Movies: Time Travel — The Peripheral
Introduction
This article is from a series I am writing regarding movies and TV series that involve time travel. This one is from the 2022 Amazon Prime Video series called The Peripheral.
Needless to say, this is a wonderful show. The acting, directing, editing are excellent. The ideas are taken from William Gibson’s 2014 book of the same name. Gibson is a first rate science fiction writer whose concepts rival Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke.
I have a companion video on YouTube that covers some of these points and is a little easier to follow since I can show many more charts and videos illustrating my thoughts. The YouTube video is highly recommended.
To avoid spoilers, I would recommend that you watch the entire eight episodes of Season One before reading this article. However, if you get confused about the time jumps from 2032 in North Carolina to 2099 in London, please return here for clarifications. Be wary, even the first figure below detailing the original timeline contains a number of spoilers.
In this article I will compare the three timelines created in this Amazon series. Then I’ll detail the time jumps between North Carolina and London, cover the confusing points, and errors that I have found.
Again, all of the spoilers follow.
If you click on any of the images, they will expand to a large size so you can see the details more clearly.
Figure One shows the Original Timeline. This is important to understand since the series moves between the on-going action in western North Carolina in 2032 and jumps many decades into the future to London in 2099. This is a distance of 3,800 miles and a temporal change of 67 years. The western part of North Carolina looks very rural in 2032. London in 2099 looks somewhat futuristic, but not as much as you would expect since the apocalypse, called the Jackpot, lasted forty years. This significantly delayed progress.
Figure One shows the timeline drawn to scale. It shows eight-year increments from 2022 to 2099. This is the timeline before the show starts. Once the “time travel” begins, events change due to London interfering with the natural events unfolding in North Carolina. This changed view of the world is the new timeline that makes up Season One, called the “RI Stub.”
Let’s fully explain why the authors are reluctant to call the jump between 2099 and 2032 time travel. The traveler’s physical body and brain do not move from their original time period. Instead, the electronics of 2099 can create a quantum tunnel that allows for data transfer of consciousness from 2032 to 2099. No one travels back in time to 2032 in Season One, they only travel forward in time to 2099. The quantum tunneling method is via a gamer’s headset in 2032. On the other side, in 2099, there is a “Peripheral” a life-like robot, that catches the 2032 consciousness and allows the person to feel like they are in 2099. There is no physical time travel, but the person, usually Flynne’s consciousness travels 67 years in to the future. So, the only time traveling is done by their consciousness.
We don’t see much time elapse in either 2032 or 2099, maybe a few weeks for both. The Peripheral, Season One covers less than a month, but the arc of the show is seven decades. The biggest amount of time in the arc is the Jackpot, which we never witness. This apocalypse lasts for forty-two years and has devastating effects on the world, seven billion dead.
Figure Two shows the Original Timeline (A) which existed before the show starts.
Figure Two also contains the Research Institute created a stub (B). This stub is essentially what we see unfold during the eight episodes. In a sense, the RI stub (B) is a sandbox, or play area where this Research Institute can make any changes to real people in 2032 and then observe the results. The blue areas show the actual travel scenes from 2032 to 2099.
And finally, the New stub (C) is created in final episode.
In the original timeline (A), Burton died in 2028 during the Texas Succession and Flynne died in 2081 from the terrorist attack on the NC nuclear silo.
In the RI stub (B), Burton lives past 2028, but Connor looses his legs and one arm during a RI’s empathy test.
In the New stub, (C) Burton dies in 2028 and Flynne lives past 2033.
The final illustration is Figure Three, seen when Flynne manipulates the controls and creates the New stub (C). While this display is very cool to see, I can’t use it as I show 119 scenes from the series because there is no room to make notations in the space given. That is why I show Figure Two (time lines are horizontal) with the blue lines showing the travel.
COMMENT/ERROR: As we look at Figure 3, it seems to indicate Flynne’s new stub on the right was created from the RI 2028 stub. This brings up my big discussion after Scene 119.
