Travelers: Yates
December 15, 2018 10:10 AM - Season 3, Episode 2 - Subscribe
MacLaren and Yates adjust to their new partnership while protecting a TV show host whose inflammatory rhetoric about Travelers has led to tragedy.
*TV 'news' personality Christopher Rockwell makes a broadcast accusing politician Daniel Sosa of being a Traveler, and of being responsible for the assassination of Bishop. Off the air, his (producer? assistant?) tells him how Traveler video evidence is disappearing from government servers, but shows him one video she's managed to find and save on an isolated laptop - Carly's confession video.
*At the condo, Kat has another imaginary-MacLaren conversation in which she says they can't just pretend everything's ok, and MacLaren saying "pretend with me, or this won't end well for you" which startles her into dropping and shattering a mug. She tells real-MacLaren that she's going to spend a few days at her mother's.
*Carly gets a visit from Jacquelyn of Child Services, who tells her that with the evidence pointing to Carly having assaulted Jeff and the two of them no longer living together, Jeff has been awarded sole custody of Jeff Jr.
*Philip picks up Marcy, and asks how David is doing. Marcy worries this means Philip knows something, and asks if David has a new TELL, but Philip insists his question was innocent but that he couldn't tell her about David's future even if he did know something.
*Trevor's Dad drops him off at a new place he's supposed to be moving into, with a bunch of furniture. As soon as Trevor's Dad leaves, Trevor puts a 'free' sign on the furniture and gets picked up by Philip and Marcy to go live at HQ.
*At the grocery store parking lot, Daniel Sosa apologizes to his wife, Katie, for their having to deal with reporters asking about Rockwell's accusations. As they start to drive away, a bunch of masked men in a pickup truck block them in and open fire, and Katie is killed.
*At the FBI office, MacLaren arrives to find Yates in her office waiting for him. She has been assigned as his new partner/official liaison, and records him listening to her read the regulations which the FBI has put into place regarding FBI oversight of Traveler teams. MacLaren refuses to acknowledge her authority, insisting that they will work together on FBI business but he will not involve her in Traveler missions unless so instructed by the Director.
*At HQ, Trevor meditates with Philip.
*At the cable news station, Rockwell's (producer?/assistant?) gets a phone call telling her to open her email. The email contains a video of masked men threatening to kill Rockwell. At the FBI office, Yates shows MacLaren the video, saying they've identified the source of the threat as a hacktivist group and that she and MacLaren have been assigned to protect Rockwell.
*Jeff gets into his car and finds a post-it saying "What you remember is true" on his rear-view mirror.
*David and Kat meet in a coffee shop to talk - Jeff was supposed to be there too, and David calls him but just gets voicemail. Kat tells David about having this lost-time feeling before, and David gives her the number of a more qualified colleague if she wants to talk to someone about recent events.
*Carly tells Marcy about losing custody of Jeff Jr., and Marcy tries to comfort her by saying that succeeding in their mission of saving the future is the best thing she can do for him. They get a handoff of something from a passing bicyclist, and comm to Philip that they've received the component.
*Rockwell does a report on Sosa, blaming the assassination attempt on the Travelers, saying they must have been trying to get rid of a compromised asset, then saying they're after him now and starts to play the hacktivist threat video, but Yates & MacLaren arrive at the studio and interrupt the recording to tell him they've been assigned to protect him. Later, Yates & MacLaren sit in their car together on stakeout and Yates tries to get more info from MacLaren. He tells her that without the Director's intervention, real-Grant MacLaren would have died alone in an elevator shaft leaving Kat widowed, but Yates counters with the story of how the Director used her mother as a messenger, making her final words not her own.
*At David's, Marcy finds him passed out on the floor from exercising, and injects him with something before he wakes up. He comes to thinking he's pulled a muscle.
*At HQ, Philip hallucinates an FBI raid in which Trevor is shot. When he snaps back to reality, he goes for his Historian medication. Trevor is alarmed at him taking drugs again without Carly's approval, but Philip says due to Historian Protocol 2H he can't discuss it with the team.
*At Jeff's, he ignores a crying Jeff Jr. while getting drunk and watching the Rockwell Report. Daniel Sosa watches it alone in his home also.
*David makes some terrible "Jurassic Dark" coffee for himself and Marcy. He's feeling incredibly achy, and Marcy tells him he's overdoing it with the exercise and should stop trying so hard to change himself. He drags himself to work, where co-worker Ken tells him he's put David's name down for giving a Saturday HIV seminar in his place, but David says he's not going to be a pushover anymore and Ken can't just volunteer him for things without his ok.
