S01.E03: Atomic City

[Netfoot]

6 hours ago, marketdoctor said:

Exactly how much plutonium you need to explode is probably a secret

According to google:

Quote

Of all the common nuclear fuels, Pu-239 has the smallest critical mass. A spherical untamped critical mass is about 11 kg (24.2 lbs), 10.2 cm (4") in diameter.

I would have to say the sphere shown in the program would almost certainly be critical, and if not, such a sub-critical mass would be giving off plenty of heat and lethal amounts of radiation (Neutrons?  X-rays?).  Standing close to it for a few seconds would probably produce horrible radiation burns and lead to death within hours.

[kili]

Quote

Normally I disagree with the "too young and pretty" complaint that comes with a lot of (especially) network tv.  WithbRufus and Lucy I can at least believe they are young in their field; Lucy being a young great who rose in the ranks quickly and made a few enemies in the process.   It happens.  Wyatt not so much.

The actor is 33. How old should a Special Forces person be? It seems like a younger person's job to me. You need about 4 or 5 years of experience in the armed forces before you are selected, but a lot of people go into the armed forces directly out of high school. So, the people entering special forces are probably in their early-mid-late 20s. I've heard that you do burn out do to the psychological stress and having to keep so very fit - 6 years is typical. Some can last longer.

I can see Wyatt as a kid who signed up out of high school, joined the special forces when he was 24 or 25, got married, lost his wife tragically and after 6ish years, he just didn't have the mental toughness to continue.  I think the actor could be playing Wyatt as somebody who is recently out of the forces and not quite coping. He's still damaged and that why he oscillates from moping to reckless to bossy to careless.  I think he was picked for more reasons than "best man for the job". I think we will find he was picked for the same reasons Lucy was. There is more of a story there.

[Netfoot]

3 minutes ago, kili said:

The actor is 33. How old should a Special Forces person be?

Andy McNab passed SAS Selection at 25 years of age, and remained a badged member of the 22nd Regiment for 10 years.  

[tennisgurl]

They are just zipping through all the big time periods super fast! I love the style of the 60s, so the clothes alone made me a big fan of the episode. I liked this, and I like the show, but there are a few issues...

I can see how Judith Campbell would be an interesting historical character, one that I imagine has not been seen in as much fiction. I would like it if they focused more on lesser known historical events and characters, but Campbell is kind of framed oddly here. I mean, I can see why Lucy would find her interesting, and she had a charismatic charm to her in this episode, but I would hardly call her a feminist hero who "had it all together". Where did they get that? She was sleeping with several married men, and, in this episode, she was blackmailed into leaking military secrets to some guy. Isn't that kind of treason? Wouldn't she get in huge trouble for that? And why did Lucy make it sound like Campbell got cancer because the public shamed her? That is really not how cancer works!

Wyatt is alright, but I rolled my eyes at his speech about fate. It would be an alright speech in any other show, but this is time travel, and their whole purpose of this mission is to keep the future as close to the same as possible! Its not like its fate, its literally what is supposed to happen, or there could be awful consequences. Kind of a different issue. And his dead wife backstory is painfully cliche. Does every badass male character have to have a dead wife or girlfriend they feel guilty abut? 

I still hope we can branch out from American history in a later season. 

Oh, and Lucy's fiance is apparently the most perfect human being to walk the planet. Does he also turn water into wine at their dinner parties? I would have bought it if he had seemed at least a little upset, it would have seemed more natural. From his perspective, his fiance who he has apparently been with for some time has just announced she wants to take a break and is moving out, for seemingly no reason, with no warning, and with little emotion beyond confusion and sympathy. I am glad they didn't make him a jerk, but let the guy express an emotion. 

Edited October 18, 2016 by tennisgurl

[NorthstarATL]

1 hour ago, sjohnson said:

As to his stubble...the perfect complexions of women in the movies of the time are just like the perfect shaves of men in the movies of the time. Or like the amazing perfection of women in movies today. It's SFX. The phrase "five o'clock shadow" came from the common presence of stubble on real men. And the effort at realism wasn't people calling the stubbly bums but showing the smooth-faced doing things like a quick second shave.

