Timeless – The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

By: Jessica Wolff

In 1865, John Wilkes Booth (Kelly Blatz) carries out the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln as he watches a play at the Ford’s Theater before jumping onto stage and addressing the audience. In the present, Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer) runs to get back to the time agency. Her mother is worried about her and wonders why Lucy is asking for Amy. Lucy is unable to explain that Amy is her sister that has been erased from existence after she time-traveled back to the Hindenburg. So, she simply tells her mother that Amy is a friend that needs help.

At headquarters, Lucy frantically asks Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter) and Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett) if anything has changed in their lives. They don’t understand the question and Lucy tells them about her sister. Agent Denise Christopher (Sakina Jaffrey) tells her that there is no record of her sister, but Lucy shows them her locket with a photo of her sister. Connor Mason (Paterson Joseph) is impressed that the locked stayed intact through the first time-travel mission. Lucy isn’t impressed and demands that the agency change things back and bring her sister back into existence. Christopher refuses and tells them that Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic) has gone back to the day of Lincoln’s assassination.

As Jiya (Claudia Doumit) helps Lucy get dressed for the mission, she offers to help Lucy figure out what happened to her sister. Mason watches the security footage of Flynn’s time machine heist and wonders how Flynn knew to take their lead pilot on board with him. He asks Rufus to record Wyatt and Lucy yet again and Rufus questions why Rittenhouse would need these recordings. Lucy, Wyatt and Rufus climb into the time machine and Wyatt apologizes for what happened with Lucy’s sister. Rufus starts the time machine and sends them back to 1865, where fireworks light up the sky in celebration of the end of the Civil War. Amidst the celebration Flynn finds Booth and offers his assistance for what he is about to do.

As the three time-travelers walk into town, Rufus notices how happy the black soldiers that walk by are. Lucy tells him that Lincoln’s assassination will put a damper on their happiness. Wyatt asks what Flynn is planning to change about the assassination and Lucy says that following Booth will lead them to Flynn. They stop in front of Ford’s theatre and Lucy goes in with Wyatt, knowing from her extensive book research that Booth got his mail at the theater every morning. Rufus waits outside and a black soldier, Nicholas Biddle (Mike Wade), comes up to him. Rufus tells him that his name is Denzel Washington and Nicholas asks him to write notices for him and his friends. He starts to write a notice to help Nicholas find his wife and children.

Lucy’s collecting of Booth’s mail is interrupted by Robert Todd Lincoln (Neal Bledsoe). She quickly comes up with an alias based on a flyer for a production of Romeo and Juliet: Juliet Shakesman. She talks to him about the evening’s play and having President Lincoln as a father. Outside, Rufus makes a comment that raises Nicholas’ suspicions and he figures out that he is not a real soldier. Booth comes to the mailroom and Lincoln introduces him, mentioning that Booth’s brother saved his life in the past.

The three reconvene and Rufus suggests preventing Lincoln’s assassination to make the lives of black Americans easier in the future. Though Wyatt supports this, Lucy insists that they can’t change history more than they already have. They follow Booth to a bar, but Flynn sees them and starts shooting at them. Wyatt starts shooting back and gets shot in his side. They get a hotel room and Wyatt asks him to sterilize the wound. Lucy speculates that Flynn wants four government members assassinated instead of just one in order to devastate the Union.

Lucy goes to the train that General Grant is supposed to leave on and finds that it has broken down. Lincoln sees her and asks her to go to the play with him and General Grant. Before she leaves, she runs into Flynn and she confronts him about his messing with the timeline. He tells her that Rittenhouse murdered his family and that one day she will help him. He tells her not to get in his way before he leaves.

As Rufus stitches up Wyatt’s wound, Lucy comes back to the hotel and brings guns to help stop the assassinations of everyone but Lincoln. Rufus gets angry that she won’t help save Lincoln and Wyatt gets mad at her for saying that they can’t change history to save Lincoln or his own wife. Flynn hands out weapons for the assassination and Booth refuses to take Flynn’s modern gun that will fire more bullets. That evening, Lucy goes to the play with Lincoln. President Lincoln comes in and Lucy is star-struck when they are introduced.

Rufus is nervous about having to save the Vice President and Wyatt gives him a pep talk to motivate him. Lucy gets an idea and pours a glass of water on General Grant to get him to leave the balcony. Wyatt goes to an inn and get into a fight with the would-be assassin to save the Secretary of State. Booth leaves for the assassination, but is pulled into an alleyway by Flynn. He insists that Booth take his gun, but he refuses and Flynn knocks him out.

General Grant comes back to the balcony while Rufus goes to save the Vice President. As he spots the assassin, he is stopped by Nicholas, who accuses him of trying to assassinate the Vice President. He sees the real gunman and redirects the bullet to hit another person. The assassin is arrested and Rufus earns the respect of Nicholas and his men. Lucy is shocked to see Flynn come into the balcony and shoot President Lincoln before she can do anything about it. She is able to stop Grant’s assassination and Flynn jumps onto the stage and escapes.

Lucy tells the police officer that John Wilkes Booth is involved in the assassination. Wyatt and Rufus come over and tell Lucy that they succeeded, but she informs them that she couldn’t save the President. Lincoln comes over and tells her of his father’s passing and they say goodbye to each other. Rufus tells Nicholas to go north instead of South and that things will eventually get better. The three travel back to the present and Lucy tells Rufus that she tried to save President Lincoln.

When the reach the present, Mason reads the updated article of the Lincoln assassination. Lucy is worried that too much was changed, but Agent Christopher tells them that it’s close enough. Jiya shows Lucy her family tree and that her father married a descendant of a would-be Hindenburg victim instead of her mother, which caused her sister to never be born. Lucy figures out that that she still exists because she has a different father.

Rufus tells Mason that he won’t spy on Lucy and Wyatt anymore, but Mason reminds him that he gave Rufus a better life in the first place. Lucy comes home and finds that she is late for her own engagement party. Her mother freaks out that Lucy is acting strangely and Lucy asks about her father. Her mother gets angry at her question and her mysterious fiancé (Daniel DiTomasso) comes up behind her and startles her by kissing her.