Source: Timeless // NBC
It seems like Timeless heard my pleas. Well, at least one or two of them, as we see some larger stakes for the team, a big-ish (though not devastating) change in general, and what might happen if someone sees our trio landing in the past. Also, Nazis.
It was only a matter of time before we saw a Nazi story on Timeless, but this wasn’t the cliched “Would you kill Hitler?” dilemma that I was kind of dreading. We open on a Nazi Party party on December 7th, 1944, and another rocket launch everyone is watching (again? Did no one in the mid-20th century like fireworks??). They are there, drinkin’ and talkin’ shit about the Allies and settin’ off rockets. Welcome to Timeless: “Party at Castle Varlar”
Meanwhile, in the present, Jiya has narrowed down the mothership to a specific block, because of what a power suck a time machine can be. This, of course, makes me super curious about how they can just charge it anywhere, but Wyatt and his Navy buds get to the warehouse (because it’s a Kripke show, so there must be many warehouses) just in time to see Flynn, Anthony, a random dude, and the plutonium disappear in time. This is extremely concerning, since Rufus tells them that Flynn is in Germany, in 1944. Man, if Lucy threw a fit about the Nazis getting a modern gun in the past, she’s gonna shit a brick about them getting the atom bomb. The clear answer here is to go to Nazi germany and stop Flynn. Kill him, stop him, doesn’t really matter now. There is the slight problem of bringing Rufus back with them, what with him being black and… Nazis. But he’s the only one to fly the ship, so there is little choice in the matter. Bonus though is that Wyatt can speak German, as well as three other languages. Next thing we see is the best closet ever. Mason had experts make clothes from every era and with amazing detail and it’s a huge warehouse separated by region and time and if I ever found it I would never leave. Is it a bit much? Yes. But, as Mason says, there is nothing to indicate that they’re gonna be done anytime soon, and it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Mason is me when I pack for a trip.
Source: thegameofnerds tumblr
So, after setting up a plan to order a super secret drink at a bar that was supposedly a rendezvous point for the Allied Resistance, and Lucy quietly freaking out, our team is off to the Third Reich! The first thing they see when they land is a German soldier, and we see what happens if someone witnesses them landing. They get shot. Wyatt kills the soldier without hesitation, and correctly surmises that he’s not alone. They run into another soldier and kill him, too. It’s interesting that the show decided to have the first “witness” be a Nazi soldier, Wyatt can kill them and not feel any guilt, we can watch and not feel like it was a wrong move, so I’ll be interested to see what happens if someone “innocent” sees them land. I don’t think we would be so okay with it had it been a Marine pissing in the woods is all I’m saying. Anyway, the woods are full of Nazis, and a big ass rocket. Wyatt may be a bit trigger happy, but he’s not an idiot, so they skirt around the soldiers and go to the bar with the special cognac.
Wyatt and Lucy decide to go in the bar and Rufus (who is me) wants to just stay right where he is. Sadly he can’t. He’s gotta hotwire a car in case they need to make a quick get away (which, of course they will). In the bar, Wyatt and Lucy super fit in when they try to order the Secret Meeting Drink (a ‘23 cognac). The bartender says he doesn’t have it, so they settle for a couple of whiskeys and have a seat. Soon after, however, a Nazi Captain comes to their table and with little small talk, orders them to exit out the back door. This seems promising.
It is promising, though! Turns out the Captain is none other than Ian Fleming(Sean Maguire aka Robin Hood), the MI6 spy and creator of James Bond! Wyatt and Lucy’s faces are completely adorable when they find out who they’re talking to. Fleming is less than impressed with their spy skills, though, saying they couldn’t stand out more if they tried (damn Americans!). He’s proven wrong, though, when Rufus pulls a gun on him. The look on his face is priceless and this little scene is my favorite of the whole series thus far. They don’t even pretend to have a cover story, but decide to continue the conversation somewhere a bit more Nazi-free. That is, if Wyatt can calm his inner fangirl enough to speak. So cute.
source: thegameofnerds tumblr
source: thegameofnerds tumblr
The team catches Ian up on the pertinent information (they’re chasing an atom bomb) but not the whole “time travel” bit, and after hitting on Lucy and formulating a plan to disarm the rocket at the party, they’re on the road. Fleming’s confidence(or lack thereof) in them is great, and we get a nice scene between him and Rufus, who is having some qualms about spying on his partners. With a real spy in tow, they have far less bloody ways of getting past the Germans and to the launch pad, but the bomb isn’t in the rocket. There is no way they armed the bomb in time for the launch that night.
While they’re inspecting the rocket, a car pulls up and they narrowly escape being seen by Flynn, who is with a man named Wenher von Braun. Wyatt is all ready to shoot Flynn, but Lucy won’t let him. They can’t risk Von Braun dying in the crossfire, since he is the father of the American rocket program. He is what gets us to the moon, and wins us the Cold War. But that comes with a price. He’s pardoned for his crimes, and that doesn’t sit well with Wyatt or Fleming. Bigger Picture shit is a bitch. I sort of wish he had been killed, so we could see what a huge change in this universe looks like. But, they decide to not kill him, and instead grab him at the party and give him over to the Allies. Fleming and Lucy will go to the party. Wyatt is itchy about letting Lucy go without him, but Fleming can’t get him in, too. But more curious than why they can’t risk Von Braun, since he’s so important, is why Flynn hasn’t killed him.
