What Happens In Vegas, Stays In Vegas, Or Did It...?
Hey, I’m Sam, I live in England, am a dog person, horsey girl, history nerd & nerd in general & I’m a total Timeless fangirl
Welcome to another one of my Timeless reviews; episode 1x03 takes us to 1962 Las Vegas, which is a place I’ve never had a desire to visit but it made for a fun episode, this story has a slightly different format to the previous two. The time period in this instance acts more like a back-drop & there isn’t a pivotal historical event to surmise before the time travel begins. We do see a couple of scenes involving a man & a woman in a hotel room, the former looks through the window & sees a mushroom cloud in the distance, the man is referred to as the President, we never see his face, which was an interesting creative decision, they embrace in the window & we’re off....
At Time Team HQ, aka Mason Industries, Connor Mason is reviewing CCTV footage of the break-in from when the Mothership got stolen, you may recall Anthony, the former time machine pilot was abducted by Flynn in the first episode. Connor has since formulated a theory that Rufus’ friend was an ‘inside man’ - Rufus is completely indignant at the suggestion, believes him to be a victim & defends Anthony emphatically.
The trio assembled at Mason, the team set about establishing why Flynn would want to visit Nevada in 1962, Lucy maintains that nothing crucial happened on the date in question but does inform the team that a lot of influential Democrats, including JFK who was raising money for his re-election campaign are in attendance on the Strip.
The Lifeboat lands in 1962 & the team too see a mushroom cloud, Wyatt knows all about why (he knows his military history) & tells the others about the missile tests the US Department Of Energy conducted outside of Vegas, which was news to me.
Sands Nightclub it turns out was the place to be, there’s a performance by Frank Sinatra taking place & Lucy informs the boys that there are many high profile people on the scene, including the mob. Rufus, after my own heart suggests placing a bet to be rich in the future, well you’d have to at least consider it wouldn’t you?
Malcolm Barrett as Rufus has a great line that goes “despite the unrelenting fear, this job does have it’s moments†at the sight of the rat-pack performing, the team acquire some time appropriate clothing & set about looking for Flynn. Rufus on the other hand, finds Anthony, he is stunned & fair to say, horrified to learn that he is helping Flynn. The former is clearly not a willing participant though, he is drinking & rambling, he says a seemingly inoccuous phrase ‘Christy Pit’ which has Rufus completely confused.
Flynn is spotted & has eyes on the woman from the beginning of the episode, who is called ‘Judith Campbell’ Wyatt pursues & gives Flynn a major arse kicking, the team manage to get Judith away & up to a hotel room. They claim to be Vegas PD which Judith sees straight through, Lucy tells them team once she’s out of the room that Judith is none other then JFK’s mistress & who was a player on the political scene in the sixties. Lucy gives us a nice little history lesson of what that entailed, the way only the Timeless writers can.
Judith meanwhile has been trying to escape out of the window, Wyatt is very agitated this episode, threatens to tie up Judith, she informs them that Flynn has compromising photos of her & the President.
We rejoin Flynn’s entourage in the desert, he is fuming that our time team is so cable of following them, he threatens Rufus’ life & Anthony is furious. We learn a bit more about Flynn, like perhaps the loss of his family wasn’t as black & white as the audience was first led to believe & that he’s pretty obsessed with this vendetta against Rittenhouse.
Lucy & Judith are in the hotel room, I love how Lucy is when introduced to a famous historical figure, she tells Judith she finds her “fascinating†a conversation ensues about having a normal life & you can see Lucy is comparing her own faux romance to Judith’s words.
Meanwhile, Rufus is telling Wyatt about Anthony, Wyatt does not see grey area, if Anthony is helping Flynn, he’s the enemy too & another target gets added to his crosshairs. Wyatt is kinda wired this episode, decides to use Judith as bait to draw Flynn to them, Lucy doesn’t agree with Wyatt’s plan, they argue.
Flynn comes for Judith but she is smarter then that, she clocks Wyatt & escapes, she runs into her pursuer but rather then running the other way, it’s revealed she has already made a deal with Flynn.
Lucy & Rufus catch up to Wyatt, she scolds him for this plan & that it backfired, Wyatt has switched off, his whole demeanor says “leave me alone†& he walks off.
Judith & Flynn arrive at a military base, her activities have given her some sway, the guard recognises her & lets them through immediately, she claims she’s there to see a General, she isn’t really, she has an ulterior motive.
