Timeless (TV Series)

The Kennedy Curse (2018)

Malcolm Barrett: Rufus Carlin

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Quotes 

• Lucy Preston : Oh, my god. Please tell me that's not who I think it is.

  Rufus Carlin : It's not who you think it is, unless you think it's a young JFK. Then it's definitely who you think it is.

• Jiya : You don't ever wonder if there's something bigger out there?

  Rufus Carlin : What, like extraterrestrials?

  Jiya : No, there's definitely extraterrestrials. I mean... a higher power.

  Rufus Carlin : Okay, where's this coming from? Is this about your visions?

  Jiya : Okay, look, I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like I'm having them for a reason.

  Rufus Carlin : Look, they're side effects of-of-of time travel, okay? There's no such thing as a higher power.

  Jiya : Okay, then how do you explain my heart murmur being cured? Or the fact that all my visions have come true?

  Rufus Carlin : All side effects, okay? If everything happens for a reason, then what's the reason for JFK getting shot by some crazy dude with three names?

  Jiya : I don't know.

  Rufus Carlin : Look... when I was a kid, my mom used to thank God for every good thing that happened. And when something bad happened, she's say "Everything happens for a reason", or "God has a plan." I watched my mom get on her knees and pray every night, begging God to take us out of our crappy neighborhood. But you know who did? Me. God doesn't exist.

• Denise Christopher : What happened?

  Wyatt Logan : Things got messy. Without Lucy, we were scrambling 'till we figured out who they were after.

  Rufus Carlin : We were almost too late. Sleeper agent started shooting at us.

  Wyatt Logan : Yeah, and we couldn't shoot back 'cause there was kids.

  Denise Christopher : Kids?

  Rufus Carlin : We barely made it out alive.

• Denise Christopher : John F. Kennedy? You brought President Kennedy? Are you out of your minds?

  Rufus Carlin : Well, he was knocked out, okay? He doesn't know where or when he is.

  Wyatt Logan : They were gonna kill him. They chased us all the way to the Lifeboat. This was our best option.

  Rufus Carlin : It was our only option.

  Wyatt Logan : Besides, we-we have a plan. Flynn's gonna take care of Rittenhouse in '34. We're gonna recharge the Lifeboat and take JFK back.

  Lucy Preston : And pick up Flynn.

  Rufus Carlin : Yeah, sure, that, too.

• Wyatt Logan : All right, look. Nothing is gonna happen to JFK. We're gonna find him. Rufus.

  Rufus Carlin : Jiya and I will check traffic and security cams.

  Wyatt Logan : Okay, great. I'm gonna need a car.

  Denise Christopher : No, not a chance. Rittenhouse could come after you.

  Wyatt Logan : Rittenhouse will come after him. So unless we're okay with finding out what a world looks like after a few dozen mushroom clouds...

  Denise Christopher : All right. I'll run point from my office. I need all of you to stay in touch with me, okay?

• Rufus Carlin : Seven million people in the Bay Area, and we're supposed to find one horny teenage boy?

  Jiya : It's gonna be fine. We'll find him.

  Connor Mason : You sound quite sure of that.

  Jiya : Well, think about it. We all still know who JFK is, right? Must mean we're gonna find him.

  Rufus Carlin : Come again?

  Connor Mason : What a fascinating loop. Jiya is suggesting that because we still know JFK becomes president in '61, very fact that we're still aware of him, really, proves that he eventually makes it back to where he's supposed to be.

  Rufus Carlin : Yeah, for now, until he gets hit by a car or shot by Rittenhouse, then history changes in an instant and we don't even know it.

  Connor Mason : Yeah, that's true, too.

• Jiya : Okay, what about my visions?

  Rufus Carlin : What about your visions?

  Jiya : I had a vision about a man dying and he died. You tried to stop it, but history doesn't change as easily as you want it to.

  Rufus Carlin : Okay, that's more like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

  Jiya : Or maybe it's just a prophecy.

  Connor Mason : Sorry, what are we talking about?

  Jiya : Never mind. Forget it.

• Wyatt Logan : Rufus, what do you mean you lost 'em?

  Rufus Carlin : There aren't cameras on every street. They drove out of range.

  Wyatt Logan : Well, what direction were they heading?

  Rufus Carlin : South on Willow.

  Wyatt Logan : All right. What's in the area?

  Jiya : There's a Chinese restaurant, Starbucks, Bailey's Bar and Grill, a hospital, a park...

  Jessica : I don't know much about JFK, but a bar sounds right up his alley.

  Lucy Preston : No, no, no, I bet he's going to the hospital.

  Wyatt Logan : What makes you say that?

  Lucy Preston : Well, John suffered from health issues his entire life. Spent most of his childhood in and out of hospitals. I mean, Bobby even joked that if someone ever were to write a book about his brother, it would be titled "John F. Kennedy: A Medical History".

  Wyatt Logan : Doesn't mean he's sick now.

  Lucy Preston : Stress probably makes his conditions worse. And I'm imagining he's probably pretty stressed right now.

  Wyatt Logan : If we're wrong...

  Jessica : Hey, I'd go with the historian on this one. I mean, she's kept you alive this long, right?

  Wyatt Logan : Hospital it is.

• Connor Mason : This is like being stoned to death with popcorn. We're never gonna find the boy using such primitive technology.

  Rufus Carlin : At least we have computers. Try doing this with a Civil War spyglass.

• John F. Kennedy : I know about my siblings' deaths. My own assassination.

  Rufus Carlin : Well, maybe you can change your fate. Don't go to Dallas on November 22nd, 1963.

  John F. Kennedy : What about the curse? Everyone I love is going to die a tragic death.

  Lucy Preston : You may not be able to save everybody, John, but you are going to make the world a much better place. There are worse fates.

  John F. Kennedy : Was I a good president?

  Lucy Preston : One of the greatest.

• Rufus Carlin : So, what do we know about JFK? Uh, does he serve a second term? Does he have, like, ten more kids?

  Denise Christopher : What second term? JFK was assassinated two years into office.

  Rufus Carlin : That's not right. I-I told him. I told him not to go to Dallas.

  Denise Christopher : Dallas? It happened in Austin.

  Jiya : [his face falls as Christopher leaves]  Guess it was just meant to be.