S01.E01: Pilot

[topanga]

5 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

What is the cover of Led Zeppelin's first album?  Are they still Led Zeppelin?

Ha. That made me laugh. 

I enjoyed the show. The time travel rules are a little loose, but I like the mysteries that have been generated by the presence of lady historian's future notebook and Rufus's boss insisting that Rufus knows why he has to be on the time travel crew. And why is he recording them? 

 

20 hours ago, lordonia said:

Those workers in the BunkerLab need to get some damned paperweights.

I know, right? I hope this isn't a running gag. I'm sick of it already. 

[Enigma X]

Ok. I just finished watching, and I am interested but not sure if it is a keeper.

[blackwing]

I'm assuming that at some point, whatever tweak they did to the past will result in Wyatt's wife being alive in the altered present.  And then he's not going to want to jump again for fear that when he comes back, she will be gone.  And he will be right, she will be gone.

Similarly, I'm curious if Lucy's mom and sister are going to keep disappearing and reappearing.

[ACW]

I liked it, with one exception.

Unrealistic or not, I enjoyed the snappy pace, I'm satisfied so far with the timey-wimey stuff and plot twists, and I liked how the characters were all competent in their fields and quick on the uptake.

Except for the bit with the bomb.  Oh no, the Hindenburg has taken off and is flying over an unoccupied field, and you've found a bomb in the kitchen, set to go off within minutes!  If only the kitchen had windows, similar to the ones we later see the characters easily breaking, both with heavy objects and with their feet!  Oh, wait.  That kept me griping to my wife for the rest of the episode.

[ketose]

This is where I reference Star Trek Voyager's "Year of Hell" 2-parter. The point is that the captain of a time ship got everything right, except one small event made his wife disappear. So, he spent uncountable years trying to change little things and none of them brought his wife back. I gather some of this will be in Timeless as well.

Sometimes I wonder if the show creators really think about what plotlines need to be written for the 100 episodes a good series might have. When do we find out what that journal is? Why does Rufus need to be on board? Why can't they make another time pod? How are they going to keep track of all the changes to the time line if they change history every week?

[snarktini]

3 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

She doesn't have to have an affair, there just needs to be someone/something that stops her from having sex the time the sister was conceived.  There was a show a few years ago where a reporter in San Francisco was able to time travel. I forget why/how, but in one episode he came back to the present to find that his son was now a daughter. At some point in his travels he managed to get his past self called into work the night the son was conceived. He somehow switched it back to normal though, it was that kind of show.

Journeyman! I was so sad when that was cancelled. 

Shows struggle with this sort of thing. They'll make some really big adjustments but then leave an improbable amount of other details in place. Fringe had that problem. 

Sure, it's not "good" TV but I found it fluffily enjoyable and will give it a chance. Wondering how they'll handle race over time. The beginning seemed way too light -- what, no one has anything to say about the back of the bus thing?! At least he got his moment with the jailer. I loved loved loved Lem so that's a reason to stick around for a little while.

[Emily Thrace]

I figured out Flynn was trying to save the Hindenburg during the first episode break after they mentioned it. Dude is from Eastern Europe it makes sense he has anti-American sentiment and Germany actually used Zepplins in WW1. Its not a huge leap to think if the Hindenburg hadn't happened the technology might have developed further and helped them gain an advantage.  That was before I heard the passenger list. Although the UN was somewhat inevitable after WW2 and Da Vinci actually built a model helicopter as one of his flying machines. D-day would have happened after Stalingrad the Germans didn't have the oil to supply the troops. I suppose it might not have gone as well.