I was referencing the health codes of the times that service people had to follow, not any depiction in film/tv/fiction. Personally, I was sent home to shave one evening for having stubble, so I know from experience. Back then you had to hide tats, jewelry for males, and women's hair had to be up or sprayed to a stiffness that would not permit strays falling into food/drink; not to mention weight/looks in general. Diversity and EEOC guidelines did away with all that, and hygiene went out the window, so good times!

[LoneHaranguer]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The people in charge of this mission should be employing the "three strikes and you're out" rule. They need new team members, the ones they've got aren't getting the job done.

Since nobody at the base remembers the old timelines, would they know the team isn't getting the job done?

[JackONeill]

There is a difference between age and gravitas. Some actors have gravitas regardless of their actual age.

Clint Eastwood at any age had gravitas, going back to Rawhide when he was just a kid. It is in his being. It's that ability to portray a character who has seen a world of hurt and can prevent (or die trying) more hurt from happening. 

Maybe it's just me, but the actor portraying Wyatt doesn't...um, impress me. Maybe it's the scripts. Like many have said: the cards are sort of stacked against him the way the story is playing out. But if Kurt Russell were playing the role, the Kurt Russell from Stargate, replete with buzzcut, I'd have more confidence in him (at least initially).

I realize real life is...well, real. And there is no one look for a soldier or a doctor or a zombie-killer. But in TV, right or wrong, there are tropes. And we all fall victims to it. Imagine if they had hired Moe Howard (better it, Curly)[the Three Stooges for the youngsters out there] to play Wyatt. Even at the get-go, no one accept that or buy that. No gravitas. 

[dubbel zout]

Never mind.

Edited October 18, 2016 by dubbel zout

[Shanna Marie]

I think the main problem with Wyatt is that they haven't developed his character beyond the "dead wife" trope. That's such a cliche. It's all over TV. There's Gibbs on NCIS, the Gary Sinise character on CSI NY, Riggs on Lethal Weapon, Daniel on Stargate SG-1, Sisko on Star Trek Deep Space 9, and that's just off the top of my head while on cold medicine. That seems to be the TV writers' go-to method of attempting to add depth to a male character. It keeps him available for potential romantic stories while showing that he's capable of having been in a relationship and allows him to be single while still being chaste until they want to get him together with whatever co-star will be his endgame. Sometimes it's done well and really incorporated into the character's motivation and world view and sometimes it's just a shorthand way of showing that the character is emotionally damaged. So far, we haven't learned anything about Wyatt other than the dead wife, and he hasn't been given enough to do or say for his actions to define his character. They've even been a little contradictory, with him desperate to save the woman in the pilot, regardless of what it would do to history, because of his wife and in this episode he's willing to put the woman on the line and use her for bait, so I guess he's not going to go into "must save all the women!" territory.

Really, the most interesting to me his character has been so far was last week in the scenes with Rufus, when he was talking him through the surgery and then preparing him for his part of the mission.

[sjohnson]

Wyatt's persistent efforts to kill Garcia Flynn count as his most distinctive trait: Being there to kill. The thing is, it's not really a very attractive trait, which makes the unhappy widower something to be grateful for. He really would be insufferable if he were getting it at whim, wouldn't he?

[sjohnson]

Wyatt's persistent efforts to kill Garcia Flynn count as his most distinctive trait: Being there to kill. The thing is, it's not really a very attractive trait, which makes the unhappy widower something to be grateful for. He really would be insufferable if he were getting it at whim, wouldn't he?

[smiley13]

4 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

I'd consider this slut-shaming:

How is it shaming if it is the truth?  Campbell by her own account slept with married men.  

[dubbel zout]

Because it's judging her on her sexual activities. 

[BooBear]

2 hours ago, kili said:

The actor is 33. How old should a Special Forces person be?

One of the other issues is that the actor looks young. I believe that his last major role was in "Star Crossed" where he believably played a teenage boy. I think the writers could save the story if the gave him some other story and places doubt on him being this big Delta Force guy because so far, I am not seeing it and found a way for the wife's death to be relevant. Not just to make him the sensitive strong guy trope. I actually hope they are considering it because they have been super vague about any details about him. Like they thought we will come up with something later.

2 hours ago, JackONeill said:

Maybe it's just me, but the actor portraying Wyatt doesn't...um, impress me.

