Timeless “Karma Chameleon” was written by Anne Cofell Saunders and was directed by Greg Beeman. This was the first episode that didn’t really have me diving back into history to find out more about the people featured in the episode, and I’ll admit that I was a little disappointed in not having that aspect of the show this week. As someone who actually lived through the 80s – and was a huge fan of
The A-Team! – I did enjoy the little tour down memory lane. For those who may be stumped on the episode title – it’s from the Boy George hit of the same name. And who didn’t love laughing at the big hair, big shoulders (for men and women), big makeup, and the Miami Vice vibe!
I’m including a link to the
video because it’s not just a random choice of music – though I’m sure licensing costs always play a factor! The song highlights tolerance and is set in the past. It also highlights the mysteries of love and trying to unravel a past love. Never underestimate the importance of a song title on a Kripke show…
The episode may be light on history, but it does move along the plot substantially in a number of ways. I was really sad to see Matt Frewer (Anthony) exit the show. I have to admit that I’ve been a bit disappointed in how little he’d had to do up until this point. It’s clear, however, that Flynn (Goran Visnjic) knew that Anthony wasn’t really on board with his plan, and that explains why he felt he had to go after Emma (Annie Wersching). Flynn knew he was going to need another pilot.
Anthony is determined that they should just destroy the mothership now that Emma has told them what Rittenhouse has planned – and of course, they still haven’t shared any of that with us!! Anthony is sure that Rufus will agree to destroy the lifeboat too. Flynn is completely determined, however, to stick to the plan.
Wyatt (Matt Lanter) comes to Lucy (Abigail Spencer) to tell her goodbye and that he and Rufus (Malcolm Barrett) are stealing the lifeboat to go back and save Jessica. Lucy’s first instinct is to come with them to help, but Wyatt won’t let her because it will screw up her own deal with Denise (Sakina Jaffrey) to save Amy. Lucy has all kinds of concerns to discourage Wyatt – who will look after the history? What if Flynn goes out? What if someone gets hurt? And it’s clear that she is really just worried about Wyatt – and Rufus – being safe. But clearly, Wyatt going to Lucy is an indication that something has sprung up between them that neither expected.
Wyatt tells Lucy to only wait 20 minutes before calling Denise – he really doesn’t want her to jeopardize her deal. It’s too bad that Denise has someone watching Lucy’s house and sees Wyatt leave – so much for Lucy’s excuse. When Denise tells Lucy she knows she knew, Lucy reminds Denise that she was supposed to be working on getting Amy back, yet Denise has apparently done nothing. Wyatt does try to protect Rufus by holding a gun on him so that the video footage looks like Wyatt is forcing Rufus to help.
Of course, they no sooner land than Wyatt is already in trouble with not knowing the history well enough. He knows he has to stop Wes’ parents from having the one night stand in which Wes was conceived – which will save both Jessica and the other 2 women Wes killed – but Wyatt doesn’t know that Claire’s (Amanda Brooks) plane landed early. Wyatt asks one of the other flight attendants (Leanne Lapp) – and Rufus has to correct him – they’re stewardesses! – where Claire has gone. He pretends to know Claire from school, and of course it comes back to bite him – and expose his identity – later in the episode.
By the time Wyatt and Rufus get to the bar, Claire and Joel (Drew Roy) – Wes’ father – have already met because he’s the bartender. Wyatt tries to pick up Claire, while her friend Becky (Lucie Guest) bonds with Rufus over
Manimal and
The A-Team. Everyone is trapped in the bar due to a tornado watch, and Joel even impresses Claire by playing the hero when a wounded State Trooper (Colin Lawrence) stumbles in.
Rufus is worried about the lifeboat, but Wyatt is committed to his mission. After all, if they can escape the Alamo, surely they can “ball-block” Rick Springfield! This is another nice little Easter egg as Rick Springfield – who was an 80s heartthrob – just finished a recurring role on Supernatural as Lucifer! Fitting that Wes’ dad is covertly compared to the Devil. Wyatt says he’ll keep Claire busy, leaving Joel for Rufus to distract. Becky continues to try to get Rufus’ attention, but Rufus tells Joel that she freaks him out and he’d rather hang with Joel – which creeps out Joel!
