S01.E07: Stranded

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

The trio track Garcia Flynn to 1754, where they land in hostile territory and must learn to trust one another to survive. Also, Agent Christopher investigates Connor Mason, and Jiya suspects that Rufus might be able to communicate with the present.

[green]

Glad Homeland Security lady gets to do some stuff finally but who is this Jiya?  Is she his girl friend from episode one we haven't see in like forever?

[dubbel zout]

She's played by Claudia Doumit. She's the tech person who helped Lucy with a few things. She's a supporting regular.

[green]

11 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

She's played by Claudia Doumit. She's the tech person who helped Lucy with a few things. She's a supporting regular.

Okay then you mean the young woman Rufus has a thing for.  Thanks.

[withanaich]

She was also the one who figured out how to track Flynn's machine in the present day (until he found the new power source), but we haven't really heard from her since then.

[Demian]

I keep wanting to quit this dumb show, but then they give me several shots of Matt Lanter's well-turned legs in breeches and hose, and I'm stuck watching it for yet another goddamned week.

Nice, though, that they addressed the issue of (Adjunct?) Professor Preston's journal at the end.  When they initially got stranded, all I thought was, "Well, we know they all survive this, because of that stupid journal."  The end-of-episode conversation opens the possibility that she starts faking part or all of it (if she even writes it in the first place).

(Though to be totally honest, when they initially got stranded, what I actually thought was, "Hell, I'd hate to be stuck in Pittsburgh forever, too.")

[Quilt Fairy]

So apart from some really good team bonding, we learn nothing about Flynn in this ep.

[Driad]

1754 is a bit late for the first American UFO sighting.  Try 1639.

http://www.history.com/news/americas-first-ufo-sighting 

[benteen]

I really enjoy this show more and more every week.  Loved the French and Indian War setting, even if it was a backdrop to the excellent character interaction between the trio.

[sjohnson]

Can't resist commenting that Nonhelema was a real person. The brother she referred to was Cornstalk, the leading chief at the battle of Point Pleasant. His daughter Aracoma is memorialized in an outdoor pageant in Logan WV. Nice as it was to see Karina Lombard (The 4400) again, the real woman was reportedly six foot six.

[shapeshifter]

39 minutes ago, Driad said:

1754 is a bit late for the first American UFO sighting.  Try 1639.

http://www.history.com/news/americas-first-ufo-sighting 

Plus, the time machine doesn't fly, so it would have to be an Unidentified Spinning Object.

[memememe76]

I loved loved loved the scene where the 3 of them shared certain things about themselves. I am not suggesting this show is an artistic masterpiece, but when I can watch the characters just hang and talk I will forgive a lot.

Edited November 22, 2016 by memememe76

[KaveDweller]

I liked that the episode changed the formula a bit by starting with them already in the past. For a minute I thought they were going to do the whole flashback to 24 hours earlier, so I was impressed they just went chronologically from the middle of the trip. I also liked that we saw they had a protocol for when someone gets stuck in the past. That seems like a pretty important thing to have set up, and you rarely see it in place in time travel shows.

[henripootel]

45 minutes ago, Driad said:

1754 is a bit late for the first American UFO sighting.  Try 1639.

http://www.history.com/news/americas-first-ufo-sighting 

Try 1492

http://www.ufoevidence.org/cases/case487.htm

I'm still surprised by how much I'm enjoying this show.  The Time Team isn't particularly good at their job, they dealt with the fact that their ship is just sitting there unprotected, and (unless I misunderstood) acknowledged that Lucy may now never write her journal, nor does she need to - if it exists from another time line, it exists.  They're also getting a lot out of their CGI budget - very cool seeing the historical sites recreated.

[methodwriter85]

53 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

I liked that the episode changed the formula a bit by starting with them already in the past. For a minute I thought they were going to do the whole flashback to 24 hours earlier, so I was impressed they just went chronologically from the middle of the trip. I also liked that we saw they had a protocol for when someone gets stuck in the past. That seems like a pretty important thing to have set up, and you rarely see it in place in time travel shows.

I tuned in a minute later and I wondered if the show had already started early or something. It was driving me crazy but then I figured they must have started this right in the middle of the adventure.