Stalingrad would actually be a good spot for Flynn to hit. The Battle Stalingrad was one of the defining moments of WW2 and it could probably be changed easily. (Giving away Russian position and strategies at key points could have easily changed the outcome) If the Nazis had gotten to the Russian oil fields then it would have been a very different ball game.  Although its also weird someone who is old enough to have grown up behind the Iron Curtain (As Goran did) wouldn't have thought that themselves.  Perhaps Salazar really is more than he seems or he just doesn't like the Nazi's either. That's kinda of the fun of this show speculating what could happen. Of course it could also be it undoing if the show  gets sloppy doing its homework it could end up being ridiculous.

Of course right my idea is to get people who are younger than Salazar to go back in time and stop him from being born. I'm still not sure why that's not a valid plan, it worked for the Animorphs.

[Josette]

Quote

Holy Crap,  from the Faces of the Hindenberg, there were three guys from Chicagoland on the Hindenberg:

Four.  Burtis J. Dolan was not so lucky as the other three.

 

Quote

I think it was okay for Sam Beckett to change the past because he always changed relatively small things.

But I think the premise of Quantum Leap was that Sam was correcting the past.  In the original timeline, as someone else mentioned, Jackie Kennedy died with her husband, but because of Sam the timeline was fixed to what we know as reality.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Josette
fixing typo

[Silver Raven]

22 minutes ago, Emily Thrace said:

Dude is from Eastern Europe it makes sense he has anti-American sentiment and Germany actually used Zepplins in WW1.

The actor's Eastern European, but his character's last name is Garcia.

23 minutes ago, Emily Thrace said:

Stalingrad would actually be a good spot for Flynn to hit.

I'll bet they never leave the United States. Though they did show Nazis at some point.

[biakbiak]

1 minute ago, Silver Raven said:

The actor's Eastern European, but his character's last name is Garcia.

His first name is Garcia, his last name Flynn.

[Silver Raven]

Ha.  I thought it was the other way around.  :D

[Emma9]

From the second that it was mentioned that Luka killed his wife and child, I called that he wasn't the actual killer and his motivation for all this is to try and get them back. But I didn't know why it had to be more complicated than popping back to the day of their deaths, so at least that one (within the rules of the show itself) got explained. After the dirty look he shot Angela's Eyes when she brought the matter up, I'll be shocked if it doesn't end up being the case.

(I also hypothesized that he might be a quasi-vigilante who's decided to 'set right' every bad thing in the past that he can, and let the chips of the future/present fall where they may, but the bomb on the second voyage of the airship scotched that idea.)

Here's a fun hypothetical - the trio brings the time machine back to the present, Angela pops out, and everybody just stares at her all 'who the hell are you'. Turns out, when your mom's not wasting away in bed, there's not such a drive to become an awesome professor and prove out her legacy (or maybe when you're an only child, you're more inclined to forge your own path), so when Time Travel Corp needed a historian, they went to hale and hearty Col. Mann herself, not her daughter. Now two of Angela exist, one stepping out of the time machine, the other at home wondering where her mom went in such a hurry. Can they meet without reality having an aneurysm? And what about the Col. Mann who went back in time - what present did she return to?

(Similarly, in the episode as it went down, what happened to the Angela who has a mom and a fiancee but no sister, who thought the Hindenburg went down at night but with only two casualties - if she even recognized the name because it wasn't such a historically significant tragedy - but who still went back in time? Did she and her companions watch the landing without concern, because nothing was 'supposed' to happen to it until after the next takeoff? What present would there be left for that particular trio to come home to, since 'our' trio from the  episode is now in theirs? Parallel universes? Remind me to stock up on advil for next week.)

[bros402]

22 hours ago, Silver Raven said:

Yeah, I'm sure that weird silvery sphere in the middle of a field won't attract attention from anybody, including the people flying overhead on the Hindenburg.

I don't think that reporter is a real historical person.

So everybody on the team has a reason to change the past?

The racial stuff is going to get old really fast if we have to deal with it every week.

Right.  They didn't notice they were taking off?

So the past gets changed anyway.  Um, yeah. 

So Garcia is from the future, or from a different past?  Just, what?

