[Adult Tiff] "Whence come I and whither go I?
That is the great, unfathomable question,
the same for every one of us.
And science has no answer to it,"
Max Planck said, and he's correct.
Because ultimately, it is not up to science,
nor our teachers, not even our parents... sorry Mom and Dad.
[laughter]
- [camera shutter clicking] - Only we, fellow members
of the class of 1994, can decide who we become.
Here's another turn of phrase that I am fond of.
"A roll's a roll, and a toll's a toll.
And if I don't get no tolls, I don't eat no rolls.”
Little John speaks these words at the toll bridge,
because the success of his livelihood is directly tied
to the success of his very life.
We, too, have the freedom to choose vocations so vital,
to resoundingly answer the question
"What will I become?"
Answer well, and these choices will feed us,
sustain us and fulfill us.
Mail it in, and no rolls for you.
So choose wisely, class of 1994,
because "with great power comes great responsibility."
That's from Spider-Man.
[laughter]
What time is it?
[applause and cheering]
Where are you guys going?
Don't worry about it.
[click, videotape squeaking]
[Carol] Open your present. You got a present
from your father and I. Honey, make sure this is in zoom
'cause this is good. You see that?
- You're gonna need that - [♪ Q-Tip: "Vivrant Thing"]
for all those cold winters in Cambridge.
- [laughs] - It's great, Mom.
♪ Special girl, real good girl ♪
♪ Biggest thing in my itty bitty world ♪
♪ Called her up and she made me feel right ♪
♪ Wish for bliss could never take flight ♪
Only seven more years.
♪ Yo, it's such a vivrant thing ♪
♪ Vivrant thing, a vivrant thing ♪
♪ Yo, check it, yo...
[KJ groans]
It's just so horrible. I...
Dear Lord. Look, there's nothing to do, so just find a way
to shut up already, all right?
Hey, Mac, look, I'm glad you told me, okay?
I'm sorry that came out wrong,
but you really don't think we should tell someone?
Like, it doesn't have to be Erin and Tiff,
but at least an adult.
And what good would that do?
Play it out. Really play it out
and tell me what you think happens if we do that.
I don't know, but you could get medicine and treatment and...
- From where? The hospital? - Yeah. Maybe.
Yeah, assuming they don't, like, institutionalize me
when I try to explain who I am,
and assuming that they don't have a record of me...
I don't know... dying there,
then what am I looking at?
Months of awful chemo
that we already know didn't work seven years ago.
- Mac. - I say fuck that.
But maybe you don't have it yet.
Isn't that a thing with cancer? Catching it early?
We can't just do nothing.
Sure we can. We're doing it right now.
Mac, in this case, doing nothing isn't doing nothing at all
'cause it's really just letting the worst thing happen.
Yeah, well,
maybe you should have thought of that
before you yanked me out of 2019 and away from my doctor brother.
Mac, that's not fair, okay?
I saw that lady.
She was at your brother's house.
Look, I know.
And according to Dylan,
there was no guarantee that he could treat it anyway.
It's just...
it's like it's happening,
but it's almost impossible to believe.
Doesn't even feel real.
Well, then maybe that's the first step...
making sure you feel it's real so that
you will take it seriously, Mac.
So what can we do about that?
[Carol] Zoom in, honey.
[door opens]
There we go. That's... Oh, I like that. Uh, okay.
10:45. Nice.
Watching it already?
What? It's my life, too, isn't it?
- You wouldn't be curious? - [refrigerator opens]
- [refrigerator door closes] - This is, like, success porn.
One: ew.
And two: I don't even know what that's supposed to mean.
I'm proud of us.
That girl is totally full of shit.
- What are you talking about? - How much time you got?
Seven years.
This speech is amazing.
We're valedictorian. We're about to go to MIT.
I am literally watching one of my dreams come true.
- [sighs] - Even if Dad's camerawork
- kind of makes me dizzy. - That girl on the video?
She's about to get hit with a Mack Truck full of reality.
[video stops]
Who are you this morning?
Look, your friend is right.
You're gonna be here a little longer
than we both thought, so...
why don't we take a walk down to the coffee shop real quick?
But you have a coffee maker here.
Oh, um,
can we bring you anything back?
They have pretty good muffins and
maybe bagels, I think?
I'm good.
There are also Pop-Tarts
if you want one.
