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2 • November 13 - 19, 2016 • Brainerd Dispatch By Jacqueline Spendlove TV Media I f there's one concept that never seems to get old, it's time travel. There have been dozens of books, movies and TV shows on the sub- ject — some great, some awful, and nearly all at least a little bit mind-bending. The topic is a particularly hot one on the small screen just now, with four time travel-based series set to debut in the 2016-17 sea- son. "Timeless" is one that has al- ready landed, and with 7.7 million viewers tuning in to the premiere, it's clear that people are digging the premise. The sci-fi action dra- ma debuted last month, and a new episode airs Monday, Nov. 14, on NBC. By now I'm sure we all know the most important rule of time travel: if you make the slightest change, it could hugely alter the present, so for crying out loud, don't do it. This is tricky enough in mundane personal time-travel sit- uations, but "Timeless" takes it several steps further in its weekly threats to rewrite history as we know it. Abigail Spencer ("Rectify") stars as Lucy Preston, a history professor struggling to live up to the legacy of her now-ailing moth- er. In the pilot episode, she's whisked away by Homeland Secu- rity and told that her wealth of his- torical knowledge is needed to help stop a terrorist — a time- traveling terrorist, no less! Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic, "ER") is a master criminal who has barged into the headquarters of the mysterious Mason Indus- tries (to where Lucy is spirited) and stolen the time machine the company created. His aim is to zip back to major events in history and change the outcome, and thus, the future. Why? As Lucy the- orizes, "to kill America in the crib," but beyond that, Flynn's motiva- tions are still being unraveled. Fortunately, Mason Industries has a second time machine — a prototype in which a crack team can follow Flynn through time to stop him from carrying out his ne- farious plans. Lucy makes up one third of said team, with her in- depth knowledge of seemingly ev- ery minute detail of every era and event in the history of the world an asset in navigating situations in which the group would otherwise stick out like a sore thumb. Lucy is joined by Master Sgt. Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter, "90210"), a rock-solid U.S. Army Delta Force operative who's there to wave an anachronistic gun around, open locks with anachro- nistic bra underwires and brazenly flout the rules of time travel on a regular basis. We find out early on that he's still grieving a wife who has died, that he holds himself re- sponsible and that he would very much like to use his newfound mode of transportation to stop her death from happening. The last member of the team (and, arguably, the one with all the best lines) is Rufus Carlin (Mal- colm Barrett, "Better Off Ted"), a programmer at Mason Industries who is bullied into the job because he's the only one who knows how to pilot the machine. It's clear from the get-go that he really, really doesn't want this assignment be- cause, as he aptly states, "I am black. There is literally no place in American history that will be awe- some for me." Fair argument, Ru- fus. It's plain early on that Flynn isn't just a straight-up bad guy. He's doing some rotten things, but his motivations may or may not be coming from a rotten place. He tells Lucy that he knows her in the future, and he possesses a journal written in her handwriting, but which she, at this point, has never written. So, along with the excite- ment of leaping through time, there's a deeper intrigue at play in the show. This season, the team travels to the assassination of Abraham Lin- coln, Rat Pack-era Las Vegas, the moon landing, Nazi Germany, the Alamo and more. A cool aspect of the show is the depth it provides for each event, delving into lesser- known details that are part of greater, well-known events. Spen- cer spoke to this at New York Com- ic Con: "Yes, it's historical time periods, a costume drama, and a fantasy of sorts, but they're exploring things true in history, bringing them to light and making those names fa- mous that people usually gloss over," she said, adding that she herself is learning more about all these events as filming goes on. Of course, though the gang re- peatedly foils Flynn's plans, there- by averting major disaster, their actions do cause things to play out differently in the present, and for some it's worse than others. Lucy returns home in the opening epi- sode to learn that her family dy- namic has completely changed: her sister no longer exists, her pre- viously dying mother is now per- fectly healthy, and she suddenly finds herself engaged to a man she's never actually met. Saving the world from terrorists is all well and good, but Lucy now also has the personal mission of getting her sister back. The series is definitely worth checking out. The upcoming episode of "Time- less" sees the trio delve deep into the Watergate scandal. Catch it when it airs Mon- day, Nov. 14, on NBC. The rest is history A crack team pursues a terrorist through history in 'Timeless' Cover Story this week Goran Visnjic as seen in "Timeless" 001492569r1 Kinship Partners OFFICES IN: Brainerd, Pequot Lakes, Crosby & Staples 218.829.4606 Toll Free 877.730.5437 Transforming our community through the power of mentoring 001493675r1 001493675r1 S E A M L E S S "EXPERIENCE THE ADVANTAGE" Advantage Seamless, Inc. 218-270-2663 or 888-570-5778 WWW.ADVANTAGESEAMLESSGUTTERS.COM THE BEST DEFENSE IN GUTTER PROTECTION AMERICA'S FIRST HIGH FLOW SYSTEM™ S E A M L E S S COUPON 10% OFF *** Must do entire home. Must book project by 11/30/16 *** Call: 218-270-2663 Must present coupon at the time of consultation. Valor Gutter Guard System

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