Where was the Hindenburg taking off for?  Were the celebrities on board already, and did they die, therefore changing our past anyway?

Engagement ring?

The Hindenburg was taking off for a coronation in England.

Also, with the "future gun" why didn't he just take an era-appropriate gun with him? They have enough time to get clothes and money.

[TDT]

9 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

 

What is the cover of Led Zeppelin's first album?  Are they still Led Zeppelin?

Oh the humanity, did the WKRP Turkey episode ever happen?

But in all seriousness, I think that the characters realizing they made mistakes that made the change even greater, that were avoidable, is more interesting than angst over failing to stop the villain.

Wonder if there will be certain episodes where they travel to the 70s or the 80s..and possibly end up mentioning most of NBC's programming of old(cue the Supertrain/Quincy M.E./Hill Street Blues/A-Team/Knight Rider jokes lol..actually having Hasselhoff and KITT show up[complete with William Daniels voice and all] would be interesting )

Surprised they didnt use the old trope where the characters run into a young boy or girl who later grows up to be a famous person(i.e "You'll grow up and be a famous action movie star/musician/news reporter-or whatever" ) though i'm sure they will down the line

[green]

17 hours ago, atomationage said:

Well, I don't get it, and did I blink and miss David Sutcliffe?  I guess I'll watch depending on what history they go back to, but if it's all 1930s, I probably won't watch.  Maybe the bad guy is going after Werner von Braun, or to change what happens with him.

Won't be all in the 1930's.  The end of the first episode when Lucy gets the call she learns Flynn has departed for Fords Theatre in 1865 next and they have to catch up with him. 

16 hours ago, DoubleUTeeEff said:

I thought the bad guy already went into the future?  That's how he got Lucy's diary, right?

I assumed her manifesto or diary or booklet or whatever was from an alternate timeline he is trying to restore myself.  Others here have guessed he is from the future though how he travels back orginally to steal a time machine so he can then time travel isn't explained in those theories that I can see.

15 hours ago, statsgirl said:

I don't get the premise that they had to rush to save the Hindenburg because it was going to blow up anyway.  And yeah, as others have pointed out, they should have had all the time in the world to prepare for their trip since they were travelling back in time anyway.

They were rushing back not to save the Hindenburg but to make sure it did blow up according to our time line.  The so-called bad guy (Flynn) was trying to save it at first for the landing then blow it up after the passenger list for departure changed (Omar Bradley et al aboard).  So the trio then goes into the save the ship mode since the departing passengers aren't suppose to die but they wanted to make sure the original passengers died to not screw up their era.  They failed to do so.

I asked about why the rush earlier but then kind of answered my own question by remembering there was some kind of homing beacon between  the "lifeboat" old protoype and the sleek model Flynn stole so they needed to leave quickly before they lost his signal per the "rules" of this TV series since they are trying to stop him by catching him before he can mess with the Hindenberg and/or make other trips back in time.

12 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

What is the cover of Led Zeppelin's first album?  Are they still Led Zeppelin?

Oh my God!  No Led Zeppelin means no "Stairway to Heaven."  Oh the humanity!

7 hours ago, statsgirl said:

I think it was okay for Sam Beckett to change the past because he always changed relatively small things.  Flynn is trying to change really big ones for devious (?)

The butterfly effect postulates that if real time travel were possible even stepping on an insect (or said butterfly) will change history period. It can't not change it.  The further back you go the more the cone of probabilities expands from that original act into countless possible other timelines.  So it would never be okay. 

But TV shows about time travel can't be overly concerned about stepping on a butterfly.  They have to go into overkill and have 35 people live that should have died plus all their descents that never would have been.  Or it's okay for Sam to do it cause he just takes over a person and isn't really there himself.  All TV shows about time travel are silly and you just have to accept that.  If it is entertaining and you can block out the elephant in the room some of them can be fun.

7 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

It would have been interesting if they started the show with some kind of fictional history existing. Then make it that what we know in reality only happened because of what the characters did. 

