Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife captured hearts and minds when it was first published, becoming a modern classic that many feel they know intimately, even if they haven’t turned every page. Fueled by a successful 2009 movie adaptation, the story of Henry, a librarian with a genetic disorder causing random time travel, and his soulmate Clare, resonated with a vast audience. Now, The Time Traveler’s Wife television show, a new six-part series developed by Steven Moffat for Sky Atlantic and HBO, revisits this well-known narrative, aiming to bring a fresh perspective while navigating the inherent complexities of the source material.
The premise of The Time Traveler’s Wife is inherently captivating. Henry’s unpredictable jumps through time, leaving him disoriented and unclothed in various eras, are the catalyst for an unconventional love story. His life intersects with Clare at different points in both of their timelines, creating a romance defined by reunions and separations across the years. This non-linear relationship forms the emotional core of the story, and the television adaptation, helmed by Moffat – a self-proclaimed fan who drew inspiration from the book for a Doctor Who episode – attempts to honor this core while addressing some of the source material’s more contentious aspects.
Moffat’s adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife television show makes a noticeable effort to temper the melodrama that characterized the book. He injects wit and a lighter touch into the narrative, preventing it from becoming overly saccharine. While the inherent sentimentality of the story remains, Moffat’s writing aims for a more balanced tone, seeking to engage viewers with both the romance and the inherent strangeness of the time-travel element.
However, the series does employ a framing device that feels somewhat cumbersome. Each episode begins with Clare, played with a delightful spark by Rose Leslie reminiscent of her Game of Thrones role, and Henry, portrayed capably by Theo James, reflecting on their lives in wistful monologues. These moments, while intended to add depth, often feel like unnecessary pauses, filled with somewhat cliché pronouncements about time and destiny. Lines such as, “The future is something that turns up when you’re looking for something else,” exemplify this occasionally heavy-handed approach to the show’s themes.
Once the central narrative of The Time Traveler’s Wife television show takes hold, Moffat demonstrates a skillful hand in managing the story’s fragmented timeline. Henry’s unpredictable appearances and disappearances are woven together to create a dynamic rhythm rather than descending into chaos. The show effectively unpacks Henry’s past trauma, particularly the tragic fate of his mother, and skillfully foreshadows future events from various temporal perspectives. Theo James successfully portrays Henry’s evolution from a self-described “asshole” in his younger years to a more mature and complex figure, even if the visual trope of lingering shots on piles of discarded clothing after his time jumps provides a recurring, and somewhat comical, element.
Despite these strengths, The Time Traveler’s Wife television show grapples with two fundamental issues present in Niffenegger’s original work. The first, and perhaps most immediately apparent to modern audiences, is the discomfort arising from Henry’s repeated encounters with Clare when she is a child. This aspect of the story, already raising eyebrows upon the book’s release in 2003, is even more sensitive in contemporary times. While the show directly acknowledges this potential unease, even having Clare make a self-aware joke about grooming, a sense of queasiness remains an unavoidable undercurrent for many viewers.
The second, more deeply rooted problem lies in the inherent passivity of Clare’s character. Her life, while possessing its own professional dimensions, is fundamentally defined by waiting for Henry. Her happiness is contingent on his random arrivals. Furthermore, her very sense of self and sexuality are depicted as being shaped by Henry from a young age. This dynamic evokes problematic narratives reminiscent of stories like Twilight, where female characters are encouraged to subsume their identities for the sake of romantic love. This aspect of The Time Traveler’s Wife television show feels somewhat regressive, aligning more with societal pressures that seek to diminish female agency rather than narratives that champion female empowerment and self-determination.
In conclusion, The Time Traveler’s Wife television show is a competent and often engaging adaptation of a beloved novel. It benefits from strong performances and Moffat’s attempt to inject wit and manage the complex timeline. However, it cannot entirely escape the problematic elements embedded within its source material, particularly regarding the power dynamics and characterizations within the central romance. While offering a fresh take, the series ultimately leaves viewers with a mixture of admiration for its adaptation efforts and lingering discomfort with the underlying messages of the original story.
