Timeless – The Capture Of Benedict Arnold

By: Jessica Wolff

Amidst the Revolutionary War, Benedict Arnold (Curtis Caravaggio) says goodbye to his wife and child before leaving. George Washington (Damian O’Hare) finds out about Arnold’s betrayal as he meets with the British offering them help to win the war. In the present, Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer) has dinner with Agent Denise Christopher (Sakina Jaffrey) and her wife Michelle (Marci T. House). Afterwards, Agent Christopher tells Lucy that she’s worried about the possibility of her family being erased from history like Lucy’s sister. She gives her a flash drive with pictures of her family and asks her to show them to her so that she can remember them.

Connor Mason (Paterson Joseph) interrupts Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett) and Jiya’s (Claudia Doumit) video game date and asks to speak to Rufus privately. He assures Rufus that he’s not a bad guy and apologizes for getting him involved with Rittenhouse. Informing Rufus that Rittenhouse knows about the tampered recordings, Mason tells him that he has one more chance and that he can’t protect him from Rittenhouse’s wrath. Back at headquarters, Jiya informs Lucy that Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic) went back to the Revolutionary War and Lucy recognizes the date as the day Benedict Arnold escaped George Washington. Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter) speculates that Flynn wants to help Arnold and the British win the Revolutionary War.

Traveling back in time, Lucy, Wyatt, and Rufus arrive at Arnold’s house before Washington’s men ambush them. Lucy is excited to meet Washington, as he demands to know what they are doing at Arnold’s house. Flynn comes into the room they are being held and asks for their help. Posing as legendary spy Austin Roe, Flynn saves the three by telling Washington that they are spies. Lucy decides to go along with the lie and they are given the mission to help capture Benedict Arnold and bring him to justice.

Once alone, Lucy speculates that Washington trusted Flynn because he never met the real Roe face to face. Flynn confirms that he killed the real Roe and Lucy calls him a bastard. He tells them that he wants to capture Arnold so that he can interrogate him about Rittenhouse. He shows them the letter that he found hidden in the locked box that reveals that Arnold was a founding member of Rittenhouse and tells them that he wants to end Rittenhouse before it begins. He promises that they won’t have to keep following him into history if they help him destroy Rittenhouse once and for all. He rips some pages from Lucy’s journal and gives them to her to read. Wyatt refuses to help him, but Flynn offers him knowledge of his wife’s killer in exchange for his help.

Wyatt is tempted by Flynn’s offer of finding his wife’s killer, while Rufus and Lucy are hesitant to trust Flynn and change history. Before the have time to think, Flynn leads them into British territory. They meet with Arnold and Flynn offers him information on Washington’s plans. Lucy uses her knowledge of history to sell the lie to Arnold and he brings them into his study. Two British officers are inside and Flynn asks to speak to Arnold privately. When he refuses, Flynn shoots them both and Wyatt wrestles Arnold to the ground. Lucy criticizes Flynn for killing the general that will one day negotiate a peace treaty and Flynn tells her that history will find someone else.

They tie Arnold up and Flynn tells him that they are time-travelers from the future. Flynn shows him the letter he wrote and asks him for information about Rittenhouse. Lucy uses her historical knowledge once again to tell him why he decided to betray Washington. Arnold reveals that Rittenhouse is a person with many followers, not an organization. Flynn is shocked by the revelation, as it is written nowhere in Lucy’s journal. He tells Arnold to take them to Rittenhouse in order to save his wife.

As they wait for Arnold’s decision, Rufus tells Lucy and Wyatt that he wants to help destroy Rittenhouse. Lucy doesn’t want to kill Rittenhouse to preserve history. Wyatt argues that killing one man can save lives and that history isn’t an excuse to sit back and let people suffer. Lucy agrees to help Flynn and they travel to see Rittenhouse together. They stop along the road to get water for the horses and Lucy asks Flynn what he will do after Rittenhouse is destroyed. He tells her that he will go back to his family, but he won’t be able to stay with them because of the person he’s become.

Arriving at Rittenhouse’s plantation, Arnold tells Flynn that they need to pose as former patriots who defected from the cause. Inside, they find a room with many clocks and a young boy named John Rittenhouse (Jake Brennan) working on his own clock. John tells Lucy that his father has taught him that peasants are like the hands of a clock as they are incapable of making their own decisions. He explains that Rittenhouse controls the government in secret, shaping society to be the way it needs to be. Lucy assesses that Rittenhouse’s objective is tyranny disguised as democracy.

John’s father, David Rittenhouse (Armin Shimerman), enters and asks to look at Lucy. He inspects her and comments on her physical features. He has his men grab Lucy by knifepoint and point guns at Wyatt and Flynn. He deduces that they are here to kill him and Arnold pleads their case. Rufus joins the plantation’s slaves and steals a gun from the overseer. Rittenhouse calls Arnold an idiot and kills him, telling him that he could never trust him.

Rittenhouse asks his son to watch Wyatt and Flynn’s execution and orders Lucy to be brought into his bedchamber. Rufus storms into the room brandishing the gun, allowing Flynn and Wyatt to escape their captors. Wyatt and Flynn take out Rittenhouse’s men and Lucy runs back into the room. Flynn points his gun at Rittenhouse and Rittenhouse tells him that killing him won’t change anything. Ignoring the warning, Flynn shoots Rittenhouse and finds that his son escaped. Lucy asks if Flynn really wants to murder a little boy and Flynn says that it’s necessary. Flynn locks them inside and chases the boy.

He finds him and the boy pleads for his life. Flynn has difficulty pulling the trigger and turns around to find Lucy standing in front of John. Flynn tells her to move and Lucy refuses, insisting that John can change and make his own choices independent of his father. Refusing to listen, Flynn pulls her out of the way and finds that John has escaped. Furious, he kidnaps Lucy and forces her into his time machine. The machine disappears before Wyatt and Rufus can stop it.