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Recap / Timeless S2E7 "Mrs. Sherlock Holmes"

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Lucy, Wyatt, Rufus, and Flynn head to the Big Applesauce in 1919, following the Mothership. Their assumption that Rittenhouse plans to assassinate President Wilson is wrong. Instead, they learn that a suffragette named Alice Paul has been framed by a Rittenhouse sleeper agent for killing a senator not long before a speech she gives is supposed to inspire Wilson to fight for women's right to vote. While Rufus and Flynn are forced to team up with Emma, who disagrees with Keynes's plan for once, Lucy and Wyatt seek the assistance of a female attorney named Grace Humiston, whose investigative skills are legendary.



  • Defrosting Ice Queen: At first, Grace behaves in a very arrogant, detached manner. When Lucy asks why she isn't fighting for women's rights, Grace scoffs and points out that she got to where she is by fighting tooth and nail to be recognized and believes that any woman that isn't doing that doesn't deserve recognition. However, after personally witnessing the bravery of the women at the march and the senseless savagery with which the male cops are beating the women, she gets up on top of a makeshift podium and gives a Rousing Speech that changes the President's mind about women's suffrage. Grace goes on to become a crucial figure in women's rights.
  • Enemy Mine: The team has a temporary alliance with Emma, who doesn't want women's suffrage to fail. Emma helps them find and stop the sleeper agent. Also, Wyatt isn't keen on the idea of Flynn going on missions with them, now that the Lifeboat can safely fit four.
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  • Even Evil Has Standards: Emma may be a ruthless murderer, but she refuses to help Keynes destroy all the progress women have made in the US. She reveals that her father used to beat her and her mom, until her mother gathered enough courage to run away with Emma. Emma then went on to graduate Caltech among the top of her class, resulting in her recruitment by Rittenhouse. On the other hand, the sleeper turns out to be a suffragette as well, who still follows her orders despite the effect her actions would have on all American women.
  • Entitled to Have You: Despite officially breaking up with Lucy due to Jessica's return from the dead, Wyatt still displays a remarkable degree of entitlement when Lucy seems to be growing closer to Flynn, attempting to threaten Flynn in a blatant display of jealousy despite Flynn's comments that who Lucy spends time with is Lucy's decision to make, and later angrily confronting Lucy about this in the middle of a mission and attempting to touch her (non-sexually) against her will at the end of the episode despite Lucy repeatedly making it clear that she has no interest in resuming their relationship while Wyatt remains married to Jessica.
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  • Evil Former Friend: Rufus comments that the only friends he had at Mason Industries were Anthony and Emma. Then he realizes that Anthony was secretly working with Flynn, while Emma was a Rittenhouse agent. He admits that he's terrible at picking friends.
  • Foreseeing My Death: Rufus is initially angry at Jiya for telling him about his impending death. However, while in 1919, he realizes that he can't die on this mission, so he becomes incredibly reckless. At the end, he returns badly beaten, causing Flynn to point out that Rufus doesn't quite understand the meaning of the word "invincible" (i.e. even if he can't die, he can still be hurt).
  • Great Detective: Grace Humiston, the so-called "Mrs. Sherlock Holmes". According to Lucy, Grace would've been NYPD's best detective, but women weren't allowed to become cops at the time. Being a woman, Grace has to frequently fight uphill battles against the sexist male cops, occasionally being forced to blackmail them with whatever her Sherlock Scan reveals (such as the desk sergeant's habit of drinking while on duty).
  • It Works Better with Bullets: After Grace figures out the killer's identity, she finds her revolver and empties it out. When the sleeper tries to kill Lucy, she's shocked to have the gun click uselessly. Grace appears behind her and shows the bullets in her hand.
  • Motive Misidentification: When first learning of the Mothership traveling to 1919, Lucy is convinced that Rittenhouse plans to kill President Wilson the day before his trip to France to sign the Treasy of Versailles. Instead, Nicholas Keynes wants to nip women's suffrage in the bud by getting rid of a key figure in the movement.