Not just you. He doesn't seem like he is "world weary" or like he has ever killed anyone.  

[Kromm]

And we get REALLY aggressive sideboob for network television!

[iMonrey]

Quote

 I love the style of the 60s, so the clothes alone made me a big fan of the episode.

I'd have to watch it again, because maybe I missed it, but thinking back there was a noticeable lack of smoking in the Vegas night club for the 1960s. Realistically that room would have been filled with smoke, and old Blue Eyes himself would have had a ciggy dangling from his hand even while he was on stage singing!

Quote

Since nobody at the base remembers the old timelines, would they know the team isn't getting the job done?

The timelines haven't changed enough for the crew back home to forget what their mission is or that this is their third attempt. (Although it's amusing to think they keep forgetting the other times and always think this is the first attempt which is why they haven't replaced these bozos by now.)

I fear I may just be expecting too much from a show about time travel on a regular broadcast network. It sort of feels like the show doesn't aspire to be anything more than a basic, paint-by-the-numbers action/adventure procedural with little to distinguish it from other network procedurals beyond the time travel gimmick. Granted, it's only been three episodes, but so far the focus is on the weekly adventures in the past, and most of the energy has gone into recreating the past for the cool factor. I'm not sure how deeply the science of the premise has really been thought out.

[dargosmydaddy]

5 hours ago, NorthstarATL said:

I'm assuming that it was a casting director who decided a Croatian actor deserved a chance at a role. The name was probably there first, as was the script.

Plenty of shows have changed character names to fit the actor who ends up being cast. Either Timeless writers are extremely lazy, or there is some upcoming plot point about his name.

5 hours ago, JackONeill said:

but that brings up another problem: the three of them don't seem to have a united game plan.

Honestly I think that's one of the most accurate things about the show, considering these guys met... days ago, at most? There's no reason they should have much of a plan. The powers that be above them, however, should have spent more time prepping the travelling three and making sure they were on board with THEIR plan... though I'm not entirely sure they have much of a plan, either. This seems to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants operation...

And I find Matt Lanter adorable. Not entirely sold on his character yet, but... he's pretty. 

[wanderingstar]

I'm still enjoying this show, and I loved seeing Elena Satine as Judith Campbell. I've watched her in several shows, and her performances are always fun. Rufus remains my favorite.

Finally, what is it with Matt Frewer and playing morally ambiguous scientists?

[Kromm]

This show is certainly very casual about handling of radioactive materials, isn't it?

Also... were the bomb tests actually SO close to Vegas they were visible to the naked eye?  Really? And nobody had like... fertility problems after that or something? 

[OtterMommy]

10 minutes ago, Kromm said:

This show is certainly very casual about handling of radioactive materials, isn't it?

Also... were the bomb tests actually SO close to Vegas they were visible to the naked eye?  Really? And nobody had like... fertility problems after that or something? 

I don't know how it relates to Vegas, but I've read accounts about how they would have "viewing parties" for tests in Los Alamos.  Also, I would assume that mushroom clouds can be seen for miles and miles.

But, yeah, there is a lot of radiation involved.  Of course, if this episode had been truly accurate, we probably wouldn't have seen much through all the ever-present cigarette smoke and, in reality, I'm sure many of the people who spent a lot of time in Vegas and in the Vegas nightlife during that time ended up succumbing to some sort of cancer anyway.

[smiley13]

7 hours ago, LittleIggy said:

Why is a Croatian actor's character named "Garcia Flynn"? ;-)

Just because Goran is Croatian doesn't mean that his character, Garcia Flynn is.

[Cranberry]

6 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

I also suspect it's going to get more and more weird to have Lucy as an all-purpose history expert whose knowledge doesn't seem to go much deeper than your average school history course and maybe reading a few popular bestselling books on historical figures (the ones that give historical figures the celebrity treatment). The people in the lab could have Googled that date. They didn't need a PhD historian to do that much.

She's not there to school the people in the present so much as to help the guys not mess up the past, though. She's the one recognizing the historical figures, following the customs of the time as much as she can, and ensuring that history plays out as it should. We did also see that she's an expert in historical fashion, too, when she was prepping for the first mission, and we know she's written at least one book, so she's got some qualifications. But we also know she was chosen for a reason beyond her expertise.