That's what I was going for in a post I badly worded in page 1.  Only in my example our reality is the false one that we the viewers know too thus it would be a surprise twist when we realize we aren't in the "right" timeline and Flynn is trying to get the right one restored.  But your version would be good too.  You would start out in a sci-fi style world which we think isn't earth which slowly gets changed into our current earth and it's history.  I like that.

Edited October 5, 2016 by green

[zxy556575]

2 hours ago, ketose said:

Why can't they make another time pod?

Why can't they make retractible stairs for it?

[CeeBeeGee]

15 hours ago, SierraMist said:

Please, y'all, stop saying it's going to be cancelled.  I really liked it.  I don't need it all to make sense.  It was a lot of fun.  And I think it's better than Haley Atwell's new show (can't remember the name of it).  I loved her as Agent Carter, but if anything gets cancelled in this time slot, I think it will be that one. 

I really liked it. I love time travel stories (I'm obsessed with the idea that historical people were just like us, the that those people were waling around on these sidewalks, this grass, these stones, making history) and I like that actress who was on Mad Men. And I liked that they had a black guy who was saying yabbut....all these times suck for me. And then they addressed that.  

All in all, pretty good for a pilot.

[henripootel]

Quote

The butterfly effect postulates that if real time travel were possible even stepping on an insect (or said butterfly) will change history period. It can't not change it.

Worth noting that doing absolutely nothing at all will likely change the future, at least the future as you knew it.  There are any number of fairly random events taking place all the time, and these add up quickly.  Some things might not change (your parents may still meet and have you) but other things almost certainly will, like the exact circumstances that led you to end up traveling in time in the first place.  There's no reason why you should expect to go back to your own time and not find a version of yourself already living 'your' life because they never left.  I still want to know what became of the version of Lucy whose mother never died.  That Lucy is obviously not our Lucy because our Lucy's mom did, so where is she?

Edited October 5, 2016 by henripootel

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, sarthaz said:

Flynn's from the real timeline. Someone messed up the past to create a bad future where Lucy has a sister and her mom is dying.  Flynn's trying to fix it, but Lucy's team is messing everything up by trying to maintain their inaccurate timeline. *boom*

I assumed by the turban that the sick mom was wearing that she was having chemotherapy for either breast or ovarian cancer, since both result in total hair loss. So does that mean cancer was cured in the new timeline? Maybe by a survivor of thr Hindenberg 2.0? Those types of cancer are pretty much accepted to be caused by genetics, so I doubt she just wasn't exposed to asbestos or something.

Since the sister disappeared in this altered timeline, I imagine one of the time travelers will not disembark from the time machine on one of its travels home because that person will not have been born, and so will be trapped in the past until they can avoid stepping on that particular butterfly (or avoid shooting the butterfly with the gun).

[BooBear]

Ok so now.. my one question... the professor delta force and Lem can't go to the past and fix it but why can't another group of people go back and fix it? I mean the professor's team knows exactly what happened, couldn't some non skilled group go back and change things? Or for that matter, some other group go back and stop Garcia from stealing the time machine in the first place? 

It was ok. I did like the snappy pace.  But there was a lot I didn't like. Mr. Delta Force looked and sounded as much like a delta force solider as I do. He was too young and had a model type hair cut. Wasn't buying it.  Time travel changes in general give me a headache so if they keep changing things.. I will be bothered by the idea that they could fully restore things. 

[Mrs. DuRona]

I don't know how long this can last, but I'm gonna enjoy the ride as long as it lasts.  I really liked it.  It did feel like it needed to be a longer pilot.  I wish we had spent a little more time on character development, it's hard to root for people you don't really know or care about.

While it is predictable, in that it hit all the right time travel story notes, and the characters feel a little one-note, I will stick with it, even though time travel both fascinates me and messes with my brain...

