10 Reasons I’m Thankful for Hindsight 

Ever wondered what would’ve happened if you’d taken that job, called that guy from the bar or splurged on a trip to Europe rather than stashing that money under your mattress for a rainy day? Yeah, me too. Unfortunately, until time travel is perfected, we’ll never know. But that’s what the magic of TV is for — to let us experience the things we’ll never get to do in real life. Enter Hindsight. I loved this show not only because it presented that second chance fantasy, but also because it was a heck of a lot of fun in the process. Despite the fact that VH1 initially gave it a Season 2 order, shortly after, they dashed our dreams and pulled the plug, giving us only one season of this fantastic show. So without further ado, here are the ten reasons I’m thankful we got at least one solid season of this oh-so-fun ride back to the ’90s.

“If you could go back and change one thing about your life. One decision. One answer. One mistake. What would you do? Knowing everything you know now. Would you make the same choice and somehow get it right this time? Or would you start over?”

10. All Things Considered, It’s Surprisingly Relatable – While the show’s premise may be a bit far-fetched with the whole time-travel thing, everything else is firmly grounded in reality. These characters are facing issues that we can all identify with including lost friendships, bad bosses, unfulfilling jobs, relationships that are all passion, relationships that lack passion, identity crises, over-bearing parents, career challenges and the general feeling that life can be tough. I mean, regardless if it’s 1995 or 2015, who out there can’t relate?!

9. Becca Has Got It Together – This show could’ve easily started with Becca hitting rock bottom and being forced to go back and fix it all/learn how to be a better person a la A Christmas Carol. But instead, when the show starts, Becca is about to get married to a very sweet man, who loves her deeply but doesn’t set her on fire, she’s got a steady albeit unfulfilling job and from the outside, it appears as though she has a pretty good life…but that’s the thing, it’s good but it’s not great. Somewhere, something went off course and led her away from that great life. And that’s what I loved. This is not a story about someone who threw her life away and everyone pities or despises. Instead, it’s a story about someone who has a seemingly solid life, but made a mistake once upon a time. She ended up without something that would make it even better and she feels that loss. Again, totally relatable and something that makes this character not abysmal and despicable, but human.

8. The Chance For More – While VH1 may have pulled the plug, that doesn’t mean all hope is dead. True to the show’s premise of second chances, creator Emily Fox has voiced that she is not giving up on finding the show its second life. Shortly after the cancelation, she admitted to having all of Season 2 mapped out and more than half written, which gave us hope as she attempted to get other networks on board. Her passion for the show and the characters is clear and she even joked that if Season 2 doesn’t get a new home, these characters will live on somewhere in book-land. Count us in.

7. Mysterious Man Who Knows More Than We Know – So, we never really got any answers as to why Xavier continually popped up in Becca’s life, but nearly 20 years later, it was pretty clear he knew more than he was letting on when he conveniently dished out an uber-relevant Buddhist proverb at the hot dog stand.

Xavier: Do not pursue the past. Do not lose yourself in the future. The past no longer is. The future is not yet known. Look deeply at life as it is.

Obviously, without knowing what he knew or how enlightened he actually was, it’s hard to say much, but I loved the idea that Becca had some sort of guide or a person out there who is in the same position as her. Back in 1995, he didn’t seem to recognize her and appeared genuinely shocked by their pseudo-flash in the bar. However, by 2014, it’s hard to deny the subtle hints that he’s gained a little insight in the past. Whether he was the cause of Becca’s time jump or just another innocent “victim,” I was immediately hooked by the intrigue he brought and if Season 2 ever sees the light of day, I’m eager to get some answers.

6. Awesome Flashbacks – Or are they flash sideways? I don’t exactly know how to define these jumps, but they were done so seamlessly and with such spot-on relevance that I found myself wanting more. No matter where we were, I wanted to know how it related to Becca’s first run-through. On top of that, they also gave us insight into what Becca knows, how she feels and what she’s bringing to the table in Round 2. So while they may not have given us all the answers, each flashback was a little nugget of revelation, showing us what’s changed, what hasn’t and how so many seemingly significant changes ultimately led to the same outcome.

5. Nostalgia – This is a given. For anyone who lived through the ’90s, the site of dresses over t-shirts, overalls, clogs, belly t’s, flannel shirts, choker necklaces, kinked hair, video stores, pagers, the AOL man, beanie babies, a Discman and all the other wonderfully quintessential ’90s things that this show brought back will give you that warm fuzzy feeling in a way that only fond memories can. And while the production design team, wardrobe department and hair and make-up team deserve some major kudos, it’s not only the tangible items that hit home. The references to Jordan Catalano, a pre-McDreamy Dempsey, early episodes of Friends, The Goonies, and the OJ Simpson trial made this show like one big Throwback Thursday to a time when “viral” meant something very different.

