Timeless Episode 8 (S2) – The Day Reagan Was Shot
Previously on…
You just know when that starts with events from the previous season you are in for an intense and emotional episode. The moment we are reminded of the flashdrive Denise gave Lucy with her family’s pictures on it, just in case, I started holding my breath. I don’t think I was able to breathe again until the end when I was absolutely sure that they were all okay. The relief came to a jarring halt with that confession at the end.
The Mission
We start this week’s episode with John Hinckley Jr. writing his creepy confession letter to Jodie Foster (#MeTooForJodie). We watch the events of March 30, 1981 play out as history remembers.
When the Mothership jumps, no one questions the assumption that Rittenhouse is going back to change history so President Reagan does not survive the assassination attempt. You can’t really blame the team. It is the most logical assumption – but in between the opening scene and the Time Team assembling, we have a scene with Denise at home with her family. It’s not a special scene. It doesn’t set up some big action scene or reveal a kidnap plot. It’s just a sweet scene depicting a normal family on a normal morning. Parents getting their kids off to school, wives saying goodbye before heading off to work.
What this scene does though is remind the viewers of just how much our characters have to lose if Rittenhouse wins. It makes you wonder if this new mission is really about Reagan at all.
How to Handle ‘My Girlfriend Saw Me Die in a Vision’ 101
Is there an actual class for that? If there is I would like to sign Rufus Carlin up for it, please! Last week we saw Rufus and Jiya finally have an actual serious discussion about her visions. We got apologies and the two of them agreeing to move forward and deal with what’s coming together. Hurray!
This week we see Rufus backpedaling. He’s actively pushing Jiya away thinking that it’ll make it easier for her when he dies. It’s the same thing her dad did when he was dying and thankfully Jiya is having none of this shit. She calls Rufus out on it telling him it doesn’t make it easier it just makes him a douchebag. Rufus handles this very well and sulks off to the kitchen where Lucy and Wyatt call him out on that. I might have felt a little bad about everyone ganging up on Rufus if I wasn’t so damn happy that it was getting results.
That’s right! Rufus caved and told his friends about Jiya’s vision of his death and they assure him they will not let this one come true.
Lyatt sidenote – despite everything that has happened and the wall that is now between them this scene shows that these two are still so in sync with each other. “The Alamo” gives me Lyatt hope.
The Twist
It’s Team Millennial to the rescue as the rule about not being able to travel back in your own timeline means those with “life experience,” as Connor puts it, will have to sit out – grounding him and Flynn. As much as I loved watching Wyatt swallow his pride and ask Flynn if he was coming, I loved watching Jiya volunteer to go even more. Her last ride in the Lifeboat didn’t turn out so well, leaving her with the visions that have caused so much anxiety and fear. No one could hold it against her if Jiya had decided to never travel in it again. The fact that she’s willing to go shows a level of courage that most people don’t possess.
Timeless has done such an amazing job of creating its characters. Unlike some shows it doesn’t just focus on the main players but makes sure that even the supporting ones are three dimensional and interesting.
Denise is not present when these plans are made and that little nagging sensation I’ve been feeling since the previously on is beginning to grow into full on panic. Connor saying he’s called several times with no answer doesn’t help – dead zone logic or not. The panic subsides when Denise arrives at the bunker safe and sound but the relief is short lived when she drops the bombshell that the reason they went back to that day is not Reagan.
Continue reading…
The REAL Mission
The team gets into position looking for the sleeper they believe is there to kill President Reagan when Wyatt notices the red dot on a police officer’s back. Wyatt succeeds in knocking the officer out of the way and discovers the life he just saved is that of a young Agent Denise Christopher.
Rittenhouse’s goal isn’t to undo everything that Reagan has done, but rather everything that Denise has done. As Connor points out to Flynn back at the bunker, Denise is the one who put the team together. She’s the one who recruited Wyatt and took the team underground after learning her superiors were working for Rittenhouse – not to mention the 200 odd Rittenhouse agents she put in jail. Without Agent Christopher the very reality the team currently lives in would cease to exist and Rittenhouse would have control of the Lifeboat. They would have already won.