I really liked how it changed things up a bit, and how it really was a good team bonding episode without them having to chase after Flynn.

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I keep wanting to quit this dumb show, but then they give me several shots of Matt Lanter's well-turned legs in breeches and hose, and I'm stuck watching it for yet another goddamned week.

I've never really been that into his body- it's really those eyes that are the real show-stopper. But he does have a great boy-next-door look. Which is why he's really hard to buy as a hardened soldier, LOL.

The land was awfully kind of flat for future Pittsburgh, but whatever. LOL. (Oh, TV geography, never change.)

[niklj]

40 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

I tuned in a minute later and I wondered if the show had already started early or something. It was driving me crazy but then I figured they must have started this right in the middle of the adventure.

I thought I missed an episode or something lol

This episode made me realize that I only really care about the parts where they're in history--the other stuff including all the Rittenhouse stuff is too bland for me. I tuned out whenever they went back to the lab.

[Dowel Jones]

50 minutes ago, methodwriter85 said:

The land was awfully kind of flat for future Pittsburgh,

And a lot of western conifers, too.

The name checking needs to stop.  Dr. Flynn, medicine woman? Yawn.  Flux Capacitor?  Double yawn.

Flynn's (the real one) plan to ambush them was something original.  But, assuming they made it out alive in 1754, they could possibly disrupt history, intentionally or not, enough to sink his plan to change history and stop Rittenhouse. 

Note to Rufus:  start carrying extra parts, like, for everything. 

The Mason team really needs to build another eyeball, if, for no other reason, that the Flynn's machine looks so much nicer than the prototype.  One must keep up appearances.

I liked how they dipped their toe in the free will/fate debate there at the end of the show. 

[Demian]

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'[H]e's really hard to buy as a hardened soldier..."

Yeah, never bought that, either, but goddamn:  He's awfully pretty to look at.

[bros402]

That was a fun episode.

 

3 hours ago, Driad said:

1754 is a bit late for the first American UFO sighting.  Try 1639.

http://www.history.com/news/americas-first-ufo-sighting 

 

I believe they said "One of the first North American UFO sightings." Not the first.

[JackONeill]

Good, fun episode. Like many have said, I too like the interactions/conversations between the leads. I especially liked the bar scene at the end. Talk about a good way to build a team (not that I'm encouraging drinking).

[vibeology]

6 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

The name checking needs to stop.  Dr. Flynn, medicine woman? Yawn.  Flux Capacitor?  Double yawn.

Dr. Quinn! Jane Seymour! I loved that shoutout because that show would have been a thing when Lucy was a kid so it would have stuck in her head.

I enjoyed seeing the team forced into a bonding situation to fix the fractures caused by last week's adventure. I like all three of them to varying degrees (Wyatt is still not as developed as I'd like and Lucy has some problems too but both are likable characters) so having them together, stressed and then bonded was a fun way to spend the hour.

The stuff with Rufus and Jiya fell pretty flat for me. They've spent a few minutes together in the past six episodes and while both actors are charming, I had a very hard time caring about their romance. I'm glad she was able to figure out the message and save the team, but I don't care if they become a couple. It's especially a problem because the team spends so little time in the present that I know we're not going to get much development going forward.

It's time to start building another time machine! They need an actual backup and its a time machine so it doesn't really matter when they build it, it can still go back to the exact moment the team gets trapped and bring them into the future. They might miss a couple of months but its still better than dying of smallpox.

Lucy speaks French?

[wanderingstar]

Rufus and Jiya are so sweet. I want to see more of their relationship.

I also really like the Rufus/Mason relationship - seems like they are going for a father/son type bond with those two, and I am digging it.

Was there no Garcia Flynn in this ep? I need his shady/shadowy presence in every ep, show!

Wyatt is so whiny and annoying. He is the only  character who just doesn't work for me. 

Edited November 22, 2016 by Gillian Rosh

[dubbel zout]

9 minutes ago, vibeology said:

Lucy speaks French?

I was surprised we didn't get more of a mention from Wyatt, since in the Nazi Germany episode we learned he spoke four languages (whether that's English plus three or English plus four is still unclear). It's a little odd he wouldn't also know French, but as I wrote in that thread, he'll speak whatever language the plot calls for. Heh.

