The Time Traveler’s Wife - Season 1

During six episodes we see part of the love story between Henry & Clare. Henry is a time traveler and appears to have largely devoted his life to his beloved wife Clare, aka The Time Traveler's Wife.

I was really excited about The Time Traveler's Wife after watching the first episode on HBO Max. I thought it was a wonderful start and was looking forward to the rest of the season, which would only consist of six episodes in total. I have now watched the entire season and understand a little more about the life of this time traveler and his wife. But after seeing everything, am I still positive or has my enthusiasm tempered a bit?

It is one of those series that has not made a great impression on me, but nevertheless gets a very high final mark from me.

Although the title makes this clear, The Time Traveler's Wife is really about the wife of time traveler Henry DeTamble (Theo James, Sanditon). This is a detail that is easily forgotten. In the beginning, both characters get equal attention. In the end, however, the focus turns a little more to Clare Abshire (Rose Leslie, The Good Fight), her life and her relationship with Henry. This is a nice take on the story, but it leaves a lot of details missing.

Clare and Henry meet in Clare's childhood. The love story that follows travels through time with Henry. Everything is tied together by interviews that the couple themselves hold in front of a camera in their home, a bit comparable to Modern Family. They tell about situations from the past, after which we as viewers see how everything happened through retrospectives. The series is a mix of drama, romance and a dash of comedy. This variety of genres creates a nice whole that gives quite a 'feel good' feeling, despite the sometimes intense themes.



From the age of sixteen, we see Rose Leslie in the role of Clare. The younger versions of this character are played by two child actors, Everleigh McDonell (Good Girls) and Caitlin Shorey. Henry is played by Theo James from his twenties, his teenage and child versions are portrayed by Jason David (General Hospital) and Brian Altemus (Grand Army). The children are well cast, but the make-up to make Henry and Clare look older is less well done. The series also sometimes suffers from the many time jumps that are made. This is of course part of the story, but it is a bit complicated to understand in the beginning.

The more I think about the series, the more I realize that The Time Traveler's Wife doesn't really discuss very strong topics. Still, this is not a bad thing, because I was never bored for a moment. It is one of those series that has not made a great impression on me, but nevertheless gets a very high final mark from me. The reason for this is that every episode I really laughed out loud and swooned over the love story. The actors did a great job and, because of the way the dramatic events were handled, the atmosphere also remained nice.

Something I did miss was finishing smaller storylines. At one point we meet Henry's 'other' girlfriend. After an emotional confrontation, however, she is just as quickly out of the picture. The explanation for this is that this is not Henry's own story, but Clare's. I just can't imagine they didn't talk about this later. Here are more examples of this, small gaps in the story that make the series feel unfinished.

For anyone looking for a romantic story with room for witty, sarcastic humor, The Time Traveler's Wife is an absolute must.

The Time Traveler's Wife season one ends with Clare and Henry getting married. Still, this ending cries out for a sequel. There is still so much to tell. I did hope that makers had deviated slightly from the book when making a second season. The spoilers I've read about it are quite dramatic and I wished Henry and Clare a much nicer ending. Unfortunately, it was announced in early July that a second season will not be made.

It will be clear by now that I am saddened by the fact that there will not be a second season of The Time Traveler's Wife. I would have liked to see a lot more of this love story and I think there is quite a market for this as well. There were areas for improvement but nothing that could not be worked on. Despite the many questions I still have, I am glad that the series has ended on a fairly positive note. For anyone looking for a romantic story with room for witty, sarcastic humor, The Time Traveler's Wife is an absolute must. Because even with only one season, the episodes that have been made are worth watching.