As for her age, it doesn't bother me. We know that her mom was a big deal and that Lucy looked up to her, so it makes sense that she'd work extra hard to impress her/follow in her footsteps.

[LittleIggy]

7 hours ago, NorthstarATL said:

I'm assuming that it was a casting director who decided a Croatian actor deserved a chance at a role. The name was probably there first, as was the script.

I love Goran, and he's great in the role. I just find the name to be odd. A name could. E easily changed to suit the actor.

[blueray]

Quote

One of the other issues is that the actor looks young. I believe that his last major role was in "Star Crossed" where he believably played a teenage boy.

I finding that an issue too. I keep feeling like he's a lot younger than he is supposed to be. And it doesn't help that I watched Star Crossed.

I like this show for the most part. But the characters do some really stupid things. Like how did they not know that they didn't get the bomb, it seemed obvious to me. And since they thought that they did, why didn't Wyatt shoot at the wheels of the car, instead of aiming at the old guy (don't remember his name). Even he shot him it would have been pointless, they needed to try to stop them from getting away.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

Timeless Discovers That What Happens in Vegas Doesn't Stay There

While also learning the difference between a bomb and a bombshell.

[legaleagle53]

15 hours ago, tankgirl73 said:

smiley13 - I'm not knowledgeable about this area of US History at all (not an American) so maybe you can clarify your comment for me? It sounds like you're saying that Campbell passed information on to Giancana without Kennedy's knowledge, basically betraying him. But on the show, I thought Lucy was saying that Kennedy and Giancana were deliberately working together, and Campbell was their go-between, secretly working for Kennedy essentially. In which case it wasn't "thinking with the wrong head" on his part, but using an asset that he had at his disposal - however he may have come to, um, acquire that asset. What do the history books say?

The history books basically say that Judith Campbell (later known as Judith Exner following her second marriage in 1975) was full of it as far as her later accounts of her alleged affair with JFK was concerned.  From Wikipedia:

Quote

Both liberal and conservative critics have attacked these later accounts. They depend mostly on Exner and are not supported by what is known of Kennedy and his staff. Her earlier accounts of her affair with Kennedy were supported by FBI reports, Secret Service and White House phone logs and staff documentation. She has been described as an "unreliable witness," with a history of instability, depression and paranoia and, by then, she was suffering from cancer.

Edited October 19, 2016 by legaleagle53

[legaleagle53]

15 hours ago, basiltherat said:

(Also, if cancer is a 'punishment' for Campbell, dear Lucy, what was your mother being punished for?!)

Lucy never said or even implied that cancer was Judith's "punishment" for basically committing treason.  She was simply answering the question of what Judith's fate ultimately was (Judith did eventually succumb to breast cancer in 1999 -- coincidentally, almost 37 years to the day after the date of this fictionalized event in her life).

Edited October 19, 2016 by legaleagle53

[Raja]

9 hours ago, kili said:

The actor is 33. How old should a Special Forces person be? It seems like a younger person's job to me. You need about 4 or 5 years of experience in the armed forces before you are selected, but a lot of people go into the armed forces directly out of high school. So, the people entering special forces are probably in their early-mid-late 20s. I've heard that you do burn out do to the psychological stress and having to keep so very fit - 6 years is typical. Some can last longer.

 

Sounds about right unlike the Rangers or SEALs you don't go straight to Special Forces and Delta recruits directing from regular army units as well as Rangers and the other Special Forces detachments. As an Army Master Sergeant, early 30s is certainly doable, My First Sergeant (the same pay grade but generally a higher position, it's an Army thing) was 32 when I arrived at my first unit. And all Special Forces soldiers are Sergeants so it is not like the baby USMC Master Sergeant Greer on Stargate Universe who most thought was way too young for his rank and many thought he started off on paper as an USAF Master Sergeant, a lower rank than an Army or USMC Master Sergeant before the producers decided to make him a Marine

[bros402]

17 hours ago, marketdoctor said:

Some of this was fun (JFK and the Rat Pack)--and recognizing that they were already famous and hard to reach.

