First of all, please accept my most sincere apologies for this recap’s delay. If you watched the two-hour finale, you know that there is a lot of information to process. The first time I watched this, I literally just made noises at my laptop screen at the end. I pity my poor neighbors, because with my apartment’s echo, I’m sure they thought I was on something.

Secondly, I tried my best to condense this down for y’all, as a lot happened. Both of the episodes were perfect examples of why the show deserves to be renewed – if not for multiple seasons, one more so that they can wrap this all up in a bow. Nevertheless, they can’t leave us hanging with that ending!

Like last week, my thoughts will be at the end. I hope you enjoy the recap. Be sure to tweet us – the site’s handle is @tvtango, mine is @amandammason – to let us know your thoughts.

THE HAMBURGLAR IS A DIRTY REBEL AND HARRIET TUBMAN IS STONE COLD

Emma has taken the Mother Ship to June 1, 1863 Beaufort, South Carolina, and I seriously doubt it’s to visit the Kazoo Museum. She’s there to deliver a Civil War military history book and a cheeseburger – yes, a cheeseburger – to the Rittenhouse sleeper agent. Said agent is Colonel Reyerson of the Confederate Army. His mission is to stop the Cumbahee River Raid, thus almost ensuring that the Union loses the war. If he does that, he can go home to all the cheeseburgers he can eat. Who is this dude? Wimpy from Popeye?

Pictured: (L-R) Annie Wersching as Emma, Kevin Sizemore as Colonel Reyerson.

(Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

The Cumbahee River Raid was conducted by an almost entirely black Union regiment and was led by none other than Harriet Freaking Tubman. In addition to running the Underground Railroad (which, as Lucy points out, was “humming along” for years prior), Tubman was a Union spy and was known as The General. Not only was the raid a huge blow to the Confederacy, but hundreds of slaves were freed in the process.

Rufus, Flynn, Wyatt, and Lucy go in search of Harriet, but first encounter the regiment that was supposed to execute the raid. Dead. A soldier asks them to help him with a mercy killing, but before they can even make the decision to do it, a shot rings out. Harriet Tubman has stepped in to do what the Time Team couldn’t – and she is pissed that they waffled on helping that soldier.

The team decides to split up – much to Wyatt’s chagrin. Rufus and Wyatt go in search of the sleeper, while Flynn and Lucy implore General Montgomery to send troops to back Harriet up. Montgomery denies their request and makes the mistake of using his misogynist voice in front of Lucy. BIG MISTAKE. HUGE.

While Harriet rounds up the slaves, Rufus and Wyatt (dressed like Colonel Sanders, by the way) head to a party at a plantation to nab the sleeper. Rufus locates the history book and burns it in front of a horrified Colonel Reyerson. While Reyerson makes it out of the house without being shot by Wyatt, Harriet Tubman finishes the job as soon as he walks outside.

In the end, presumably moved by Lucy’s speech, General Montgomery brings his men to the aid of Tubman and her scrappy gang. The raid is no longer known as the Cumbahee River Raid – it is now the Willow Glen Plantation Raid – but the Union still has the upper hand and the Civil War presumably ends as it should.

 
A MATTER OF FAITH

Some of the best scenes in these two hours were with Harriet Tubman and Rufus. The bond they form in this short amount of time is just lovely. What hits you right in the heart is Harriet’s revelation of where she knows Rufus and Wyatt from: God sent her a vision of them arriving like angels and climbing out of a metal ball. For a man who just episodes ago denied God’s very existence, this is a huge moment for Rufus. When he returns to the present, he tells Jiya that while he is still not super religious, he now believes that her own visions are a gift from a higher power.

Pictured: (L-R) Floyd Johns as Harriet's Man, Christine Horn as Harriet Tubman.

(Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

WE’RE HAVING A BABY, MY UNDEAD-WIFE-ABOUT-WHOM-I-AM-SUSPICIOUS AND ME

As we all know (and hate) from last week, Jessica is pregnant. Wyatt is thrilled. Jessica has indigestion and wants to watch THIS IS US and ugly cry. The fact that Jessica is pregnant with Wyatt’s kid gives me indigestion and makes me ugly cry. Just sayin’.

Wyatt tells Jessica that he’s excited to tell her family about the baby together – and can’t wait to meet her brother Kevin. The mere mention of her brother keeps making her squirmy, but she has a good poker face and doesn’t give Wyatt the reaction he’s looking for.

