In “The Murder of Jesse James,” Timeless travels to 1882. The team joins forces with the real life Lone Ranger and his right-hand man, Tonto, to track down Flynn, who’s enlisted the help of none other than the infamous bank robber Jesse James. But just what is Flynn up to? Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus race to find out, hoping to prevent James and Flynn from changing the past — and the future.
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Before the Mission
“The Murder of Jesse James” begins with Wyatt in a whole new setting: jail. No, the time traveling military man hasn’t been convicted of a crime. He’s visiting prison to speak with his wife’s killer. He wants the man to admit that he murdered Jessica. Without confessing to the murder in so many words, the prisoner admits that if he could change things, he would. Wyatt muses aloud that they’d only be able to if they had a time machine.
Lucy, meanwhile, is having a nightmare. She dreams that her sister, Amy, is back, but she soon realizes that it’s not real — but not before Amy guilts her for forgetting about her. Rufus, on the other hand, is at Mason Industries and receives a kiss from a happy Jiya. Seeing his confused reaction, Jiya explains that Mason just approved her for training as a new Lifeboat pilot, and she thanks him for putting in a good word for her. When Rufus confronts Mason about this, he informs him that Jiya will replace him as pilot in six months.
Saving Jesse James
The crew gets word that Flynn has traveled back to April 3, 1882, and Lucy immediately recognizes that date as the day James is murdered by two of his accomplices in an effort to receive the reward money. Before long, we see the scene ourselves. James turns his back toward his men to dust a painting, and the two men pull out their guns, ready to kill. But before they get the chance to shoot, Flynn bursts through the door and shoots both men dead. He explains to James that he heard the two men bragging about their plans to kill him and hunted them down because he wanted to buy James a drink.
At a bar, Flynn shows James a map that goes through Indian territory. He needs James’ help getting through the hostile area. James questions what Flynn is after and learns that it’s not a treasure but a person. Flynn assures James that he’ll be rewarded for his troubles, giving him half of the payment upfront.
Following Flynn
Wyatt, Rufus and Lucy arrive in the past and realize that they’re going to need help. Lucy comes up with the idea to ask Bass Reeves, the man known in popular culture as The Lone Ranger. They travel to his home, and Rufus is happily surprised to learn that he’s a black man, not the white man that popular culture has presented to audiences time and time again.
They ask for his help and he declines, explaining that he has enough on his plate at the moment. But he soon agrees to help them travel through hostile Indian territory. Since Reeves used to live with Native Americans, he’s the perfect candidate to help them find Flynn and James. But Reeves insists that, if he helps, no one will be killed. Flynn and James must be safely taken into custody and brought to justice. Wyatt, who initially wanted to kill James (since he’s already supposed to be dead), reluctantly agrees, shaking Reeves’ hand. With the help of his friend Grant, known as Tonto in popular media, the gang soon sets off after Flynn.
In the present, Jiya practices piloting the time machine, but she’s having some difficulties. She asks Mason to review the video logs to give her a glimpse of a successful pilot in action, but he claims that they were all destroyed in a power surge a few years earlier. He instructs her to go home and get some rest. However, Jiya has another idea in mind. She heads to another area of Mason Industries and hacks into their database. Unfortunately, Mason interrupts her and sends her away.
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Flynn’s Master Plan
After making it through the most dangerous territory, with James killing innocent Native Americans who were defending their land, Flynn and James make it to their destination: an isolated cabin. At once, they’re shot at. But before James can fire back, Flynn shouts that he’s from the same place as the shooter and that he has a ship. The firing stops, and a woman appears. Flynn instructs James to grab the horses while he steps inside the cabin to speak with the woman.
Once inside, it’s clear that the woman is not from the 1800s. There are bits of technology like computers and cell phones laying about her home. She tells Flynn that she wants a map of the ship. He refuses and informs her that he knows all about her. Intercut with video footage that Jiya stole from Mason Industries, we learn that this woman is Emma Whitmore, one of the first pilots of the time machine. She was eventually threatened by Rittenhouse and decided to fake her own death and hide in the past. Anthony was the only man who knew about her plan. Flynn shares that he too ran from Rittenhouse, but he’s rising up against them now. He wants her help, but she insists that he doesn’t understand what he’s going up against.
Once he’s secured Emma on his side, they head off in the direction of the time machine but not before James insists on one final payment: the large automatic rifle Flynn has stored on his horse. Flynn agrees and hands it over.
Becoming a Killer
Lucy and the gang head to the cabin and cautiously walk inside. They find all the parts of the technology and even a copy of The Hunger Games, but Rufus comes to a conclusion about the owner of the cabin once he finds Emma’s name on a shirt. Before they can truly process Rufus’ information, gunshots rain down on the cabin, causing everyone to hit the floor. As soon as there’s a pause in the gunfire, they realize that Grant’s been shot. Lucy and Reeves hurry to his side, but it’s obvious that he’s not going to make it.
Wyatt, meanwhile, uses this opportunity to head outside and shoot James in the arm. He plans to kill him, but Reeves pulls a gun on him, threatening him to lower his weapon. Reeves, after all, still plans on bringing James back to town for justice, even though the outlaw had just killed his friend. But before that plan can go into action, James is shot dead by Lucy.
Back in town, reporters take photos of James’ dead body, as Lucy and the others hang around waiting for Reeves. Reeves returns with the reward money for James and hands it to Lucy. She insists that he give it to Grant’s family, but Reeves refuses. He doesn’t believe Lucy did the right thing. Before Reeves can leave, Rufus goes after him and encourages him to tell his story so a white man doesn’t take credit for his brave actions. He tells him that people need to hear his story, but Reeves isn’t interested.
Back in the Present
Rufus informs Mason and Agent Christopher that Emma is still alive and that she’s now with Flynn. They wonder why Flynn needs another pilot but have no answers. Mason then approaches Jiya and informs her that he knows she hacked into their system. He warns her against hacking into his system again, while Rufus looks on from afar, worried. The scene soon changes, and we see Lucy staring at the photograph of James’ body with her in the foreground.
The episode ends with Wyatt asking Rufus for help in a bar. He wants to steal the time machine so that he can go back in time and save his wife. Rufus doesn’t want to kill anyone, but Wyatt’s willing to find a way around it. He asks Rufus point-blank, “Will you help me save my wife?”
How did you like this episode of Timeless? Was “The Murder of Jesse James” as thrilling as you expected it would be? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Timeless season 1 airs Mondays at 10/9c on NBC. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
