As much trauma’s has been suffered by the heroes of “Timeless,” still, most of us would trade places with them in an instant.

Similar to how nobody’s ever turned down an invite from the Doctor on “Doctor Who,” the possibility of seeing for ourselves what the past is truly like has run through speculative fiction since its inception. “Frankenstein,” the precursor of the genre — written by a woman in her teens, never forget — questions the cost/benefit analysis of playing God from go.

Because that’s the track all these properties wind down — it’s where we’d all wind up too, isn’t it? On “Doctor Who,” Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) tricked her companion into visiting the scene of her father’s arguably untimely death, and here Wyatt (Matt Lanter) finally gives in to what he’s wanted ever since first laying eyes on the Lifeboat: The chance to save wife Jessica from being murdered.

Both instances are more personal versions of the perennial “Baby Hitler” question so many in search of a personality are known to ask: Where is the line, and how to measure it. What’s selfish and what’s righteous; what is justice of a kind and what’s vengeance of a sort.

Click to read more of my thoughts on Timeless: Karma Chameleon.

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