4. Love Triangle – Or should I say “triangles”? This show has plenty of them. Becca – Kevin – Lolly. Becca – Kevin – Andy. Becca – Andy – Sean. Becca – Andy – Melanie. Becca – Sean – Paige. Through a weird mathematic love-triangle equation, this obviously all boiled down to me being very strongly #teambeccakevin in the end, but I’ll admit, it was one heck of a ride. I was all about Sean for a while, convinced that he’d actually changed after Becca pulled a runaway bride on him. Then, after being wooed by Andy’s initially boring but then endearingly quirky stability, I could see what Becca saw in him. And while I enjoyed watching the guys subtly and sometimes-not-so-subtly fight over Becca, I also liked watching them move on and find other women and even interact with each other. Seeing Lolly crushing on Kevin while also holding a spot in her heart for Jamie definitely brought some intrigue to the mix as well. All in all, it was a unique series of interlocking love triangles that definitely kept the group dynamics fresh and compelling.

3. Apricot Jam – Okay, so I’m not actually thankful for apricot jam, but as you can tell from above, I’m 100% Team Kevin and it’s those darn little stone fruits that opened the door in 1995 V2.0 and gave his and Becca’s relationship a special spot in my heart. These two were beyond adorable. Regardless if it was the first time around with their long walks in the park and her willingness to see Goonies with him 100 times or the second time around when Becca vehemently and awkwardly attempted to avoid falling for him, it was clear that their chemistry was super-magnet level strong.

Kevin: Ever since I first met you, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. I know it sounds crazy but I feel like I’ve known you my whole life.

Becca: Kevin, no. Don’t do this, please, don’t do this.

Kevin: I like you. And the way you look at me makes me think you like me too. {Becca gives a weird look} Maybe not the way you’re looking at me now. Say something.

Becca: You’re right, I think you sound crazy. What, what are you doing?

Kevin: Something I’ve wanted to do since I first met you. {Kisses her}

And that 1995 roof kiss…whew! Even though Becca shouldn’t have fallen for him or done anything with him either time — the first because she was married and the
second because she knew what it would do to her and Lolly — it’s hard to fault her when they were so obviously meant to be. You can’t fight love. Oh and did I mention that Kevin is beyond adorable? Clearly I wish it had happened differently and didn’t result in such an implosion in Becca’s relationship with Lolly and thus her relationship with Kevin, but still, the chemistry the two of them had made me swoon. And crave apricot jam.

2. Music – I know this could technically fit under nostalgia, but as basically the most fabulous mixtape ever, I figure it deserved its own shout out. Ace of Base, The Spin Doctors, Lisa Loeb, Gin Blossom, Liz Phair, Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch, The Violent Femmes, The B-52s, Bush, R.E.M, Sheryl Crow, Blues Travelers, the list goes on and on and on and on (click here to see all the songs from all the episodes) and it was really the music that made this show what it was. Setting the mood, the ambiance and giving us all the chance to jump back to a fantastic ’90s dance party, you couldn’t ask for a better trip down musical memory lane.

1. Becca & Lolly’s Friendship – This friendship may not have ended well, but it was fantastic while it lasted and I can’t help but believe that had the show been given a second season, it would’ve been (or will be) wonderful again. Becca said it best when reminiscing over her loss before the time-jump gave her back the Lolly-love she so craved.

Becca: Lolly was the world’s biggest wackjob. She only ate cereal. She always wanted to cut bangs in the middle of the night. We had a secret language of movie quotes that no one else understood. We could barely take care of ourselves but we always took care of each other. She was the closest thing I had to a sister. I never thought anything could possibly come between us.

Obviously, something did. Kevin. Again, I don’t know that it was Kevin so much as it was lying about Kevin, but regardless, even in Take 2, Becca still lost Lolly. And after seeing how amazingly odd and endearing and lovingly wonderful and supportive Lolly is, I get why Becca would consider that loss the one “wrong” in her life. These two got each other in a way that they shouldn’t have….they were so different on the surface, but isn’t that sometimes the kind of friendship that is the best? The one where you get the person because you get them, not because you are them? I also loved the fact that it took Lolly less than one episode to jump on board with the whole time-traveling thing. Her BFF said it happened and regardless of how cuckoo it sounded, she was on board and ready to support.

Lolly: All I know is that you are not the same Becca you were yesterday. Tell me what happens in the future.

Becca: Oh, okay. Sean and I split up. Yea, we just fell apart.

Lolly: What happened to Jamie?

Becca: He’s not great. He went to rehab. A couple times actually. Ugh, it has been a tough couple years for my family. And there was no one in the world I needed to talk to more than you. But we hadn’t spoken in years. I didn’t know if the number I had for you was right. I didn’t know where you lived and the only email I had for you was AOL.

Lolly: That’s awful. All of it sounds awful. Do people not use AOL anymore?

Becca: It’s become unfashionable.

Lolly: I really love AOL.

Becca: And AOL loves you too.

AOL loved her. And Becca loved her. And we loved her. Like I said, I don’t know where Season 2 would’ve gone (back to the present? To another timeline altogether? Back to 1995 for a Take 3?), but wherever it was, I hope it was a place where these two finally got a chance to set things right.

Hindsight may have only lasted for one season (so far!) but I’m thankful we got it and as soon as it comes out on DVD, I plan to put on my clogs, kink up my hair and be thankful all over again.