Timeless Season 2: Episode 5 – “The Kennedy Curse”

The show opens in Wallingford, Connecticut 1934. A young man, Jack, is called to his English teacher’s office for a conference. When he enters, his English teacher asks him to shut the door. As soon as Jack turns around, the teacher produces a gun. Obviously, this guy is a sleeper agent, but before he can do anything, Garcia Flynn barges in and bullets starts flying.

We’re now in Time Travel Central where Lucy is recovering from sepsis due to the stab wound she received in the 1600s. The first person Lucy asks for is Wyatt. Jiya tells her that Wyatt is on a mission. Jiya admits she knows about Lucy and Wyatt’s night together and it must be difficult for her.

Lucy, being the strong woman she is, says she’ll be fine, until she meets Jessica in the kitchen. Jessica inquires Lucy about her job (“I’m a historian, a teacher”) and what she does for the team. They exchange small talk, but Lucy handles herself extremely well.

The lifeboat arrives without Flynn. Wyatt and Rufus explain they were almost too late to save the target and that they had to leave Flynn. They pull the young man, Jack, from the lifeboat and Lucy instantly recognizes him.

It’s young John F. Kennedy and Agent Christopher hits the roof.

Jack wakes up and they explain they were hired by his father to protect him from attempted kidnapping threats. Lucy explains Wyatt and Rufus are there to keep him safe. They leave him to adjust, you know, which is never a good idea to leave someone alone in a situation like this. But I digress.

Wyatt jokes, “It’s hard to believe that skinny kid grows up to bang Marilyn Monroe.”

Lucy counters, “His intern and mistress, Mimi Offred, said he [JFK] had a way of making a woman feel like she was the only woman one that mattered, even when he was married to someone else.”

Wyatt apologizes but said he had no other options (than to bring Jessica to the bunker). Before Lucy can explain how absolutely awkward it is, Jessica enters.

While Lucy’s in the kitchen, Agent Christopher talks to her, tries to get her to talk about how upsetting it probably was for Carol (Preston) to accuse Lucy of being a witch. She offers her ear for Lucy to vent, but Lucy says she’s fine, which we all know she isn’t. After making a sandwich for their newest guest, Lucy goes back to the room, but JFK has squeezed out of a vent and is gone.

JFK’s gone and the team has to formulate a plan because without JFK there’s no Peace Corps, no immigration reform, no Civil Rights Act. Reluctantly, Agent Christopher sends Wyatt out to find the young future president. Wyatt tells Lucy she should probably sit this one out and Jessica offers to come along. Agent Christopher refuses, saying the missions are dangerous and Jessica counters with, “Well she’s [Lucy] a teacher.”

This obviously annoys Lucy, but Wyatt suggest Jessica come as an extra set of eyes. Lucy suddenly feels well enough to help and is also coming along.

Awkward.

Jiya and Rufus are staying in the bunker to watch security cameras and traffic cameras for any signs of JFK.

Our future president finds the closest building, a gas station, and is completely overwhelmed with the modern technology. He quickly figures out he’s not in 1934 Connecticut, but 2018 in California. Despite his worries and “strange” questions, he befriends a girl, Kayla. She and her friends are heading to Palo Alto. Kayla says he can join them.

Back at the bunker, Jiya, being the rockstar and positive person she is, encourages Rufus, saying they will find JFK because they all still remember him as the president. Connor finds the assumption interesting since they are still familiar with JFK as president that assures them he makes it back, but Rufus isn’t as sure.

Lucy, Jessica, and Wyatt arrive at the gas station. Lucy says JFK is her brother and off his meds. The clerk isn’t totally convinced to tell them anything, even after Wyatt shows his military card. With some quick thinking, Jessica steps in, lying her butt off and helping them gain the clerk’s confidence. He tells them JFK headed out with some other customers and gives a description of the car.

JFK and company are driving and he’s obviously fascinated with the diversity of the kids in the car. He admits he goes to a school where everyone is white and all the others in the car roll their eyes and mumble about private schools. After a bit of small talk, he starts having severe stomach pain and they head to a hospital.

Wyatt, Jessica, and Lucy continue to search for JFK. Rufus tells them where the kids’ car was last seen and when a hospital is mentioned, Lucy encourages them to check it out because of JFK’s long medical history of issues. Jessica agrees, stating, “I’d go with the historian on this one. She’s kept you alive this long, right?”

Meanwhile, back at evil headquarters, Emma’s pissed. Stating that the Time Team’s swiped JFK and taken him in the Lifeboat. Ole’ Nicholas is none too pleased. He immediately asks if Lucy was involved and Emma states she didn’t see Lucy. Nicholas is insistent that they take out JFK since he’s “counter productive to our goals. We need someone in the Oval Office, like Nixon.”

Carol steps in, saying they should try hospitals because of JFK’s chronic medical issues. She adds that if he shows up at any of the hospitals, they can take him out there.
Nicholas tells Emma if she sees Lucy and her friends, “to take them out as well.”
Emma’s all fired up about that part of the assignment. We can see Carol internally freaking out right now.

Rittenhouse or her daughter? Oh the choices.

Out of nowhere, Agent Christopher’s abducted at a stop light.

At Time Team Central, Connor’s frustrated with their “primitive technology” and leaves to call Agent Christopher for drones.

Jiya encourages an annoyed Rufus to have faith and he responds, “I don’t have faith. You know that.”

Sweetly, she asks him if he’s ever wondered if there’s something bigger, something more than what they can see or feel or touch. She’s convinced that her visions are from something more. He emphatically states no. That he watched his mother pray every night for them to get out of their impoverish situation, which only changed because of his own work.