[Granny58]

LOVED.IT.

[Whimsy]

12 hours ago, Latverian Diplomat said:

It's funny how TV sees teaching a low level class to a huge hall of undergrads as an important part of being a "fast track to tenure" professor.

My main job is assisting the process for the award of tenure, but for researchers so I do get it's different, but I also thought this was pretty funny.

 

3 hours ago, henripootel said:

 I still want to know what became of the version of Lucy whose mother never died.  That Lucy is obviously not our Lucy because our Lucy's mom did, so where is she

Lucy's mom didn't die, right?  I thought she was still just sick in bed when she left.

[ACW]

13 hours ago, saber5055 said:

All this discussion about time traveling and what changing this will do to that is pretty funny given that I'm pretty sure time travel is imaginary so therefore we can "imagine" any repercussions we want based on "going back" and making changes. Sam Beckett changed the past every week and neither Gungie nor Ziggy EVER said the future (their present) was ever changed for the worse. Plus, if someone went back in time and changed something, none of us NOW would know anyway, right, because the future changed. I know the debate will continue here ad nauseum, but I, for one, am just in for the ride and whatever happens, happens. Just as long as "show cancelled" does not happen.

Well, there was that time that Sam leaped into young-soldier Al and accidentally changed things so that he (Al) was certain to be executed... and Old-Al was instantly replaced by Roddy McDowall!

And I liked that fact that the "mission control" people did not, in fact, know that anything had changed.

[sarthaz]

3 hours ago, BooBear said:

Ok so now.. my one question... the professor delta force and Lem can't go to the past and fix it but why can't another group of people go back and fix it? I mean the professor's team knows exactly what happened, couldn't some non skilled group go back and change things? Or for that matter, some other group go back and stop Garcia from stealing the time machine in the first place? 

Because Cas used all his juice on that trip?  No, wait.  Not enough plutonium?  No, that's not it.  Phone booth is broken and no one has any gum to fix the antenna?  Because, reasons!  That's why.  Reasons!

(A plausible explanation in their "rules" would be that the CBS Eye Machine can't be in the same time-space twice, and they only have two time machines.  So you could send another team back before Alpha Team, but they'd have to get the time machine out of there before its previous self arrived later or the Universe would destroy itself, because ... reasons.)

[sacrebleu]

23 hours ago, reggiejax said:

Soldier boy would have been taken for a hungover drunk or maybe a homeless guy with that look in 1937.

eh. I can fanwank that he was a forgotten man. Plenty of Depression-era movies had guys with stubble. What I couldn't forgive was the insta-connection he felt to the reporter chick. Especially when he was Mr-I-Have-My-Mission. 

 

But what cracked me up is that nothing done in the timeline can shake mom's love of Snickers. The love of Snickers is immutable

Edited October 5, 2016 by sacrebleu

[proserpina65]

Okay, so it wasn't great, and after seeing "directed by Neil Marshall" in the credits, I did expect better.  But it wasn't bad, either, and could be an entertaining enough way to pass an hour every week, so I'm in for now.  Needs more Goran Visnjic though.

[proserpina65]

On ‎10‎/‎03‎/‎2016 at 11:24 PM, KaveDweller said:

It's still easy to take off without taking your shirt off. Probably faster actually. Unless I am some kind of freak. But speaking of time, the guy should have told her to start taking it off while Rufus was starting his tirade. The cop stopped watching them before that and it would have given them more time. But that's less dramatic, I think.

It can be done, I do it all the time, but I'm wondering if the sleeves on the blouse might've been too tight for that to work.

[tennisgurl]

12 hours ago, Emily Thrace said:

Stalingrad would actually be a good spot for Flynn to hit.

Yeah that would be really interesting, but that would require someone on American TV to acknowledge that the Eastern Front was a thing, so I doubt it. I figure we are sticking with American history, which I kind of get, as its a bit easier to keep everything straight, but it means you lose A LOT of interesting stuff around the world, or in the more distant past. I hope they dont just hit the "classic" historical moments, and they can actually get creative. 