Part Two —”Quantum Tunneling” from 2032 to 2099
Figure 4 shows the fourteen times Flynne quantum tunnels to 2099. The numbers below (from 001 to 119) show major scenes in The Peripheral. These numbers correspond to the long list below that shows the order of the scenes, which episode it is in, the time stamp the scene occurs in the official timestamp of the Amazon movie, and the location of that scene.
The time stamps will help you access the scenes described here. The numbers, formatted such as “05:17,” correspond with the time stamps from the Amazon Video, The Peripheral, on your TV set shown in the bottom left when you pause the on-going action.
TV Peripheral — Detailed Scene by scene
Example: 001, 01:00, NC
The first number, 001, is the unique number that shows the sequence of the scenes in The Peripheral and appear on Figure Two, (B) to show when and where the action is taking place.
The second number, 01:00, is the time Stamp from the Amazon Video series The Peripheral. You can jump exactly to where that specific action is happening on your TV with this time stamp.
The third abbreviation, NC, is the location where the scene takes place. I do not always move to a new number when the actors move to a different location.
— — — — — Episode One, Scenes 001–006
COMMENT: One thing to keep in mind throughout Season One is that we are only watching the RI Timeline. We never see any of the Original Timeline.
001, 01:00, NC
Spring Creek, North Carolina — Flynne Fisher rides her electric bike home.
002, 16:07, NC trip to UK
First trip to London using quantum tunneling, not physical time travel. Flynne uses the headset and Burton Fisher’s Peripheral to meet Aelita West and deliver Mariel Raphael to her.
003, 18:00, NC trip to UK
Second trip to London also in Burton’s Peripheral. Aelita and Flynne break into the Research Institute (RI) and steal secrets from the green, upside-down, pyramid later called God’s Fount. Daniel fights them, destroys Flynne’s Peripheral and Aelita escapes.
004, 58:58, NC
Police officer chases two black sports cars, the cars become invisible, later the drivers kill the policeman. No explanation.
005, 1:06, NC
Lights in 3D Print Shop flash and Wilf Netherton, aka Wolf, warns of a threat to her and her family and pleads with her to put on the headset once more.
006, 1:06, NC
Warned by Wilf, Burton’s war buddies with haptic controls and flying drones prepare for an attack.
— — — — — Episode Two
007, 1:00, UK
In London, Daniel and Cherise Nuland talk.
008, 2:45, NC
Attack begins, Burton’s team kill the entire professional assassin squad sent to murder Flynne.
009, 10:10, UK
In London, Lev Zubov tells Wilf to get Flynne into her Peripheral and back to London.
010, 14:57, NC trip UK
Flynne puts on the headset. In London Wilf tells Flynne they need to find Aelita. They tour London, he tells Flynne that he will wire the instructions showing how to make a new drug that will save her mother, Ella Fisher.
011, 20:27, NC
Flynne goes to the drug store and then gives the drug to her mother. Deputy Tommy Constantine finds one of the transparent sports cars parked by the side of the road (near where Burton’s battle was).
012, 30:50, NC trip UK
Flynne puts headset on and visits Lev’s home on Notting Hill, London, UK. Ash, Ossian, and Flynne, listen as Lev explains stubs and new timelines. Flynne asks how long the medicine will take to heal her mother, Lev tells her soon.
ERROR: There is an time-travel error here that I cover at the end of this document. It is long, detailed, and technical. I don’t include it here since it breaks up the flow of the following scenes.
013, 35:00, NC
The police move the invisible car to the holding center.
014, 35:33, NC
Tommy visits Burton to show concern about the weird events and ask what’s going on? Burton blows him off.
015, 36:09, UK
Lev refuses to explain the Jackpot at this time.
016, 38:01, NC
Tommy finds the bullet in the invisible car and asks Burton about it. Burton blows him off.
017, 40:00, UK
Lev and Wilf talk about Flynne in front of her empty, compliant Peripheral.
018, 42:58, NC
Burton and Flynne talk about the future and how London will send them money without arousing suspicions. Then Leon wins the $250k lottery. Corbell Pickett buys Flynne and Burton beers. Burton visits Conner Penske and ask him to help with the military style security they need to protect Flynne.