Lucy is still having a really hard time dealing with everything that is going on, and she and Wyatt have a heart to heart about “getting over the hump.” Turns out that Lucy was going to quit studying history and join a band, but on her way to tell her mother, she lost control of her car, going into a river and nearly drowning. Ever since, she’s felt a need to be in control and isn’t handling these missions as well as she could be. Wyatt tells her about his childhood and shitty dad. He then talks about his grandpa, who took care of him and is most likely fighting with the 101st right now. His grandfather is why he fights. He wants to make him proud, and Lucy needs to find that. It’s a quiet scene, and a nice one in which we learn more about Lucy’s need for control, as well as Wyatt’s attitude about this mission(also I sit here, shipping Wucy so hard). But seriously, Wyatt, not liking Nazis and being sad about letting Lincoln die seems pretty universal.
Source thegameofnerds tumblr
Source thegameofnerds tumblr
While Lucy and Fleming are at the party, Rufus is reluctantly dragged along by Wyatt to disarm the rocket. Wyatt has a moral line, and allowing civilians to be killed when he can stop it crosses it. History be damned, he’s “doing it for someone in the 101st.” He still manages to have the time to peek in through binoculars at Fleming hitting on Lucy, and be annoyed by it. Not as big a fan of Bond’s lothario ways in real life, eh, Wyatt?
Lucy and Fleming are waiting for von Braun to show up and get to talking. Fleming was in London during the Blitz along with his brother, who was visiting. By chance, he left the bar when the Blitz began and he survived. His brother was not so lucky. Thus, he has a very personal beef with von Braun, who designed the rockets that fell on London that night. The plan is to lure von Braun and intercept him in a hallway. The plan (of course) goes awry when Flynn gets to Lucy before she gets to von Braun. The question about killing von Braun is answered pretty quickly. Yes, killing him would be devastating to America’s future, but giving him over to the Russians would be even moreso. Lucy’s argument about the Bigger Picture and Greater Good are thrown back in her face when Flynn tells her that, she can’t see it, but he’s a patriot. He’s willing to work with Nazi’s (whom he clearly despises) to defeat Rittenhouse. I have been trying to figure out who Flynn is in relation to Lucy, since he doesn’t seem willing to hurt her. I’m not sure if it’s because she needs to write the journal he’s using as a guide, or if there is some personal attachment to her future self. Anyway, Fleming pulls a gun on Flynn, who is a fan, too. Then Flynn calls over some officers and tells them Fleming and Lucy are spies. So, maybe not so concerned with her safety, after all. He pulls his own gun on von Braun and starts to take him away.
Source: Popsugar.com
Wyatt sees this all go down from the rocket and tells Rufus they have to save Lucy. Rufus, however, has some sense in his brain and says that maybe they should think on it for a second and formulate a plan. Like, maybe they won’t disarm this rocket? They set it off early, causing a distraction. Von Braun gets away from Flynn in the chaos, but doesn’t get far. Fleming, Lucy, and Wyatt snag him after escaping from the Nazi guard (using a fancy spy gun!). They don’t escape far, though. They end up trapped in a room with one door and no windows. Fleming figures hey, he’s dead anyway, may as well kill von Braun, too! Wyatt stops him. He may agree with Fleming, but he trusts Lucy. Flynn and the soldiers are just about to break in when Lucy recalls what a symbols he saw in the stained glass earlier and on the fireplace now means. By the time Flynn gets in, the room is empty. The palace is old. And full of secret tunnels known as “priest holes” from when Catholicism was illegal. They escape, and hand von Braun over to the Allies, but not before Rufus questions his morality and gets his questioned in return. Von Braun isn’t concerned so much with where his rockets land. He just cares that they take off. Rufus can’t understand this attitude. He helped create something far greater, and can’t stop thinking about the devastation it’s left in it’s wake. Von Braun, however, points out that he wasn’t thinking about that when he created it, though. Otherwise he’d never go through with it. It’s an interesting thought, since so often of our greatest achievements for good bring about some truly terrible consequences.
When our trio gets back to the present and tells Mason what happened, he says that they just described the plot of the movie Weapons of Choice (Connery’s greatest work, in Mason’s opinion). Wyatt gets adorably excited and you can see him planning his Netflix night. The greater concern, however, is that Flynn still has the A-bomb. He didn’t give it to the Nazis, which would have finished the job (and the show). Instead, they are using it as a battery to power the Mothership. Smart. It’ll last 300 years, and now Jiya can’t find them.
Source: thegameofnerds tumblr
Source: thegameofnerds tumblr
Meanwhile, Rufus tells Mason he can’t spy on Lucy and Wyatt anymore, and Lucy names her price for helping them save time. Save her sister. Find a way. Give Lucy a cover story so she can leave at the drop of the hat and figure out how to get Amy back.
It’s cute that Rufus thinks he can just quit working for Rittenhouse, and we learn just how cute they think it is, too. On his way home, Rufus’ car breaks down (it’s all computerized. Give me a ‘67 Impala any day) and an older man gets out of his car and assures Rufus that they want everyone to be safe. Rufus, his friends, his family. They want them all safe, and as long as Rufus keeps doing his part, they will be.
So, what did you think of “Party at Castle Varlar”? I gotta say, it’s the most enjoyable episode so far for me, and I’m happy to see a little more of what Rittenhouse is about. I want to know why Flynn is willing to go to these lengths to stop it. Also have weird headcanon that Flynn is Lucy and Wyatt’s future love child. Shhh don’t take this away from me.