Look, I'm not giving you rules.
[Tiff] That's sure what it sounds like.
Christine? One muffin?
Why is there just, like, old furniture in here?
"Boundaries" is maybe a better word.
It's like somebody's weird college house,
but inside a restaurant.
The big three.
One: no more going through my shit without asking.
Two: bedroom... off limits.
Three: if there's a towel hanging
- from the door, it means knock. - Why?
Like, because you might be naked or something?
Gross.
Just knock.
Okay, Mom.
[rock music plays quietly]
That's a weird way to feel about stuff.
What if I told you that was a perfectly fine way
to feel about stuff?
That there's
no one right answer at all when it comes to feeling things?
I'd say that's a lot to get from a coffee mug.
- What? - You're so focused on who you should be
and how to get there that you have no idea
what you really like, really want,
- or who you really are. - Oh, my God. Would you stop it?
Roll your eyes if you want to, but, remember,
I'm you, so I already know the answer.
Okay, Great and Powerful Oz, how about this?
I know exactly what I want.
I want to get out of Stony Stream, I want to go to MIT...
which we do... and ideally, I'd like a fellowship
or a research grant to do something...
...I don't know... groundbreaking.
- Those are Carol's dreams. - You mean Mom?
- Come on. - Look, right now you think all that success
is gonna make you whole, make you feel different,
but I'm here to tell you,
you're just gonna be you when you get there.
Hell,
- you're gonna be me. - Mom is smart.
Mom wants me to be independent and to do my best.
Even if that means missing out
on everything that's going on around you
because you are so focused on the future?
Is that what you really want?
Your life to be lived for the approval of others?
Is Mom not proud of you for some reason?
Is it your hair?
- What did you do? - You're misunderstanding me.
What I'm telling you is a good thing.
It means you have time.
Time to dance, time to play,
- time to date a couple idiots. - Like Russ?
Exactly like Russ.
Russ and I aren't gonna get married
and do the whole kids and mortgage thing.
It's just... fun.
Fun is good.
Hell, more than that. Fun matters.
Having real friends matter.
That's the speech someone should have given
at the end of high school.
I have fun.
I have friends.
- What? - They're your coworkers.
Why are you saying all of this?
You did do something, didn't you?
What happened?
I...
I just...
I want you to have the head start that I didn't have.
And frankly, I'm jealous.
It took me reaching my twenties to realize this,
and now look at me.
Yeah, Mom must be thrilled.
Look, there's no easy way to say this,
but she is not who you think she is.
You just love blaming Mom for your problems, don't you?
You're adopted.
Stop it. It's not funny.
There is absolutely nothing to feel bad about.
Ultimately, this is a good thing.
We find out our sophomore year.
- You're messing with me. - Translation: Carol waits
19 years to be honest with you about who you are.
Hey.
I'm giving you a gift.
Stop messing with me.
I think you know, deep down...
that I'm not.
[bird squawking]
You're sure this is the one?
It's where my grandmother is, so...
What?
Nice.
You're so going to Hell, by the way.
[laughs softly] Nah.
Jews believe we all go to the same place, so...
Grandpa, Grandma,
Cousin Rhoda, Aunt Sally.
Fuck.
I guess that's my grave.
What do you think I look like down there?
I mean, am I just bones?
Well, depends on how good your coffin is,
but I'd say your eyeballs are definitely gone.
Oh, good Lord.
Yeah, worms eat those first.
You're fucked up.
People don't notice 'cause you're quiet,
but you're fucked up, KJ.
Bet they buried you in a dress, too.
- Okay, stop. - Just saying.
[sighs]
Not even a full date.
[scoffs]
No birthday, no... death day?
[car approaching]
Could Dad not even spring for that?
Geez, things must have been tight.
[car door opens, closes]
Someone's coming.
Come on, let's go.
That's my stepmom.
Why would...
Mac, let's get out of here.
[woman] This is the true story...
- [Colin] Of seven strangers... - [Amaya] Picked
- to live in paradise. - [Russ] Can't believe
you haven't seen this.
[Erin] My mom doesn't
let my sister and I watch MTV.
[man] Find out what happens...
Well, that's... censorship.
[man] Oh, my God!
How old are these people?
Like, my age. I think they have to be at least 18.
My sister is 19.
Hmm.
Wait. She's not allowed to watch MTV?