The protocol was clever; I was impressed the show thought that through, as there's a lot that it hasn't.

6 hours ago, Dowel Jones said:

I liked how they dipped their toe in the free will/fate debate there at the end of the show. 

Same here. When you're messing around changing history, it's something to ponder.

[Netfoot]

8 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I liked that the episode changed the formula a bit

Me too.  Most especially that we had absolutely zero brooding Flynn.

23 minutes ago, vibeology said:

Dr. Quinn! Jane Seymour! I loved that shoutout...

I used to watch that show, just to see what sort of medicine Dr. Quinn would invent next.  Until the episode she discovered product negligence in a baby bottle, and suggested her patients sue the manufacturers.  Thereby inventing product liability lawsuits and malpractice insurance all in one fell swoop.

Never liked her after that.

Best part of the show was when the future-travelers scattered ACP brass all through the surrounding shrubbery, for the archaeologists of the future to discover!  Along with the DB with VISA cards, etc, in his wallet...  So, I think it's safe to say that any pretext of preserving the timeline is now forgotten.  Next week, they should just all just dress up as Starwars stormtroopers, and who ever they meet?  They can bedazzle them with bullshit.  Where are they off to next week, anyhow?

Did somebody say that Rufus built the timeship?  

[Primetimer]

And time is on my side -- yes it is.

View the full article

[benteen]

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The stuff with Rufus and Jiya fell pretty flat for me.

It didn't help that Jiva has had virtually nothing to say since the pilot episode.

I liked that they started out in the middle of their adventure too and completely expected that we would get a "24 hours ago" caption on the screen.

[saber5055]

After watching Free Birds this weekend, all I could think of was Rufus and team need to install a clocking device on The Flying Eyeball. I mean, if the turkeys could do it, why not these people?

Oh, nuts. I mean CLOAKING device. Sorry, can't edit my post. (I obviously can't proof read, either.)

[DearEvette]

9 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

I really liked how it changed things up a bit, and how it really was a good team bonding episode without them having to chase after Flynn.

Yup, that is how I feel about this one.  They needed to work through some of the distrust and where better to do it than when they are in jeopardy in the past?  Also liked that for once Rufus being the black guy worked in his favor.  Ha! 

[Shanna Marie]

10 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I liked that the episode changed the formula a bit by starting with them already in the past. For a minute I thought they were going to do the whole flashback to 24 hours earlier, so I was impressed they just went chronologically from the middle of the trip.

That was such a pleasant surprise. The "24 hours earlier" or "one week earlier" thing has been so overused on TV lately that it amounts to saying "we couldn't think of an interesting way to hook you into this episode, so we're starting with something exciting later in the episode and then doing an extended flashback." So I was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the "24 hours earlier" thing, and it was a delight when it never happened. The story wasn't in them getting there. It was in them getting home.

I would say that one way that Wyatt earns his keep is that he keeps his head in a crisis. The other two get stuck on worrying they're going to die, and he's the one focused on getting out, both at the beginning when they were captured and then when the ship was damaged and he was forcing Rufus to think through what could be done. But then Rufus really rose to the occasion when they were captured again. Maybe they'll all learn a little something from each other.

I'm a little confused about Rufus's personal life. Didn't they show him with a family last week? There were kids he was having to worry about, and Rittenhouse threatened his family. But he's dating (or trying to or wanting to) a co-worker? And can't talk to women? I guess he could be raising his brother's kids, since they mentioned him taking responsibility for his brother.

And we have a better explanation about why Lucy's on the team. She's not Super!Historian. She was selected for other reasons. Her broad range of fairly superficial knowledge actually makes some sense if she's a junior faculty member teaching the 101 Survey of American History type course and she's not supposed to be the world's leading expert on anything.

[dubbel zout]

17 minutes ago, Shanna Marie said:

And we have a better explanation about why Lucy's on the team.

For me, at least, the reason she was selected came at the end of last week's episode, when we found out her birth father is a Rittenhouse poobah.

[Shanna Marie]

Just now, dubbel zout said:

For me, at least, the reason she was selected came at the end of last week's episode, when we found out her birth father is a Rittenhouse poobah.

But it was confirmed this week that biodad apparently pulled strings. Before, it was a good guess. Now we know.

