-Stranded doesn't waste any time getting to the action this week starting off in 1754, establishing the setting (The French/Indian War) and how miserable the team has been on this mission while they search for Flynn before one of Flynn's men damages the Life Boat and strands them there. It's a smart move that throws the audience offguard and helps get us to the meat of the episode quicker.
-The terrible conditions of 1754 combined with the fallout from the revelations from last week (And Wyatt's offscreen discovery of Lucy's deal to save her sister when she won't let him save his wife) lead to a lot of sniping and infighting from our team for the first 15 minutes or so, which isn't the most fun thing to watch but feels realistic. Also it helps that they explain why Wyatt is taking this so hard by emphasizing the team aspect of his Delta Force background as why it's important for him to trust who he works with.
-Hey, Wyatt killing people actually has tangible consequences this time out as his killing of a French soldier who's an officer's son makes their efforts to get the supplies they need from Fort Duquesne significantly more difficult. It's a clever way to take what other shows might treat as a throwaway kill and give it narrative weight.
-While I never came close to thinking that the show was going to kill off the team or strand them in 1754 for the remainder of the show, the scene after they're captured and tied up by Shawnee Natives where they face the idea of never going back home and their various regrets was an effective one and by the end of it, their reconciliation felt completely believable. Also Rufus' first desire when confronted with the idea of never going home again is to eat a Chocodile which felt very believable and very Rufus. Plus Lucy and Wyatt gifting him with a box of Chocodiles at the end was very sweet.
-I'm not familiar with Nonhelema but this episode made me want to learn more about her because she made a strong impression in her big scene. You could see why Lucy was so starstruck when she realized who she was.
-There was a lot of cloying speeches this episode meant to pull at the heartstrings a bit, but Rufus refusing to take the freedom Nonhelema offered if it meant his friends would die and pleading for their lives was the most effective one.
-Oh, Right It's 1754 Part 1: Everyone not on the team assumes Rufus is a slave and that earns him his freedom when the Shawnee mark Lucy and Wyatt for death. That assumption helps Nonhelema respect Rufus more when she sees him putting himself on the line for them.
-Oh Right, It's 1754 Part 2: Lucy getting around Wyatt's lack of French speaking by pretending he's injured and can't speak hitting a major snag when a doctor doesn't trust her treatment of him because she's a woman and then decides mercury and bloodletting is the best course of treatment for what ails Wyatt (Too much blood).
-Wyatt hoping the capacitor Rufus needed was a flux capacitor was cute.
-We actually get to spend time with Mason, Agent Christopher and Jiya this week as they try to figure out what happened to the team back in the present and complete protocol, which involves them digging up a note in a polypropylene bottle that Rufus buries three feet in front of the life boat. This was much-needed as those three have been barely developed or given much to do at all despite series regular status. Also I'm hoping this means the show is going to start doing more subplots with these characters while our heroes are busy tromping around the past.
-Agent Christopher remains fairly underdeveloped beyond establishing that she does like the team and wants to get them back too but now that she's suspicious of Mason, it's safe to bet that she's going to become a bigger part of the story in the weeks to come. Or learn too much and get killed by Rittenhouse to show us how serious a threat they are. Ugh, that better not be where this is going.
-Rufus' interest in Jiya was a small part of the pilot before basically getting waved off in the second episode but it returned here in a way that felt natural as both Rufus and Jiya got to express how they feel about the other and their frustrations with how things have been going since their date. Their relationship was built up well enough that when they kissed at the end of the episode, I felt invested in where this was going.
-Jiya got more to do than just worry about Rufus though. When a crack in the tube leaves the 262-year-old note destroyed beyond the words death and Millennium, it's Jiya who figures out that Rufus was making a Star Wars analogy (Of course he did) to explain to them what they were going to have to do to get the Lifeboat back home once it took off, as the navigation system was busted.
-Mason's relationship with Rufus got some much-needed context as well as he told Jiya about the first time they met and how he sees Rufus as a "genius with a sense of responsibility". This is also the first time in 7 episodes that I actually believe that Mason cares about Rufus.
-Rittenhouse Guy/Lucy's Father Benjamin Cahill briefly pops up to threaten Mason, remind us he exist and establish that Mason has noticed his interest in Lucy. It also turns out that putting Lucy on the team, despite others being more qualified was her dad's idea, which answers a question I never thought about but am glad to have answered because it shows the creative team has put thought into the story they're telling.
-It was nice seeing our heroes actually out grabbing a drink at the end of their ordeal. They definitely earned it. Having Lucy come clean that she is worried about writing that journal today and working with Flynn was a good character moment and Wyatt's rousing speech about free will and history being a series of choices was a nice note to end on instead of some tease about the larger Myth arc.
-Does Lucy's fiance still exist? Are we going to get back to him at some point?
-I actually really enjoyed this episode a lot. Timeless is on a nice little roll right now.
-Next Week: Moon Landing!
No comments:
Post a Comment