I think she's joining the military soon.
She's, um, training to become a helicopter pilot.
[TV plays quietly in the background]
I'm gonna get a Pop-Tart.
You want?
Am I wearing a sign that says "Feed me Pop-Tarts"
- or something? - [scoffs]
- [music plays on TV] - [engine revving on TV]
Oh, uh, hey, remind me.
Who are all you girls again?
Janice is... Tiff's cousin.
And which one's Janice?
Really?
Oh.
Oh, yeah. Cool.
And you guys are just friends of hers?
Yeah, from... boarding school.
Janice wanted to show us all her cousin's life
in the big city for a couple days.
So...
The big city?
This isn't even Cleveland.
It's, like, the one cool part of Stony Stream,
which is maybe, like, half a block from the...
[knocking]
Christ.
[whispering] Oh, all right. This again.
Hey, what's up, man?
You from 7B? Look, we have to have the TV up this loud
because my girlfriend...
- she's hard of hearing. - Larry!
What the hell are you doing here?
I'm looking for, uh... Tiff Quilkin.
Well, neither of them are here right now,
and even if they were, they want nothing to do with you.
Neither?
Uh... you're one of them, aren't you?
Do you know this guy?
I need to show you something.
Please.
[sighs]
If I'm not back in five minutes, bring your baseball bat.
I don't have a baseball bat.
[music plays on TV]
[toaster dings]
Ooh. Aah.
So, will the older Tiffany be back soon?
After those two visited me yesterday, something
- really freaky happened. - I watched you die two days ago.
Did you know that?
What are you talking about?
You got lasered by the Old Watch,
burnt into nothing.
Anyway, what goes around comes around, I guess.
Hold on. I know a lot of weird things probably happen
in the future, but they haven't yet,
so, I mean...
...there's time to fix them?
Maybe. Maybe not.
I want to do the right thing.
Uh, I just...
[exhales]
The STF... every-every... everything they told me, uh...
this-this...
Th-This is the right thing! How could I...
There-there has to be a reason.
I mean, oh, God.
It's okay. Just...
Burned up instantly? Jesus!
Oh, Christ.
I'm sorry, okay? Just...
All of this has been really hard for everyone.
And... I-I didn't mean it.
- Wait. I don't die? - No, I...
I just... I-I didn't mean it like that.
Like, being so harsh about it.
- So I do die? - Yes.
[sighs]
Hey.
Is that my bike?
Is it?
It fell out of some kind of... I don't know how to describe it...
it's like some...
burping... trash hole,
but, like, you know, a rip.
Sort of like the foldings Heck and Naldo use,
but smaller, kind of... raggedy and broken.
A folding?
And it's still there on the farm?
- You know my farm? - I was there.
Three days ago.
[sighs] Well, yeah, I mean, it's right there in the field.
Take me there.
- I want to see it. - You sure about that?
I'm not even sure I trust myself after what you just told me.
What are you gonna do?
Kill me twice?
[truck door opens]
[truck door closes]
It's just perfect.
Oh, my, honey, you look so beautiful.
[laughs] I don't know, Mom.
- Is it... is it too much? - Mm.
[phone ringing]
[classical music plays quietly]
[phone continues ringing]
Hello?
Transfer secure. Identity code?
Verify. Blue. Second Mark.
Blue-Red. Red-Blue.
Verify.
Why are you calling me?
I'm an Emergency Level 8 contact.
D-Describe it. Color, approximate diameter.
Shape?
Cup of coffee? Okay.
With a piece of detritus from another timeline?
Okay.
Wait, you have-you have a traveler?
Travelers?
Jesus. You're serious? Kids?
[laughs softly]
What's your location?
Why would she bring me flowers?
Her, of all people?
Half the time I knew Alice, she was passed out on our couch
before I even got home from school.
And when she wasn't fighting with my dad,
she was just, like, gone for days without any explanation.
She hardly even seemed to notice Dylan or me at all
unless we, like, stole some of her cigarettes or something.
And now she's the one who remembers my birthday?
It's your birthday?
Yup. July 5th.
I'm a Cancer. How great is that?
Well, maybe she changed?
Didn't your brother?
Yeah. No, yeah. He mentioned something about that.
Like, her being really cool when I got sick or something.
But, man.
Flowers.