On the personal side of things, if Rittenhouse removes Agent Christopher from the equation before she becomes Agent Christopher then that sweet family scene from the beginning never happens. Denise and Michelle never meet and fall in love. Their two beautiful children wink out of existence.
It’s very important that the team does not let that happen, okay.
That Complicates Things a Bit
The team follow Denise to the hospital and split up there. Wyatt and Rufus are going after the sleeper, a secret service agent, and Lucy and Jiya are staying with Denise. In the chaos following the shooting Hinckley was able to escape and they need her to find and arrest him before he can go after the President again. I guess they’re there to save the President after all.
Things are made that much more complicated when Denise’s very traditional mother arrives at the hospital demanding that Denise give up her law enforcement job, settle down, and get married – to a man. Said man and his parents arrive at the hospital as well and DENISE AGREES TO MARRY THE GUY!
THIS IS NOT HOW THINGS ARE SUPPOSED TO GO!! LUCY YOU NEED TO FIX THIS!!
Meanwhile…
Wyatt and Rufus find and, after a pretty cool elevator fight scene, disarm the sleeper. Wyatt and Rufus both have guns pointed at the guy who does what anyone with two guns pointed at him would do – he begs for his life. It’s what he offers in exchange for it that is unexpected. He offers them all the information he has on Rittenhouse.
A Rittenhouse agent offering to sell out Rittenhouse? But Rittenhouse agents are so dedicated to their cause that they are willing to die for it. We’ve seen it. So why is this guy so ready to give up everything he knows? Is it possible that not every sleeper is a true believer? Are some of these guys as much victims of Rittenhouse as their targets?
As it turns out, yes that is entirely possible at least in this guy’s case.
When Rittenhouse bails your family out of a tough situation and then promises to take care of them you’re going to do what they ask of you, especially when what they ask sounds like an adventure. I mean really, how many of us would jump at the chance to time travel? I know I would. Conveniently they leave out the part of needing you to kill someone until the day they need you to do it. You could refuse of course but you know all that would accomplish is them killing you and most likely the family you left behind in the future.
I didn’t think it was possible for me to hate Rittenhouse more than I already do. It’s one thing to send your followers to commit murder. It’s something else entirely to blackmail someone into doing it.
Operation Save Denise’s Family
SERIOUSLY LUCY YOU NEED TO FIX THIS!!
In the original timeline Denise obviously doesn’t marry this man but, as Lucy points out, in the original timeless she doesn’t have this brush with death either. They have to find a way to get her to call off the wedding.
Lucy convinces her to help them find Hinckley by playing on her sense of duty. Jiya shares her own family history and says she wishes she had started making her own decisions sooner than she did. Lucy brings up the fact that while they both have demanding mothers they didn’t let them dictate their lives or happiness. Just when you think that maybe they have gotten through to Denise, she shuts them down.
Panic level increases.
They realize Hinckley got himself admitted to the emergency room and alert secret service saving the President (yay!) but Denise is still planning on getting married and giving up her job as expected of her. There’s a glimmer of hope when she tells Lucy and Jiya why she became a cop but that’s dashed immediately.
Panic level is now through the roof.
Continue on the last page…
ALL.THE.FEELS.
Now that the writers have us all FREAKING THE HELL OUT they take us back to the bunker where Denise is somehow remaining calm and doing paperwork. Seriously Denise? You could wink out of existence at any second, your family could disappear. HOW ARE YOU STAYING CALM?
Flynn is not calm.
He questions Denise as to why the hell she’s choosing to sit at the bunker and do paperwork when instead she could be at home with her family. She tells him she trusts the team and that there is nothing she can do. Flynn tells her she’s wrong. He tells the Denise about the last time he saw his daughter alive and how he, like any good parent, put her to bed despite her pleas for just a few more minutes. The next time he saw his daughter she was dead. He would give anything have those few more minutes with her. He didn’t get those final moments but Denise has them and is wasting them.
For the first time this episode I wasn’t afraid about what would happen to Denise and her family. My heart was too busy breaking into a thousand pieces for Flynn.