019, 53:00, NC — sim
Corbell is in a simulation “Old Havana” where a shady person from 2099 asks him to kill Flynne. Corbell thinks the person is from 2032 in the Homeland Security division trying to entrap him and says no.
— — — — — Episode Three
020fb, 1:00, NC — flashback
Flashback to 2015 where Corbell locks the Mad Dog Motorcycle gang in two bullet-proof cars, and they die of heat exhaustion. Tells Jasper Baker that sometimes you have to be cruel if you want to get ahead. Flashback ends and we see Corbell in the pool talking with his wife.
021, 9:00, NC
Flynne tells Billy Ann Baker about traveling to the future. Burton buys the 3D Printing store.
022, 16:00, NC to UK
Lev keeps Flynne’s peripheral in a box. Flynne sees in London that Corbell nailed the Mad Dog Motorcycle gang onto cross and put them along the main road into town, see Scene 020fb. They send her back to NC so she can warn her family about Corbell.
023, 20:31, NC
NC for a second
024fb, 20:36, UK
Flashback to orphanage, very young Aelita and Wilf are adopted by Mr. & Mrs. West. Then move to current 2099
025, 23:17, UK
End of flashback. Wilf visits his adopted mother, Mrs. West he asks her when she saw Aelita last. She saw her a month ago: Where snow last fell in London. Riddle.
026, 28:00, NC
Flynne and Burton talk about whether they should kill Corbell.
027, 29:16, NC trip UK
Flynne and Wilf travel by car looking for where she last saw Aelita (as Burton’s Peripheral in Scene 002. They use the link, inducing some love response, bonding.
028, 32:39, NC
Burton meets with Corbell, talks about his military team linked haptically. Sniper rifle destroys the glass of beer Corbell was holding.
029, 37:39, UK
Cherise tells Daniel to kill Flynne, threatens him, disappearing floor.
030, 40:28, UK
Wilf and Flynne walk around London, the Police droid questions them, Wilf kisses Flynne, “may I go home now Constable?” Back to NC.
031, 45:05, NC
Flynne remembers the kiss with Wilf.
032, 45:39, UK
Cherise Nuland kills Mariel using bees as a deadly weapon, as any evil villain would.
033, 49:58, NC
Billy Ann and Jasper talk in their truck, Jasper gives bag of money to Corbell.
034, 56:51, NC
Flynne and Burton talk about haptics like falling in love
035, 56:56, NC trip UK
Flynne solves Aelita’s riddle, where Mr. Snow died (fell) in London. Wilf and Flynne visit the lab, retrieve the GPS devices of the two dead Peripherals. One of Cherise’s peripherals (in black) kills Daniel (with a sword) and kills Flynne’s peripheral with sonic punch, sending her back to NC.
— — — — — Episode Four
036fb, 1:00, UK
The early years, 2075, very young Wilf and Aelita living wild in a bus, before being adopted.
037, 4:10, UK
Lev shows Wilf Aelita’s implants and CPU on a near a bridge in London. Says that Aelita will have a hard time surviving without the implants used to filter out the toxins in the air.
038, 6:55, NC
Flynne’s hand involuntarily tightens squeezing the toothpaste into the sink, Tommy visits Burton and Flynne. Burton blows him off. Flynne has an epileptic seizure. The reason for the seizure is discovered later, (spoilers) in Scenes 075 and 099.
039, 12:12, UK
Cherise and assistant fine tune the new Peripheral of Daniel (he died in Scene 035).
040, 15:28, NC
Flynne goes to the hospital with Dee Dee to see details about her seizures from the headset.
041, 18:47, NC
Flynne is at home, watching home videos of her family. Burton tells her that he, Conner, and Leon need peripherals built in 2099 for them.
042, 22:00, UK
Dominika and Wilf dance, Lev watches remotely
043, 24:11, UK
Cherise visits Lev at his country club and talks about the balance of powers between the Klept, RI, and Met police using toast as a metaphor. She takes a sample of his DNA after telling him the story of the Met and RI being able to program an “assembler swarm” to destroy the entire Yuri Samsonov family.
