How do they do what they do in the show without destroying the universe?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
What I have always wondered, What happens to the Parker of 7 days ago.
The past Parker is wiped out of existence when the future one arrives. This confirmed in a episode when Olga's husband returns from the future and kills Ballard. Frank then jumps back through time to stop Ballard from getting killed and the Russian time traveller from stealing their feul.
We then see a scene where Ballard and the Russian are walking through the hangar and Ballard notices the sphere is gone. Ballard then says "Look the sphere is gone, there must have been a backstep." And the Russian freaks out.
I wonder if that totally freaked them out in the pilot... The sphere magically disappears. Of course, they then get a call from Conoundrum, so they then realize what happened...
Also, didn't the looney bin kind of wonder where Frank went to when he disappeared from his padded cell?
Have they ever showed someone talking to Frank and then before their eyes Frank disappears? This SHOULD happen every time a backstep occurs, right? They really don't need to get the Conundrum call to know it happened- only need to observe the missing Frank and missing Sphere. (I THINK the reference to someone noticing a missing sphere in "As Time Goes By" occurred in the present day/prebackstep timeline from where the sphere had just taken off towards the past, and NOT the 7 days back sphere disappearing because the 7 days ahead spehere has just backstepped- right? )
No, Len, the sphere of seven days ago was not the one to vanish but rather the sphere of a few hours ago. On more than one occasion the characters have indicated that a sphere may actually journey only five days ago, such as in "The Gettysburg Virus" and "Parkergeist," if I am not mistaken. The inquiry is more of being whether or not the title to the series is correct. If you cogitate it for a moment, Lt. Frank Parker may descend up to or a total of seven days into the past, but it is not a requisition or even a stipulation to make the trip within such a time span.
DS, I wasn't trying to imply that the spehere always goes back 7 days- I agree, they HAVE showed times where the Spere went back less (as you indicate). Rather, my question goes to whether they have ever showed the spere disappear in the past (where the backstepping sphere from the future is heading)? I'm reasonably sure they've never showed the past version of Frank disappearing (as he's replaced by the future backstepping Frank).
I believe in SOMETHING ABOUT OLGA that Frank
mentions as they exit the asylum that Galena
aka Evil Olga has been placed in that everything
that originally happened got erased by the backstep so it NEVER really happened.What I'd
love to see is an episode that shows what happens
back at Never-Never Land during a backstep.
BTW:Check out the Alan Scarfe interview in the
latest issue of Sci-Fi Tv,it seems that he is
married to Barbara March aka Lursa of the Duras
sisters.
I just thought of a nit on the entire premise of the show.
They can only go back 7 days because that's how much power they have. Fine. That's "good science" within the context of the show. HOWEVER, they always have a fit when it's getting close to the 7-day limit. Why can't he make serial backsteps?
Let's say it takes, say, 10 days to figure out what caused the disaster and how to fix it? Let's see... Parker is past the 7 day limit. SO... He backsteps 7 days. As Conundrum, he tells the crew that he's backstepped to deal with the crisis of (now) 3 days ago, but it took too long to figure out, so he needs a second backstep. They use the (fully powered - he hasn't backstepped yet) reactor to backstep the sphere back before the disaster.
Does anyone see anything wrong with this?
Another nit concerns Episode #8 (???) aired last night. Olga comments that she has never seen Parker so anxious to do a BackStep. Yet, by the premise of the show, she should NEVER remember Parker ever about to perform a BackStep. After all, all the previous timelines are wiped clean - right?
I always wondered why they say "we can only have a finite number of backsteps" when he makes a backstep he's going back in time to *BEFORE* the sphere was charged(note: it was established in an earlier episode that the little green hotdog charges up the sphere, and it's not located on the sphere)
In one of the really early episodes (the one with the cold fusion guy), he makes a heck of a lot of backsteps in short order.
Also, in the one with Olga's husband(?), he makes a backstep (not the full 7 days) on residual power, after the "little green hotdog" is stolen.
Maybe we're thinking too linearly. The "little green hotdog" may exist simultaneously in all times and lose energy whenever its used across the time continuum.
Nit on the episode where Parker brought the kid back with him. Why did the kid wake up in his bed? Wouldn't the kid still be in the sphere? No explanation is offered in the show. I liked the episode but wish they would have offered SOME type of explanation.
If the 7 days ago Parker vanishes when he backsteps, wouldn't this be kind of an interesting way to murder someone:
Kill them.
Backstep the body one week.
The live person vanishes, and the dead guy takes his place.
Alternatively, if you're opposed to murder:
ScottN, yeah, that should work and would make for an interesting episode. However, Parker would probably be creeped out having to time trip with a dead body.