Wyatt, oh poor, broken Wyatt, he has decided to send a telegram into the future to his deceased wife, my first thought, how much did that cost?! Matt Lanter is a very expressive actor & he relays a heartbreaking message to try & save his deceased wife, we feel his guilt & sorrow. In the background, Lucy looks on. He sees her & quips “worked in Back To The Future 2†thinking he is yet again to get another telling off from Lucy, she instead empathises over the loss of Amy, Wyatt also says he doesn’t believe in fate.
Now this a spoiler for those who haven’t seen season two but Jessica comes backs, dum, dum, dum, so now I’m wondering, if the telegram worked but nasty Rittenhouse snatched her out of time because that didn’t serve their agenda, it requires a bit of timey, wimey thinking.
Rufus finds the other two & is visibly agitated, he’s figured out that “Christy Pit†is slang for the plutonium core in an atomic bomb, yikes!
Rufus gets them a car by posing as a valet, he tells the other two that as a black man in the sixties, he’s invisible, this is also how he stole clothes for the team. Timeless once again not shying away from the less inclusive parts of their own American history.
Flynn is going after what he came for, he uses the keys Judith pilfered & takes the plutonium core, personally, I’d like to think that even in the sixties, a weapon like this was under more protection then a lock & key! but anyhoo...
Wyatt & the others are in hot pursuit of Flynn, plays ‘chicken’ to force them off the road, a shootout occurs, Rufus goes to Anthony to try & save him, he reasons with him that he cannot give Flynn an atomic bomb, his friend hands him a suitcase. Lucy makes a beeline for Judith who is pretty shaken up, Wyatt intends to shoot at Flynn & Anthony but brave Rufus stands in front of the gun, says the man in question needs their help & protests his innocence, that said, it is revealed that Anthony has given Rufus a dummy case.
Present day & Connor Mason’s teacup (naturally, as a Brit) starts vibrating, signalling the return of The Lifeboat. Agent Christopher thinks the same as Wyatt, Anthony is now an additional target & she is not at all happy how things turned out.
In another heart breaking scene, Wyatt is researching online about Jessica, only to find the history he remembers still transpired, poor Wyatt.
The story constructs itself slowly.
The story about the death of Jesse James was for me just a side information in this episode, as it is more interesting to know what will happen with the secrets about Rittenhouse.
I had to give the pilot 10 stars because it really sets the tone for the show. You'll love the characters, the missions, and the reasons why the Time Team came into existence. All around, this show is great for all ages! It's fun, it's light, but it's also educational, which I think is a unique aspect because while the show might come off as just a "time traveling" show, the historical aspect adds depth and meaning to it. The writers and creators have taken it upon themselves to give the viewers a more meaningful reason to go back in time. You can tell that the writers heavily researched the topic of each episode, and that just makes this show even more special because they're literally bringing the past to the present.
If you are a history major, a history teacher, or a history buff (like me!) I highly recommend this show to you.
Congratulations to the entire cast and crew for making a show so entertaining and worthwhile! Here's to another adventure!
This episode was interesting for me, as I had seen the movie "Hidden Figures" just a few months back. The story is not really the same, but the basics are.
It helpt a lot to have seen the movie before this episode.
The time capsule gets damaged.
This episode shows how someone really desperate can fix a damaged time capsule (built in the 21st century) to get home, while being in the past, where a lot of things have not yet been invented.
This episode was not my favourite, although it helps understand a certain thing about the US governments test for the atomic bombs in the desert outside of Las Vegas.
NUCLEAR TESTS IN VEGAS?!
I wanted to wait a week before watching the third episode and... I waited just a couple of hours. I was really looking forward to witness yet another period in time. This time, it’s Las Vegas in the 60’s (1962). Once again, the production of the episode is excellent, I bet that the costume designer is quite busy, to say the least.
But I need to pause here. Since when did the US government did nuclear tests in Las Vegas? This is clearly something that I had never heard before. This show is making me feel very both intelligent and stupid at the same time. I learn very interesting things, while I think I should have known much more.
GO HOME WITH WYATT
In the previous episode, I mentioned that I thought that Wyatt should send a letter to his dead wife from the past, similar to what Sam Beckett does in one episode of Quantum Leap, when he cannot contact Al anymore. He simply sends a letter. And the second he sends the letter, Al appears. That is a small but memorable scene from the series.
