I just think all you need here is an act of Congress. I haven't looked it up though, but JFK was on the 50 cent coin almost immediately. He died in November 1963 and was on the 1964 coin. FDR was on the dime in 1946, and he died in 1945. So I guess there is no real rule. To my knowledge, no living person has ever been on money in the US. When that coin changed, it clearly would have implied that Nixon won the presidency in 1960, and was dead before 1964.
The Kennedy Death coin was revered, and put in a location by a collector where a death coin should be, which is where also Nixon's coin would up exactly.
Looking forward to the next episode. It will be interesting to see Mason's reaction to time travelling for the first time, especially since he helped invent the time machine.
At this point, I choose to focus on the subtle details Timeless does well (Jack's discomfort at wearing a seatbelt, his lamenting that Joe was the one being groomed for the presidency and deserved it more than he did) without worrying too much about the "logic" of its temporal cold war.
Well, that was a good episode. JFK was given a fair, but respectful, characterization-- a charming rapscallion who has a way with women, while managing his health problems and who still has a devotion to family and public service (and who was savvy enough to quickly escape the bunker). The actor who played him did a very good job, handling a wide range of reactions in a short amount of screen time. In particular, that sobering moment when he saw what the future held for his brothers and himself. But there was also his awe and confusion with the future, his immediate chemistry with the cute girl, his pleased reaction at their integrated school, and his easy leadership. I also liked that the girl was not only quick to help him, despite his apparent craziness, but was well educated and aware of the Kennedy Curse and their family history (as depressing as it is to know that my childhood is now the ancient past). It was also nice to see the main characters treat him with the proper reverence, especially in an age where American historical figures are frequently "deconstructed." Especially in the case of Rufus, who (as he did with Hedy Larmarr), deliberately changed the past by telling him to avoid Dallas in November 1963-- which Kennedy did, but perished anyway. Which brings us to another aspect of the episode-- the idea that there is a plan to life, the universe, and everything. I like that Rufus is an Atheist, but this brings him into conflict with Jaya who feels that there is a higher power (whether this predated her visions or not is unclear). But did the fact that Kennedy died in Austin instead of Dallas indicate that the show is thematically taking her side, or does it mean that Rittenhouse un-fixed what Rufus fixed at some point? I also like how the Wyatt-Jessica-Lucy triangle is unfolding. Jessica spotted the chemistry between Wyatt and Lucy and was ready to resume her plan to split up-- since in her timeline, she had already considered that bond broken-- until Lucy told her how devoted Wyatt had been. Apparently, absence does make the heart grow fonder, especially when that absence is death, since he had apparently not been so devoted while she lived (or the version of Wyatt that our Wyatt replaced had not). This speaks well of Lucy, but also plants the seeds of her and Wyatt ultimately ending up together, since our Wyatt is really not Jessica's Wyatt.
The actor was okay, but he didn't really stand out for me. I was more impressed with the actor who played young Barry Obama in Legends of Tomorrow, who was a surprisingly good match in appearance, voice, and performance. (Although both actors were a whole lot better than LoT's very unconvincing LBJ in their Vietnam episode.) There's a much simpler explanation. Rufus warned Kennedy to avoid Dallas, but he never mentioned Lee Harvey Oswald by name. So the real cause of Kennedy's death was unaffected by the change. As long as Oswald was still back there with the desire to kill Kennedy, it would've been simple enough for him to hop on a bus and travel the 200 miles to Austin.
Yeah, I don't think that JFK's death necessarily proves that some things are meant to be by a Higher Power. Heck, if you're conspiratorially-inclined, you can even assume that somebody was out to kill JFK, one way or another. Or, as Christopher says, Oswald simply found a way to kill JFK regardless. JFK was still going to be a target. All that changed was the venue.
Right. If the intent of the writers was to suggest some sort of predestination, they came up with a realllly bad example. Then again, given that the whole premise of the show revolves around history being dangerously susceptible to change, the idea that Jiya would even suggest the possibility of predestination is pretty ridiculous. It's tantamount to setting a show on an orbital space station and having one character suggest that the Earth might be flat.
In Jiya's defense, she IS having precognitive visions and is just trying to make sense of it. If you lived on a space station, but kept seeing things fall off the edge of the world, you'd be confused too.
This was a pretty good episode. It's the second time recently that they've tread ground Legends of Tomorrow covered earlier in the season -- this time protecting the birth of rock and roll, and making the same argument for its historical importance -- but Timeless went right to the original source, to African-American music rather than the white guy who appropriated it, and told a story that was more focused on it. And it was the first time this season (at least) that the show has really made good use of Paterson Joseph's talents. He was very impressive here, and it was good to get a focus episode for Mason at last. The resolution of Wyatt's attack on Rittenhouse HQ didn't make sense. The reason the team went into the past was because they'd registered the Mothership going back there. So why was the Mothership here in the present at Ritty HQ?
This is a common misconception of how this would work. Just because we see the events in a certain order on our screens doesn't mean that's the actual order they're happening. We see the events in the past and Wyatt's raid alternating, but really all of the past events happened first and then Wyatt's raid happened *after* those past events. One of those past events was presumably the Mother Ship returning to the present. So, it makes sense that it would be there when Wyatt does his raid even though as TV viewers we're still seeing the historical events unfold. So, there's no problem with that. But, I didn't think this episode was the strongest. It was just kind of there. And Mason wasn't that impressive in it. Spent most of the time goggling at the musicians. I'm sure that was neat for the character but it didn't take any great acting chops to pull those scenes off. And, then Mason pushes record on the recording device. Wow. I did like the bonding and interactions between the crew now that they're confined in the bunker. Also liked how Flynn was worming his way into Lucy's life. Any chance that Flynn is a sleeper agent from a future Rittenhouse?
Are Flynn and Lucy becoming friends or perhaps even something more? With Wyatt reconnecting with Jess and Flynn lending Lucy a shoulder to cry on, I am kinda getting a vibe that Flynn and Lucy might hook up. It seems like one of those "we were both depressed and lonely and kinda drunk and one thing led to another" kinda scenarios. But I've always liked the Lucy-Wyatt relationship so I am not too keen on Lucy and Flynn getting together. Anything is possible.
I don't care much about Lucy-Wyatt, but I don't want to see Lucy-Flynn either. However sympathetic his motives and goals, he's still a multiple murderer and temporal terrorist. He's crossed too many lines, and while I can accept the team working with him for the greater good, I really don't see him as suitable romance material for anyone. Well, anyone eligible. Agent Christopher can be fairly ruthless and amoral when she needs to be, but she also has a wife and kids, so Christophlynn is not a ship that's likely to sail anytime soon.
The she Lucy/Flynn ship may have already sailed! At least in a physical sense. Didn't you see her come over to his place with a bottle of vodka or whatever it was?! The body language had hookup written all over it. We'll have to see if they already consummated it. It's not 100% but it sure looked like it.
"Christophlynn" sounds like either a contagious disease or the name of a shot to prevent such a disease.