Timeless Review: The Kennedy Curse (Season 2 Episode 5)
A young John F. Kennedy goes on an adventure in the present day and the show dives headfirst into the Lucy/Wyatt/Jessica love triangle with mixed results on Timeless Season 2 Episode 5, “The Kennedy Curse.”
Quite a bit happens in this episode with a baby-faced J.F.K. escaping the Time Team bunker, Rufus and Jiya trying to reconcile the reasons she is having visions of the future, and Agent Christopher spending some quality time as a guest of Lucy’s Mom and Rittenhouse agent, Carol Preston.
A young John F. Kennedy hanging out in the present day and going to a house party sounds like a bonkers idea, but it really works thanks to strong performances from Grant Jordan as JFK and Reina Hardest as Kayla, the young girl he befriends. I also like that the storyline features a non-Presidential version of J.F.K. not usually represented in television and film.
(Historical aside: I’m not sure Kennedy’s poor health is quite the secret the show seems to think it is, but I’ve read some speculation that his condition was bad enough he may not have survived a second term had he not been assassinated.)
For a historical figure that often seems larger-than-life, the choice to depict Kennedy as a teenager makes him seem much more vulnerable, which adds a nice bit of tension to the action. His youth also helps heighten the emotional impact once he discovers his tragic future.
This plot eventually merges nicely into Rufus and Jiya’s discussions (arguments?) over what exactly is the purpose of her visions. Both characters make compelling arguments for their conflicting beliefs, but the discovery that Rufus’ warning did not prevent J.F.K.’s assassination feels like an important discovery for the team.
Some points in history seem to be fixed, so even Rittenhouse’s attempts to meddle should fail in certain cases. Perhaps this bit of knowledge will help our team outsmart the bad guys? Let’s hope so!
“The Kennedy Curse,” also includes a great side plot involving Agent Christopher and Lucy’s mother, Carol Preston. Carol’s determined desperation to protect her daughter and Agent Christopher’s savvy attempts at stalling for time, feel true to both characters.
I also like that Agent Christopher is up-front with Lucy about the danger she is in and then supports Lucy’s choice to continue on with the mission. It’s just nice to see her respect Lucy’s agency.
Aside from J.F.K. storyline, the core of the episode mostly focuses on the developing love triangle between Lucy, Wyatt, and Jessica.
This is unfortunate for a couple of reasons.
First, it is nearly impossible to write a love triangle without at least one character coming out of it looking terrible. In this case, for me, it’s Wyatt.
Not only does he run back to his wife, Jessica, only a day or two after he and Lucy first spend the night together, but he then brings his wife into the bunker so Lucy must awkwardly interact with her and the newly reunited couple.
Yes, the situation is complicated. But Wyatt’s quick turn around has me doubting how strong his feelings for Lucy actually are and, given some of his recent behavior, quite frankly makes him look more than a little wishy-washy.
He also spends the episode shooting sad eyes at Lucy and demonstrates a high level of concern for her well-being more than once before telling Lucy he has “no regrets” about their brief relationship.
I do not find this romantic.
If Wyatt wants to be with Jessica, good for him. However, making eyes at Lucy at the same time he is trying to reconcile with his wife and telling Lucy he does not regret their night together makes it appear as if he is trying to have the best of both worlds. It isn’t fair to either woman.
Add this to Jessica’s mention of Wyatt’s prior infidelity and he does not come off very well here.
Another frequent outcome of love triangles is that one character often ends up being the martyr, stepping back so the other people in the triangle can be happy. In this case, it is Lucy who tells Jessica that Wyatt deserves another chance.
Look, Lucy Preston is a smart, brave, awesome character who only a few episodes ago nearly gave her life to stop Rittenhouse. Seeing the writers turn her into a cheerleader for Wyatt and Jessica’s marriage and use her as one leg of a poorly developed romantic triangle is disheartening.
My only hope is that once Wyatt inevitably changes his mind and wants Lucy back and/or once Jessica turns out to be evil, Lucy tells him to take a seat. There’s been more than enough screen time featuring romantic angst and I am ready to get back to historical time-traveling shenanigans with the full team.
What did you think of this episode of Timeless? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Timeless airs Sundays at 10/9c on NBC.
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Jennifer Ann
Jennifer works in public history and digital marketing. She has a borderline academic interest in how historical time periods and events are presented in popular culture. When she is not over-analyzing story arcs and character growth in her favorite shows, she enjoys lazy weekends avoiding housework and spoiling her dogs.
One thought on “Timeless Review: The Kennedy Curse (Season 2 Episode 5)”
I’d rather Lucy and Wyatt hadn’t had sex, period. I like watching the Time Team, i.e. Lucy, Rufus, and Wyatt, interact together. This ill-advised romance between Wyatt and Lucy just complicated everything and made it harder for everyone to do their jobs–stopping Rittenhouse. Bringing Jessica back from the dead immediately after they’ve spent the night together is a stupid writer’s trick. Romantic triangles are dicey at best. I’d rather they hadn’t gone in this direction at all. However, I can’t imagine Wyatt not wanting to try to make his marriage work, not after six years of mourning her and blaming himself for her murder. He stole a time machine to try to get Jessica back. Lucy was being realistic, kind, and true to herself in telling Jessica that Wyatt has changed, and urging her to give him another chance. I wouldn’t expect any less of her.
We know that Jessica thinks that her Wyatt was cheating on her; without hearing his side of the story–an impossibility since that timeline has disappeared into the boundless void–we can’t know that for certain and we certainly don’t know any such thing about our Wyatt Logan. We can never know the full story of their troubled marriage because for the last six years, our Wyatt has lived in a different reality.
I hope the writers haven’t decided to make Jessica a sleeper agent because that is (1.) not at all believable and (2.) a stupid, cliched thing to do with a romantic triangle. If Jessica was an agent, her job was completed as soon as Wyatt had taken her into the bunker, another lazy writer’s trick to advance their ridiculous plot.
The best resolution for Jessica Logan’s plot arc would be for her to realize that their marriage still isn’t working for her, that the “new and improved” version of Wyatt isn’t giving her what she needs. Anyway, this Jessica isn’t our Wyatt’s Jessica. That woman is still dead and Wyatt will have to come to terms with that fact at some point. I can’t see any way that he would realistically make a move on Lucy, not this season. And yeah, if the writers are that clumsy, let’s hope they have Lucy kick him to the curb or better yet, let him down gently. They have an important job to do.
Two pivotal events in American history, both assassinations, proved impossible to change. This feels like a version of the “fixed points in time” theory from Doctor Who to me.
You didn’t even mention Garcia Flynn.
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