044, 30:18, NC trip UK
Conner wears the headset and appears in Flynne’s Peripheral; Ash disconnects Conner from the Peripheral.
QUESTION/ERROR: Why is Ossian holding his left arm as if was injured? 31:05, 31:08, and 31:10. Was a scene cut that we do not see? See Figure 5.
045, 31:46, NC
Flynne is watching home videos, Wilf invades her viewing space, and they talk about Conner visiting the UK in her peripheral, and Flynne realizes that Lev is a killer.
046, 36:20, UK
Wilf talks with Lev at the country club, he tells Lev about Lev’s family being killed. Lev admits that he ordered the hit on his entire family in that stub to make sure they don’t suffer from anything else happening there. Refer to Scene 120 and comments.
COMMENT: There is an interesting visual transmission from the small NC town to the big city of London. Is there any special meaning or inference that can be drawn from this?
047, 40:19, NC
Conner and Burton talk with Flynne
048, 44:56, NC trip UK
Flynne asks Ash to make peripherals for both Conner and Burton. Flynne strikes out on her own and begins exploring London, Ash is in a panic and has Ossian cut her connection, there are hackers in NC fighting against Ossian cutting the line and they restore it. Flynne asks Ash, what happened to all of the people?
049, 49:00, UK
Wilf meets Ash and Flynne in a cemetery and they discuss the Jackpot.
050, 50:32, UK
Later, in Scene 114 we see that the timeline started in 2028. But for now we see the Jackpot starts in 2039. There was a month’s long electrical grid failure across the USA. It was a deliberate hack.
051, 51:00, UK
In 2041 the Blood plague started, environmental collapse.
052, 51:19, UK
This lasted over 40 years, famine, and agricultural collapse, 7 billion people died
053, 51:42, UK
Final stage of the Jackpot began when hackers caused a nuclear weapon to explode in its silo in Spring Creek, NC — this is where Flynne lives. In the original timeline (before the show starts) Flynne dies here.
054, 52:18, NC
Return to NC after Flynne panics seeing the nuclear holocaust.
— — — — — Episode Five
055fb, 0:55, UK Flashback 2098
One year before Aelita disappears, we see Aelita and Mariel hook up and go to a bar for drinks and then visit the RI. Muriel shows Aelita the God Fount and the empathy test on Conner, Burton and the military team in Texas.
056, 12:31, Florida 2032
Bob in Florida gets a request to kill Flynne. He must do it to save Bob’s daughter. He plays with the sonic punch device, destroys the dishes.
057, 15:34, NC
Flynne is scanned by an MRI in the hospital
058, 16:00, FL bowling alley
Bob visits a bowling alley in FL and kills the DeRosa family
059, 21:21, NC
Billy Ann and Jasper (husband and wife) talk about the money that Corbell gave Jasper
060, 24:05, NC
Flynne in the hospital gets a spinal tap to look for bacteria in her brain.
061, 26:00, NC
Bob tries to kill Flynne on the bridge and fails. Billy Ann shoots but does not kill Bob. Billy Ann drives Burton and Flynne back home and asks to be let into the secret activities. Burton and Flynne tell their mother about the secrets including traveling to the future.
062, 41:33, NC trip UK
Flynne admits feelings to Wilf. Trust.
063, 44:02, NC
Tommy drives Bob to police station, but is T-boned by an invisible car. Driver takes Bob and leaves Tommy bleeding by the side of the road.
064, 48:05, UK
Flynne and Cherise physically fight. Cherise is in a Peripheral also, but Flynne kills her Peripheral.
ERROR: 52:45 The actress playing Cherise has a CGI-blacken face. Maybe these were two stunt people and the CGI department failed to fully paint T’Nia Miller’s face in that 1-second sequence. See Figure 7 below.
— — — — — Episode Six
065fb, 00:55, Texas
It is 2028 and we see ongoing action of the Texas War of Succession as a flashback in the RI Stub where Conner fails the empathy test and gets blown up by a landmine. This is also the date that the RI created their stub.