Some of it was bothersome:  that amount of plutonium would kill you as soon as you opened the container, provided you could lift it (plutonium is HEAVY), and there's a reason you don't store the entire lump of plutonium in one big ball.  There are other physics problems, but dying and blowing up the plutonium when you put it together like that* are big enough problems.  

* Exactly how much plutonium you need to explode is probably a secret, but if that's all the plutonium the bomb has, and it's in one (critical) mass, that's what we'd call "bad."

When they were handling it, I couldn't help but think "oh no are we gonna get a demon core?"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core

12 hours ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

The timeline pushes the believability of Lucy's age. Ep. 1 I believed showed her birth date as 1983. That makes her around 33. Abigail Spencer is 35.  The episode also showed her being told that her tenure hearing was canceled so that means she's been teaching for 7 years minimum.  That could work if she graduated from college at 21, went right to grad school, finished her PhD in 5 years at age 26, and immediately got a tenure track position. But it rarely works out that quickly.

Plus, she had to have time in there to write a book on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

In the pilot, she mentioned that her mother built the department - maybe she got a job through nepotism? That's the only way I can see it working. In the original timeline, maybe it was before her mother got sick?

With the book, maybe she turned her dissertation into a book? Doesn't have to be a book for the layperson, just has to be a book :P

[zxy556575]

Have we heard anything about Rufus' or Wyatt's home life? When Wyatt lost his wife I guess he also lost all family, in-laws, friends, co-workers, and neighbors who might wonder where the hell he is. And Rufus exists in a vacuum.

I don't even know why Lucy keeps trying to go home when Garcia seems to making a new jump every day or so. If the show wants us to see how Lucy is coping with the jarring changes in her personal life, then take a week or so between jumps to show us! It's annoying that she trudges home, acts bizarrely to people close to her, then mysteriously rushes off to work again for history emergencies.

[thuganomics85]

After kicking things off with first the Hindenburg and then Lincoln's assassination, kind of weird that they decided to scale it down a bit and have be about Judith Campbell, who I didn't even really know outside of being one JFK's mistresses.  Still, I enjoyed Elena Satine in the role (liked her has Lorelei in Agents of SHIELD), and I guess the it was nice to have a quieter episode, even if I still don't understand why Lucy was so enamored with her.  I guess she led an interesting life, but Lucy's reaction seemed more akin to if she met Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, or hell, even Jackie Kennedy.  I guess she just likes all types of history!

I'm still about in the same spot that I was in the past two episodes.  Show is fun enough, but pretty disposable and mindless.  Rufus is cool, Lucy is alright, although it's probably Abigail Spencer that is making me give the character a lot of goodwill, and Wyatt is mainly dull, if unoffensive.  Flynn really is the only character I'm kind of curious about, even if he's just the villain.

This episode did make me question a few things.  Who is the leader of the trio?  Not having someone take charge in the field seems like a bad idea.  They don't even vote or anything.  Why are we only focusing on Lucy's family life and the changes?  Is it because she's simply the lead, or is she the only one being effected?  How much longer are they going to keep being unable to take out Flynn, and not have Mason and crew decided to find others?  Then again, what makes Mason tick?  I get the time-traveling stuff is the big thing, but the show hasn't really spent enough time on him or the rest of the present crew (poor Sakina Jeffery seems to just be around to bark out orders), to make them feel significant to the plot, let alone being considered regulars on the show.  Maybe this is all being saved for later episodes, but right now, it feels like a lot of talent is being wasted.

But, hey, Matt Frewer is back!  I do look forward to seeing more of him!

Lucy's boyfriend is kind of coming off too perfect, that I'm starting to wonder if there is something going on with him.  I wouldn't even be surprised if he ends up somehow being a plant by Flynn, who managed to somehow orchestrate all this, due to his time travel fuckery.   

[MissLucas]

Lucy's career and knowledge data-base follow Hollywood standards for academics. She's too young (well at least she's over 30) and I'm sure we will be told soon that she's published more than one book already. She also has no specialty but is an expert for every time-period they're about to visit - she's basically the history exposition fairy.

What I really love is how they make use of that expertise of hers: 'Lucy, what happened on September 12st, 1962?' Apparently none of these geniuses is able to handle Wikipedia. Even better was seeing Lucy googling the date herself once she had arrived at the center.

