Timeless: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Last time on “Timeless:” We met Wyatt, a soldier; Lucy, a history and anthropology expert; and Rufus, a coder. They are enlisted to help retrieve a time machine that’s been stolen by escaped convict Garcia Flynn. He goes back to the Hindenburg and prevents it from exploding as it landed in New Jersey so that he could blow it up while it’s returning to Europe—with several high ranking Americans onboard. With the help of ace reporter Kate Drummond, they are able to thwart his plan though the Hindenburg still blows up hours after it originally did. Flynn gets away, Kate unfortunately dies though from a gunshot wound not a flaming dirigible crashing onto her like in the cold open, and our heroes return to the present. However, Lucy learns that the change made to history has serious repercussions for her—her mother is no longer dying, she’s apparently engaged and her sister, Allison, no longer exists.

Uh oh.

We open in Ford’s Theater, where a production of “Our American Cousin” is being performed. John Wilkes Booth downs some alcohol at a bar before entering the theater, where Lincoln’s body guard is also drinking. The bartender asks Booth when they’ll see him on stage next and he replies that it will be soon. He heads over to Ford’s Theater and makes his way up to the box where Abraham Lincoln sits with Mary, enjoying the show. The Civil War is over and though he faces the difficult task of Reconstruction, he’s going to enjoy himself. But John Wilkes Booth shoots him in the head before leaping to the stage as everyone gasps in horror. He stands on an injured leg, shouts “Sic semper tyrannis,” pretty much says the South will rise again and then makes a run for it.

In the present, Lucy’s mother is trying to get answers from her daughter. Lucy, though, says she has to go. Carol Preston is concerned and wants to know why her daughter keeps asking for someone named Amy. Lucy lies, claiming Amy is a friend from work who needs her help. This satisfies Carol and she lets Lucy leave, reminding her not to forget about tomorrow night. Lucy pretends she has a clue about it and promises she won’t.

Lucy returns to the warehouse and asks Wyatt and Rufus if anything in their lives changed and Rufus reveals his dinner with Jiya bombed but that’s nothing new. She says her sister has been erased and Agent Christopher is like “What are you talking about? You never had a sister named Allison.” Lucy holds up a locket and shows a picture of Allison. Mason is amazed that she has something from the time before history was changed but Agent Christopher snaps him out of it. She is focused on the fact that Flynn is trying to destroy American history and tells them that he’s gone to April 14, 1865. Lucy points out that it’s the day Lincoln is assassinated as they head out to get ready.


Mason reviews the footage from when Flynn stole the mother ship and notes he went straight for Anthony, as if he knew he was the project manager. He is suspicious but Rufus doesn’t think Anthony was in on it. He takes the recorder from Mason and asks what “they” do with them. Mason just gives him a look and Rufus heads off to get ready.

Jiya does seem to share Lucy’s concern or at least sympathizes with her. As she helps Lucy dress, she asks her to give her all the names and dates she remembers. Jiya will work on putting everything together to see if she can figure out what changed after the trip to the Hindenburg. Lucy thanks her and finishes getting ready.

Wyatt and Rufus were given uniforms obtained from Civil War re-enactors and look as uncomfortable as Lucy when she climbs in with her hoop skirt. They settle down and Wyatt tries to reassure Lucy that they will figure out what happened to her sister before the eye takes off. It sends papers flying and Mason decides that they need to get paperweights.

They land and everyone is still not used to it. Wyatt asks if they ever will get used to it but Rufus says they won’t. They climb out of the eye as fireworks light up the sky. Wyatt asks what’s going on and Lucy explains that the Civil War is over, so everyone is celebrating.

Yay!

John Wilkes Booth wanders amongst the revelers, looking drunk. And pissed off. But mostly drunk. Flynn comes upon him and says he’s a fan. Booth asks which role he saw him in and Flynn replies that he’s not a fan of his stage work. He says he knows what Booth is planning on doing, which gets his attention. They wander off together.

In the morning, our heroes head down to Ford’s Theater. Lucy gives them a rundown about Lincoln’s day and Wyatt asks her how she knows so much. She says that countless books have been written about it and he asks if she’s read them all. Yes and she wrote one herself. Of course she has. Anyway, she explains that John Wilkes Booth was part of family of well-known actors, though his brother Edwin was more popular. Rufus asks if it is like it was like if Donnie Wahlberg killed someone and she agrees.

What did Donnie Wahlberg ever do to you, writers?

Wyatt asks why they’re at Ford’s Theater now and how does it help them find Booth. Lucy says that he’s very familiar with Ford’s Theater and in fact has his mail delivered there. She thinks it’ll be a good place to start looking either for where Booth might be or to intercept any communications Flynn might send him. Wyatt agrees to go in with her while Rufus stays outside. They head into the theater and split up to find the mailroom.