Unfortunately for Wyatt, his suspicions were correct and he should have said something. Jess steals his gun, takes Jiya hostage and forces her to pilot the Life Boat. Rufus, who asked Wyatt to tell him if Jessica said anything suspicious, is apoplectic and riddled with worry. He tells Wyatt that if Jiya dies, he’ll never forgive him.

After locating Jiya – and the Rittenhouse stooges – in 1888, Wyatt corners Jessica. She tells him that despite her complete indoctrination into Rittenhouse, she really does love him. She’s really pregnant and the baby is his, but she’s raising the kid in Rittenhouse – just like she was. She manages to escape everything unscathed and will be running Rittenhouse side-by-side with Emma. I hope Rittenhouse has a good maternity leave policy. Somehow I doubt they do – seems a bit too progressive for them.


I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

Increasingly disturbed by her visions and determined to save Rufus, Jiya hacks into Mason’s laptop for information on former pilot Stanley Fisher. Stanley has been tucked away into a mental asylum and Jiya demands that Mason take her to see him. He reluctantly agrees. There, Stanley informs Jiya that there’s a way for her to control her visions to extract the greatest amount of detail. He also talks about Kirk Cameron and the forbidden colors which, coincidentally, would be a great pub trivia team name.

After being kidnapped by Jessica, Jiya goes full badass and escapes the Rittenhouse henchman assigned to guard her. She narrowly escapes a hail of bullets from Emma and takes the Life Boat, unfortunately becoming stranded in 1888 when the machine malfunctions.

Jiya sends a message to her team in the present by appearing in a photo that ends up in one of the books written by Lucy and her mom. In the photo is a message written in Klingon, which Rufus can of course read. She gives the exact coordinates of the hidden Life Boat along with the words “DON’T COME.” The team ignores that and goes to find her. Lucy sums it up nicely: “Well to hell with that.”

Jiya, it turns out, has been holding her own as a dealer in a Chinatown saloon. When Rufus arrives to find her, he witnesses his girlfriend breaking a man’s wrist. Though she’s happy to see him, she refuses to come home. By controlling her visions, she determines that trying to go home is what ends up getting Rufus killed. When the moment from her vision arrives, however, Jiya is able to prevent his death.

Pictured: (L-R) Malcolm Barrett as Rufus Carlin, Claudia Doumit as Jiya.

(Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Unfortunately, though, his death occurs anyway when Emma shoots him as the team exits the saloon to go home.


BECAUSE KEEPING IT ALL IN THE FAMILY WORKED SO WELL FOR THE PTOLEMAICS…

After finding herself being increasingly cut out of the Rittenhouse loop, Carol goes on the offensive against Iago Emma by exploiting the biggest tool in her arsenal: her Rittenhouse legacy. She does this by taking Paw-Paw Nicholas to the cemetery and showing him the grave of his dead daughter – Carol’s mother – as a reminder of all that he sacrificed for Rittenhouse. As if the whole scenario wasn’t weird enough, she adds in that he needs to stop thinking with his crotch. Oh what I would give to be a fly on the wall at the Keynes/Preston Thanksgiving dinner celebration.

Pictured: (L-R) Annie Wersching as Emma Whitmore, Tonya Glanz as Jessica, Evan Lai as Feng Yunshan,

Michael Rady as Nicholas Keynes, Susanna Thompson as Carol Preston.

(Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

Emma, who is busy playing Door Dash to the Confederacy, doesn’t find out about any of the above until she arrives to Wine Down Wednesday and finds herself the red-headed stepchild. Literally. 

She reacts how Emma reacts best. WITH MURDER. When the gang goes to 1888 to retrieve their escaped hostage, she finally has enough of this family nonsense – especially when it comes to Princess Lucy – and just…gets rid of the family.

With their superiors officially dead, leadership now falls to Emma and Jessica. Emma throws around the name “Rittenbitches”, but I’m kind of partial to “Rittenhoes.” I like the way it rolls off the tongue, as well as its similarity to “Rittenhouse.” I have a degree in PR. Call me, Rittenhoes.

Jess wonders what will keep the other Rittenhouse members from coup-ing (actually a word, damn it) on them. I have to straight-up quote this word-for-word because it is just THAT fantastic. Emma responds with, “Because I’m the bitch with the time machine.”


HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A LUCY SCORNED

“I really thought I had hit rock bottom. But today, it’s like there’s rock bottom, fifty feet of crap, and then me.”

That’s a FRIENDS quote, but I think it most definitely applies to our Lucy. Even more-so than it did with Rachel because, in hindsight, I would have punched Ross in the face. A lot.

Poor Lucy has had one hell of a season. First, she is kidnapped by her psycho cult leading mom who she can’t trust to keep her safe. Then, she’s told that there’s basically no hope of getting her sister back. Less than 24 hours after (finally) falling into bed with the man she loves, said man’s previously dead wife is reanimated by Rittenhouse. Oh, and by the way, in case she had any hope of him ever coming back to her, the zombie wife is pregnant. She doesn’t even get the satisfaction of a close moment with her mother as she dies – her mom’s dying regret is not indoctrinating Lucy into Rittenhouse sooner. The straw that breaks the camel’s back is Rufus’ murder at the hands of Emma.

Pictured: Abigail Spencer as Lucy Preston. (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff/NBC)

After that, it’s on like Donkey Kong.

Lucy chases Emma through the streets of Chinatown, eventually following her into a warehouse where she fires at the woman indiscriminately. She unleashes a verbal tirade onto Emma and puts the revolver to her forehead – only to be out of bullets. Emma uses this to her advantage, flipping Lucy onto the ground and wailing on her, only stopping when Flynn arrives.

To quote another show I loved, “I am becoming what I despise.” That’s what I think of when I think of this moment for Lucy. She now knows what could drive someone like Flynn to become a killer.


OHANA MEANS FAMILY AND FAMILY MEANS NO ONE GETS LEFT BEHIND

Except Rufus got left behind and, as Jiya so heartbreakingly pointed out, there was no one there to identify him. The whole team is heartbroken and it’s lovely to see them all support each other – particularly den parents Christopher and Mason. The scene with Jiya and Mason when she tells him that she has searched her visions for Rufus and hasn’t been able to find him is particularly gut-wrenching. I love everyone in this bunker. (I can actually say that now that Jessica is gone and they can throw out her bottle of nail polish remover.)


THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE CONTINUES TO RUN TEMPESTUOUSLY

You’d think it’s common sense that the best way to tell the woman you love that the previously-deceased woman to whom you’re married is pregnant is not to yell it out in a room full of your colleagues. You’d think. But that’s exactly how Lucy finds out and she’s so stunned and heartbroken that it throws her off her history game during pre-mission debriefing. Wyatt spends most of the episode sulking like my brother when my mom took his NES away as a kid. It’s not his best look.

Lucy tries to talk to him, tries to encourage him to keep an open mind about Jessica’s possible Rittenhouse connection, but he’s not having it. He accuses Lucy of thinking that Jessica is lying about the pregnancy. (Analysis: All of the above are things he’s thinking and he hates himself for it.)

Pictured: (L-R) Matt Lanter as Wyatt Logan, Abigail Spencer as Lucy Preston.

(Photo by: Patrick Wymore/NBC)

In case you think the Jessica news has put a damper on Wyatt’s concern for Lucy, you’d be wrong. Once the mission necessitates that they split up into pairs – Lucy and Flynn will beg for General Montgomery’s help while Wyatt and Rufus will go undercover to find and eliminate the Rittenhouse spy – Wyatt immediately goes into worry mode. Yes, he’s jealous of Flynn and what he’s afraid might be going on between him and Lucy, but he’s also genuinely concerned. I’m sure Wyatt hasn’t forgotten some of the stuff that Flynn has done up to this point.

Once the team returns to the present, Flynn sarcastically congratulates Wyatt on the baby news. Needless to say, Wyatt isn’t pleased that Lucy let the news slip, and the two share a tense moment. For those of us who have loved watching these two and their friendship and bond, things have hit a serious low. As they depart for their respective rooms, Lucy surprises us all and wraps Wyatt in one of their patented hugs. They hold on to each other for a brief, wonderful moment.

Did I mention that wonderful moment was brief? Because it was. After Jessica kidnaps Jiya and takes the Life Boat, things come to blows in the bunker. Wyatt is forced to admit that he was suspicious of Jessica and kept it to himself. Flynn taunts him and Wyatt lunges. A horrified Lucy attempts to pull Wyatt back, but catches his elbow in her face. She’s done and leaves the room crying.