[Randomosity]

14 hours ago, RemoteControlFreak said:

The timeline pushes the believability of Lucy's age. Ep. 1 I believed showed her birth date as 1983. That makes her around 33. Abigail Spencer is 35.  The episode also showed her being told that her tenure hearing was canceled so that means she's been teaching for 7 years minimum.  That could work if she graduated from college at 21, went right to grad school, finished her PhD in 5 years at age 26, and immediately got a tenure track position. But it rarely works out that quickly.

Plus, she had to have time in there to write a book on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

 

4 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

Lucy's career and knowledge data-base follow Hollywood standards for academics. She's too young (well at least she's over 30) and I'm sure we will be told soon that she's published more than one book already. She also has no specialty but is an expert for every time-period they're about to visit - she's basically the history exposition fairy.

I preface this with the fact that I'm in academia, albeit in the sciences. Something like history may work slightly differently.

Tenure at all the schools I applied at for tenure track positions was after 6 years, not 7. In grad school, 4 years, not 5, is a reasonable expectation for finishing a PhD in the sciences (3 if in the UK). I'm 34. I did a 2.5 year masters and spent 4 years as a post-doc. Had I skipped those and gone from undergrad to PhD to teaching in one fell swoop, I'd be up for tenure now too, or even already tenured. And wasn't the department her mother's department? I have no problem believing they'd scoop her up as a new hire right out of the PhD if she was some sort of legacy candidate. As for the book, if that was her dissertation topic (or even close to her specialty), it's feasible to get a book done in that time span. Negotiations for a tenure track positions often include requests for reduced/eliminated teaching loads in some combination of the first year/semester, halfway to tenure, and just before tenure application in order to get research/publications out the door and to prepare the tenure portfolio. And as for being a history exposition fairy, she's spitting out what I see as very basic facts about relatively big events. Do I know those facts as well as she does? No, but I didn't spend the past 15 years being a history geek. If someone needed an exposition fairy for my general field, everyone I know with a PhD (regardless of specialization in our field) can spit out equivalent factoids, given that they're what you'd cover in a 101-level survey course.

So, like I said, maybe it all works differently in the arts and for history such that PhDs in that field are all kerfuffled about it, but of all the things on this show that don't seem realistic, her job situation is not one of them to me.

[smiley13]

23 hours ago, tankgirl73 said:

smiley13 - I'm not knowledgeable about this area of US History at all (not an American) so maybe you can clarify your comment for me? It sounds like you're saying that Campbell passed information on to Giancana without Kennedy's knowledge, basically betraying him. But on the show, I thought Lucy was saying that Kennedy and Giancana were deliberately working together, and Campbell was their go-between, secretly working for Kennedy essentially. In which case it wasn't "thinking with the wrong head" on his part, but using an asset that he had at his disposal - however he may have come to, um, acquire that asset. What do the history books say?

Yes she was a knowing go between, but Kennedy was compromising national security by using his whore to pass information to the mob.  He was stupid for compromising the office of the President in the first place by involving himself with her at all.  It still amazes me that anyone has any respect for Kennedy at all.  He was shady in all aspects.

[dubbel zout]

4 hours ago, MissLucas said:

What I really love is how they make use of that expertise of hers: 'Lucy, what happened on September 12st, 1962?' Apparently none of these geniuses is able to handle Wikipedia. Even better was seeing Lucy googling the date herself once she had arrived at the center.

That cracked me up. We're getting history at a Google/Wiki level anyway; Lucy isn't really providing details that are too deep for nonspecialists to find.

[Cobb Salad]

35 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

That cracked me up. We're getting history at a Google/Wiki level anyway; Lucy isn't really providing details that are too deep for nonspecialists to find.

I can buy an expertise of a particular time period like Lucy's with the Lincoln assasination, she had written a book about it and knew Booth's movements that day.  But to call on the same historian at a moments notice over and over to go anywhere in time and expect the same kind of expert knowledge from the same person is ridiculous.  It would be more believable if there was a team of historians each with a different area of expertise to call on or an AI/Robot type who knows the subject at hand. Maybe Watson is available, lol.

[dubbel zout]

Yeah, we just have to handwave why Lucy is on every mission as the historical expert.