[DearEvette]

1 hour ago, Shanna Marie said:

I'm a little confused about Rufus's personal life. Didn't they show him with a family last week? There were kids he was having to worry about, and Rittenhouse threatened his family. But he's dating (or trying to or wanting to) a co-worker? And can't talk to women? I guess he could be raising his brother's kids, since they mentioned him taking responsibility for his brother.

He lives with his mother and brother.  The same brother, I believe, that Mason mentioned in his first meeting with Rufus.  Rittenhouse made a sinister comment about the brother going to basketball practice.

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, Shanna Marie said:

I'm a little confused about Rufus's personal life. Didn't they show him with a family last week? There were kids he was having to worry about, and Rittenhouse threatened his family. But he's dating (or trying to or wanting to) a co-worker? And can't talk to women? I guess he could be raising his brother's kids, since they mentioned him taking responsibility for his brother.

Last week they showed him living with his mom and younger brother and helping support them. The brother looked college age and it was implied Rufus was paying for his school costs.

[AV8n]

I'm a little worried Rufus is only interested in Jiya because Ryan Lochte keeps shouting her name. Glad they finally addressed that sexual tension, though. It was so thick you could cut it with a Bowie knife.

IMO, building a capacitor using only items found in a mid-18th century frontier fortification is still a couple of orders of magnitude easier than finding one at Radio Shack. There's a reason they've been slowly going tits up.

You wouldn't jump out of an airplane without a reserve chute, so why would you travel into the past without some way to perform at least minor repairs on the machine? Oh, and whoever built/procured the time capsule thingy needs to go. That plan doesn't work if the time capsule gets a crack in it!

[Netfoot]

3 minutes ago, AV8n said:

IMO, building a capacitor using only items found in a mid-18th century frontier fortification is still a couple of orders of magnitude easier than finding one at Radio Shack. There's a reason they've been slowly going tits up.

Agreed.  All he'd need is a couple pieces of metal foil and a sheet of paper.  Building a capacitor with the right capacity for his application is another story, of course...

[AV8n]

4 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

I was surprised we didn't get more of a mention from Wyatt, since in the Nazi Germany episode we learned he spoke four languages (whether that's English plus three or English plus four is still unclear). It's a little odd he wouldn't also know French, but as I wrote in that thread, he'll speak whatever language the plot calls for. Heh.

My guess would be Arabic, Pashto and Urdu, since he'd have probably saw a lot of action in the Middle East and Afghanistan prior to joining the Time Travel Club.

[dr pepper]

When Rufus said "capacitor", he was referring to the modern kind, acting in microseconds and rated in picofarads. What he built was a leyden jar, capable of delivering shocks or doing static stunts. It would be completely inadequate as a replacement.

[CooperTV]

This episode didn't push overarching plot forward like the last one did but it was adorable and full of great team and team-building moments for everyone. They managed to cram a lot of character development for the mains and for one-off characters that it felt like the story had the actual stakes.

Rufus is Star Wars fan? look, Rufus, I'm not going to let you live your lack of knowledge about Deep Throat at all now. You're a geek! HDU!

Wyatt is an actual German Shepherd puppy that has to deal with bratty whiny five-year-olds in adult bodies on the regular. He was mad at them in the woods but he was so cute doing that!

ETA: Also? How cool is that the show is constantly addresses the fact that two main characters out of three are not actually 100% qualified at all in what they're doing and are only there because someone pulled strings (Lucy's biological dad with Lucy and Lucy and Rufus with Wyatt).

Edited November 22, 2016 by CooperTV

[iMonrey]

I'm not sure I like the implications of that last conversation about Lucy's journal. It seemed to suggest that if Lucy ends up writing the journal it means she eventually "turns to the dark side" to work with Flynn. Does that mean the show is resolved to make Flynn a villain? I thought from the start we would eventually learn he's the good guy which is why Lucy eventually ends up helping him. I'd say it's a safe bet Rittenhouse is up to no good, considering the way they keep threatening Rufus. I get the potential danger of what Flynn is doing since he could wipe out civilization as we know it in his quest to bring down Rittenhouse, but I also think his motivation isn't evil.

Quote

The name checking needs to stop.  Dr. Flynn, medicine woman? Yawn.  Flux Capacitor?  Double yawn.