::Kill them.
Backstep the body one week.
The live person vanishes, and the dead guy takes his place. ::
The problem here is that assuming you need to go back with the corpse (as pilot of the sphere), you're right where you were in the future: standing next to someone you've killed. What's the diff if you're 7 days earlier?
OK, len, but what about the second case I proposed... When the Backstep team can't do anything, but the baddie is dead...
Scott-
I see no problems with your 2nd scenario- however, it raises an interesting ethical issue: if X commits a capital crime, and is executed, if you backstep his body to before he committed the crime, so the crime is never done- did you kill an innocent man? (I say: no). It parallels an interesting New Outer Limits show called "A Stitch in Time" (or something like that) which starred Amanda Plummer & Michelle (Ensign Ro) Forbes. In that episode, a time travelling professor kills serial killers by backstepping to a point in time before they commit the murders. An interesting side effect of the backstepping- which is sort of relevant to our man Frank's situation: after she backsteps, she jumps back to the future (hmm..sounds like a good movie title :^) and she retains the memories of BOTH timelines - which causes her great physical/psychological distress. Not unlike Franks' sometime stresses.
ScottN, I thought of a way for your first scenario to work. Parker goes crazy (from the backstepping) and does an O.J. (i.e. kills his former wife). Unlike O.J., he leaves the murder knife behind and there are eyewitnesses. Before the police can arrest him, the NSA informs him he must perform a backstep to avert some crisis. Since Parker doesn't want to get caught, he comes up with a plan. Instead of hopping a plane to Chicago (like O.J.), he is going to hop on the sphere. Somehow, Parker manages to sneak the corpse onto the sphere without anyone noticing (yes, I know this part is a stretch). Now, when he backsteps, his dead ex-wife replaces his ex-wife of 7 days ago. However, NOW, there would be no murder weapon, no eyewitnesses, and no way (other than DNA, of course) to trace the "murder" to Parker. Even if the police linked Parker by DNA, how would they explain a woman disappearing (especially if it happens in front of other people) and being replaced by a DEAD woman? Would you want to be the prosecutor? Plus, Parker would have an alibi! Better call Mulder and Scully!
Mike,
Even better is this...
Parker goes crazy and does an OJ.
He must backstep.
He backsteps back before the murder.
His crazy self disappears, and his wife doesn't get killed.
Kind of a variant on Scenario 2.
Scott-
Well- that's sort of the tale wagging the dog- if he wants to kill her, then what you suggest doesn't work. Otherwise, what you're describing is a regular backstep (i.e. he goes back in time to prevent a past event from happening- in this case- it's an event that HE did).
Mike-
You STILL have the problem of being in the past with a corpse IN your hands! What do you do with the body?? There may be NEW witnesses. There may be NEW evidence linking you to the place where you hide the body. Bascially- you've just come up with a good way to hide the murder weapon (i.e. it doesn't exist in the new timeline).
Len, my theory assumes that the corpse would reappear where his ex-wife was 7 days ago. Why? Well, in the episode where Parker accidentally takes that little boy back with him, the boy reappears in his bed - NOT in the sphere. So, I take it that would apply to anyone else in the sphere besides Parker (dead or alive). Now, the episode doesn't explain why that happens so I also have no explanation.
Mike- hmmm..good point! That episode ("The Backstepper's Apprentice") WOULD support that conclusion. Although you could argue perhaps that the fact that he was sort of sucked into the sphere, as opposed to being in it from the start, caused the weird result.
Love and Other Disasters (episode 209)
Parker back-steps to prevent a terrorist act at a fairy-tale wedding of a prince and princess.
First aired Wednesday, Dec 15 1999
This doesn't ring a bell- I think I may have missed it- can anyone give me more details on this one?
Addendum to my theory: Imagine this scenario. Parker's ex is out shopping somewhere. All of a sudden, the other shoppers see her drop to the floor. When they rush to her, they see her with multiple stab wounds but NO ONE saw her attacked! The security camera video also would be no help. Could even Mulder come up with a theory to explain this?
Nit on "The Backstepper's Apprentice": When the sphere intersects with the plane, time appears to be moving forward for Parker. Yet, if Parker is going BACK in time (hence the term "backstep"), shouldn't he see the events depicted in reverse order? The only explanation I can think of is that perhaps the sphere jerks back and forward through time before finally arriving back 7 days (i.e. five minutes back, two forward, ten back, etc.).
"Love and Other Disasters" was an OK episode. It had some nice Parker-Olga moments. I think they were going for a "Four Weddings and a Funeral" type episode