[MissLucas]

I'm a card carrying historian with degrees in early modern and medieval history. And yes, I'm pretty knowledgeable in both fields and find my way around other centuries as well since my specialty is so rare that I often have to work outside that particular field and time-period. But I'm still not an expert at everything history like those impressive historians on tv, damn.

37 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Yeah, we just have to handwave why Lucy is on every mission as the historical expert.

It would actually make more sense to have a team of historians prepare the team for each mission, so that Lucy does not have to function as Wikipedia of historical facts, guardian of the timeline and anachronism police at the same time. They should be properly briefed on any mission by a couple of experts plus they could be given fake identities that  prepared for them while they are being informed on the period they're about to visit. Lucy having to make up a name in the Lincoln episode and Rufus not being able to provide background info on his rank was more than sloppy. The rush they're always in to get on a mission makes no sense since they have a time-machine.

[tvfanatic13]

Does anyone know the name of the actress who played Judith Campbell?

[gibasi]

20 hours ago, Shanna Marie said:

I do find Wyatt attractive, but more in the "he's so cute, I want to give him cookies" way, not in the badass soldier way. He also seems awfully little to be in this team as the resident muscle. That was painfully obvious in his fight with Flynn, where I found myself thinking that it didn't matter how well-trained he was, him being up against someone that much bigger than he is who has any skills at all is never going to work.

 

I also think he is cute. And I would be glad to give him cookies!

This show is just a fun show as far as I am concerned.  I need some mindless shows to balance all the heavy, existential ish that is out there now.  If I read one more comment or recap which says something along the lines of "I will have to watch it a second (third, fourth??) time to really get it I will scream.  Who has time for that?  I barely have time to watch a show the first time much less give it multiple viewings!

[possibilities]

7 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Why are we only focusing on Lucy's family life and the changes?  Is it because she's simply the lead, or is she the only one being effected?

I think they did establish that she's the only one affected. She asked the others and they said nothing was different in their lives.

My theory about why they are allowed to be ineffective is that the guy who Rufus is spying for is in charge, and he chose them BECAUSE he knew they would fail. If Flynn is anti-Rittenhouse, and Rufus is forbidden to say the word "Rittenhouse" maybe these missions are supposedly to stop Flynn but really they're to DOCUMENT Flynn.

Lucy was NOT shown to be knowledgeable about the date of this week's mission. She said she didn't know, and then looked it up. Knowing the Lincoln assassination or the Hindenburg disaster dates is perfectly reasonable even if she wasn't a professional historian. In fact, if I recall correctly, no one asked her about what happened on the first two dates, they told the team where Flynn had gone and Lucy recognized the dates and said what they were out loud because Wyatt didn't know, saying he only knows military history. So, again, it's all Wyatt's fault.

[snarktini]

21 hours ago, Chaos Theory said:

The series will live or die in its ability to switch focuses. Right now Our Heroes are chasing Flynn but what is to say they season two won't be them all joining forces to go after Riddenhouse or Rufus and his scientist friend suddenly becoming the bad guy or Lucy doing something she can't take back and having to run.  The show is called Timeless  Not "Let's Chase Flynn through time"

Agreed. Flynn and the other guy have dropped too many hints about the team switching sides, I assume that gun will go off shortly or the formula will change up somehow. If they don't pivot, there's no show, and they probably know that. 

21 hours ago, JackONeill said:

Lucy (that's her name, right?) is supposed to be some world-renowned historian, but she looks like she just graduated from college (undergraduate, at that)

Huh, to me she looks her age -- early/mid 30s is exactly what I would have guessed her at. Definitely not 20s. She does lack gravitas, though.

[dubbel zout]

15 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

The rush they're always in to get on a mission makes no sense since they have a time-machine.

They're in a rush because Flynn is always ahead of them, right? That's how I'm explaining it it to myself. Heh.

6 minutes ago, tvfanatic13 said:

Does anyone know the name of the actress who played Judith Campbell?

Elena Satine.

1 minute ago, possibilities said:

I think they did establish that she's the only one affected. She asked the others and they said nothing was different in their lives.