*A visibly drunk Jeff puts Jeff Jr. into his car seat and starts driving, then gets pulled over after blowing through a stop sign. The cop recognizes him, but arrests him for suspected DWI anyway. He is found to be twice over the legal limit, gets suspended from work, and told that Jeff Jr. has been taken back to Child Services.
*At Rockwell's home, he admits to MacLaren and Yates that he doesn't care whether his stories are true or not, he just cares about what he can make people believe. MacLaren tells him he's actually a Traveler, and that if Rockwell doesn't drop the story he's endangering his life, but Rockwell doesn't believe him/doesn't care.
*In the van, Trevor tells Marcy and Carly about Philip's pills. Marcy doesn't recognize them, but Philip again says due to Protocol 2H he cannot discuss it, and they'll just have to trust him. The team parks at the cable station, and Philip triggers a false alarm to the front desk security station. He directs the security guard to go check it out while the "new girl" Carly takes over his station, and Trevor heads up to the studio. Meanwhile, MacLaren and Yates walk Rockwell into the studio from the back way, and Marcy is already posing as the new make-up assistant.
*Sosa enters the building, telling Carly he's scheduled for and interview upstairs, and when he shows her his ID we see he has a gun. Carly can't find him in the schedule, but lets him pass anyway, telling him she's sorry for his loss. As a TELL countdown begins, MacLaren gives Rockwell one last chance to drop the Traveler story and save himself, telling him the details of Bishop's assassination, revealing Marcy as a fellow Traveler. Rockwell refuses, and Sosa enters and holds Rockwell at gunpoint, demanding Rockwell record a statement admitting his lies about Travelers and Sosa got Katie killed. Rockwell tells him it's all true and tells MacLaren to repeat himself, but MacLaren says nothing, and at the end of the countdown Rockwell gets Traveled. Marcy uses the distraction to disarm Sosa, and Trevor restrains him while she injects him with a memory-inhibitor.
*MacLaren welcomes the new Traveler to the 21st, and Trevor gives him a device to pass on to his Engineer when his team contacts hm. Yates is not happy with MacLaren, accusing him of using circular logic to justify his actions.
*Trevor and Philip settle in at HQ with some popcorn to watch Traveler-Rockwell give his interview on the Drew Clarkson show. He admits that his Traveler stories were all lies, and promises to donate $5 million to various charities, and to work on using his platform for good from now on. Yates watches the show on her laptop.
*At the condo, Jeff arrives looking for Kat, but finds only MacLaren. Jeff says he remembers who MacLaren really is, threatens to reveal it to Kat, then leaves.
*TV 'news' personality Christopher Rockwell makes a broadcast accusing politician Daniel Sosa of being a Traveler, and of being responsible for the assassination of Bishop. Off the air, his (producer? assistant?) tells him how Traveler video evidence is disappearing from government servers, but shows him one video she's managed to find and save on an isolated laptop - Carly's confession video.
*At the condo, Kat has another imaginary-MacLaren conversation in which she says they can't just pretend everything's ok, and MacLaren saying "pretend with me, or this won't end well for you" which startles her into dropping and shattering a mug. She tells real-MacLaren that she's going to spend a few days at her mother's.
*Carly gets a visit from Jacquelyn of Child Services, who tells her that with the evidence pointing to Carly having assaulted Jeff and the two of them no longer living together, Jeff has been awarded sole custody of Jeff Jr.
*Philip picks up Marcy, and asks how David is doing. Marcy worries this means Philip knows something, and asks if David has a new TELL, but Philip insists his question was innocent but that he couldn't tell her about David's future even if he did know something.
*Trevor's Dad drops him off at a new place he's supposed to be moving into, with a bunch of furniture. As soon as Trevor's Dad leaves, Trevor puts a 'free' sign on the furniture and gets picked up by Philip and Marcy to go live at HQ.
*At the grocery store parking lot, Daniel Sosa apologizes to his wife, Katie, for their having to deal with reporters asking about Rockwell's accusations. As they start to drive away, a bunch of masked men in a pickup truck block them in and open fire, and Katie is killed.
*At the FBI office, MacLaren arrives to find Yates in her office waiting for him. She has been assigned as his new partner/official liaison, and records him listening to her read the regulations which the FBI has put into place regarding FBI oversight of Traveler teams. MacLaren refuses to acknowledge her authority, insisting that they will work together on FBI business but he will not involve her in Traveler missions unless so instructed by the Director.
