Maclaren, Philip and Trevor are having dates with camgirls, trying their best to engage them in a conversation until their bodies are taken over. Meanwhile, a man walks into an alley, pulls a bomb with a Bible reference on it note from his bag, only to find it malfunctioning. He sets it off, destroying the building in which the three camgirls-turned-time-travellers work out of.
MacLaren and Forbes obviously gets to investigate the bombing and we learn that there should be another traveler taking over the bomber and defusing the bomb. However, there was apparently a misfire and the bomber survived - which he shouldn´t have, as his death was recorded on that T.E.L.L. While Forbes interviews another camgirl who knew the bomber - he was her client, a clingy maniac who saw the (cam-girl-presenting) company as the only thing standing between them. MacLaren gets the hosts (named Aaron Donner) address from Philip, but on the way he runs into a Chinese woman in distress who informs him there´s an injured man in her restaurant´s kitchen. He proceeds to try and contact Donner, convinced he´s the Traveler and in need of assistance. He gets whacked on the head with a pipe wrench for his trouble, which also disables his communicator. Donner hides out in his safehouse. MacLaren follows him there, only to find him being cuffed by Forbes. In interrogation, with cameras off, MacLaren tries to get Donner to open up as a Traveler but fails. He proceeds to interrogate him with Forbes to find out Donner was a fundamental Christian who believed murdering three women because they were "sinful" is okay.Donner then lawyers up and tells his representative about the previous off-record conversation with MacLaren and gets an audience with the DA. At the audience, he reveals that he actually is a successful Traveler and his intent is to betray the organization and live a peaceful life of a witness-protection program subject. Unfortunately for him, the room he confesses to is full of his fellow Travelers and the hearing turns into his treason trial. At the trial, he confesses he couldn´t defuse the bomb as he was supposed to, leading to the deaths of his whole team. He is found guilty and punished immediately - his body is taken over by another Traveler.
Trevor is in the principal´s office because of a physics test - he did too good on it, scoring 90% (he would have scored 100%, but he changed three of his answers). Day arranges one more shot at the test for him, under her and the teacher´s supervision. She also tutors him, surprised by his knowledge and impressed by his depth of personality. She gives him a book to read - ThisPerfectDay - before continuing the class. He devours the book during recess and returns the favour by lending another book to Day. However, he misses the second try at the afternoon test, leading to Day´s desperation.
Carly is having a court day, fighting for the custody of her son, who, as Marcy points out, is not really her son. She´s having a hard time, trying to get a postponement when Philip shows up as her legal representation and moral support. It´s not going well, with Carly obviously showing her Traveler´s temperament and threatening Jeff in front of the judge. She´s later visited by the social worker and implies (truthfully) that she had been abused by Jeff and cannot do anything about it, him being a cop. A few days later, the social worker returns and promises her support in the matter.
David is getting chewed by Ken, his superior, for having a relationship with his client - Marcy. When he comes home, he´s still upset, getting antagonistic with Marcy. She picks up on it and he reveals that Ken is coming for dinner to asses her situation. At the dinner, Ken is speechless, delighted, and confused by Marcys change. The dinner is interrupted by MacLaren, whose comm is still broken. David tells Ken about Marcy being an FBI operative and Ken proceeds to confront MacLaren for more information.The next day, Ken fires David for assisting what he now sees as a social security fraud - if Marcy was not actually mentally challenged, she was not entitled to the support and money. He convinces David that he she was also grifting him personally.Later, Marcy shows up at Ken´s office and hands him an envelope of cash as repayment for the support she received in the past year. She also insist that Devid be reinstated. If not, she´d arrange for Ken´s replacement to reinstate him, so Ken falls in line.
She requests funds from Philip, who traditionally proceeds to bet on a few stupidly improbable horses. He wins 3 out of 5 bets, while he should have won them all. Alarmed, he calls for an assembly in the headquarters.
Tropes
- All for Nothing - Traveller 4024 reveals that the future was not helped much by the events of TravelersS1E06Helios685.
- Butterfly of Doom - A variation. After the events of TravelersS1E06Helios685, there are changes in the timeline. Interestingly, this goes the other way around: the huge change they did causes many small, almost insignificant side-effects.
- Cassandra Truth - Subverted. Donner tries to expose the travellers, but as he is a terrorist, homicidal and delusional, even his lawyer doesn´t believe him even though Donner is a Traveler himself. Wanting his charges dropped and to go to the witness protection in exchange for this information doesn´t help. It seems to work on the DA though, until the reveal that everybody in the room is a Traveler and he will be judged for treason.
- Comically Missing the Point - Philip talking to a camgirl:
- Contrived Coincidence
- MacLaren getting the case of the boming.
- MacLaren running into the woman calling for help because the suspect is in her kitchen.
- MacLaren getting hit straight onto his comm. This turns out to not be a conincidence, Donner knew exactly what he was aiming at.
- Cleans Up Nicely - Philip in a suit, with his hair in a ponytail and respectable glasses.
- Cliffhanger - Traveller 4024 is approached by another one (2587), which means breaking protocol 2. 2587 implies that time will break 4024´s faith in the Director.
- Disposable Sex Worker - invoked by Forbes. He thinks Donner got off the death penalty because his victims were camgirls.
- Do Well, But Not Perfect - Travis scores 90% on his Physics test. He would have scored 100, but he changed his answers on three questions to follow this trope. It doesn´t work, the teacher considers him a cheater.
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Fridge Horror - When it clicks that Traveler 4024 gets a body in the 21st only to spend the rest of its life in prison. - New Job as the Plot Demands- Carly needs to lead a life of a good citizen to be able to retain her parental fights. She needs to get a job, even though she has nearly unlimited income.
- It's All My Fault - a camgirl is blaming herself for the bombing on account of a weirdo client getting too weird and threatening.
- Omniglot - Maclaren adds Cantonese to his repertoire.
- Platonic Prostitution - All of the conversations with the camgirls. "What do you wanna do?" Trevor: "I want you to tell me about when you were happiest." She proceeds to do so
- Xanatos Gambit - If Donner is a misfire, he´ll make a foll of himself at the DA. If he´s a successful Traveler, he´ll reveal himself in a room full of his peers and will be judged for treason.
