PILOT REVIEW: Time After Time

TIME AFTER TIME

Starring: Freddie Stroma, Josh Bowman, Genesis Rodriguez, Nicole Ari Parker, Jennifer Ferrin, Will Chase

Developed by Kevin Williamson
Written by Nicholas Meyer, Karl Alexander, & Steve Hayes, Directed by Marcos Siega

Once again, I am writing a review of a time travel show. It is certainly one of the major oddities of the 2016-17 season that there were so many shows playing with time travel. And I have said in each one that I find the concept of time travel fascinating. But I may have finally hit my limit.

In a rather preposterous premise, Time After Time starts at a dinner party in Victorian England hosted by H.G. Wells (Freddie Stroma). He shows his dinner guests that he has created a time machine and when police come looking for John Stevenson a.k.a. Jack the Ripper (Josh Bowman), Stevenson hops in the time machine and ends up in present-day New York City followed by Wells. In the current day, Wells begins pursuing Jack the Ripper while working together with museum curator Jane Walker (Genesis Rodriguez) as well as his great granddaughter Vanessa Anders (Nicole Ari Parker).

While I'm still interested in some time travel aspects of this show, I thought this show was a little too absurd. There was a whole lot of cheesiness especially Wells inspecting (and at one point crying) while watching 2017 in action. There was also unnecessary and forced beginnings of love stories. And finally, I just don't buy Josh Bowman as Jack the Ripper. He just didn't seem to be diabolical enough or charming enough to be this charismatic serial killer. Throwing in the fact that he seems to have had no problems adjusting to 2017 while focusing (sort of) on Wells having trouble integrating was an odd inconsistency.

Time travel shows work best when there is a purpose to them and this was seemingly thrown together with a time travel element. I mean, why does a pursuit of Jack the Ripper need to be a show set in 2017 New York City. I almost would have preferred one set back in Victorian England even if they did play with the truth. But instead, we got a silly connection to H.G. Wells and the unnecessary setting of present day. Not that it's going to run forever given its DOA ratings, but I also don't see how this show could have possibly become a long running drama with a seemingly narrow narrative.

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
I started the second hour that aired on Sunday night but I'm not even sure I'll finish that.