*At HQ, Trevor meditates with Philip.
*At the cable news station, Rockwell's (producer?/assistant?) gets a phone call telling her to open her email. The email contains a video of masked men threatening to kill Rockwell. At the FBI office, Yates shows MacLaren the video, saying they've identified the source of the threat as a hacktivist group and that she and MacLaren have been assigned to protect Rockwell.
*Jeff gets into his car and finds a post-it saying "What you remember is true" on his rear-view mirror.
*David and Kat meet in a coffee shop to talk - Jeff was supposed to be there too, and David calls him but just gets voicemail. Kat tells David about having this lost-time feeling before, and David gives her the number of a more qualified colleague if she wants to talk to someone about recent events.
*Carly tells Marcy about losing custody of Jeff Jr., and Marcy tries to comfort her by saying that succeeding in their mission of saving the future is the best thing she can do for him. They get a handoff of something from a passing bicyclist, and comm to Philip that they've received the component.
*Rockwell does a report on Sosa, blaming the assassination attempt on the Travelers, saying they must have been trying to get rid of a compromised asset, then saying they're after him now and starts to play the hacktivist threat video, but Yates & MacLaren arrive at the studio and interrupt the recording to tell him they've been assigned to protect him. Later, Yates & MacLaren sit in their car together on stakeout and Yates tries to get more info from MacLaren. He tells her that without the Director's intervention, real-Grant MacLaren would have died alone in an elevator shaft leaving Kat widowed, but Yates counters with the story of how the Director used her mother as a messenger, making her final words not her own.
*At David's, Marcy finds him passed out on the floor from exercising, and injects him with something before he wakes up. He comes to thinking he's pulled a muscle.
*At HQ, Philip hallucinates an FBI raid in which Trevor is shot. When he snaps back to reality, he goes for his Historian medication. Trevor is alarmed at him taking drugs again without Carly's approval, but Philip says due to Historian Protocol 2H he can't discuss it with the team.
*At Jeff's, he ignores a crying Jeff Jr. while getting drunk and watching the Rockwell Report. Daniel Sosa watches it alone in his home also.
*David makes some terrible "Jurassic Dark" coffee for himself and Marcy. He's feeling incredibly achy, and Marcy tells him he's overdoing it with the exercise and should stop trying so hard to change himself. He drags himself to work, where co-worker Ken tells him he's put David's name down for giving a Saturday HIV seminar in his place, but David says he's not going to be a pushover anymore and Ken can't just volunteer him for things without his ok.
*A visibly drunk Jeff puts Jeff Jr. into his car seat and starts driving, then gets pulled over after blowing through a stop sign. The cop recognizes him, but arrests him for suspected DWI anyway. He is found to be twice over the legal limit, gets suspended from work, and told that Jeff Jr. has been taken back to Child Services.
*At Rockwell's home, he admits to MacLaren and Yates that he doesn't care whether his stories are true or not, he just cares about what he can make people believe. MacLaren tells him he's actually a Traveler, and that if Rockwell doesn't drop the story he's endangering his life, but Rockwell doesn't believe him/doesn't care.
*In the van, Trevor tells Marcy and Carly about Philip's pills. Marcy doesn't recognize them, but Philip again says due to Protocol 2H he cannot discuss it, and they'll just have to trust him. The team parks at the cable station, and Philip triggers a false alarm to the front desk security station. He directs the security guard to go check it out while the "new girl" Carly takes over his station, and Trevor heads up to the studio. Meanwhile, MacLaren and Yates walk Rockwell into the studio from the back way, and Marcy is already posing as the new make-up assistant.
*Sosa enters the building, telling Carly he's scheduled for and interview upstairs, and when he shows her his ID we see he has a gun. Carly can't find him in the schedule, but lets him pass anyway, telling him she's sorry for his loss. As a TELL countdown begins, MacLaren gives Rockwell one last chance to drop the Traveler story and save himself, telling him the details of Bishop's assassination, revealing Marcy as a fellow Traveler. Rockwell refuses, and Sosa enters and holds Rockwell at gunpoint, demanding Rockwell record a statement admitting his lies about Travelers and Sosa got Katie killed. Rockwell tells him it's all true and tells MacLaren to repeat himself, but MacLaren says nothing, and at the end of the countdown Rockwell gets Traveled. Marcy uses the distraction to disarm Sosa, and Trevor restrains him while she injects him with a memory-inhibitor.