I liked this, in a fluffy, fun kind of way. I like time travel shows, and I like not thinking about it too much. Most time travel shows have plot holes so big you can drive a truck through it, but I am just along for the ride. 

Since this a light heartened show (for now anyway) I assume they wont go too hard into the race/gender stuff, but they did talk about it at least. Maybe this means they can show some interesting parts of African American history, like the Harlem Renaissance. 

I will laugh if the sister and mom just keep appearing and disappearing all the time. Stupid butterfly! 

[reggiejax]

On ‎10‎/‎4‎/‎2016 at 6:57 PM, ketose said:

Other than saving Jackie Kennedy.

And teaching Michael Jackson how to moonwalk. And helping Buddy Holly out with the lyrics to Peggy Sue. And coming into contact with a young Donald Trump. That one makes me think that maybe history did take a turn for the worse due to Sam Beckett.

But in regards to Timeless, I don't think it is bad if we fret the repercussions of Lucy and company's time travel. But I do think it should be kept to a certain level. At least in terms of individuals. The show is exploring the effects on Lucy, and likely will do so eventually with the other characters. But they simply don't have the time to go in depth with how the 36 people who didn't die in the Hindenburg spent their lives. Nor will they have time to do so when they no doubt change other events. Of course those new timelines will have a ripple effect, but if they spent even a fraction of the time needed to explain those ripples, they'd never have time to do anything else.

Edited October 7, 2016 by reggiejax

[Lugal]

I liked it, but time travel has to be really bad for me not to.  For all the comparison to Ministerio del Tiempo, there's definitely a similarity in the basic concept (2 guy-one woman team consisting of a soldier, scholar and someone in a more modern profession and one of the men is mourning a dead wife) but not any of the specific stories.

I actually liked how they ended up changing history. I would be curious if it's an ongoing thing, where they keep changing history so that by the end of the season, Prince Abraham Lincoln III flies in on his airship to the secret time lab to see what's happening or something.  I would give them points for creativity if this did this or even reveal that our history is a "wrong" timeline that Flynn is trying to fix.

[proserpina65]

Quote

The back of the bus was nice? 

I do believe he was being sarcastic.

[iMonrey]

Quote

36 people died when the Hindenburg originally blew up, and this time it was only 2. That means there are 34 new divergent realities to consider. 

Depending on how deep they get into the concept of time travel - or what their concept for time travel is going to be - the show could easily address these anomalies which are certain to keep cropping up every time they go into the past and change something. Continuum did a good job of "repairing" time travel anomalies (although it took them awhile to get around to it). In that instance, the timeline wants to "correct" itself, so even if these people managed to save 34 people who originally died in the Hindenburg, none of their lives would have greatly affected the timeline which would have made course corrections to fix any damage they might do in changing history. They might have all been killed off in other ways, for example, in the ensuing months or years without managing to really affect anything.

Time is obdurate - according to Stephen King's 11/22/63. It doesn't want to be changed. You can go back and change events but it's really hard to do.

[DoubleUTeeEff]

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I assumed by the turban that the sick mom was wearing that she was having chemotherapy for either breast or ovarian cancer, since both result in total hair loss. So does that mean cancer was cured in the new timeline? Maybe by a survivor of thr Hindenberg 2.0? Those types of cancer are pretty much accepted to be caused by genetics, so I doubt she just wasn't exposed to asbestos or something.

Most cancer is not genetic, including breast and ovarian cancers, so a different life style could have changed whether she got cancer or not.  She could even still have it but not be showing symptoms yet!  The possibilities are endless really.  I think it would be funny if Lucy kept asking where Kate was (that's her sister's name, no?) and her mother says, Who's Kate?  By the way, Mary's joining us for dinner.  So it turns out her sister just got a different name.  I also wonder if Lucy's fiance in the new present is an ex-boyfriend, someone she knows or someone she's never met.

