple.

Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter) is the brawn of the time team. Before traveling through time to save American history, he was part of the Delta Force. When it comes to battle, Wyatt is in his element. He has no problem stepping in and using force to keep the Lucy (Abigail Spencer) and Rufus (Malcolm Barrett) safe. But underneath that warrior shell is a deep personal loss that motivates Wyatt to fight.

Prior to joining the time team, Wyatt’s wife was murdered. He blamed himself and got lost in a haze of grief. Though he continued to put his marriage and his late wife on a pedestal, Wyatt revealed that their marriage was on shaky ground.

As Wyatt spent more time with Lucy and Rufus, he began to heal. He also fell in love with Lucy and she with him. But then, his wife was brought back to life and Wyatt was forced to make a choice. If that was not enough, his wife revealed that she worked for the enemy and everything in Wyatt’s world turned upside down once again.

To sum it up: Creating a character is about balance. Wyatt works as a character because he is both a bad ass soldier and a man dealing with complicated emotions. Both intertwine to create a character who is complicated, human and speaks to the audience.

Timeless Character Review: Lucy Preston

The new group of characters I will be reviewing is…the characters from Timeless.

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series Timeless. Read at your own risk if you have not watched the first two seasons.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

In this series of weekly blog posts, I will examine character using the characters from Timeless to explore how writers can create fully dimensional, human characters that audiences and readers can relate to.

There is a myth about smart girls. She has the brains, but not the looks or the social intelligence. In Timeless, Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer) breaks that myth entirely. Lucy is a history professor who is hired by a private organization to join a team that will travel through time and stop a terrorist from changing history.  The other members of the team are Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter), a former member of the military and Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett), a scientist who is also in charge of piloting the time machine.

Though Lucy is the brains of the outfit, she is not the damsel in distress and not seen as less than compared to her male colleagues. Lucy is smart, tough and can roll with the punches. She also has an interesting relationship with Wyatt, which starts off as strictly business, but becomes more complicated as they get to know each other.

To sum it up: When it comes to how women are portrayed on the page and on the screen, they are often put into a box and kept in the box over the course of the narrative. Lucy Preston stepped out of the box in the first episode and never looked back. Though she is smart, she is not just relegated to the smart girl box. She is thoroughly capable of being part of the team and able to stand on her own two feet.

Writers, whether they know it or not, can change the world. The writing team behind Timeless understands this, especially when it comes to how women are portrayed and seen in popular media. In creating Lucy, they are not only changing the fictional world in Timeless, but helping to advance women in the real world to real and lasting equality.

Lucy Preston, A New Heroine For Our Era

The glass ceiling is cracking. Every crack, regardless of its size is important.

Three weeks ago, NBC introduced audiences to a new television show and a new heroine. The new series Timeless, is a science fiction/history mashup about a group of unlikely heroes who must go back in time to prevent history from being altered.

Lucy Preston, played by Abigail Spencer is the female lead. Lucy is the academic and the historian of the group. Her job is to make sure that the history, as we know it today remains as such.

Lucy is a new kind of heroine. She is smart, capable and is not treated differently by her male colleagues because she is a woman. She represents how far women have come, not just in television, but in our overall culture.

While there are still more fully developed male characters than fully developed female characters on both the big and small screen, it’s nice to see that characters like Lucy are being created and presented to audiences. We need more characters like her.

Timeless is my new favorite show of the fall season and I absolutely recommend it.

Timeless airs Monday nights at 10PM on NBC.