Not Out of Danger Yet
Wyatt and Rufus have the sleeper prisoner and are debating on what to do with him. Wyatt wants to kill him. Rufus wants to take him back as a PoW. He wants them to leave him in 1981 where he, and his family in 2018 will be safe from Rittenhouse. He swears he won’t go after Denise again. That means that Denise’s life is no longer in danger and we can focus on Lucy and Jiya putting an end to her engagement, right? Yeah, no. The sleeper has one more bargaining chip up his sleeve for his freedom. His brother is still out there and he has Denise’s address.
WYATT THERE IS NO TIME TO BE PISSED! BE PISSED LATER! SAVE DENISE NOW!
All or Nothing
While Rufus and Wyatt rush to stop the brother before he can kill Denise, Lucy and Jiya make one last ditch effort to stop her from getting married.
They grab the flashdrive with Denise’s family pictures on it that she gave Lucy after Lucy’s sister disappeared from history. It’s time to tell young Denise Christopher the truth. It’s a suggestion that Jiya made right from the beginning but Lucy was hesitant of. The possibility that the information would be too much for Denise to handle and could make things worse.
I’ll admit I am a complete and total hypocrite. Back in episode 2.05 “The Kennedy Curse” when Kayla gave young JFK information about his future I was flipping out about how bad of an idea that was. This episode I was completely okay with Lucy and Jiya giving Denise information about her future. Yupp, complete and total hypocrite.
Moment of Truth
Present day Denise takes Flynn’s advice and goes home. As she’s walking down the entrance way hallway I’m praying to the TV gods that her family is still there. 1981 Denise listens to Lucy and Jiya and calls off the engagement just as the sleeper’s brother pulls up outside her house. Now I’m praying to the TV gods that Wyatt and Rufus get there in time to stop him. The TV gods hear me and listen. Hallelujah!
Lucy gives young Denise the flashdrive and promises her that everything will fall into place.
Another prayer to the TV gods that she’s right and Denise will be waiting at the bunker for them and her family will be waiting at home for her. Panic level rises momentarily when we just see Flynn and Connor. The logical thought that they wouldn’t be there at all if the team had failed didn’t register until the second time I watched the episode. I was too focused on WHERE IS DENISE for logic. The sigh of relief at seeing Denise was real. She’s still there, her family is at home and safe. There’s also the added bonus that her mother is a part of their lives in this timeline.
I love a happy ending! Oh wait, THERE’S STILL 6 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE LEFT!
The Countdown Begins
Okay so 2 of our final 6 minutes are Rufus and Jiya. This is good. It’s really good in fact. Rufus promises that he’s done sulking and pushing her away. Whatever time he has left he’s spending with her, even if it means a Lord of the Rings extended edition marathon – wait why does he make that sound like a bad thing? Rufus what do you have against LotR?! Maybe Jiya should let you die in the 1800s! Kidding of course. Jiya’s not letting you die at all. She’s sure there’s a way to save you and she is going find it.
Lucy, using Denise as inspiration, goes to Flynn and asks for answers about the journal he says she gave to him. Flynn explains how a Lucy that is about 5 years older than current Lucy found him in a bar three weeks after his family was killed and gave him the journal. Lucy points out that that is impossible because you can’t travel in your own timeline. Flynn counters with that it’s impossible now but maybe Rufus and Jiya figure out how to do it one day. Time will tell.
2 minutes left. It’s too much for us to ask for this episode to end on a high note isn’t it?
I Love Math
Oh those final 2 minutes. Just as it looks like Wyatt is getting suspicious about Jessica she drops the biggest bombshell of the season. She’s pregnant. I’ll admit that I was not okay the first time I screened this episode. Far from it. I was freaking out so bad I had to message a fellow reviewer and friend almost immediately because I needed someone to freak out with. Now this lovely person was able to do what I, in that moment, was not and that was to think logically. I’m sure most of you are freaking out just like I did so let me share with you what she shared with me.
Math.
When Jessica was brought back in her timeline Wyatt had been gone for 2 months. It’s only been about 3 weeks since Wyatt brought her to the bunker.
The math doesn’t add up. There’s no way that baby is his.
THANK-YOU LIZZE!!!
The 2 hour season finale of Timeless is just 1 week away. Be sure to keep rewatching and tweeting between now and then. We want NBC to take notice and give us a 3rd season. This show is too good to go off the air!
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