Anyway, Wyatt tries the same in this letter, only with a telegram. But unfortunately, it doesn’t work.
I think that this aspect of the show could and should be built upon. Because by doing so, we will get true emotions and less action.
DIRECTING
While the production is top notch, I still think that the directing is too modern, and by modern I mean that the pace is always very fast. I think that the series could be much better if the format was not just 40 minutes but an actual hour. It would provide a way to build things up and each dramatic scene would be exarcerbated instead of simply taking place in a few minutes or so.
THE LATE TEAM
Once again, the team, aka the late team, is just one step behind Flynn, who actually now has an atomic bomb. I still do not get one bit what are the motives from Flynn, but I imagine that this will be explained in later episodes.
SUMMARY
Once again, a good episode. I still think that the series is too serialized and should have a slower pace, but anyway, I enjoyed it for what it is and will gladly watch the next episode. I give it 5 out of 10. Good.
Hey, I’m Sam, I live in England, am a dog person, horsey girl, history nerd & nerd in general & I’m a total Timeless fangirl
Welcome to more of my fangirling about Timeless, I promise to be more objective going forward but I have to be honest, as much as I felt the pilot was really strong, this is the episode that made me in to a proud clockblocker.
We open the episode in a bar, April the 14th 1865, the day Abraham Lincoln was killed, John Wilkes Booth is there & again the show portrays what really happened before the time travel hi-jinks ensues. A patron & the barman are discussing Lincoln & you learn some trivia about the man in an entertaining way, nice touch that writers! Also that his bodyguard was not with him, I didn’t know that either.
I mentioned previously that I’m a huge West Wing fan & this event in history got talked about so I knew the salient details, but Timeless taught me a lot this episode.
Back in the present; the story picks up right where the pilot ended, Lucy is frantic that her Sister, Amy never existed in this timeline & as we saw last time, she’s been called back to Mason on another mission.
Lucy asks Rufus & Wyatt if anything has changed for them since their last jump, Rufus quips about his date with Jiya being a misfire, so no, poor Rufus, Wyatt says the same.
Agent Christopher tells Lucy that her records state no Sister, huh? She shows them all the locket that she wears with a photo of her inside, Connor Mason is immediately fascinated by the quantum mechanics of taking something from one timeline & bringing it to another. You get to see he really is a scientist at heart & how this whole idea germinated.
Agent Christopher seems cold & uninterested (bit mean actually) Flynn has jumped, the team is playing catch-up & she wants them gone yesterday. Wyatt steps in, defends Lucy, he understands loss & makes me swoon just a little bit.
Lucy however understands the huge significance of this particular jump, rallies & goes to get ready, her & Jiya have a nice moment wherein the the latter offers to help find out what happened to Lucy’s Sister, aw! I love Jiya. Lucy seems surprised which again brings me back to my deduction from the pilot that she doesn’t have many friends.
Connor & Rufus are in cahoots again, much to Rufus’ chagrin, Connor doesn’t care, he emotionally blackmails Rufus to carry out his double agent duties, told you there was more to those two. Connor says the name Rittenhouse should not be used out loud, much like Voldemort, oops!
In the Lifeboat the team mentally prepares for the mission, Lucy is visibly reeling, Wyatt helps her with her restraints & empathises with her about Amy, that spark from the previous episode is starting to burn a little brighter.
In the pilot, we saw that when the time machine leaves, it causes things to blow everwhere. One of my all time favourite Timeless lines ever! Is Connor this episode remarking that perhaps they should get some paperweights, which is such dry, British humour & Paterson delivers it so well.
We arrive in Washington, 1865, fireworks are illuminating the sky above & eventhough Lucy is concerned about Amy, she still looks in awe to witness history firsthand, informing her boys that the celebrations are because the Civil War just ended.
This is the episode Flynn comes out of the shadows a bit more, literally & figuratively, he finds Booth, grabs him & offers assistance with his plan.
Elsewhere, our Time Team are in town, looking for Flynn (they do a lot of that)
Rufus notices that some soldiers who are men of colour seem happy, Lucy explains that Lincoln has promised to abolish slavery, that they think they’re about to start a whole new life.
Wyatt, ever focused on the mission questions Lucy about her thoughts on Flynn’s plan, says she doesn’t know but says she knows how it all goes down & gives us some insight into the motive behind the assassination, more things I didn’t know! She also throws in a humble brag about having written a book on Lincoln herself!