Well, when I saw myself at that party,
I was really unhappy at first,
'cause it wasn't what I was expecting, but
maybe I couldn't see myself the way
everybody else around me could.
- So maybe it's like that, with... - [car approaching]
- Shit. - Boy!
Watch it!
Mac.
[Alice gasps]
Run.
[tires squealing]
♪ ♪
[crying]
Hey, let's...
Let's get back to the others.
[Alice continues crying]
You want to hear something that'll blow your mind?
Check this out.
We are gonna spend the next seven years
opening up your world.
[♪ Whitney Houston: "It's Not Right but It's Okay"]
♪ But it's okay ♪
♪ I'm gonna make it anyway ♪
- ♪ Pack your bags up and leave ♪ - This is Whitney Houston!
♪ Don't you dare come...
Can you believe it?!
She's still awesome!
♪ But it's okay ♪
♪ I'm gonna make it anyway...
- Are you insane? - What?
♪ Leave your key...
- Are you insane? - What?
♪ Than unhappy...
Do you think I care about Whitney Houston right now?
Like, your plan was just to buy me a frickin' scone,
tell me I'm adopted, and then we come home and listen
to "I Wanna Dance with Somebody"?
That's the whole point.
Tell me you would have guessed this is the same woman
who sang "Saving All My Love For You."
♪ Why'd you turn and look at me? ♪
- [music stops] - Look,
I know that this is hard,
but it'll be easier in the long run.
I hate you for telling me that.
Hey, I really do get it.
I don't think there's a way for us
to skip through the pain altogether, but I think
that you can move through this faster than I did.
And if I can,
I want to give that to you.
And I think what we really need to move through
is this.
The weirdo hair,
the flashy-light-computer music, the partying.
You decided to be like this, not Mom.
And newsflash: it doesn't last. It's a phase.
So I want to give you that.
Okay, 12-Year-Old Me.
I'm not only 12, thank you very much.
I've been to the future, and in the future, we're not this.
You saw me in 2019?
No.
But I did some research.
We have an institute.
An institute?
What kind of institute?
I don't know, exactly. We weren't there long enough
to find out as much as I would have liked, but it seemed,
you know, established.
[scoffs]
Established.
Well, it definitely wasn't
the Institute of Flashy Light Computer Music
and Sleeping Until 10:45 a.m.
You're lashing out. Of course you are. So did I.
- Do what you got to do. - Oh, my God.
And another thing: MIT isn't someone else's dream.
It's ours... yours and mine.
I've been thinking about it, and I don't care what you say.
That's what I want.
Nobody told me to go there. Not Mom, not anyone.
Maybe you don't remember, but I do. I want that.
I'm sure it feels that way to you now,
but you have no idea what MIT is really like yet.
What is it, then? What don't I get?
I...
Things are just different when you're older.
- Uh... - No. You know what I think?
I think you need to stop screwing around
and go back to MIT.
And there's Carol again.
Re-enroll. You could probably still be back
in time for the fall semester.
- It's not gonna happen. - Why?
I can't go back to MIT because I got expelled, okay?
I knew it.
All of that nonsense
you were spewing in the coffee shop?
You were just making excuses because you blew it.
The woman who was my role model, my support system,
who gave me lectures about truthfulness
and doing the right thing ended up
being the biggest liar of them all,
so, no, it was not great for my concentration.
Don't blame Mom for this!
I may only be 12, but I'm pretty sure
they don't expel you from school for being adopted.
Like you said, you're only 12.
No shit, Sherlock!
But at least I own who I am and what I do.
[Adult Tiff sighs]
[♪ Whitney Houston: "It's Not Right but it's Okay"]
♪ So why did 213...
If I'm being honest,
it's really the only good song on this album.
♪ I've been through all this before ♪
♪ So how could you think...
What's up?
Where's Erin?
[Russ] Who?
♪ Things are gonna change...
My friend.
Chinese, was here when we left?
♪ You don't stand no chance, boy...
- [Adult Tiff] Russ? - What's up?
Where's Erin?
[Russ] Oh, she left.
♪ Don't you turn around...
[Russ] What?
She took off with some guy she knew.
Larry?
Goddammit it, Russ!
♪ Was it really going out like that? ♪
♪ Tell me, boy ♪ ♪
[vehicle approaching]
It's okay. She's one of the good guys.
[truck door closes]
It's here.