Back in the present, Anthony calls to set up a meeting with Rufus and insists on meeting with Lucy when it’s clear the Rufus isn’t there. Jiya (Claudia Doumit) sets Lucy up for the meet and confides in her that she’s pissed off that Rufus didn’t confide in her. If you love someone, you tell them! She then asks Lucy how she found out, and Lucy has to tell her that Wyatt told her – and suddenly the penny drops for Lucy. Wyatt has feelings for her.
Naturally, there are way too many Agents watching Lucy at the meet, and Anthony was never going to take any chances anyway. He ditches them all and gets Lucy alone. He tells her that he just can’t do it anymore. Rittenhouse wants to control everything and as they lose more control every year, they are determined to go back in time and ensure that they re-do everything in their own image. Lucy is appalled that Rittenhouse wants to be even more destructive to time than Flynn is. Anthony tells her to destroy the lifeboat. He tells her not to trust Connor – well d’uh! – and he tells her that she’ll know he’s blown up the mothership when there’s a huge explosion in Oakland.
Wyatt’s plan seems to be working. Claire confides that she isn’t really that happy with her job after she’s accosted by an obnoxious passenger (Pete Ploszek). She’d like to go home, but she doesn’t have a good relationship with her mother. Wyatt urges her to see her family if she has the chance – after all, look what he’s doing to try to restore his own family. Wyatt’s plan blows up when the stewardess from the airport shows up.
Wyatt’s plan B is to simply kidnap Joel. And of course the slogan for
The A-Team movie was the catch phrase "there is no plan B"... Rufus points out that there’s a storm outside and an armed State Trooper inside the hotel – and Wyatt promised not to hurt anyone. Rufus manages to lure Joel away, but the plane passenger picks then to start a fight with Wyatt that the State Trooper tries to break up – and sees Wyatt’s gun.
Rufus fakes the Trooper out by telling him a little creepy kid – Haley Joel – as in Haley Joel Osment from The Sixth Sense! Wyatt and Rufus go to Claire’s room and stop Joel and Claire. Wyatt drags Joel out into the storm, and Joel ends up falling and hitting his head, killing him. Wyatt swears to Rufus that he didn’t meant to kill him, and Rufus believes him. Rufus says at least they saved three women – but of course when they get back, they’ve only saved two – Jessica is still dead.
Lucy tells Denise about Anthony’s plan to destroy the time machines. She makes the same objections – they’ll just build another – and Lucy makes the same counter argument – it will at least buy them a few years. Lucy shares the warning about Connor, and Denise shows Lucy the pictures of Connor meeting with the Rittenhouse Agent (John Getz). Lucy tells Denise that he’s her father. When Connor wants to know what Anthony said, Denise stonewalls him with excuses of National Security.
Anthony is tinkering with the mothership, and Emma is waiting to take Flynn out. Anthony puts them off, and after they leave, there’s a nice shot of the explosives Anthony is planning on using.
Agents take Wyatt into custody as soon as the lifeboat gets back, and Denise has him taken away. Jiya reports an explosion in Oakland, but when Denise and Rufus get to the blast site, there’s no mothership debris and the only body is Anthony’s – and he’s been shot. They assume it was Flynn. Denise is prepared to tell Anthony’s family that he died serving his country.
In the final scene, Lucy confronts her dad. He’s actually relieved that she knows! He’s actually really happy that he can now talk to his own daughter. Lucy, however, tells him flat out that what he’s a part of is inhuman. He tells her that it’s in her blood – it’s a legacy. It’s a gift. What does that mean?? He tells her that they have a lot to talk about – clearly! We need answers! What legacy? What gift?
It was nice to see the main storylines advanced in this episode. Wyatt gets his chance to save Jessica and it’s both frustrating and curious that she was the only one he couldn’t save. Rufus is going to have to start confiding in Jiya or he’s going to lose her. I think we can be pretty certain that Wyatt is only going to miss one mission – how and why he gets to come out should be interesting. It will be interesting to see if Flynn really did kill Anthony – and maybe it was an accident? It does seem too coincidental that he’d find and bring back Emma – and then Anthony is killed, however. What will Lucy’s father tell her? I’m betting it won’t be much. He might be happy to be able to talk to his daughter now, but I’m betting the writers are going to want to keep us in suspense!
What did you think of the episode? Did you find all that big hair and make-up and those big shoulder pads horrifying? Anybody else remember
The A-Team fondly? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