After all is said and done, the pair sit together to lick their physical and emotional wounds. Wyatt blames himself for everything. He screwed things up – just like he did with their relationship. She tells him that while he did screw up their romance, Rufus’ death was not his fault. Besides that, he helped bring Jiya home safely, which was Rufus’ wanted most. Overcome, Wyatt tells Lucy that he loves her, but with no expectation of reciprocity. Their conversation is cut short by an unexpected arrival in the bunker…


ENTER LARA CROFT AND A HIPSTER YOUTH PASTOR

The team gathers together at the sound of noise in the launch bay. Another Life Boat – which Jiya notes has been upgraded – lands, literally dinging the old Life Boat in the process. (I hope they leave a note!) Wyatt moves to the front of the pack, gun drawn, Lucy beside him. The hatch opens and out pops what appears to be a hipster youth pastor and Lara Croft from Tombraider – but it’s not. The gang is stunned to see a future version of Wyatt and Lucy, the latter of whom has a shotgun strapped to her back. With confidence – and swagger, I might add – they ask the team if they’re ready to go and get Rufus back. YEAH THEY ARE.

AND SO ARE WE.

Pictured: (L-R) Abigail Spencer as Lucy Preston, Caludia Doumit as Jiya, Matt Lanter as Wyatt Logan,

Goran Visnjic as Garcia Flynn, Sakina Jaffery as Agent Christopher, Paterson Joseph as Connor Mason.

(Photo by: Patrick Wymore/NBC)

MY THOUGHTS

I interjected a lot of my opinion into the recap, but I did have some thoughts and questions…

• Christine Horn, Ladies and Gentlemen. The supporting cast is always top notch, but Christine killed it as Harriet Tubman. I’m in awe.
• I have no doubt that we’ll get Rufus back. I just want it to be quick because that hurt, y’all.
• So if Jessica really is pregnant with Wyatt’s kid, what does this mean for next year? Will they try to rescue the baby from Rittenhouse? I just hope to Heaven that this is the end of the whole Wyatt-and-Jessica of it all. While I understand why she was brought back – I don’t think anything less could have put the brakes on Lucy and Wyatt’s relationship – the last seven episodes of the season were painful with regards to them.
• And on that note, I know that there a lot of you out there intrigued by the prospect of Lucy and Flynn, but I really hope they don’t go there for a few reasons. Firstly, I am done with relationship geometry as far as this show goes. As we can see, it affects not only Lucy and Wyatt, but the entire team’s dynamic, as well. My previous point stands: I can’t deal with that kind of angst again. Secondly, on a personal note, I invested in the Lucy and Wyatt relationship from the beginning and I’d hate to see the show change course now – especially after enduring AngstFest 2K18 for the last six weeks.
• I don’t hate Flynn – in fact, I love him. He is a sass master and the king of sarcasm. I’ve enjoyed getting to know more about him this season. One of my favorite moments in the finale is when Flynn rescues Lucy after her fight with Emma – you can see that he recognizes her emotional state as one that he went through. That said, I thought he was more interesting when his loyalties were fluid – and despite his helping the Time Team this year – I think those loyalties remain fluid. He’ll be most loyal to whoever can best help him get his wife and child back.
• I both loathe and love Emma. Her “Want me to kill her?” line had me in stitches. I can’t wait to see what crazy this woman cooks up next season.
• I can’t thank the writers enough for the care they put into this season. The historical elements were amazing, but I fell even more in love with our main characters. Even though I hated some of the decisions some of the characters made, they all made sense to me because they are feel human. None of them are perfect – fall have flaws that were put on display this season. Mason is a narcissist, Rufus reacts to fear by pushing away those he loves, Christopher kept her own family’s existence hidden from her mother, Wyatt has a problem with denial (even in the face of irrefutable evidence) and makes really dumb decisions, Lucy internalizes everything and drowns her sorrows in a bottle of vodka, Flynn’s solution to most everything is death, and Jiya lets her own superstitions get in the way of her health. Humans are illogical. We’re irrational. We feel things we might not deserve to feel, such as jealousy. Art should imitate that humanity and I really feel like the show hit it out of the park with regard to that this year.
• While I understand the economics of advertising rates and “eyeballs on the screen” (as my former boss used to say), I really hope that NBC will decide to bring this show back for at least one more season. I’m going to miss these time traveling fools and, in the words of one Wyatt Logan, I’m not ready to say goodbye just yet.