The Department of Time: Óleo sobre tiempo (Oil Painting Over Time)   First Watch 
June 5, 2018 8:21 AM - Season 2, Episode 9 - Subscribe

A Velázquez painting is auctioned off in 2016. But the painting in question was one of many destroyed in a fire at the Alcázar de Madrid in 1734. Velázquez is given a mission: travel back in time with Irene to investigate the paradox.

Notes (contain spoilers)

* "The burning of the Alcázar is one of the greatest tragedies in art history, when we look at the inventory of what was lost. Over 500 paintings were destroyed, among them works by Velázquez, Bosch, Da Vinci, Raphael, Titian, Tintoretto, Rubens, and Van Dyck. If one were to construct a museum containing only the works that had been destroyed in the fire, it would be considered one of the greatest in the world. This also gives us some impression of just how wealthy Spain used to be." Wikipedia has additional information about the fire.
* Ministry Agent Alberto Ortigosa has gotten another promotion. He's mentioned here as the head of his own team, which is implied by Salvador to be the modern Ministry's second best after Amelia's. Unfortunately, he is unavailable because he is off to secure a trade mission with the Phoenicians.
* Walcott dies in this episode. A side effect of the Darrow time travel system has given him radiation poisoning.
* Amelia's family maid (Enriqueta) catches her wearing pants. Amelia then catches Enriqueta stealing silver and fires her.

Quotes (all contain movie references)

Velázquez: "All this talent, all this effort will be lost like tears in rain."
(This is probably a shout-out to Rutger Hauer's "Tears in the Rain" Blade Runner soliloquy: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die."
--
Elena [To Alonso]: “If you need me, whistle” (A reference to the 1944 Bogart, Brennan and Bacall film "To Have and Have Not" which was loosely based on Hemingway's novel of the same name.)
--
Alonso: "What a pity Amelia could not come. I would have liked to know her opinion."
Julián: "On what? On the food?"
Alonso: "And of other things, too."
Julián: "Isn't mine good for those?"
Alonso: "You are not a woman."
Julián: [laughing] "Yes, nobody's perfect." (A reference to the final lines of the movie, "Some Like it Hot")
--
In a Godfather reference, Lola makes "an offer you can't refuse" to Salvador.
posted by zarq (5 comments total)
 
I loved how dramatic the music cue was for the ‘the original trio reunited’ corridor walk. Even though I liked Pacino, it was just so satisfying to see Amelia, Alonso, and Julián back together.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:05 AM on June 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


Humour is a funny thing. So easy to miss when you're trying to look at the pictures moving about and read subtitles at the same time. This time round,
'"I don't care. I feel blocked, Agustias. I want to grow as an artist!"
"What, more?"'

and '"So that means we have a problem."
"Yes. Intra-temporal art traffickers,"' seem just as funny as the broader jokes. '"Velasquez, get off the line!" "How can I, I'm the communications officer?!"

Lots of dialogue film references and probably, visually, also The Madness of King George? Which I haven't seen, but have seen stills.

Does Salvatore have a different accent than the others or is it just a quirk of his speech? Like, is he ferociously drawling? They reference accents a lot as indicating where someone is from, it's another bit of the texture of the series - like idioms from different eras - that I feel regretful to be missing.

Also, when I grow up I want to be Lola Mendieta.
posted by glasseyes at 3:28 PM on June 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


Dammit, Salvador, not Salvatore
posted by glasseyes at 3:33 PM on June 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


Also, when I grow up I want to be Lola Mendieta.

When she was making her deal with Salvador, I was expecting they'd use her Darrow insider info to travel back in time to prevent them from creating their time travel devices, or prevent Ferguson's birth, or something -- was not expecting Lola's solution to be something so straightforward as 'I will shoot this guy in the head.'
posted by oh yeah! at 5:31 PM on June 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


I was kinda thinking of the sharp outfits and supersharp hair but the fuck off badassery, yeah that would be good too.
posted by glasseyes at 2:13 PM on June 9, 2018 [1 favorite]


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