Future-Lucy writes in her journal about all the things in the past before time travel happened and things changed. All she could do was fight for their future after they lost their path, but they lost Rufus. Now it's up to the present Lucy to change history.
Future Lucy and Wyatt emerge from the Lifeboat and ask the team if they want to get Rufus back. Connor insists that it's not possible, and Future-Lucy explains that they're from 2023 and they're not immune from the side effects. They say that they can't stop Rittenhouse without Rufus, and give Lucy the journal. She tells Wyatt and Lucy that they have to work together, and Future-Wyatt tells Wyatt that there is no baby and Jessica lied to him to manipulate him.
Future Lucy winces at a headache, and Future-Wyatt tells them to take their Lifeboat because there have been a few upgrades. They get into the present-Lifeboat and depart, and the team stares at the journal.
Emma looks at their Mothership and says that it's time to finish what they started: correct mistakes and they're going to do it her way from now on. She invites the others to leave, but when one man goes, Emma shoots him dead and says that all she asks is loyalty. The others agree, and Emma says that they're going to do what Carol and Nicholas couldn't: take out the team once and for all. Jessica asks what she can do, and Emma says it's time to pay their last sleeper agent a visit.
Lucy finds Wyatt in his quarters and apologizes for his learning that his child isn't real. She says that her mother lied to her as well, and now that she's dead, it still hurts. Wyatt says that what matters is getting Rufus, and they go through Future-Lucy's journal.
Jiya checks the future Lifeboat's equipment, eager to go back and save Rufus. Connor reminds her that they can't go back to their own timelines. Garcia tells them that Future-Lucy came to see her before it all began and gave him the journal. Connor insists that it's not possible without side effects, leading to insanity and death. Jiya is willing to risk her life for Rufus and walks off.
Lucy finds an entry about Wyatt choosing Jessica after Hollywood, and he tells her that he just wanted to do the right thing and didn't mean to hurt her. They find a reference to the Titanic that hasn't happened yet. It says that Lucy and Garcia end up in bed together, and Wyatt leaves to get a beer. Jiya asks him if he's found anything about Rufus, and snaps at him about how their future selves didn't just tell them what to do. Wyatt assures her that it's okay and gives her a Christmas present that Rufus got Jiya before his death. Inside is a Rubik's Cube from 1981 that Rufus bought for her.
The alarm goes off and Connor confirms that the Mothership has traveled to 1848 near Sacramento. It's four days after gold was discovered in Sutters' Mill, a discovery that made California a state. Denise says that the world still needs saving and Jiya can pilot the Lifeboat, and they need to find the last sleeper agent.
The team get into the future-Lifeboat, and Jiya discovers that it has auto-pilot so that she can pilot it. They go to Coloma, California, in January 1848. They go into town and spot John Marshall, the millwright who discovered gold and is bringing to show his boss John Sutter. A miner, Stevens, whistles at Lucy, and she snaps at him. Unabashed, Stevens says that they saw a redheaded woman earlier that day, and the team figures that she's there to activate the sleeper. They start to go to Sutton, and Wyatt points out that there are wanted posters of the four of them.
The group get outdoor clothing, steal horses, and ride off into the countryside. Lucy and Jiya dress as men, and Lucy tells Garcia that he knew about the two of them getting together from the journal. Garcia admits that he didn't believe the two of them would get together, and Lucy figures that in the future she's already seen a different side to him. He tells her to stop because the journal says that their affair ended badly because her heart always belonged to someone else.
Lucy glances over at Wyatt, and they see men riding toward them. The men pull up and the leader Joaquin Murrieta, realizes that they're the ones who stole his horses. Lucy knows that he's one of the most dangerous bandits in California, and he killed the men who murdered his brother and assaulted his wife. She explains that they stole the horses to look for the people who killed her mother, but Joaquin doesn't care. Both sides go for their guns, and Jiya points out that each horse has a different brand on it. Wyatt suggests that if they're dead then they can't tell them where the gold is, and offer to tell Joaquin where it is if he lets them borrow the horses a little longer. After a moment, Joaquin agrees... for now. Once they're alone, Lucy explains that Joaquin was one of the Mexican outlaws who inspired the tale of Zorro.
Jessica goes to the mill where the sleeper agent is working, says that she's Emma's lieutenant, and demands to see the money. He says that he doesn't want to deal with an underling, and Emma kicks him in the groin. When the agent complains that they can't just leave him there, Emma draws a gun on him and says that they'll pick him up when the time is right.
The group makes camp for the night, and Garcia talks to Joaquin in Spanish, complimenting him on his horse. Joaquin says that his people found the gold first, but the Americans took the gold after the war. He explains that a few weeks ago men came into his camp, accused him of stealing their money, killed his brother, and assaulted his wife. Joaquin promise that he'll kill them all, and Garcia says that his people were murdered by terrible people. He tried to solve it Joaquin's way with violence, but all it did was cause more pain. Garcia warns Joaquin that he will become as bad as his men, and Joaquin asks him what he's given up his quest for revenge for. Garcia glances over at Lucy, sitting by the fire with Wyatt reading the journal, and Joaquin understands.
At the fire, Wyatt figures that Jessica is the reason that Rufus is dead. He figures that he played into Rittenhouse's hands when he brought Jessica to the bunker, and to save Rufus she has to be taken out of the timeline somehow and he'll be the one to do it. Lucy warns that it's too dangerous, but Wyatt says that he let everyone down but he's going to make things right. Jiya and Lucy say that they're going to go with him. Garcia joins them and asks who will be left to save the world from Rittenhouse.