Pfft - I actually enjoyed those little shout-outs. I especially chuckled over Wyatt asking if the kind of capacitor they needed was a flux capacitor. He got all excited there for a second, like "Hey, I know this stuff!" Nerd.

I also got a kick out of the fort doctor describing the barbarous ways in which he intended to treat Wyatt . . . rectally.

[Dowel Jones]

5 hours ago, Netfoot said:

VISA cards, etc, in his wallet...

SOMEbody is going to have an enormous finance charge on that card.

Quote

What he built was a leyden jar, capable of delivering shocks or doing static stunts. It would be completely inadequate as a replacement.

All you need to make it work is a thin coating of handwavium on the surface.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Dowel Jones

[dubbel zout]

32 minutes ago, CooperTV said:

ETA: Also? How cool is that the show is constantly addresses the fact that two main characters out of three are not actually 100% qualified at all in what they're doing and are only there because someone pulled strings (Lucy's biological dad with Lucy and Lucy and Rufus with Wyatt).

Wyatt is somewhat hamstrung by the fact that if he does kill Flynn, the show is over. (Or, at the very least, its current premise takes a gigantic hit.) That aside, I think he's been pretty effective at his job, which is basically to be the muscle.

[green]

Well this wasn't my favorite episode.  I so wanted them to remain stranded in the past a few episodes.  Or jump blind into a roulette wheel of possibilities.  Look for clues about Rittenhouse along the way.  Mix things up a little.

Also I hate the endless 3-2-1 countdowns on shows where the heroes get saved at the very last second.  I was hoping they would do something different with that and Jiya wouldn't be able to captured the Millennium Falcon in her Death Star's tractor beam.

Also the fact that the original Rittenhouse was alive in 1754 albeit only 22 years old would have been fun to explore.

Which brings me to a question.  If Lucy and Rufus and especially Flynn all know that Rittenhouse is a very big deal why didn't they just google "Rittenhouse" online, read the wikipedia bio of him then jump back to Philadelphia circa the 1770's?  Hello Flynn, put Lucy's journal down and if you want to stop Rittenhouse why not start with THE Rittenhouse or find out why the organization names themselves after him at least?

I did like that we keep seeing a softening in Mason's personality.  We have seen that over the last few episodes but it was like a neon sign this episode with his worry over Rufus.

And Wyatt remains as stupid as ever.  Laughed at the flux capacitors.  Groaned at his "choosing" to drink a beer proves free will.  What a dunce.  Hint Wyatt, it is both.  You take an action and reactions happen from it and they build up into a web that binds you over your life or even lifetimes into destinies of reactions from same all the while you are creating fresh destines by struggling in said web with your precious little free will that never makes you free but just binds you tighter.  Especially you Wyatt in the dumb "choices" you are always making.  See "wife, dead".  (Nope I have never warmed up to this character in the least and likely never will).

[henripootel]

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After watching Free Birds this weekend, all I could think of was Rufus and team need to install a clocking device on The Flying Eyeball.

I know this is a typo but a clocking device might actually solve a lot of their problems.  Cloaking might involve a ton of technological innovations they just don't have but a simple solution to keeping the eyeball safe might be just to set a clock and if they're not back in 24 hours, have it move itself, say, 3 miles directly south.  This'd help if they eyeball is surrounded by the assembled Hoards of Genghis Kahn, who might not be able to get inside but could certainly make getting into it rather difficult.

And not to be a pedant, but is it possible to set off C4 with a gunshot?  I thought that was one of it's great virtues, that it's practically impossible to set it off accidentally.  

[Bort]

13 minutes ago, henripootel said:

And not to be a pedant, but is it possible to set off C4 with a gunshot?  I thought that was one of it's great virtues, that it's practically impossible to set it off accidentally.  

You can if the explosive charge is implanted, as it was in this case. He shot the charge. If he'd missed and merely sunk a bullet into the C4 itself, nothing would have happened. 

[CooperTV]

21 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

Wyatt is somewhat hamstrung by the fact that if he does kill Flynn, the show is over. (Or, at the very least, its current premise takes a gigantic hit.) That aside, I think he's been pretty effective at his job, which is basically to be the muscle.