066, 6:14, UK
ERROR: 6:14–6:20 There are three small black spheres floating between the lighthouse and the White Cliffs, see Figure 8.
Then we see Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer from the Met, London Metropolitan Police is walking with her dog. Her associate appears telling her that Daniel was killed by a Koid.
067, 7:51, NC
Tommy checks to see if the invisible car and its weapons are checked in to the police station. He goes to the car lot and gets the Glock and sonic punch, then is called by the sheriff, and drives out to Corbell’s house
068, 11:03, UK
Flynne and Wilf talk about the lack of people in London, he shows her the illusion. The go to the butcher shop and fight the two store owners. The store owners tell them about Mariel’s eye and how Aelita is a Neoprim. Aelita asked them to build a peripheral of Mariel for the eye removal. There is a big fight scene.
069, 19:50, UK
Wilf and Flynne have a romantic moment as he removes blood from her face.
070, 20:41, NC
Conner and Macon repair his army motorcycle and talk about how he must have a live body to support quantum tunneling into the future. A comatose body with IV drips will work as long as the person is alive.
071, 25:21, UK
Ash builds Conner and Burton Peripherals
COMMENT: Bummer, no slight reference to West World building bodies. We see in Figure 9 building a peripheral on the left and building a host on the right.
072, 26:26, NC
Dee Dee tests Tommy for brain damage after the T-bone car accident.
073, 28:30, NC
Bob is in Corbell’s kitchen, learns about the shock collar. Corbell wants to know who sent Bob from Florida to Corbell’s county in NC.
074, 32:55, NC
Leon helps heal some of Conner’s PTSD using haptics and empathy.
075, 34:50, UK
Ash and Ossian talk about how Aelita passed Cherise’s RI data into Flynne. It was supposed to be stored into Burton’s haptics, but Flynne was piloting Burton’s peripheral, so the program put it into Flynne’s brain as bacteria that has caused seizures. The bacteria’s DNA encoded the RI’s information in Flynne’s brain. Inspector Ainsley Lowbeer visits and Lev is very upset she has arrived. See Scene 099 for more, spoiler details.
076, 37:16, NC
Tommy tells Burton that Bob was taken to Corbell’s house. Burton is not very sympathetic to Tommy.
077, 39:37, NC
Corbell is in the Sheriff’s office and looks at confidential files about Tommy driving Bob and the car wreck by the Sheriff with the invisible car.
078, 42:32 NC
May, Corbell’s wife, is overpowered by Bob using the salt water in the aquarium.
079, 43:30, UK
Inspector Lowbeer interviews Lev and his family at Lev’s home. She threatens to kill Wilf if Lev does not produce the Peripherals for Flynne, Conner and Burton, with the people from NC piloting them.
080, 48:1, NC trip UK
Conner eats breakfast, Burton offers him a new set of legs from the future, he rejects them. They are called to London. They go to the Print Shot and put on the three headsets, trip to the UK.
081, 54:12, UK
Lev’s home, Inspector Lowbeer meets the three from NC and shakes hands with Flynne’s peripheral.
— — — — — Episode Seven
082, 00:50, NC
Ella calls for Reece to take her to the hospital, she cannot see once again.
083, 04:00, UK
Inspector takes Conner, Burton, Flynne and Wilf to the Met’s training area that is beyond the prying eyes of the RI.
084, 05:17, NC
Ella meets with Dee Dee at the hospital and Bob comes in with a gun.
085, 5:50, NC
Tommy at the police station wants to know if Bob’s weapons have been checked in. The doodad — sonic punch.
086, 7:28, UK
Inspector builds an eight-story building with a wave of her hand. Burton and Conner will fight with the Inspector’s assistant to the top level.
087, 11:19, NC
Tommy goes to the impoundment area and retrieves the Glock and Doodad.
088, 12:50, UK
Bob kills Reece at the hospital and holds Ella and Dee Dee hostage as they wait for Flynne to arrive.
089, 12:50, UK
Ash and Ossian talk in a coded language about being able to get the information from Flynne. Is this worth dying for Ash? “Are you steady, Ossian?”