  • Never the Obvious Suspect: When Senator Wadsworth is murdered, the police quickly catch the suffragette Alice Paul, finding the murder weapon in her room. As far as they're concerned, it's an open-and-shut case, especially given the frequent verbal hostility between Wadsworth and Paul. Knowing that Alice isn't the killer, Lucy and Wyatt go to Grace Humiston, who immediately confirms that of course Alice isn't the murderer. For one, she's a Quaker, so she wouldn't even own a gun. And two, she's not an idiot to leave a murder weapon lying around in plain sight.
  • Not What It Looks Like: Wyatt witnesses Lucy leaving Flynn's room in the morning and assumes the obvious. He admonishes her several times for it, only for her to point out that what she does and with whom she does it is none of his business. At the end, though, she admits that all they did was talk.
  • Pinkerton Detective: When a cop catches them at the crime scene, Rufus and Flynn claim to be Pinkertons named John McClane and Hans Gruber. Flynn ruefully smiles at being given the name of the (European) bad guy.
  • Reality Ensues: Emma is a woman who suffered at the hands of her cruel father, and who clawed her way up in the world all on her own merit, and who owes the fact she could succeed at all to the rights that the suffragettes fought for. When she finds out that Keynes wants to eliminate women rights she teams up with the team to stop him.
  • Rousing Speech: In the original timeline, Alice Paul is supposed to give an impassioned speech during a march that will inspire President Wilson to fight for women's rights, resulting in the 19th amendment. In the new timeline, the initially skeptical and detached Grace Humiston witnesses the savagery with which the male cops are beating the peacefully protesting women and gives a different speech that, nevertheless, has the same effect as Alice Paul's. In fact, Grace becomes a key figure in women's rights movement, although Lucy sadly notes that Alice Paul isn't even a historical footnote in the new history.
  • Sherlock Scan: Grace Humiston figures out that Lucy and Wyatt are in a complicated relationship as soon as they walk in the door, listing off all the reasons for the conclusion. She also figures out who the real murderer is by analyzing the note given to the bellhop and determining that the killer is left-handed. She then has the suffragettes vote by raising their hands on whether they should march silently. Only one woman raises her left hand.
  • Stay in the Kitchen: This is the attitude of many men opposing the women's march. In fact, someone actually screams the phrase word-for-word. Being a Politically Incorrect Villain, Keynes plans to nip women's suffrage in the bud. This causes his loyal follower and Dragon Emma to briefly turn against him. Additionally, Keynes grows fond of Emma and demands that Emma no longer risk her life by leaving the Mothership when traveling into the past. She's not particularly fond of that, being a top field agent and all.
  • Take That!: When Lucy suggests that Rittenhouse may be trying to alter European history by changing the Treaty of Versailles, Rufus asks if they want to "make Germany great again". Also, after coming back and confirming that women still have the right to vote and that Hillary ran for President in the last election, they're still a little upset that Trump still got elected. When Christopher asks if that was supposed to happen, Lucy answers that she doesn't know, but they're not responsible for this state of affairs.
  • Totally Radical: When a cop happens upon Rufus and Flynn combing through the crime scene, they claim to be Pinkerton Detectives. The guy disbelieves that they're "a couple of dicks", causing much confusion for Rufus. However, Flynn, more familiar with period slang, confirms that they're indeed "a couple of detectives". Then Emma shows up and echoes the cops' words, but fully meaning the modern interpretation of the word.
  • Training from Hell: Emma reveals that the ten years she spent in The Wild West were all a part of a Rittenhouse test, which she passed with flying colors. It's one of the reasons she resents Lucy so much, as Lucy was immediately accepted into the organization by virtue of having parents who are high-ranking members.
  • Wham Shot: Mason finally manages to salvage an image from one of the hard drives recovered from Rittenhouse HQ, and it's a picture of Jessica. Christopher tells him to keep the knowledge of it from the others until they can figure out what it means.

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