Rufus is found by some black soldiers who realize his uniform marks him as an officer. He calls himself Denzel Washington and says he was born free and they ask if he is literate. Rufus says he is and one soldier shoves a notebook at him, asking him to write something for him. It’s an ad that he wants to put in the paper so he can find his wife and children.

Though Rufus is a bit thrown off by actually having to write one of these, he takes down the man’s information. All four soldiers seem pretty stoked about Lincoln and freedom so he tries to lower their expectations. It doesn’t go over well and when pressed, they figure out he’s not really a soldier. They chase him off, mistaking him for someone pretending to be a soldier to get women and accolades.

Lucy lurks around the Ford Theater mail room, trying to find any correspondence for John Wilkes Booth. She’s then startled by a handsome man in a soldier’s uniform who asks who she is. She lies that she’s a new actress named Juliet Shakesman who has just started working in the theater. The soldier introduces himself as Robert Lincoln.

You know—the President’s son.

He and Lucy flirt a bit before he explains that he’s there to return General Grant’s tickets for the performance of “Our American Cousin.” Something’s come up and he won’t be able to attend. Lucy takes them and then tries to convince Robert to change his father’s mind about going to the theater. It doesn’t appear to sway him, though.

And then in comes John Wilkes Booth. Lucy is trying not to act like she’s in a room with an assassin, Robert is chill because it’s just John Wilkes Booth and I may be singing the Ballad of Booth from Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins. (They say your ship was sinking, John/You started missing cues/They say it wasn’t Lincoln, John/You merely had a slew of bad reviews!)

Robert then informs Lucy about how John Wilkes Booth’s brother Edwin saved his life the month before. It’s a true story too. Robert was on his way home to Washington when he slipped off a train platform as the train was coming in. Edwin Booth jumped onto the tracks and pulled Robert to safety as the train pulled in. Lucy is amazed and you would think she would know this one.

Anyway, Lucy hands John Wilkes his mail and is still somewhat star struck but realizes she needs to find Flynn. So she excuses herself from Robert and hurries to meet up with Wyatt and Rufus.

They talk together and Rufus asks about changing history, about saving Lincoln. Lucy tries to explain why it would be a bad idea, reminding them that the Hindenburg cost her her sister. She says her job is to protect history and she’s going to do that.

Flynn hands out modern weaponry to the conspirators who are plotting to kill Lincoln though Booth refuses one. He prefers his Derringer, saying it’s more dramatic. Flynn’s like “actors” when he spots our Time Trio heading toward the boardinghouse. He opens fire as Wyatt and Rufus try to process there was more than one person in on the plot to kill Lincoln. They flee but Wyatt is hit in the process.

Wyatt and Lucy return to the boardinghouse where they’ve been staying. He realizes that he was shot with modern guns, meaning Flynn has helped arm the assassination plot. They both know that’s not good. Rufus returns so she explains that it is believed that Lincoln was assassinated as part of a bigger plot that would’ve also seen the assassinations of Vice President Johnson, Secretary of State Seward and General Grant. She says Grant leaves town that day and she guesses the other assassins just didn’t go through with their plans.

Wyatt says that they’ll have a better shot with the weaponry that Flynn has provided for them. Lucy worries about how that will change history, saying they have to make sure Grant, Johnson and Seward stay safe. She decides to go make sure Grant gets on a train out of town while Rufus gets the bullet out of Wyatt’s side.

When Lucy gets to the train station, she finds that the train has been disabled. Robert is down there, trying to help fix it but he says it looks like Grant will be staying in town. So he and the General will be attending the play. He invites Lucy to go with him and she agrees.

As Lucy hurries from the station, someone grabs her. It’s Flynn. He tells her to stop interfering and she asks why he’s trying to destroy America. Flynn insists he’s trying to save it. Lucy says no one knew anything about someone named Rittenhouse and Flynn snaps that it’s not a person. He says that one day she’s going to realize he’s working for good and will join him. She doesn’t think so.

Lucy returns to the boardinghouse and reveals that Flynn disabled Grant’s train. Wyatt asks if she saw Flynn and she says she did, but doesn’t reveal she spoke to him. Instead, she makes up a story about seeing him slipping away amongst the chaos at the train station. Lucy reveals that Robert Lincoln has invited her to the play and so she’s going. Wyatt wants them to have some weapons and she pulls out two guns, asking if these will do.

Rufus asks if they are going to save everyone but Lincoln. Lucy replies that it’s history and they can’t rescue changing anything more. She says it’s something that happens and that while the present isn’t perfect, it’s theirs. They need to protect it. Wyatt asks if his wife was supposed to die, judging by Lucy’s logic. She is shaken but resolute in her belief that they need to protect the present.