Rufus gets approached by some soldiers from the coloured regiment, the humorous aliases come up again when he refers to himself as “Denzel Washingtonâ€. This bit of comedy is nice as what follows is definitely not funny, the soldier asks Rufus to write down a notice for the newspaper so he can relocate his family who were sold as slaves. As a white woman, I can only imagine what those times must’ve been liked, it’s heartbreaking.
Lucy & Wyatt are searching the theatre when Lucy runs into Robert Lincoln, the Presidents’ Son, her heart overrules her head when she tries to convince him that he should relay that the play isn’t very good & skip it. Lucy is curious about Robert Lincoln & how he feels about his Father, as Rufus will state later on in the series “the job does have it’s perks.â€
Whilst with Robert, Booth walks in & we learn a little bit more about the events to come, we learn that Booth’s Brother is seen as a hero, personally, I think sour grapes is a ridiculously flimsy motive.
Lucy rendezvous with her team & a discussion is had about the mission, Wyatt & Rufus both want to save Lincoln, Lucy is reticent, eventhough, unbeknownst to the other two, she attempted the same thing right before.
They find Flynn who has found the “let’s kill Lincoln†squad but he sees the team & shots break out, Wyatt gets hit which raises the stakes & shows that our heroes aren’t infallible.
Rufus is tasked with removing the bullet, Lucy is scatty & blabbering about history in the background, even in a tense scene, you’re still learning. Lucy leaves to formulate a plan & as Rufus begins his unenviable task, Wyatt even messes with him, he is REALLY tough & has clearly been shot before.
Lucy goes down to the train station & once again runs into Robert Lincoln, he asks her to the play that night & asks if she believes in fate? as Timeless has gone on, I’m starting to see that question as a metaphor for the whole premise.
Flynn always seems to be about & this is no exception, he confronts Lucy, defends his actions & informs her that one day, they will work together, Lucy lashes out, blames Garcia Flynn for the loss of Amy, he equates her Sister to collateral damage.
Lucy returns to the others, Rufus has completed the “worst game of Operation ever†& Wyatt is ok, she says she saw Flynn but not that they spoke, in short, she lies. Rufus again pleads with Lucy to try & save the President, Lucy exclaims that she’s idolised him her whole life & that this isn’t easy.
Wyatt also tries to convince her, he challenges her ethics by equating that the loss of her Sister is like what she’s about to let happen to Lincoln for Robert, low blow Wyatt but you were shot so I’ll give you a pass.
Back with the assassination crew, Flynn has decided both the President & the Vice President should be taken out & tries to convince Booth to use a modern gun, he declines, he’s been planning this for years, a theatrical sort, he likes his knife.
Back at The National, Lucy has changed into the dress she acquired, no words are spoken but you can see that Wyatt thinks she looks pretty, aw!
In Ford’s Theatre Lucy is sat with Robert Lincoln & is understandably on edge, the play gets interrupted for “Hail To The Chief†to play when Abraham Lincoln enters, the man clearly knows how to make an entrance.
Back with Rufus & Wyatt, the former is second guessing himself when Wyatt does my favourite thing about this character, he gives him a pep talk, you can really see in these moments that though the show says Lucy’s the leader, I think it’s Wyatt. He always knows what to say, to not only comfort his team mates but give them the coaxing they need to get things done. You will notice as these goes on, I HEART you Wyatt!
Meanwhile Flynn, having grown exasperated with John Wilkes Booth decides to take matters into his own hands, finds him & once again tries to convince him. But he wont play ball, sees this as his destiny, Flynn knocks him out & makes a meta quip about “actors!†which gave me a giggle.
Rufus is looking for the Vice President when he runs into Nicholas who outed him as pretending to be a soldier earlier on, Rufus helps save Seward & Johnson, the day & earns his respect, Wyatt was right, he didn’t freeze.
Flynn arrives at President Lincoln’s box & Lucy calls out, trying to save him, she’s unsuccessful & now Garcia Flynn is the person who history thinks assassinated Abraham Lincoln, Lucy is questioned by the authorities & once again, is now a part of this historical event too.
