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Recap / Timeless S 1 E 9 Last Ride Of Bonnie And Clyde

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The team get mixed up with Bonnie and Clyde, while Rufus gets accused of bank robbery.


  • Artistic License – History: Bonnie and Clyde are shown to be the dashingly handsome and daring bank robbers who are folk heroes. The real pair were unattractive sociopaths who weren't that famous in their own time. Also, rather than go out of their way not to hurt people, the pair had no problem killing innocent people in their robberies. Clyde Barrow did try to cultivate a "Robin Hood" image, but he tended to get homicidally violent if anyone stood up to him or didn't comply with his demands fast enough for his liking.
  • Beethoven Was an Alien Spy:
    • Henry Ford was apparently part of Rittenhouse, given that Bonnie and Clyde stole a key from him that unlocks a secret safe belonging to the organization.
    • Flynn becomes part of the posse that takes down Bonnie and Clyde, posing as a bounty hunter hired to retrieve Henry Ford's key.
  • Cassandra Truth: Everything (barring their era-appropriate cover stories) Flynn tells to Hamer about Rufus, Lucy, and Wyatt is technically true, but Rufus manages to refute it thanks to the covers provided by Agent Christopher, so Hamer just believes that Flynn's insistence of Rufus's guilt is just racism instead.
  • Chekhov's Gun: The recorder Rittenhouse forces Rufus to carry proves useful in convincing Bonnie and Clyde that the team didn't rat them out to the cops.
  • Death by Adaptation: Inverted with Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde, who die later than they were supposed to, and under different circumstances.
  • Gratuitous Latin: According to Lucy, the gold key pendant worn by Bonnie Parker in "Last Ride of Bonnie and Clyde" is engraved with a Latin phrase about being the key to the beginning and end of time. The actual phrase, however, is not mentioned.
  • I'm Mr. [Future Pop Culture Reference]: Rufus actually carries a fake driver's license which identifies him as Wesley Snipes, which helps when he's arrested in "Last Ride of Bonnie and Clyde."
  • No Equal-Opportunity Time Travel: Rufus helps a little girl use the "Colored" drinking fountain in 1934 Arkansas before the cops pick him up on suspicion of being an accomplice to Bonnie and Clyde. While there is clearly racism involved, the Arkansas officers are noticeably less antagonistic to him than the cops in New Jersey, though Rufus also makes a point of not being belligerent with them this time.
  • No Kill like Overkill: How did Frank Hamer and his lawmen stop Clyde Barrow in both the original and altered timelines? By shooting him (and Bonnie Parker) multiple times with no attempt at making an arrest. Given the pair's documented history of violent and sociopathic behavior (murders committed For the Evulz, spraying bullets at police officers without warning and with no concern for bystanders), it's pretty well justified.
  • Police Are Useless: Averted in "Last Ride of Bonnie and Clyde"; the Arkansas cops of the same time period seem less prejudiced towards Rufus than their New Jersey counterparts. They don't go out of their way to make his life miserable even though he is a black man and a person of interest in the bank robbery that just took place. Frank Hamer is shown to be a highly competent and fair police officer who looks for evidence against Rufus rather than just take Flynn's word for it. Even without Flynn's help, Hamer's posse was gonna find and kill Bonnie and Clyde soon.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: In 1934, Captain Frank Hamer of the Texas Highway Patrol (who received a special federal deputization to pursue Bonnie and Clyde across state lines) treats Rufus with respect even though Rufus is accused by Flynn of being an accomplice of Bonnie and Clyde. He refuses to hand over Rufus to Flynn and dares Flynn to do something about it. When he gets proof of Rufus's innocence, he promptly releases him and helps him evade Flynn.
  • Suicide by Cop: After Clyde is gunned down by the police, Bonnie grabs his gun and aims it at them, knowing they'll kill her and reunite her with him.

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