The third episode of Timeless season 1, titled “Atomic City,” takes viewers back to 1960s Nevada. Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus travel back in time to not only find Flynn but also to determine his intentions. Every second counts, but will they be able to stop Flynn in time?
Timeless Theory: Is Flynn Trying to Return History to Its Original Timeline? >>>
Present Day
“Atomic City” begins with a close look at the lives of our three heroes in the present day. Lucy is at home with her fiance, a man she’s never met before in her life. She looks through photo albums of their past memories but, since she’s from another timeline, feels nothing for the images she sees.
Wyatt, on the other hand, examines documents related to his wife’s death, while Rufus speaks with Mason. Mason believes that Anthony, the project leader, was helping Flynn from the inside. Rufus denies these claims and insists that Anthony was kidnapped, but Mason reveals that Anthony had made a phone call 30 minutes before Flynn’s infiltration of Mason Industries, and the number he called has since been disconnected.
1960s Las Vegas
Timeless then shifts focus to Flynn, who has traveled back to September 21, 1962, in Las Vegas. President John F. Kennedy is in town for a fundraiser with Frank Sinatra. We quickly see Kennedy in bed with a woman, who goes to the window of their hotel room to watch an explosion outside. It’s an atomic bomb test in the desert. Kennedy goes up to her and kisses her, and Flynn, lurking outside, takes photographs of the two together.
Back at Mason Industries, after Jiya narrows the Mothership to a 50-mile radius, Lucy, Rufus and Wyatt determine that Flynn must be in Las Vegas, so they dress in traditional 1960s style clothing and head out to find him. At the hotel where Kennedy is staying, Rufus grabs them all uniforms, and the three quickly change so they can blend in with the staff.
As Lucy walks around the lounge, a man slaps her butt, and a nearby woman — the same one that was with Kennedy earlier — scolds him. Meanwhile, Rufus spots Anthony near the bar across the hotel and hurries to him. He tries to convince Anthony to leave, to save him from Flynn, but he soon realizes that Anthony isn’t being held against his will. In fact, he actually has been helping Flynn all along, though he seems reluctant. He orders another drink and says, “Here’s to the amazing Christy Pitt.”
Back in the lounge, Sinatra finishes his song and invites Kennedy to the stage. Wyatt and Lucy spot him, but instead of approaching the President, Flynn walks over to Kennedy’s mistress and informs her that she has a phone call. They walk out together, but as they cut through the back rooms of the kitchen and staff hallways, his grip on her tightens and he seems to threaten her. Wyatt quickly catches up to him, and the two men fight. Eventually, Flynn escapes by blocking the doorway.
JFK’s Mistress
The trio takes Kennedy’s mistress to a hotel room. She tells them that her name is Judith Campbell, which Lucy already seems to know. Lucy also knows that Judith would deliver messages from Kennedy to the mob and explains that she has some of the most powerful men in the world wrapped around her finger. Judith tells them that Flynn has compromising photos of her and Kennedy — photos, she says, that could destroy Kennedy’s chance for the next election.
Flynn and Anthony
Flynn approaches Anthony and his henchmen in the Nevada desert. He asks Anthony how it was possible that Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus could have found them since he was told that they’d only see the date they traveled to. Anthony replies that Rufus must have figured out how to find their location.
Flynn says he’s sick of Rufus and wants to kill him so they can’t be followed. Anthony implores him not to hurt Rufus because he’s his friend and wallows about how he’s given everything up for this mission, including his wife and kids. Flynn makes it clear that their goal is to erase Rittenhouse from history.
Quiz: Which TV Sidekick Are You? >>>
Double-Crossing
Back in the hotel room, Wyatt asks Rufus who Christy Pitt is, but Rufus claims he doesn’t know. Rufus refuses to believe that Anthony would hurt anyone, let alone help Flynn. Wyatt reveals that he wants to kill Anthony because, without Anthony, Flynn wouldn’t be able to keep time-traveling with the Mothership.
Wyatt wants to quickly find Flynn and, against the wishes of his team, sets off to use Judith as bait. He has her stand in the window of another room at the hotel to get Flynn’s attention. After she spots Flynn heading their way, they get into position with Wyatt, gun drawn, ready to shoot as soon as Flynn enters the room. But before that can happen, Judith hits him over the head and runs out of the room. At the end of the hallway, the elevator opens up to show Flynn and Judith running to him so they can finish their deal and she can get her photos back.
Flynn drives Judith out to the Nevada Test Site to meet a General. While Flynn waits outside, she seduces the man and, when he’s out of the room, steals his keys, which she promptly trades with Flynn in exchange for the photographs and their negatives.
Atomic City
With no idea where Flynn or Judith ran off to, a beaten Wyatt approaches the concierge desk to send a telegram to his wife, Jessica, in the future encouraging her to go home with him on February 11, 2012, no matter how he’s behaving. When he’s finished dictating his message, he turns around to find Lucy standing behind him. She says she understands, but Wyatt tells her that her job is to keep history the same because it’s “meant to be.” He, on the other hand, doesn’t believe that anything is meant to be; it’s all just luck of the draw. And, he says, she wouldn’t believe in fate either if she knew how his wife died.
Rufus hurries over to the two and tells them that he’s figured out why Flynn traveled to 1960s Las Vegas. He realized that Christy Pitt isn’t a woman like they’d previously thought. It’s actually slang for the atomic bomb’s plutonium core.
Timeless then switches to Flynn’s perspective to reveal him opening a door to reveal an atomic bomb.
A-Bomb Theft
Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus rush over to the nuclear test site in an attempt to stop Flynn from getting the bomb, but they’re too late. With Wyatt behind the wheel, they approach Flynn’s car head-on, eventually causing Flynn to swerve off the road. They all exit their cars. Wyatt engages in a shoot-out with Flynn, while Lucy heads for Judith and Rufus for Anthony. Rufus convinces Anthony to hand over his briefcase, which he thinks contains the atomic bomb’s core. He refuses at first but then gives it to him and flees. Flynn, Anthony and their men escape by car. Wyatt takes aim at the vehicle, but Rufus jumps in front of his gun. He doesn’t want to hurt Anthony, and he insists that they don’t have to because they already have the bomb’s core. Wyatt puts down his gun, and the trio examines the briefcase; it’s empty.
Back to the Present Day
The team must admit to Agent Christopher that, while they succeeded at keeping history unchanged, they weren’t able to stop Flynn from taking off with the bomb’s core. Christopher also learns that Anthony wasn’t kidnapped but is working with Flynn, and she orders Wyatt to kill him. Mason asks Jiya if she’d be able to track down the Mothership in the present. She says she can probably do it, but it would take time. Later, she is able to locate the 50-mile radius wherein the Mothership must be stationed.
Wyatt researches his wife online and learns that she’s still dead. His telegram didn’t change history. He admits to Lucy that it was a long shot. Afterwards, Lucy returns home to pack up her belongings. She tells her fiance that her head isn’t clear and that she needs time apart from him to sort things out. He understands, and he tells her that he’ll be around when she’s ready.
As this episode of Timeless draws to a close, viewers watch Flynn drive to the Nevada desert in the present day, the same area he’d visited in the 1960s. He and his men dig up the ground and unearth the atomic bomb’s core that they had buried there over 55 years ago.
What did you think of “Atomic City”? What do you think Flynn’s plans are for the atomic bomb? Let us know in the comments.
Timeless airs Monday nights at 10/9c on NBC. Want more news? Like our Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