090, 17:08, UK
Training area, Inspector and Flynne talk about Flynne’s values and the original timeline. The Original Timeline is never seen in Season One. Conner did not have the empathy test, so he still has his legs, but Burton is dead. Flynne married Tommy and had two kids. Conner and Burton fight the Koids up to level eight.
COMMENT: This building parallels Bruce Lee in his unfinished movie: Game of Death (1978) where, at the top level, he fights Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and wins.
091, 20:27, NC
At the hospital where Bob holds Ella hostage, she tells him the honorable thing to do would be to kill himself rather than killing her children, refer to Scenes 118 and 119 (spoilers).
092, 19:43, UK
In the Met training building, 8-floors, Conner and Burton work their way to the top and are then killed by the Inspector’s assistant, Beatrice.
093, 24:14, NC
Back in NC, they take off their headsets in the Print Shop and are called to the hospital.
094, 25:00, NC
In Corbell’s house, Tommy sees Mary, dead due to Bob using the aquarium to conduct electricity from the shock collar to her. Tommy talks with the corrupt Sheriff who tries to get Tommy to agree to the corruption, but Tommy says no.
095, 30:10, UK
Beatrice and the Inspector talk about the skill in which both Conner and Burton fought. Beatrice indirectly admits to having an attraction to Conner.
096, 31:41, NC
Tommy goes back to his truck, picks up the Glock and the sonic punch (Doodad).
097, 32:26, NC
Bob waits for Flynne at the hospital.
098, 33:1, UK
Cherise enters the Inspector’s office and correctly deduces that the Inspector’s assistant, Beatrice is a peripheral made to look like Lowbeer’s dead daughter. She tells the Inspector that “Something of great value has been stolen from me.” It is a brain implant that controls the flood of information pouring into the brain.
COMMENTS: In the real world, the RAS — reticular activating system filters the hundreds of thousands of sensations arriving every second to the brain. In this show, they correctly imagine that it is a powerful control point for the human brain that can be used to manipulate humans and/or kill them.
099, 35:00, UK
Ash and Ossian see that the bacteria contain the plans, blueprints, for building this RAS device. It is encoded into the DNA of the bacteria that infects Flynne’s brain and leads to her seizures. This is what Aelita stole from the RI when she brought Flynne’s consciousness in Barton’s peripheral at Scene 003 in the first episode. Ash admits that she wants to use the information to burn down all of 2099 and rebuild it. Lev surprises Ash and Ossian by showing that he can understand their coded language and warns them if he catches them betraying him again, he will kill them.
COMMENT: It seems that both Ash and Ossian are also Neoprims.
100, 40:00, UK
Cherise and Inspector talk. Cherise tells her that the reason for the Jackpot was that most human refused to act for the collective good and became selfish, making decisions that lead to the apocalypse. There is a reference to Scene 043 where they talked about an assembler swarm killing the entire Samsonov family. She also talks about the new RAS device and the Klept must never acquire it.
101, 43:37, NC
Bob waits at hospital.
102, 46:46, NC
Corbell’s home with Sheriff, Tommy kills Sherriff with Glock, and Corbell with doodad.
— — — — — Episode Eight
103fb, 1:00, Washington DC, Walter Reed Army Hospital
In a flashback, Conner tells Flynne that there is no reboot in life (reference to what happens at the very end of this episode, Scenes 118 and 119).
104, 03:15, NC
Tommy calls in the murders on the radio, police investigate. They bag the sheriff and find that Corbell has pulse. The police get a call from the hospital, shots fired.
105, 5:42, NC
The police blame the Corbell and sheriff’s shooting on Bob (incorrectly).
106, 6:39, UK
Inspector talks with Conner, Burton, and Flynne in her Met office. They propose an alliance to help Flynne with the Jackpot. They cannot save her mother, she has only 23 days left to live.
107, 8:43, NC
Flynne and Burton return to NC, Flynne is upset that her mother will die in a month. Her mother later tells her that she deserves more.