So far. It seems totally unrealistic, even on this show, that Lucy is the only one whose life would change each time. The others should at least have some tweaks, if they don't want to do something major.

[MissLucas]

4 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

They're in a rush because Flynn is always ahead of them, right? That's how I'm explaining it it to myself. Heh.

*grabs bottle of Janeway's aspirins for time-travel induced headaches*

[Chaos Theory]

The one aspect of the show that needs to change is that Lucy's life is the only one that is going through major changes.  Even if the changes are minor the show needs to show that yes the world has pivoted slightly because this guy lived.  Like maybe Rufus notices a "new guy" and the group realize he is an ancestor of the group of negro soldiers in the Lincoln episode he warned to go north and not south like they planned.  Even something simple like that would show their actions have consequences both good and bad.  

[orza]

32 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

It would actually make more sense to have a team of historians prepare the team for each mission, so that Lucy does not have to function as Wikipedia of historical facts, guardian of the timeline and anachronism police at the same time. They should be properly briefed on any mission by a couple of experts plus they could be given fake identities that  prepared for them while they are being informed on the period they're about to visit. Lucy having to make up a name in the Lincoln episode and Rufus not being able to provide background info on his rank was more than sloppy. The rush they're always in to get on a mission makes no sense since they have a time-machine.

I'd have to go back and rewatch the pilot, but as I recall, the need to rush off without opportunity to thoroughly prepare for a mission was due to the fact that their time machine was tethered to Flynn's machine as a life boat and their machine could only follow the homing beacon Flynn's machine transmitted. They were in permanent pursuit mode while Flynn was in control of time and place with the main machine. Since Flynn was already in the past doing whatever he was doing when they received the homing signal they had to get there as soon as possible to try to thwart him. At least that is my understanding of things.

I suppose they don't have a team of historians in part for real-world production reasons. They don't have the budget to keep a bunch of actors under contract to ensure they will always be available when they may only be needed occasionally, and they can't rely on actors who are not under contract always being available for minor recurring roles whenever they need them.

[legaleagle53]

3 hours ago, MissLucas said:

I'm a card carrying historian with degrees in early modern and medieval history. And yes, I'm pretty knowledgeable in both fields and find my way around other centuries as well since my specialty is so rare that I often have to work outside that particular field and time-period. But I'm still not an expert at everything history like those impressive historians on tv, damn.

It would actually make more sense to have a team of historians prepare the team for each mission, so that Lucy does not have to function as Wikipedia of historical facts, guardian of the timeline and anachronism police at the same time. They should be properly briefed on any mission by a couple of experts plus they could be given fake identities that  prepared for them while they are being informed on the period they're about to visit. Lucy having to make up a name in the Lincoln episode and Rufus not being able to provide background info on his rank was more than sloppy. The rush they're always in to get on a mission makes no sense since they have a time-machine.

And then there's the potential language barrier.  It hasn't been a problem yet since they've so far only gone to places and times where their 21st-Century American English works, but what happens when they go to another era or place where 21st-Century American English simply won't cut it if they need to interact with the locals?  They need to add a polyglot linguist to the team.

Edited October 19, 2016 by legaleagle53

[TexasGal]

Oh Wyatt, you have one job.  And you suck at it.

My random time travel pondering last night, when Lucy was zipping her bag to leave her fiancée - I wonder if she still had her favorite sweater/t shirt/sweatshirt/whatever after the time travel shenanigans.  I'd be really pissed if I came back from "work" and my favorite schlubby sweatshirt was no longer in my closet.

[dubbel zout]

On the other hand, you might find a closet full of clothes you've always wanted to wear but couldn't afford!

Edited October 19, 2016 by dubbel zout

[Cobb Salad]

1 hour ago, orza said:

I suppose they don't have a team of historians in part for real-world production reasons. They don't have the budget to keep a bunch of actors under contract to ensure they will always be available when they may only be needed occasionally, and they can't rely on actors who are not under contract always being available for minor recurring roles whenever they need them.

The writers would have to plan out the story arc well to be able to do this.  Stargate SG-1 did this well in my opinion.  Perhaps mentions of other teams would work.  We wouldn't have to necessarily see them on a regular basis. An interesting story could be about another team being sent out that ends up doing something that affects our team but they don't know it right away or something like that.