Pleasure to finally meet you, by the way.
I hope it's still here.
Foldings don't typically last very long.
Where are the others?
[Erin] Hell if I know.
[rumbling, whooshing]
[Juniper] You did the right thing by calling me.
[Larry] I was just following protocol.
All this stuff wasn't here before.
- [Erin] I don't think this is a folding. - [Juniper] I agree.
At least not like any I've seen.
It isn't like the one that came through, either. Heck and Naldo.
[whooshing, rumbling continuing]
[Juniper] What we got here is a Class 2 Time Rip.
Can you travel through a rip?
[Juniper] Afraid not. Don't worry.
These things tend to repair themselves
and disappear pretty quickly.
Then why is this one still here?
I don't know,
but you better hope it goes away soon
and nothing else comes through.
What else can come through?
[Juniper] Nothing good.
I'm good.
Maybe you should start eating a little healthier?
And, you know, stop smoking, get some exercise.
[scoffs]
What?
I ride a bike for a living.
You know what really gets me about Alice?
Hmm?
It's just surprising, you know?
She actually wanted me to live.
Why is that surprising?
I don't know. Just...
Maybe, like you said,
maybe more people seemed to believe
I was worth a shit than I thought.
I think you're worth a shit.
And I want you to live.
Happy birthday.
[Tiff] There you two are!
We were waiting for you guys. We have to go.
Erin's in trouble.
Come on.
Is that Erin's bike?
[Tiff] Hey!
- You piece of shit! - [Larry] It's all right. She's right...
- she's right around the corner. It's all right. - [Mac] Where's Erin?
Guys, it's okay. It's okay.
Are you sure you're okay?
Man, this is weird.
We watched this dude get smoked.
[KJ] Mac.
There's something you guys have to see.
- Hey, we know you. - It's that chick
- from the red pickup truck. - [Tiff] Okay,
- what the hell is going on? - [Erin] She's STF Underground,
like Larry.
Screw this. I'm out.
Yeah, we're not falling for this shit again.
- Let's go. - [Erin] Wait! You have to see this.
Now.
[whooshing, rumbling]
- My TRC-218. - Holy shit.
Is that the one with channel 14 or 30 crystals?
- 30. - Damn.
- Low power. - This was my dad's.
So, is this all came from 1988?
It's a pretty even mix of detritus
from the girls' trips to 1988 and 2019.
But it's not a folding.
Are you sure there's no way we can time-travel through it?
I don't even know if you'd want to touch it.
Let's find out.
[Larry] Oh, uh,
are we sure that's a...
- Whoa! - [Mac] Okay.
That's kind of funny.
[MeeMaw] Larry, there's something in here!
[eerie bellowing]
Larry!
What's up her butt?
It's the dang cats!
- Look at this! - Come on, MeeMaw.
Now there's a wild cat in the house?
- [soft trilling] - [metallic thudding]
That's not a cat.
It's an XK-11 recon probe.
No shit.
[KJ] Recon? Does that mean
that thing can see us?
Afraid so.
- Dang. I didn't get to see. - Don't!
This probe is sending a signal across the ages
to the bigwigs right now, live and primetime.
It's what I figured.
- The bigwigs? - Take a guess.
- The Old Watch. - Old Watch.
Bingo.
Keep an eye on that, would you?
So the Old Watch knows they're here?
What is this? Whoa.
Uh, are you sure that's a good idea?
'Cause, with the...
Okay.
You should all probably wait in the living room.
[Larry] I just...
- Uh, is this protocol? - Whoa.
Start the clock, folks.
- You mean... - [Juniper] My guess?
Hour, tops, before Old Watch troops
drop down on our asses like a hailstorm.
What happens then?
They execute these little girls
- for violating the time travel ban. - Okay.
- [Tiff] What? - [Adult Tiff] That seems a little harsh.
They're just kids. I suppose
it's out of the question that we try to explain the situation?
The Old Watch doesn't chat, okay?
They'll bring down the Cathedral,
ablute the surrounding area and kill anyone who's from,
you know, out of town.
[Mac] Why does every stupid thing
have to have some kind of stupid name?
What's the Cathedral?
The Cathedral is what the Watch calls their command center.
A-a mobile HQ that oversees the entire timeline.
- When you put it that way. - Well, what can we do?
Only thing we can do.
We run.
♪ ♪