Timeless “The Watergate Tape” was written by Kent Rotherham and was directed by Greg Beeman, whose other credits include
Lucifer,
Falling Skies and
Heroes Reborn. Rotherham doesn’t have many writing credits but worked as assistant to Shawn Ryan on
Last Resort,
The Chicago Code and
Terriers. This episode threatens the trust the team has built up and casts doubt on whether Flynn (Goran Visnjic) is really the bad guy. Rittenhouse begins to look a lot more like the threat they’re all going to have to join together to defeat.
The episode begins with a look at what Rufus (Malcolm Barrett) has to lose as we meet his mother (Shelley Robertson) and learn he also takes care of his brother too. Connor (Paterson Joseph) shows up with the Rittenhouse Agent (John Getz). Turns out his brother may have missed the final shot of the game due to no fault of his own! What is with these guys?!?! And really, if they’re that powerful, why do they need time travel? The Agent tells Rufus they’re going back to 1972, and he gives Rufus a number to call in the past, telling him to make regular reports. When Rufus tries to object, the threat to his family is clear. Connor at least tells the Agent to back off.
As the episode opens, Lucy (Abigail Spencer) is sitting outside Benjamin Cahill’s house. When Wyatt (Matt Lanter) questions her, she denies that Cahill is her father, but he also insists that at some point, she’s going to have to talk to him. Was anybody surprised to see the Rittenhouse Agent open the door?
I loved how excited Lucy was at the prospect of hearing the erased tape, but even better was Denise (Sakina Jaffrey) teasing Wyatt about his horrible suit. When he complains that he looks like Gregg Brady, Denise fires right back telling him to go find Marsha and Peter! I loved The Brady Bunch reference! Naturally, all the fashion is hilarious. I loved Rufus commenting on the burnt orange and other colors never found in nature! And of course the snippet of Bowie was perfect.
The mission quickly goes south as Flynn captures all three of them. Revisiting the hotel room where they stayed during the Abraham Lincoln trip had me thinking once again of
12 Monkeys and the hotel they stay at over time. I also loved Wyatt taunting Flynn that he was going to talk them to death – the traditional villain monologing!
Flynn already has the Nixon tape. Flynn wants Lucy to find a document – and that’s what’s on the tape. Nixon was terrified of Rittenhouse. When Flynn produces Lucy’s journal, all her secrets come out, and Rufus and Wyatt are not happy. Wyatt tells her that the truth isn’t complicated. Flynn gives her 5 hours to bring him the document and lets Rufus go with her. Wyatt tells them just to go to the lifeboat and forget about him – but they won’t.
When Rufus tries to get angry with her, Lucy asks him if he ever had a secret that scared the hell out of him – irony! Lucy’s idea is to contact Mark Felt (Tom Amandes) – Deepthroat. Lucy plans to threaten to expose him, but she baits him with a promise of files on J Edgar Hoover – hilarious! Before starting through the phonebook, Rufus makes the Rittenhouse call and is told to destroy the document when they find it.
Felt tells them about a hotel room that was also broken into. I loved Lucy’s “I never heard about that” and Felt’s “why would you?” The break in was hushed up – clearly by Rittenhouse – and the only thing found was a crumpled piece of paper with a fist with horns on it. Rufus immediately connects the symbol for the Black Liberation Army.
Flynn works at undermining Wyatt’s confidence in his team. Flynn tells him that they are just two grunts fighting in the same war – but Wyatt is currently on the wrong side. He tells Wyatt that two years ago at the NSA, Flynn found a stream of money flowing through the Cayman’s to Connor to fund time travel. The money was coming from Rittenhouse, and Rittenhouse killed Flynn’s wife and daughter because of it. Wyatt asks why he didn’t fight back – but Flynn insists it was dark, there were too many of them. Wyatt asks why he doesn’t just go back and save his wife and child. But Flynn points out that he knows as well as Wyatt that you can’t go back to a time you’ve already existed in – after all that’s what’s keeping Wyatt from saving his wife. Flynn’s plan is to wipe out Rittenhouse.
I loved how excited Rufus was to be infiltrating the Black Liberation Army. And I also loved how the show handled it. Lucy knows nothing about the BLA – it’s Black history – and it underscores how under represented that is if a history expert doesn’t know about the Black history of her own country. I also loved the parallel to Rufus being left outside the bar in their first trip to Lucy being left outside and getting a real taste of being the minority. Rufus tells her she should be fine – just don’t make any eye contact.