108, 11:54, UK
Ash talks with Cherise in a park. She knows where the RAS secret information is: Flynne’s brain has bacteria that is encoded as DNA. Lev will get the information soon, must stop him. Ash wants him dead. Cherise says it will come at a high cost, she will hasten the Jackpot — blow up the nuke in its silo in NC.
109, 14:50, NC trip to UK
Flynne meets Wilf at the park. He talks about the Jackpot, and Aelita’s symbol of a hand missing its thumb. They find peripheral young Aelita, who leads them to adult human Aelita. They discuss the camps after the Jackpot and how the Klept killed five million people in a week to keep the spread of infection down. They exchange feelings. Young Aelita digs up a skull, many thousands of people buried in this green and peaceful park.
110, 25:52, NC
Corbell at the hospital, unconscious. His employees at the bar talk about who will become the leader when he dies. Jasper drives the drunk men onto the railroad tracks. Jasper regrets his decision. A train hits the car and kills all inside.
111, 33:33, NC
Flynne and Tommy talk about a threat from the Internet that the NC nuke will be attacked. Flynne realizes that Charise is trying to accelerate the Jackpot.
112, 35:03, NC trip UK
Flynne travels to London and tells Ash about the upcoming silo terrorist attack. Ash already knew from her talk with Cherise in the park. Tells Flynne the bacteria in her head is the plans to the RAS brain implant. Ash, where are you going: “I’m goanna win.” Conner and Flynne (as peripherals in the UK) talk about how he must kill Flynne back in NC. She will start a new stub — reboot, reference to Scene 103.
113, 38:01, UK
Conner and Flynne go to the Inspector to start a new stub. The data that Aelita stole would help save the people in 2032. The RI Stub Portal is guarded.
114, 39:45, UK — NEW STUB
At the Stub Portal, Flynne fights the five guards and defeats them all. Incredibly lax security. Flynne creates the new stub.
ERROR OF CONVENIENCE TO THE PLOT: None of the guards have any lethal weapons. The RI would have extreme protection for something as incredibly important as the timeline and the ability to create new stubs.
115, 43:10, UK
Flynne destroys the coordinates so that Cherise cannot find her. She tells Cherise that she will return later and kill her.
116, 43:25, NC
Back in North Carolina, Flynne thinks.
117fb, 43:47 NC
Flashback where Conner and Flynne talk about the re-boot, they are in London at Scene 112. This is a reference to when Conner was recovering from having two legs and an arm blown off in Walter Reed Hospital in Washington DC, Scene 103.
118, 46:03, NC
RI Stub: Flynne back in NC woods. Presumably, Conner shoots her.
COMMENT: 48:50 — we do not actually see her dead body, Figure 10.
119, 48:04, UK, New stub — is this true?
The inspector sits across from Flynne and asks Flynne, “Shall we get to work?” Flynne develops a slight smile. See Figure 11.
COMMENT: The scene involves this weird table, not in an office, but on the streets of London where Cherise can see them.
CLARIFICATIONS: The final four minutes can be confusing. Let’s talk.
The easiest way to think about these events is to look at Figure 12 below. You can refer to Scene 114, at timestamp 39:45 above, here Flynne creates the new stub. When she creates this new stub, she exists both in the RI stub that we have been watching all season, and in the new stub just created.
Then she goes back to North Carolina in 2032, and walks in the woods. There is a montage of her memories during Season One. And then Connor, presumably, shots her during Scene 118, 46:03. So now Flynne is only alive in the new stub. She is dead in the 2028, RI stub.
CLARIFICATIONS: Since Conner shoots her in only the RI stub, she still exists in the new stub.
As far as Cherise is concerned, Flynne has disappeared, because Cherise has no information about the newly created stub.
In Figure 13 below we see the full story, all three timelines.
Flynne is dead (A).
Flynne is dead (B).
Flynne is alive in (C).
QUESTION: Now this immediately brings up the questions, Can Flynne ever return to the RI timeline where her friends are mourning her death? Is the final plan of The Peripheral to update the Original Timeline so that everyone in that timeline are saved from the horrors of the Jackpot? Then will Flynne, Barton, and the rest of the family live happily ever after?