The Time Team return to the Lifeboat, Lucy gives a lovely speech about how it’s easy to be objective about historical characters but when you meet them & you have the power to change things, your ethics & reality shifts. Poor Lucy has Lincoln’s blood on her, putting her right there at the assassination was a good move by the writers, you really feel the complexity of her emotions in that moment. Lucy apologises to Rufus, after all this affects his lineage most of all, she’s crying & Wyatt being an absolute sweetheart takes her hand & offers comfort.
Back to the present & history has changed, Lucy is appalled, presumably her book is now worthless eh? *wink* Agent Christopher is like meh! It pretty much went the same, I’m cool with it, wow! obviously not a history nerd that one. What happened to the case she made to Lucy about “trying to save history?â€
Jiya, good to her word has been digging whilst the team were gone & has uncovered who Lucy thinks is her Father, in fact isn’t, so who is, hmmm?
Wyatt seeks medical attention & I gotta say, I think it’s pretty uncool for no one to hang around & offer him a ride home, especially since we find out, he doesn’t have anyone, aw!
Lucy goes to her Mums’ house to find a party going on, a man we’ve never met, never even seen before kisses her & the episode ends there, I think this a vey solid episode & considering this is an American show, I’m surprised they didn’t use this historical event for the pilot, it occurs to me that this would have had universal appeal.
Timeless airs on NBC on Sunday nights at10pm & you can catch up with season one on Hulu.
If you’re in the UK, like me, it’s on Netflix & airs Wednesday nights, 9pm on E4.
GREAT STORY
I found this episode much better than the previous one, simply because the story was more interesting. Once again, I got to learn many great things about this particular event in History - the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
PRODUCTION
I was quite surprised with the very high production quality of this episode. I found that the explosion of the Hindenburg could have been perfected. In this episode, I found everything perfect. The streets in Washington DC, the costumes, the old theater, everything.
FUTURE
I really wonder how the series is going to be able to continue telling famous stories while having the main team never being able to actually "set right what once went wrong", as would Sam Beckett say in Quantum Leap.
FUN
Overall, it's a very fun show and I tend to overanalyze things. I think that this series is a treat that needs to be enjoyed as is, nothing more, but nothing less as well. For instance, the ending with the female character discovering that she is engaged was quite fun.
AN OUTSTANDING CONCEPT
The opening scene of the episode summarizes perfectly what is great about this series. In not even a second, we are brought back to May 6, 1937, just minutes before the Hindenburg Zeppelin bursts into flames. For those who do not know about it, here is the actual event:
The concept of the series is truly great. Of course, it is not new by nature, as we have seen countless tv series and movies about time travel. For instance, Quantum Leap was doing it decades ago. But Quantum Leap was almost never focusing on real life events, which had many downsides. The stakes were not always very high, focusing mostly on personal stories. Quantum Leap was a show about emotions and humanity. But sometimes, the show focused on real events and we would be sitting on the edge of our seats, such as the two-part episode where Sam Beckett tries to stop the assassination of US President John Fitzgeral Kennedy in November 1963.
Therefore, the positive difference between most stories about time travels and Timeless is that the series serializes the time travels with real events from History. And that's without any doubt the best aspect of the series. Every week, as an audience, we get to witness History. That is why I will definitely watch the next episode, even though I did not entirely love the pilot episode.
AN AVERAGE EXECUTION
While the opening scene was really well done, it was also kind of messy. And while it was clearly ambitious to produce an episode about the Hindenburg, there were a couple of shots that felt really series-like, especially during the explosion. And that seems logical that producing an episode a week on a real life event from History would be really difficult to shoot. But don't get me wrong, the show is totally believable. I think it is on the verge of being very good.
Meanwhile, I really did not appreciate the format of the NCIS-like scientific lab, with beautiful young people, wearing too much makeup and being not interesting at all. That is why I used to love Quantum Leap, which focused more on the psychological aspect of time travel and the emotions of the journey than on the technical mumbo jumbo.
Because there are of course many paradoxes in this series. As one character obviously states, why not simply going back in time a couple of minutes before Flynn steals the time machine? But it is way too early to judge how the writers will be able to work throughout those paradoxes.
As for the characters, I really enjoyed seeing Goran Visnjic portraying an evil character. I was so used to seeing him as the big heart loving doctor in ER that I felt it was a terrific idea to have him portraying an opposite character in Timeless. Unfortunately, I do not feel the same way about the other characters. Like in most average series, I thought that there wasn't anything special about them. I didn't feel instantly in love with the characters, the same way I loved Fox Mulder and Dana Scully right from the start of The X-Files, as an example.