[LoneHaranguer]

14 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Continuum did a good job of "repairing" time travel anomalies (although it took them awhile to get around to it). In that instance, the timeline wants to "correct" itself, so even if these people managed to save 34 people who originally died in the Hindenburg, none of their lives would have greatly affected the timeline which would have made course corrections to fix any damage they might do in changing history.

Any argument for not having to worry about those 34 people is an argument for not having to worry about what Flynn is doing. Although the stolen machine is valuable enough to want to get back, you could still have a series.

[statsgirl]

8 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I assumed by the turban that the sick mom was wearing that she was having chemotherapy for either breast or ovarian cancer, since both result in total hair loss. So does that mean cancer was cured in the new timeline?

If that's the case, millions of people would be shouting "Don't change it back again!!!!"

[iMonrey]

Quote

Any argument for not having to worry about those 34 people is an argument for not having to worry about what Flynn is doing. 

No, not necessarily. Flynn is deliberately trying to change history and (presumably) not for the better. That would be alarming. On the other hand, the 34 people that managed to survive the Hindenburg disaster aren't out to alter the course of history. It's quite possible they could all go on to live perfectly inconsequential lives that in no way changes our present or our history. 

I know time traveling stories like to evoke the so-called butterfly effect, and the idea that even the tiniest change to the past could have enormous consequences in the present. But the reality is that most people live and die without really making a mark on history, sobering as that is to contemplate.

[Enigma X]

I am one that thinks that any change to the past, especially one where 34 people who previously died are now alive, would have a major effect on the present. A good deal of these people will marry, have kids, have jobs, interact with others in many ways, cause some who were to be born not to be born, give birth to those who were not born etc.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Enigma X

[Shanna Marie]

18 hours ago, dargosmydaddy said:

If we're going by the actor's ages, AS is slightly less than two years older than ML. I  know you did say "slightly older," but to me that's a difference not worth mentioning in terms of an older woman relationship. 

I didn't think they looked all that different, but the show seemed to be treating it like she was a lot older, like with her taking great offense at him calling her "ma'am." Or maybe that's just me, but it doesn't bother me if someone I consider a peer calls me "ma'am," but it makes me feel old if someone a lot younger but still an adult does. She also seemed to treat him like he was a lot younger. But we are dealing with Hollywood, where her being two years older translates into being cast as his mother once she turns 40.

[BooBear]

Quote

I know time traveling stories like to evoke the so-called butterfly effect, and the idea that even the tiniest change to the past could have enormous consequences in the present. But the reality is that most people live and die without really making a mark on history, sobering as that is to contemplate.

Extremely good point. But I have to admit. The Hindenburg had a great influence in my life because my mom was obsessed with it she wasn't there but just a kid at the time and it made a mark.  And if it had that much of a reach for my mom's sad little life, and it did, I kind of tend to buy the unforeseen consequences idea.

[basiltherat]

What if Lucy's fiancé turns out to be Army man . . . or Rufus . . . or Garcia Flynn (love that name!)  Or if her fiancée is the "sister" that used to be?!

[saber5055]

Way upthread, Emma posted about getting Advil for the next episode. I need mega doses of Advil just reading these time-travel posts! At least there is huge interest in this subject, so that's good for this show. AND ... do we know for sure that is the SISTER who is now missing? I'm liking Basil's suggestion that she might be Lucy's fiancé. Can't remember if she was called "sister" or not. And agree, Delta Force guy looks/acts less like a Delta Force soldier than I do. Wish they had gotten a different actor for that part, one I could find interesting.

[Silver Raven]

1 hour ago, Enigma X said:

I am one that thinks that any change to the past, especially one where 34 people who previously died are now alive, would have a major effect on the present. A good deal of these people will marry, have kids, have jobs, interact with others in many ways, cause some who were to be born not to be born, give birth to those who were not born etc.