*MacLaren welcomes the new Traveler to the 21st, and Trevor gives him a device to pass on to his Engineer when his team contacts hm. Yates is not happy with MacLaren, accusing him of using circular logic to justify his actions.
*Trevor and Philip settle in at HQ with some popcorn to watch Traveler-Rockwell give his interview on the Drew Clarkson show. He admits that his Traveler stories were all lies, and promises to donate $5 million to various charities, and to work on using his platform for good from now on. Yates watches the show on her laptop.
*At the condo, Jeff arrives looking for Kat, but finds only MacLaren. Jeff says he remembers who MacLaren really is, threatens to reveal it to Kat, then leaves.
I was wondering that too. Aren’t his parents going to want to come round for dinner or something some time?
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 12:18 AM on December 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 12:18 AM on December 16, 2018 [3 favorites]
I feel like the writers were just really tired of trying to write plausible ways for Trevor to be concealing his Traveler life from his parents, but, this was a really nonsense way to do it. Maybe if the parents moved away for a new job and Trevor stayed behind it would have been believable. But they're still in the same town/neighborhood, Trevor's expected to come home for visits, and his parents would surely want to swing by and bring him things from time to time.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:30 AM on December 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by oh yeah! at 5:30 AM on December 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
This is one show that seems like it would've worked well as a full network length sequence of shows, they seem to have lots of good mini time travel dramas like this episode, paradox of the week. Almost like a themed twilight zone, lots of stories and a cast that can go lots of directions and keep cohesion and identity even when the identity flips for a plot point.
posted by sammyo at 12:18 PM on December 16, 2018
posted by sammyo at 12:18 PM on December 16, 2018
Ooh, that was harsh of Trevor. I'm team 'he's ghosting,' but how can he avoid accidentally running into them, living in the same town?
The "authorities know" reset seems reasonable, for now.
posted by porpoise at 4:15 PM on December 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
The "authorities know" reset seems reasonable, for now.
posted by porpoise at 4:15 PM on December 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I nth that the whole Trevor's parents thing is a bad move all around and yes, they will visit. Come on.
I hate when custody is taken away from the nice parent and given to the abuser. HATE THIS.
I don't get how this Yates thing is supposed to work and I don't think the show does either.
I do agree with David that he needs to kahuna up or whatever if he's going to keep getting into physical trouble. Maybe get a trainer, perhaps?
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:51 PM on December 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
I hate when custody is taken away from the nice parent and given to the abuser. HATE THIS.
I don't get how this Yates thing is supposed to work and I don't think the show does either.
I do agree with David that he needs to kahuna up or whatever if he's going to keep getting into physical trouble. Maybe get a trainer, perhaps?
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:51 PM on December 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
Liked how Marcy is trying to talk David down ("muscles need a lot of rest to get stronger," her casually demonstrating her "training"). Could go either way - David kahuna-ing helps him save a day or that his overconfidence (Dunning-Kruger, anyone) gets someone into trouble.
posted by porpoise at 9:26 AM on December 17, 2018
posted by porpoise at 9:26 AM on December 17, 2018
Agree with all about the Trevor thing, really short-sighted. Then again he's an old man living out his youth once again so maybe he's getting really method.
I like that this touched on some current real life topics. I wish it was real and all the terrible people in charge right now, and running those terrible shows, gets rewritten.
posted by numaner at 9:15 PM on December 21, 2018
I like that this touched on some current real life topics. I wish it was real and all the terrible people in charge right now, and running those terrible shows, gets rewritten.
posted by numaner at 9:15 PM on December 21, 2018
I hate when custody is taken away from the nice parent and given to the abuser. HATE THIS.
Yeah, I hate it, but it happens so often in real life because the abuser hasn’t specifically abused the child, that I do kind of like seeing it in fiction even when it makes me angry. Of course when one person is a cop and one isn’t they’re going to give custody to the abuser cop! Even if he’s terrible.
posted by corb at 9:47 AM on January 20, 2019
Yeah, I hate it, but it happens so often in real life because the abuser hasn’t specifically abused the child, that I do kind of like seeing it in fiction even when it makes me angry. Of course when one person is a cop and one isn’t they’re going to give custody to the abuser cop! Even if he’s terrible.
posted by corb at 9:47 AM on January 20, 2019
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posted by oh yeah! at 10:25 AM on December 15, 2018 [4 favorites]