Connor returns and says he can’t get hold of Agent Christopher.

Who has her? Where is she?

She’s tied to a chair in some random place and Carol has her! Holy cow!

Carol admits that when she found out she was pregnant, she planned to give up Lucy for adoption so she wouldn’t be part of Rittenhouse. As the pregnancy went farther along, she couldn’t imagine giving her daughter up. Carol begs Agent Christopher to keep Lucy off the  missions because Rittenhouse will kill her.

Agent Christopher scoffs, “You don’t know your daughter very well.”

Carol then threatens Agent Christopher, saying, “It would be a shame for your children to grow up without a mother.”

Wyatt, Jessica, and Lucy arrive at the hospital. As they walk in Jessica and Wyatt reminisce about a time he was in the hospital and Jessica never left his side. Even though it’s a sweet story, my heart breaks for Lucy. She really deserves a break here.

Feeling better, JFK talks to Kayla. He admits who he is and everything about his day.  She doesn’t believe him, of course, but he asks her for help to find the time machine to get back to his time.

Lucy, Wyatt, and Jessica are at the registration desk looking for JFK. The clerk tells them they can see him after the aunt returns from the room. They immediately head to the room to only to see Emma entering. Wyatt follows.

He and Emma go to blows. I mean, nothing is held back. Lucy and Jessica enter with Lucy pushing Jessica out of the way. When Emma gets close, Lucy slams Emma with a tray, but Emma gets the upperhand and holds a knife to Lucy’s throat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Q_mUGCfaw?rel=0

Emma mocks, “Maybe she doesn’t matter, now that you have your wife back.”

Lucy insists Wyatt shoot Emma because she’s Rittenhouse’s only pilot, but he can’t. Emma shoves Lucy away and takes off. Wyatt grabs Lucy, worried about her and Jessica sees Wyatt’s concern for his co-worker.

A guard shows up and handcuffs Wyatt. As they are walking down the hall, Lucy grabs a paperclip and drops it into Wyatt’s hands. The guard instructs the women to wait in the lobby for the police.

As Jessica and Lucy wait outside, Jessica admits she saw how Wyatt looked at Lucy. She confesses that maybe Wyatt’s changed and deserves a second chance, but maybe “I’m not the one he should be getting that chance with.”

But as soon as we all think Lyatt is finally going to happen and Jessica begins to leave, Lucy steps in and tells Jessica everything Wyatt has done to bring Jessica back convincing Jessica to stay with Wyatt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oiJkpyPzrc?rel=0

Dammit, Lucy. Why do you have to be so good to everyone else?

Wyatt arrives with the car and they take off to find JFK.

Meanwhile, at a party in Palo Alto, Kayla tells her friends what JFK told her. They encourage her to call the police, but she wants him to stay there until her mother, who’s a psychiatrist, to comes home the next day.

Back at the creepy warehouse where Carol’s keeping Agent Christopher, Carol asks if our fearless leader has changed her mind. Agent Christopher admits that sometimes what’s best for ourselves, isn’t what’s best for our children. It takes about five seconds for Carol to realize Agent Christopher is stalling because she’s chipped and help should be there at any minute. Carol’s thug punches the crap out of Agent Christopher. That’s gonna hurt tomorrow.

Wyatt, Jessica, and Lucy drive around looking for JFK when Jessica suggests they try social media.

Kayla shows JFK her room. She pulls up her iPad and remarks on the resemblance between the photo there and JFK. He reads about his family, his siblings’ and his own death as well him being elected president. It’s a truly heartbreaking moment when Kayla explains the Kennedy Curse. She explains so many of them die so young.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACrbHsnWV-M?rel=0

Jiya finally finds JFK on Instagram and they send the address to Wyatt, Jessica, and Lucy.

Connor finds Agent Christopher left in front of her house. When she admits that she was abducted by Carol, Connor asks what Carol wanted. Agent Christopher states, “To remind me we both have families to lose.”

Kayla brings JFK a Kennedy half-dollar to encourage him, but Jack is devastated to learn about his brother, Joe’s, death saying his brother is the one who’s supposed to be president because he’s “good, smart, and disciplined.”

Wyatt arrives and offers to take Jack home but as soon as Jack gets to the door, he takes off running right into Emma who pulls a gun. The profile on the Kennedy half-dollar morphs into Nixon’s profile.

At the last second, Wyatt pushes Jack out of the way and shoots Emma.

Chaos ensues, but Emma quickly leaves. We aren’t sure how badly she’s wounded.

When things settle down, they get Jack back to Time Travel Central. Before he leaves, Rufus tells him not to go to Dallas in November 1963 and Lucy tells him he’s one of the best presidents the United States has seen.

Agent Christopher arrives and tells Lucy what happened, encouraging Lucy to stay off some of the missions. Lucy refuses and Agent Christopher praises her. You know, Lucy needed some good vibes.

Flynn is the first to disembark from the lifeboat and proclaims he took care of all three sleeper agents. Rufus asks if JFK served a second term and had ten more kids, but we find out he was assassinated in Austin, Texas, two years into his first term. Rufus is gobsmacked.

Wyatt thanks Lucy for helping him and Jessica reconcile, but when he walks away, he has a look of doubt. As soon as they walk away, Flynn comes from around the corner. He’s heard everything.

We end with Flynn joining Lucy in the common room as she watches TV. He silently hands her a beer and they watch TV without saying a word to each other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDYIXYyX0pM?rel=0