Yeah, I actually agree with you about Wyatt because he's good at what he does but the the show teases him mercilessly for providing him with an Idiot Ball regarding Flynn. They should make Flynn less capable of escaping certain death. Or at least give Wyatt an episode where he injures him a little.

[iMonrey]

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Wyatt is somewhat hamstrung by the fact that if he does kill Flynn, the show is over. (Or, at the very least, its current premise takes a gigantic hit.)

And this is something the show is going to have to address, and fast. They can't keep doing week after week of Flynn going back to a certain time/event, Lucy and gang following him and foiling his plan, lather rinse repeat. It's only episode 7 and already it's gotten kind of ridiculous. How many different points in history is Flynn going to try to destroy in order to bring down Rittenhouse and how many times is Wyatt going to fail to capture or kill him?

Quote

  I so wanted them to remain stranded in the past a few episodes.  Or jump blind into a roulette wheel of possibilities.  Look for clues about Rittenhouse along the way.  Mix things up a little.

This is exactly what needs to happen. And they squandered the perfect opportunity: with the time machine damaged maybe they lose their link to their present and each trip just takes them to some random year. That would go a long way toward fixing the problem inherent in this show's premise. They could eventually find themselves back in present day, and then have to go back again because Flynn finally succeeded in really screwing up history. 

Basically, they just need to get somewhere and quit chasing their tails.

Quote

If Lucy and Rufus and especially Flynn all know that Rittenhouse is a very big deal why didn't they just google "Rittenhouse" online, read the wikipedia bio of him then jump back to Philadelphia circa the 1770's?

I'm assuming that Rittenhouse is some really sooooper dooper secret organization that you won't find in Wikipedia, otherwise Lucy - the greatest historian in the history of historians - would have heard about it.

Edited November 22, 2016 by iMonrey

[green]

I agree Rittenhouse may not have evolved from some idea or plans of the original Rittenhouse.  But the organization is made to sound like a Masons conspiracy thing sprinkled with Illumaniti and Knights Templar seasonings and there had to be some reason the organization chose that name. 

And they did say last episode that the organization started back in what?  1778 was it.  Rittenhouse would have been 46 years old then and part of the founding fathers group since he went on to become the first secretary of the treasury under Washington.  So it does sound like the real guy could possibly even if inadvertently been involved in it's founding.  Perhaps the original organization was far from what it has become and by warning the original Rittenhouse about what would happen to his group it could have been set on a new path at least.

Edited November 22, 2016 by green

[legaleagle53]

1 hour ago, Netfoot said:

Agreed.  All he'd need is a couple pieces of metal foil and a sheet of paper.  Building a capacitor with the right capacity for his application is another story, of course...

I'm only surprised that Rufus didn't complain about having to build a capacitor out of "stone knives and bearskins."  That would have given viewers a Star Trek reference as well as a Star Wars reference.

1 hour ago, AV8n said:

My guess would be Arabic, Pashto and Urdu, since he'd have probably saw a lot of action in the Middle East and Afghanistan prior to joining the Time Travel Club.

Oh, Arabic would definitely be one of his other languages.  He could also speak a bit of Japanese if he was ever stationed in Japan.  I'm just surprised that none of them apparently speaks Spanish.

[basiltherat]

Note to eyeball crew:  next  time, bring the Sonic Screwdriver.

[iMonrey]

6 hours ago, PreviouslyTV said:

And time is on my side -- yes it is.

View the full article

Oh, snap. The recap makes a very meta mistake after Jiya just got done saying she was Star Trek and Rufus was Star Wars and never the 'twain shall meet. 

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For some reason, she couldn't actually use the phrase "tractor beam" despite describing it by talking about the very movie that it happens in. WTF? Does Gene Roddenberry have a trademark on "tractor beam"? 

The tractor beam in question - the one used by the Death Star to pull the Millennium Falcon - is from Star Wars. Gene Roddenberry is Star Trek.

Quote

 Rittenhouse would have been 46 years old then and part of the founding fathers group since he went on to become the first secretary of the treasury under Washington. 

I don't think Rittenhouse was ever a person. Flynn said it was a "what" not a "who." Granted, maybe originally it was named after a person, but that's just speculation at this point.