QUESTION: No discussion during the show indicated how people or their peripherals can communicate with each other between stubs. It is implied they can when the Inspector (in the RI stub) talks with Flynne about how she married Tommy in the Original Time line. Can this happen for anyone in any timeline?
But wait, there’s more.
Scene 120, 51:00, UK — Post Season One video, time and date are unknown.
Lev and his wife walk into a fancy Klept club. She sees three important Klept oligarchs and thinks Lev might die because he did something very bad. The oligarchs talk with Lev. They pull a joke on him making him believe that they are indeed very angry with him. But then they laugh and simply tell him that he must clean up his mess. Cut bait. Chop down the tree and burn it. Kill all the assets, and affiliates. It’s hard to tell if they threaten his family or ask that he kill his family as well. There is no mention as to why he must do this. We assume it has to do with Lev’s RI work.
COMMENT: Scene 120 could be a reference to Scene 046 where Lev admits to Wilf that he had his family killed. So, this could be a flashback scene that took place before Scene 046 and shows us the reason why Lev did kill his family in that stub.
Here is the long, technical error, previously mentioned after Scene 012. I have it included at the end since it is detailed and challenging.
ERROR: This is a re-occurring pervasive logical error in The Peripheral. Once an event happens in 2032 it does not seem instantly to travel through the 67 years and reach London in 2099. For example, the mother takes her medicine, and by late that night, she can see again. But in The Peripheral, when Flynne travels to London in Scene 012 no one is aware that Ella could see that night, 67 years ago.
There are a number of events that run to completion — which is to say Wilf sends in the prescription, Flynne picks it up and gives it to Ella, and Ella gets her vision back later that evening. If Wilf can look up the phone number for the pharmacy, he should be able to see the obituary in the newspaper has now dropped Ella’s death, since the new drug made her better (well, for at least delayed the notice for another 23 days).
Here is a listing of other initiating events, some happening in 2032 some in 2099, that begin a sequence that run to completion without the need for any other time travel or intervention:
· Scene 00 — Before the show begins, when London sent the designs for the headset to the 3D Print Shop
· Scene 03 — Aelita loads the RI secrets to controlling brain function into Flynne’s brain, as bacteria from the God Fount.
· Scene 04 — When London sent information how to build invisible cars and hired assassins to kill Flynne and family.
· Scene 10 — Drug to save Ella’s life
· Scene 18 — Leon wins the lottery — $250K
· Scene 31 — Kissing Wilf
· Scene 54 — Telling Flynne about the NC nuclear silo exploding
· Scene 56 — Bob is hired to kill Flynne and family
· Scene 056 — Conner empathy test in Texas War of Succession
· Scene 108 — Cherise talks with Ash about how Lev will get the information in Flynne’s bacteria, moves the nuke to now
· Scene 114 — Flynne creates a new stub
· Scene 118 — Flynne dies in RI stubOnce each action is started, there are several events in North Carolina that instantly result.
Scene 03 — Aelita loads the RI secrets into Flynne’s brain, as bacteria from the God Fount:
— — Result: Cherise sends an assassin squad to kill Flynne (since Flynne retains stolen information)
— — Result: Flynne has seizures (since the bacteria is in her head)
— — Result: Bob, living in Florida, is hired (since the assassin squad failed to kill Flynne)Scene 56 — Bob is hired to kill Flynne and family
— — Result: Bob tries to kill Flynne at the bridge scene 061 (since he was hired by London)
— — Result: Tommy retrieves the doodad and kills Corbell (since Bob carried it from Florida)
— — Result: Bob kills Corbell’s wife (since he was brought to Corbell’s house)These actions:
— — Aelita forcing secrets into Flynne’s brain
— — Bob being hired to kill FlynneThese actions produce a cascade of results that run to completion. All the results from any one action can be seen as completed after 67 years have passed in London.
No one in 2099 would only see partial results, once Bob is hired, Wilf would see all results 67 years later: that there was a failed bridge attack, Tommy kills Corbell with the doodad, and Bob also killed Corbell’s wife.
End of Season One.