It’s also a nice touch that Rufus still struggles a bit with the whole time thing as he asks for a Miller Light – no such thing yet! Rufus also struggles a little bit with making contact with Gregory Hayes (Mustafa Shakir). I adored Rufus using Kanye as a cover and then them all making fun of it! But Rufus does use his intimate knowledge of history to get Hayes to trust him.
Flynn and Wyatt discuss the journal. Wyatt wants to know about what’s going to happen next, but Flynn says that the journal doesn’t tell him everything – which is a bit convenient and a bit of a plot hole. He also says that sometimes what the journal says is “crazy,” that it sounds like a very different Lucy, one that is a bit crazy. Once again, I was reminded of
12 Monkeys – this time of Jennifer Goines.
As Flynn taunts Wyatt about what Lucy has written about Jessica, Wyatt works on getting a nail out of the chair to undo his handcuffs. Wyatt drank too much in a jealous rage left Jessica at the side of the road, and she ended up being murdered. Flynn tells him he understands. He can’t let go either and wants to save the people he loves.
Hayes doesn’t think much of Lucy, and Lucy isn’t too happy when Rufus refers to her as his “piece on the side!” It turns out that the “doc” isn’t short for document but for Doctor – the “doc” is a woman (Tiffany Mack). Rufus pretends to be a Panther, and he and Lucy promise that they’re there to drive her to San Diego. Another nice pop culture reference when Doc calls Lucy Lori Partridge! (
Partridge Family….)
Lucy and Rufus both freak out that the Doc is a person. Their choice is to turn her over to Flynn to save Wyatt – or Rufus is just supposed to “destroy” her. It turns out that Doc has a PhD in History from the University of Chicago – and Lucy worked there! Lucy brings up Rittenhouse, and Doc tells her that she’s trying to get out. Most of them are born into it – for generations. Hmmmm. Who else do we know now that was born into it! Doc is the only one who knows the complete roster other than the leadership – from when they were founded in 1778. It’s not written down – it’s all in her head.
Rufus insists that he can’t kill someone when he calls Rittenhouse. He reveals the tape recorder to Lucy and she’s appalled. He tells her that he’s recorded their trips, but also tells her they’ve threatened his family. Rufus insists that they have to trust each other to figure it out, but Lucy wonders how they can ever trust each other again.
Wyatt suggests that they should maybe work together to take out Rittenhouse without destroying America. But Flynn insists that Rittenhouse is like a cancer – America can’t be saved. Wyatt manages to get loose, but Flynn has the superior numbers.
Lucy calls Flynn and Rufus calls Rittenhouse which results in a great shootout between the two groups at the safe house and allows Lucy and Rufus to recue Wyatt. And that lets them also save Doc. Flynn pretty quickly realizes that they’ve been played. I loved Lucy grabbing the nail out of the trash and attempting to pick the lock and Wyatt asking her what she’s doing – she can’t pick a lock! Thank you show for the welcome shot of realism!
Doc tells Lucy she’s running because she couldn’t let her son be born into Rittenhouse. Her family has gone into hiding and she’s going to join up with them. Lucy warns her not to trust anyone – something she’s come to feel herself. The team seems to be broken. Rufus makes a final call and says they were ambushed by Flynn and lost the Doc. Wyatt tells them all to act like everything is normal. Rufus is now to act as a double agent and spy on Rittenhouse for them.
On returning to the present, Lucy finds no trace of Doc. Rufus and Lucy seem to have come to an understanding. Rufus is picked up by Rittenhouse again, and it turns out that’s who was on the other end of the line. He suspects Rufus, but they have no proof.
The team’s dynamic has changed somewhat. Flynn has become at least somewhat more sympathetic. Supernatural fans will no doubt enjoy the glimpse of Wyatt’s “hunter wall” as he is still searching for his wife’s killer. Lucy finally knocks on Cahill’s door. Apparently, she has a half brother (Grayson Maxwell Gurnsey), but the big reveal is that Cahill IS the Rittenhouse Agent. Yep. She’s been born into it…
What did you think of the episode? Did you see that plot twist coming? Are you starting to weaken where Flynn is concerned? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