Jessica takes the gold to the present and gives it to Emma, and tells her to spend half of it to store it and other half to fetch them some soldiers. Meanwhile, she's going to Korea 1950 to buy a sleeper agent.
Lucy notices that Garcia is gone, and Wyatt says that he rode on to scout the mill.
Garcia goes to the future-Lifeboat and sets a course for San Diego in 2012.
The next day, the group rides to the mill where the Mexicans are mining the gold, and Joaquin notices that Garcia is gone. He thanks them for keeping their world and walks away, and Wyatt tells them that they'll find the sleeper agent on their own. The sleeper agent and his miners take them all captive at gunpoint.
In the bunker, Denise is hanging up Christmas lights. Connor angrily says that they're not celebrating until they get Rufus back, and insists that they need to save Rufus to stop Rittenhouse. Denise points out that Connor is the one who created the time machine for Rittenhouse, and he agrees. The agent apologizes and says that they will have to destroy the Mothership and the Lifeboat. Connor confirms that it can be done, but warns that one day someone will create their own time machine and they won't have one to stop them.
In San Diego 2012, Garcia approaches a Rittenhouse agent watching over a house and kills him.
Wyatt and Jessica are driving home and arguing about the fight in the bar they just left. Jessica's phone rings and Wyatt wonders if it's the man she was with while they were on a break. She has Wyatt pull over and gets out to walk, while Garcia feels the effects of being in his own timeline. Wyatt drives off, and Jessica walks off across a field. She finds the dead agent and Garcia, and he tries to shoot her. Jessica tackles Garcia and they fight, and she manages to disarm him. They continue struggling, and Garcia manages to grab the gun and kill Jessica. He puts another shot in her to be sure and goes back to the Lifeboat.
The miners tie up the time team, and Lucy tells the others that Joaquin is killed in a shootout with California Rangers in 1853. They hear gunshots and men yelling, and then Rufus comes in and wishes them a Merry Christmas. He unties them and they hug him. Jiya explains that he died in San Francisco in 1888, and Rufus has no memory of ever being in 1888. Lucy realizes that Garcia did it. Joaquin calls Rufus out, and he goes to help him with Jiya in tow. Lucy works out that Garcia took Jessica out of the timeline, and Wyatt realizes that his wife is dead. He figures that's why Lucy ends up with Garcia, and she says that she doesn't. Before Wyatt can respond, Rufus calls them out. After Wyatt goes, Lucy finds something in the journal.
Rufus helped take the sleeper agent out with his men, and says that they don't need their share of the gold. Lucy tells the team that Garcia wrote her a note and left it in the journal. In it, Garcia says that he didn't make it back.
Garcia climbs into the Lifeboat, dying from the side effects, and sets a course for 1848. He writes that Lucy didn't let her loss cripple her the way it did him, and he hopes she can have the future she deserves. Garcia then jumps out of the Lifeboat as it departs, and then goes to his house and looks inside to see his past self with his family. He tells Lucy to never give up trying to save the world from Rittenhouse, and he'll see her Christmas Eve 2014.
Once the team get the Lifeboat, they return to the present and tell Denise and Connor what happened. Denise says that they found the body of a John Doe by the ocean, and Rufus realizes that Garcia died and Wyatt gave up Jessica for him. Connor proposes a toast to Garcia and the others join in. Wyatt says that Garcia sacrificed his life so the rest of them could defeat Rittenhouse, and they all drink in his honor.
Emma looks for Jessica, and her lieutenant Mike has no idea who Jessica is. The leader realizes that they changed history and that's Rittenhouse's job, and the gold isn't there. Emma tells Mike to get the Mothership ready for Hell.
Traveling to North Korea in 1950, Emma approaches Marine Lieutenant Langford and confirms who he is. She says that she represents a special kind of insurance and says that she can make sure his family is provided for her and his daughter Margaret receives treatment for her polio. All Emma wants in return is one big favor.
Jiya checks the history books and tells Rufus that Joaquin moved to California with his wife and started a family and a successful horse ranch. Rufus notices that she has the present on her end table, and he notices a scare on her collarbone. Jiya explains that she got it in Chinatown from when she lived there for three years in the 1880s. She doesn't want to talk about it, turns off the light, and when Rufus touches her, she pulls away.
Lucy finds Wyatt packing to sleep on the couch in what is now "their room" since Jessica died. She says that it was nice what Garcia did, and Wyatt realizes that Garcia was the man who saved his life by killing Jessica. Lucy reveals that Garcia said in the journal that there was a way to get her sister Amy back, but Lucy figures that she can't get her sister back until Rittenhouse is stopped. Wyatt says that their future selves didn't look happy, and he doesn't want to live in a world that Rittenhouse controls.
Connor confirms that the Mothership jumped to Christmas Eve, 1950, on the last day of the Hungnam evacuations in the Korean War, just after the Battle of Chosin. The UN troops were winning the war until the Chinese army descended on them, forcing them to evacuate. Fourteen thousand Korean refugees showed up, and General Edward Almond tried to save as many as he could on the US Meredith Victory. No one died, and it was called the Miracle of Christmas, and Wyatt says that they'll stop Emma. As they go to get prepared,
Lucy, Wyatt, Jiya, and Rufus arrive in North Korea, 1950, and head for the port.
Connor tries to work out why Emma is striking in 1950. He checks the historical records and finds photos of the team... dead.
The team comes to the remains of a skirmish where soldiers were killed. A chopper flies over and a lieutenant—Langford—tells them to come along because he has the last chopper to Hungnam.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 21, 2018