SUMMARY
To summarize, I think that Timeless should definitely not be ashamed of its pilot, which is interesting. I give it 4 out of 10, mostly because I didn't really care about the characters and didn't enjoy the lab. But since I am very interested in History and that I love time travel stories, I will definitely watch the next episode.
Hey, I’m Sam, I live in England, am a dog person, horsey girl, history nerd & nerd in general & I’m a total Timeless fangirl ðŸ˜
Thanks so much to TVore for giving me this opportunity.
Welcome to my review of the very first episode of NBC’s Timeless, I have a rule when it comes to a new TV show, I give it two episodes & if you haven’t hooked me, you’ve lost me, Timeless didn’t have that problem, I liked this show from the get go.
I actually began watching Timeless after a recommendation from a friend, she knows I have a fondness for history & told me she thought I’d love it, she was right. The miraculous resurrection had already happened by this point which had me intrigued as well, this must be something special, I binge watched season one on Netflix (available in the UK)
I consider this a really strong pilot, the opening scenes of the Hindenburg really give you an idea of the high production values this series is going to offer, I like that you see how history did play out before you see how it happens due to the interference of Flynn & our Time Team as well.
Enter Lucy Preston, the protagonist, played by Abigail Spencer, a college Professor giving a lecture on modern, American history, it’s clear from just a handful of scenes, Lucy is good at her job, she’s engaging to her students & it seems like they like her. We find out that she works in the department that her Mother helped build & that Lucy is aiming for tenure. The meeting gets cancelled & with the benefit of hindsight, I am now left wondering if Rittenhouse had something to do with it?
We see Lucy visit her Mum who is sick with cancer & her Sister Amy, it’s clear they all have a strong bond.
Elsewhere, at what will become the focal point for our intrepid time travellers – Mason Industries, we meet Rufus Carlin, played by Malcolm Barrett & Jiya (Claudia Doumit) with a brief appearance from a character called Anthony, who appears to be Rufus’ boss.
It seems like business as usual, Connor Mason has quite a relaxed atmosphere for his employees, it’s clear from the start, Rufus has a bit of a soft spot for Jiya. Anthony even jokes that if Rufus is going out to get lunch, she should go too, rather then stare at her all day. I don’t think this was ever addressed but again, knowing what I know now, was Anthony trying to get them out of harms way?
Enter Garcia Flynn, played by Goran Visnjic, our ‘villain’ – Flynn appears to be ruthless, him & his team are shooting people indiscriminately to achieve their goal. To steal the object we now know, is a time machine, he also abducts Rufus’ boss.
The next time we see Lucy is when Homeland Security knock on her Mums’ door asking for her to accompany them, Lucy is reticent, her Sister Amy is clearly a little sceptical too, never the less she goes with them to Mason Industries.
Enter Wyatt Logan, played by Matt Lanter, this is where #Lyatt begins *sigh* - Lucy is escorted to some kind of waiting area where Wyatt is; I don’t know what he’s doing actually but he appears asleep. Lucy questions him on this & he replies “no Ma’am†– Lucy is clearly quite an inquisitive person & even though Wyatt is displaying complete disinterest in what’s going on, she continues to question him, asking him if he knows why they’ve been called here? Lucy gets aggravated at Wyatt’s nonchalance & snarks at him about the “Ma’am thing†he smirks back at her & the spark is lit.
Enter Agent Christopher of Homeland Security, played by Sakina Jaffrey, she explains that Lucy’s reputation in history & anthropology precedes her & pays her a compliment, to which Lucy shirks off, saying her Mother is the gifted one, clearly something going on there.
Wyatt, we find out is former Delta Force, I can’t claim to be au fait with the US military but by the way Agent Christopher speaks to him with such deference, Wyatt’s team were clearly elite & specialists at what they did, you sent them in & the job got done.
What I really like about this first episode is there is a lot of exposition to deliver, brand new characters & a situation but the pacing is done incredibly well. You don’t feel bombarded. & you’ve almost forgotten about the historical event we saw at the beginning but don’t, we’re going back to it.
Enter, Connor Mason, played by Paterson Joseph, the owner & creator of Mason Industries, I’m a Brit so it always delights me a little to see a British actor on American shows, one our actors are very good & two, as an International viewer it gives me a touchstone. I knew of Paterson from other roles here so was looking forward to seeing more from him.