The German officers who survived went on to serve in World War II.  Who knows what those who died might have done?  Whom might they have killed who otherwise would have survived the war?  Or what if one of those who died went on to lead an anti-Hitler force which ended the war early?  So many what ifs ...

[zxy556575]

2 hours ago, Enigma X said:

I am one that thinks that any change to the past, especially one where 34 people who previously died are now alive, would have a major effect on the present. A good deal of these people will marry, have kids, have jobs, interact with others in many ways, cause some who were to be born not to be born, give birth to those who were not born etc.

But what are the odds that those changes would specifically affect the 20 or so people involved in the time travel project, out of a US population of 320 million? I'm interested in the changes to Lucy's life as a plot point of the show, but it would strain credulity for me outside the TV.

[ketose]

4 hours ago, LoneHaranguer said:

Any argument for not having to worry about those 34 people is an argument for not having to worry about what Flynn is doing. Although the stolen machine is valuable enough to want to get back, you could still have a series.

In Continuum, an argument could be made that there was no free will except for the time traveler. Whatever was going to unfold would unfold the way it was going to unless the traveler interfered. In Quantum Leap, time travel was an almost sentient act.

If anyone remembers 7 Days, they had a lot of rules and reasons for them. No extra pods because they were built from an alien space craft. They could only go back 7 days because of the alien fuel source. They also couldn't make jump after jump because the system was depleted after. The pilot had to steer the pod in order for it to correct for planetary motion and land where it needed to. They also had a 2 hour pilot.

[iMonrey]

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I am one that thinks that any change to the past, especially one where 34 people who previously died are now alive, would have a major effect on the present.

That's 34 people out of billions, so the odds that any one of them would have made some significant, historical change in reality is infinitesimal, mathematically speaking. Sure, there are going to be changes to their lives, and their families, and their immediate surroundings, but significant enough to change history for the entire planet? How many people in this world really make it into history books? Compared to the common people who live and die unnoticed by history? 

I think (if the writers have a solid understanding and/or plan for their own "world") the fact that the reporter woman died anyway could be significant. She - it seems - was just destined to die then. They prevent the Hindenburg disaster? Fine - she just dies some other way. That's what I was alluding to with my reference to 11/22/63 and the concept that "the past is obdurate." If she had lived perhaps the timeline would have been altered in some significant way. Whereas the other passengers who survived just don't matter much in the grander scheme of things. Or - maybe they all end up dying in some other manner during the coming weeks and months, never marrying or having children, etc., so their survival is eventually negated.

Quote

They also had a 2 hour pilot.

Never saw 7 Days but this show could have definitely used a 2-hour pilot episode. Too much information was sort of glossed over in order to get straight to the action. I just don't think they do 2-hour pilots anymore on network TV.

Edited October 5, 2016 by iMonrey

[LoneHaranguer]

26 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

That's 34 people out of billions, so the odds that any one of them would have made some significant, historical change in reality is infinitesimal, mathematically speaking.

But, the chances of someone doing something significant isn't the same for everyone. At the time, Joe Average wasn't taking intercontinental trips, so the odds would be much, much greater for that group of 34.

[Randomosity]

I can suspend disbelief about most of the historical/time travel inconsistencies.

I, however, cannot accept Rory Gilmore's dumbass, doofus father as department chair of anything at any university. :)

 

22 hours ago, ACW said:

Oh no, the Hindenburg has taken off and is flying over an unoccupied field, and you've found a bomb in the kitchen, set to go off within minutes!  If only the kitchen had windows, similar to the ones we later see the characters easily breaking, both with heavy objects and with their feet!  Oh, wait. 

Yep, this.

[chlban]

Well I'm in. I liked it a lot and I am a huge History Buff. I hope it lasts a whilem

[TVHappy9463]

This was awesome. I'm so in.