Lucy changes into the dress she bought to wear to the theater and the proprietor yells up that Robert is there to pick her up. She makes sure she has her pistol and Rufus tells her to think about who she saves that night. They wish each other luck and she leaves.

Wyatt breaks into Seward’s house, discovering one of the assassins. A fight ensues, waking the house. Wyatt kills the assassin and when Seward comes down, he bolts.

Lucy sits in the box at Ford’s Theater, scared out of her mind and trying to think of a way to get General Grant out of the box. She also keeps glancing back at the door and Robert assures her that his father is always late. Lucy tries to be brave but is still failing.

Rufus hangs out in the lobby of a hotel, waiting for the person who is going to shoot the Vice President. He spots a strange man and tries to get to Johnson’s security detail. But the soldiers from earlier stop him, thinking he’s going to hurt Johnson. He tries to convince them otherwise but they don’t believe him until someone else rises with a gun. Rufus knocks off his aim, keeping him from shooting Johnson and the other soldiers detain him. They offer to buy Rufus a drink, now considering him to be a soldier. He has to refuse, though. Before he leaves, he tells his new friend to head north and not to go south.

Things are still tense for Lucy in the box. She hasn’t figured out how to get General Grant out of the box and on top of it, Abraham Lincoln has arrived. Robert introduces her to his father and she tries not to fangirl out as she gets to meet one of her idols. She takes her seat again, close to tears.

Outside, Booth downs some liquid courage and prepares to head over to Ford’s Theater. He’s accosted by Flynn, who is eager for him to pull it off. They argue over the weapon again but this time it ends with Flynn knocking Booth out.

Noticing Lucy’s discomfort, Robert asks if she wants some water. She realizes she can use the water to her benefit and explains she can get it. Lucy pours herself a glass before “accidentally” spilling it on Grant. He goes out to dry himself and she feels better.

But it doesn’t get rid of him for good. He returns and Lucy grows nervous again. Especially as Flynn bursts through the door seconds later. She shouts a warning to Lincoln but it’s all for naught—Flynn shoots him. He tries to turn the gun on Grant but she recovers her wits with enough time to wrestle him, stopping him. She is thrown to the couch and Flynn fights off Robert Lincoln, jumping to the stage and running off. Lucy joins the others in tending to President Lincoln.

Wyatt and Rufus meet up with Lucy, noticing the blood on her dress. She explains she stopped him from shooting Grant but not Lincoln. Robert stumbles out of the house they took his father to and he approaches Lucy, telling her his father didn’t make it. She apologizes and he thanks her for saving General Grant.

Our heroes pile back into the Eye (which I’m officially dubbing it) and buckle up. Lucy says she was going to let Lincoln die but when she saw Flynn holding the gun, she called out a warning. She says it was easier to talk about history and saying they couldn’t change it. But when she was faced with Lincoln, her views changed. Rufus and Wyatt seem to understand.

It seems Mason’s order to use paperweights was immediate as Jiya watches hers shake right before the Eye appears. Everyone gathers round as our heroes emerge from within it. Lucy looks at them and asks: “Who shot Lincoln?”

Answer: Not John Wilkes Booth. Now it’s just some unknown man while Wyatt is an anonymous man who saved Seward and some white guy gets credit for saving Johnson. Because, you know, history! Juliet Shakesman is noted as helping to save Grant and there’s a high school named for her in Ohio. Agent Christopher congratulates them on a job well done but Lucy’s miffed because they changed history. Agent Christopher tells them it’s small beans and to take the win.

(How does this change Assassins? Instead of the “Ballad of Booth”, we get the “Ballad of Unknown Guy”?)

Jiya shows her research to Lucy. She reveals that Lucy’s father, Henry, didn’t marry her mother. Instead, he married the granddaughter of a woman who originally died on the Hindenburg. Lucy says that explains why her mother doesn’t have cancer—Henry got Carol hooked on cigarettes. She just doesn’t understand why only Amy was wiped from existence and Jiya waits for her to put the pieces together. It hits Lucy like a brick—Henry wasn’t a father. Her mother has been lying to her her whole life.

Lucy heads home, ready to confront her mother when she walks into a party. She remembers that her mother had told her about this and Carol chides her for being late to her own engagement party. Lucy wants to talk about her father but she refuses. Carol leaves Lucy alone as a handsome man creeps up behind her. It’s her fiancé and all Lucy can say is: “Hi.”

So that was Episode 2! I think the show is starting to hit its stride and the team is starting to gel together. Naturally they won’t blend immediately and it’s nice to see them debating amongst each other. I think each of them have good reasons for their approaches to preserving history and character development supports this.

Next week: We’re off to Vegas, baby!