“Perfidia”

With the near promise of cancellation in the future, “Perfidia” had the unenviable task of wrapping up the series, while leaving enough open in case of a miracle.

The miracle never came unfortunately which means looking back we have to look at “Perfidia” as the series finale.  How does it stack up?   Well, after ridding myself of the bitterness that I wouldn’t be able to discover more about the Vasser household.  And that’s the crux, a series that makes you not only care about the hook of time traveling, but how it effects all the characters on the sidelines.

But back to the specific episode.

Dan journies back in time but not very long and winds up in a mental institution.  How fitting.  Everyone’s b een telling him he needs help for so long and now he’s in one and can’t get out.   But more interesting is he meets Evan…who claims to be a traveler as well.  He claims that the sedatives keep him from jumping.  It’s a wonderful dichotomy.  Dan gets to be on the other side of the equation.  Of course, having knowledge of the possibilities means Dan can’t simply dismiss it.

As Dan and Evan begin to talk things out, especially with regards to Evan’s long lost love, Dan sees more and more of himself in Evan and  eventually agrees to help him escape, feeling that Evan might be his mission here and indeed after Evan gets out, Dan jumps back.

After two days.

Leaving a bloody trail behind from a cut he got prior to leaving and being gone for two days obviously took it’s toll on Katie who took it better than most women would have, but that’s a testament to her character.  however in subtle fashion you see the chinks in the armor especially as her sister keeps whispering to her how she should move on and she sees Jack begin to settle down in his life, can she continue to live like this?

Jack on the other hand has used his tenacity and determination to become a stalwart ally of Dan’s now that he knows.  He tracks down Langley and strongarms him.  Langley doesn’t buckle the first time around, but it’s great to see another tactic rather than Dan’s poking around.

Meanwhile Dan learned that Evan was killed while jaywalking after getting out of the mental instituion, as he tried to see the woman he claimed to be the love of his life.  When Dan jumps back again he runs into Livia who jumped forward during preparations for her wedding.  They find Evan and prevent him from being killed and actually get him to talk to his woman…who has no recollection of him.  Is he crazy?  This epsiode happens at a great time, as Dan has just gone through a scenario of his own where he erased his son’s existence so he knows how timelines can just change completely.

When they jump back Dan is confounded to learn that Evan still died, only this time trying to break into the woman’s home.  He knows he’s going to have to go back again.

Jack on the other hand sits in on one of Langley’s lectures and tries to steer it to time travel and Langley is visibly shaken confirming that these timelines haven’t altered Langley and that he still does know exactly what is going on.

On his third trip back, Dan finds Evan again, still unsure of his claims or whether Evan really is crazy when Evan claims he has proof that he knows the woman.  A videotape.  Dan takes the tape and goes to the office, knowing that at that time he was out covering a story.

Dan finds that Evan did in fact know her as the video shows the two in love winning a salsa contest.

Evan confesses that he changed something in the past which led to his wife’s death.  He kept going back and trying to fix it but everytime he “fixed” it it got worse and she still died, so he figured the only thing he could do is ala Butterfly Effect, go back to the day they met and prevent themselves from meeting.

Evan is still convinced though that there should be something of him left due to it being the original timeline.  Dan doesn’t think so, but empathizes with Evan’s pain so he agrees to help arrange a meeting.

Through some trickery, the two meet and while she doesn’t recognize him again, she does agree to dance.  The two dance salsa and it is clear through her eyes that there is a spark of…something.  Again this show does a wonderful job at being subtle.  They could over the top like most shows of the genre, but they choose not to.  It’s left mostly up to the viewer, but it is definitely there to read into.

After the dance, Evan drops dead to the floor as if it was his time to die regardless but at least he died happily.

Dan and Livia try to figure out exactly what happened as they share a moment that feels like goodbye.  It simply is because it’s the last time they’ll see each other due to cancellation, but you wonder if there was more to it.  But as they are about to say goodbye, they see Dan in this timeline entering a cab and we realize it is from the pilot episode - Dan’s first journey.  It isn’t hard to put two and two together and realize that Evan’s death was a trigger for Dan to start jumping…a theory that will never be answered or explained unfortunately.

Dan jumps back with Evan’s log of his jumps, almost as a textbook for him to learn from.  He gets on the elevator at the Register and who is inside?  Langley.  He offers up some explanations to give the viewer some closure including that Dan is the last Traveler.  Dan says he’s not, thinking of Livia, and Langley doesn’t refute it but makes it seem like she is either something else, or that she is going to stop now.  He also offers that it is a scientific anomaly and that there is a group of people looking to control those who have the gift.  He also says the reason he’s been standoffish, is that he doesn’t want to get too close and succumb to the temptation to use Dan.

Back at home, Katie is excited to hear that the sedatives would work, but it’s at this point that Dan realizes that it’s not a curse…it’s a calling and he doesn’t want to stop.  He loves Katie and Zach more than anything but he can effect real change and be a real force for good.  Katie becomes supportive and asks if Dan still will come home everytime and Dan agrees.

The series ends with Katie watching Dan jump for the first time.

It’s a fitting end to a series that ended far too soon.  This episode had a lot to deliver and it did a good job despite intrinsically having to feel a bit rushed.

B+

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