Twice saved, 'Timeless' ends its run

"Timeless" may not go down as one of the better series in TV, but it is special. It's been cancelled, twice, and resurrected, twice. And that's largely thanks to fan out cry and the deal with Sony. On Thursday, we got the two-hour finale to wrap things up.

For those not familiar, "Timeless" debuted three years ago, in Fall 2016. It was a time travel adventure series with a hook. A soldier, a historian and an engineer had to go to different time periods to fight a madman bent on changing history. Over time the story evolved, but it was always the core characters and the travels through time that made the show go.

After one season, it was cancelled. But an 11th hour deal made way for a 10-episode season two. And that second season seemed to pick up some of the threads and correct some of the issues from the long-form storytelling of Season 1. And though the creators didn't have any guarantee they'd return, they went out on the mother of all cliffhangers.

Then they were cancelled. For my part I thought Season 2 was an improvement, and I was disappointed not to get any closure. So after the cancellation, and other fans feeling the same, NBC cut a deal with Sony to end the show, giving them two episodes. And those aired Thursday, bearing a Christmas theme as befits the season.

Essentially the finale played out like two more regular episodes, picking up where the rest left off. In fact, they were labeled episodes 2.11 and 2.12 in the show's run. Which makes sense. But they did, indeed, address that cliff hanger. They also wrapped up the storyline, gave time for these characters to resolve their issues and ended in a place that is both satisfying and leaves the door open for a future installment.

In short, that's all you could hope for. You could quibble about the fact things seemed rushed, and the final two time jumps were kind of ridiculous plot devices. But, still, it's hard to complain when you get an ending rather than an eternal what if.

And it's a credit to NBC for making it happen despite the relatively small legion of fans.