Agent Christopher explains to Lucy & Wyatt that Flynn broke in & stole something, that he is a former NSA asset & shows them CCTV footage of a man getting into a capsule of some kind & vanishing before their eyes, neat huh?
Connor explains that he has invented a machine that allows you to travel back in time & the science behind it, Mr Mason is clearly very intelligent but comes across pretty arrogant as well.
I’m intrigued as to why the writers decided to have Connor as British, it appears to me that he could have easily been American, more Bill Gates then Richard Branson but never the less, he is.
Lucy & Wyatt are to be tasked with going back in time, stopping Flynn from creating untold ripples & changing the present as we know it, dum, dum, dum... Lucy, naturally is like “yeah right?†– Wyatt is a soldier, his orders are issued, he carries them out, Lucy has no such discipline instilled & storms out. Agent Christopher pursues her & really, emotionally blackmails her into joining the team.
Meanwhile Connor has press ganged Rufus into accompanying them to act as their pilot, Connor seems to have a lot of influence over Rufus, more then just in a boss kind of way, you can see, there’s more to know there.
The Time Team assembled, they make their way to the back-up time travel vessel of Mason Industries, dubbed ‘’The Lifeboat’’
Rufus introduces himself & is visibly terrified, Lucy having previously been obsessing about the historical inaccuracies of her attire, including her modern bra (you may want to remember that) is also very on edge, well you would be wouldn’t you? Informing them that she’s claustrophobic, same Lucy, same.
Wyatt is seemingly cool-as-a-cumber, he appears to think of this as “just another mission†Lucy notices he has alcohol on his breath & calls him on it, Wyatt snarks ‘’I didn’t know I was going to be working tonight Ma’am’’ which annoys Lucy. Was Wyatt trying to distract her from her fear? I think he was.
The Lifeboat after a very juddery start disappears from Mason & reappears May the 6th, 1937 New Jersey, the Time Team depart & it clearly wasn’t a fun ride, Wyatt nearly falls out of the door tee hee, I contribute that to the alcohol.
Lucy looks up, boom, there’s the Hindenburg & they make their way into the city.
A bit more exposition is done as a ‘’walk & talk’’ (West Wing fan right here!) which is a nice touch, where in Rufus explains to the other two the rules, i.e. you cannot travel to a point in time you already exist, much like the warning Dumbledore gives Hermione about the Time Turner, right?
Once in town, Lucy is in awe of rather then reading about history, getting to experience it firsthand (Lucy is my spirit animal)
Lucy & Rufus also fill Wyatt in on what really happened to the Hindenburg, which was cool because I didn’t know, thanks writers!
Moving on, our trio enter a bar to gain intel on Flynn’s whereabouts. The racial tension of the time is addressed as poor Rufus, being a man of colour, is being glared at & has to go outside, a very different time.
Lucy almost immediately identifies Kate Drummond, a reporter who’s job it was to cover the airships voyage, who you may remember from the opening scenes, we saw her meet a tragic end right at the beginning of the episode.
Wyatt starts flirting with Kate & it’s unclear at this point if this is who he is, or he has another agenda. Once outside, Lucy explains to Wyatt & Rufus that sadly, Kate will die. Wyatt is horrified, his job is to prevent death & he’s being told that this woman has to perish as history demands it.
They arrive at the air field & Lucy vamps, using pop culture names & aliases to gain assistance from the security, she’s smart, she improvises quickly & Wyatt is visibly impressed, who run the world? ðŸ˜
Our team hide in the hangar, kind of staking out the airfield, one of Flynn’s men finds them & Wyatt shoots & kills him, Lucy is angry, worried about the ramifications to the present, Wyatt is less bothered, we learn that he is all-about-the-mission.
Flynn, evil mastermind that he is, turns the tables on our Time Team & gets them arrested, Lucy & Wyatt together & Rufus in a cell on his own. Another good bit of drip feeding us information, whist confined, Lucy challenges Wyatt, makes him tell her why he reacted the way he did about Kate & tried to save her. We find out, Wyatt is a widower, his wife was murdered & that Kate reminds him of her, aw! Already we begin to see, these characters are not one dimensional, even the ‘muscle’
Straight away, Wyatt reminded me of Colonel Jack O’Neill from the Stargate movie, Jack takes the mission because there’s a chance, it’s a one-way trip & after losing his Son, feels he has nothing to live for anyway, I totally got these same vibes about Wyatt.
The team are frustrated, they can’t get out, until Wyatt has an idea, he gets Rufus to cause a distraction, while after staring at her suggestively, Wyatt sidles over to Lucy & informs her, he has a plan. Remember that modern bra? this is chess not checkers people, Lucy removes the underwire, Wyatt seems attracted to Lucy but tries to hide it (very unsuccessfully) tee hee – he picks the lock, gets them out & saves the day.
Meanwhile Rufus’ distraction turned out to be riling up the guard for his racist behaviour. He delivers an epic rant about the men of colour who will follow him & do great things (& some that won’t) no danger of influencing history there Rufus dude.
Our team find their way back to the Hindenburg, sneak on-board & discover Flynn has planted a bomb, nice guy this. Flynn has already changed history, he saved the airship from the catastrophe that befell it in real life but now it seems, he does in fact want it to come down.
Wyatt does not claim to be an expert on bomb disposal but he has seen some diffused & steps up, meanwhile, Lucy & Rufus are tasked with convincing the pilot to land so everyone can get off safely. Again we see, Lucy is a smart woman, she pretends her & Rufus are hi-jackers, holds the crew at knifepoint & instructs them to land.
Wyatt is trying to diffuse the bomb, with the assistance of Kate, we get to see him a little warmer, that he does have a sense of humour, Lucy’s doing? he gets attacked, a fight ensues & a shot is fired, igniting the Hindenburg the same way it did in history.
Lucy & Rufus manage to get everyone off safely but Flynn having smelled a rat, returns to the airfield & is waiting for Lucy, he tells her that he knows who she is & alludes to a destiny Lucy knows nothing about, something called “Rittenhouse†& shows her a diary that Lucy admits to being in her hand. Wyatt appears, Flynn grabs her & holds a gun to her head, Wyatt takes a calculated shot at Flynn. We see that he’s a very good marksmen, missing Lucy & only hitting Flynn, though it has to be said, it is kinda close... Flynn aims for Wyatt but shoots Kate, in a harrowing scene for Wyatt, he has to watch someone who resembles his wife die. This is the first time I’ve ever seen Matt Lanter in anything & I was impressed, he’s a great actor.
The team return to the present, history has changed, oops! Rufus, Lucy & Wyatt are now apart of it too, said to be anarchists who caused the accident. Lucy thinks she has figured out Flynn’s agenda, she informs the others that she thinks he wants to change American history from the Founding Fathers upwards. It is unclear at this point as to why? Lucy asks Agent Christopher what “Rittenhouse†is, she appears as baffled as Lucy was (I believe her)
We find out later, Connor knows full well who Rittenhouse is but doesn’t say a thing, shady character that one. Only made more intriguing when we see Connor had asked Rufus to record the audio of the mission, unbeknownst to the other two.
Lucy catches up to Wyatt as he’s leaving & says that she knows he wants to go back in time & save his wife, she could be more tactful though, basically says, this is how it’s meant to be & that’s it. I get the impression that Lucy doesn’t have a lot of friends, is a bit of a loner & has trouble relating to people when it doesn’t involve academics.
Jiya is pleased to see Rufus home, she’s curious about how his trip was & in some new found confidence, Rufus asks her out, aw!
Wyatt is seen in a bar, obviously very much still mourning his wife, he has a photo of him & Jessica in his hands, a broken man.
Lucy returns home to find her Mum is no longer dying, is very well & she is overcome with emotion. Whilst this is a wonderful surprise, Lucy’s Sister Amy, who we met at the start, has sadly apparently blinked out of existence & Carol infers that Lucy is engaged, what?!
The last scene is Agent Christopher calling Lucy to instruct her to come back in & the closing lines are Lucy replying ‘’where & when?’’ which was a great way to finish & definitely left me wanting more.
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I really liked this show right from this episode, the pilot was well executed, the cast is wonderful, diverse, multi- national & they have great chemistry. The story was compelling & it played like a movie, the script was well written, it had action, drama, it sowed seeds for future mythology & really made you appreciate that history is really about people making choices.
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Timeless airs on NBC on Sunday nights at10pm & you can catch up with season one on Hulu.
If you’re in the UK, like me, it’s on Netflix & airs Wednesday nights, 9pm on E4.
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