On Sunday’s series premiere of ABC’s Time After Time, Dr. John Stevenson aka Jack the Ripper (Josh Bowman) was finally caught in 2017 by friend H.G. Wells (Freddie Stroma) after stealing Wells’s time machine from 1893.
When they met at a New York City bar, however, Stevenson boasted about the accessibility of guns in 2017 and how he’s “an amateur” compared to the 21st century’s violent criminals.
Wells attempted to persuade Stevenson to return to 1893 so he can face charges for the murders he’s committed, but Stevenson decided to play with Wells’s emotions by remarking how their future wasn’t as peaceful as the famous author had hoped.
“There it is, H.G. There's your utopia. Nothing but violence and bloodshed. Not quite what you envisioned. “We don't belong here?” On the contrary — I belong here completely. In our time, I was a freak. Today, I'm an amateur,” the infamous serial killer hyped.
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To downplay his brutality, the writers had Stevenson construct a massive strawman when it came to gun purchases (so no mention of background checks, state restrictions, etc.):
You know you can walk into a shop here and purchase a rifle or a revolver, and it's perfectly legal? These people encourage it. [LAUGHS] No, I'm not going anywhere. I've yet to begin in this age. It's you who should run along back to your timid life. Of course, I'll be needing the key. Well, I can't have you chasing after me across centuries. Who knows where I might want to venture to next?
Again pushing the idea that 2017 is more violent than the past, Jack the Ripper whipped out a curved blade and drove it into Wells’s scrotum.
Touting how expensive it was, Stevenson told him that no one would notice if he was shanked (which is incredibly hard to believe) before Wells hit Stevenson with a glass so he could run away:
JACK THE RIPPER: Herbert George, come on. I've played countless games of chess with you, and the one thing you cannot do is bluff. I want that key. [DRIVES KNIFE INTO H.G.’s GROIN] Now, what you feel is a four-inch steel curved blade with a reverse grip. Rather expensive at $69.95, but I'm certain I'll get my money's worth.
H.G. WELLS: What are you doing? Everyone can see.
JACK THE RIPPER: And no one cares! Isn't it glorious? Give me the key, or I'll slice into your femoral artery. You'll topple to the floor and bleed out, and I will disappear before anyone blinks twice.
Prior to Stevenson showing up at the bar, a teary-eyed Wells stared at various television screens showing fake news networks with fictional news stories about a school shooting, mass execution, and nuclear weapons.
Interestingly, it included stock video of ISIS fighters, a statement of President Donald Trump discussing how destructive military weaponry could destroy the world, and CNN personalities Wolf Blitzer and Michelle Kosinski.
Later in the two-hour premiere, CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta appeared in the background on a TV after Wells woke up in the apartment of heroine Jane Walker (Genesis Rodriguez).
When Jane and Wells found Stevenson with another woman in his grasp on a rooftop, the murderer remarked that violence is “catchy” in how it’s “really...infected this world” before releasing the woman and attacking Wells.
On this idea that today’s violence is higher than ever before, the excellent book The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker demolished this false claim.
Jack the Ripper captured Jane soon after and when Wells was planning with his great-granddaughter Vanessa Anders (Nicole Ari Parker) how to get Jane back, Vanessa’s security guard Doug Lawson (Elliot Villar) brought up guns to the chagrin of Wells:
H.G. WELLS: I have known John Stevenson for years. He is shrewd and cunning. He is not easily foiled.
DOUG LAWSON: He may be Jack the Ripper, but he's still from 1893. His little knives won't come close to my 9 millimeter Glock.
H.G. WELLS: Does everyone in this era carry a firearm?
DOUG LAWSON: Pretty much.
Here’s the relevant portions of the transcript from ABC’s Time After Time on March 5 can be found below:
ABC’s Time After Time
March 5, 2017
9:20 p.m. Eastern
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: 12 dead in latest school shooting. Several —
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1 IN CLIP: We need to build a wall and keep —
CNN’s WOLF BLITZER: The suicide bomber drove an attack
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: A mass execution.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This is weapons that are so destructive that the world could end.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #3: Morning attacks killed 14 ISIS fighters
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2 IN CLIP: ISIS is the worst of the worst.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #4: His next target will probably be —
UNIDENTIFIED MALE IN NEWS CLIP: Too many nuclear weapons —
JACK THE RIPPER: Well, bless my soul. Literally the last person on Earth I expected to see.
(....)
JACK THE RIPPER: There it is, H.G. There's your utopia. Nothing but violence and bloodshed. Not quite what you envisioned. “We don't belong here?” On the contrary — I belong here completely. In our time, I was a freak. Today, I'm an amateur.
H.G. WELLS: Stop it, John, this instant.
JACK THE RIPPER: You know you can walk into a shop here and purchase a rifle or a revolver, and it's perfectly legal? These people encourage it. [LAUGHS] No, I'm not going anywhere. I've yet to begin in this age. It's you who should run along back to your timid life. Of course, I'll be needing the key. Well, I can't have you chasing after me across centuries. Who knows where I might want to venture to next?
H.G. WELLS: Well, I don't have it with me.
JACK THE RIPPER: Herbert George, come on. I've played countless games of chess with you, and the one thing you cannot do is bluff. I want that key. [DRIVES KNIFE INTO H.G.’s GROIN] Now, what you feel is a four-inch steel curved blade with a reverse grip. Rather expensive at $69.95, but I'm certain I'll get my money's worth.
H.G. WELLS: What are you doing? Everyone can see.
JACK THE RIPPER: And no one cares! Isn't it glorious? Give me the key, or I'll slice into your femoral artery. You'll topple to the floor and bleed out, and I will disappear before anyone blinks twice.
[H.G. WELLS SHATTERS DRINK ONTO JACK’s HEAD]
(....)
JACK THE RIPPER: It's catchy, isn't it — violence? It really has infected this world. Are you really willing to kill me and violate everything that you stand for?
H.G. WELLS: You don't belong in this time, or any time.
(....)
H.G. WELLS: I have known John Stevenson for years. He is shrewd and cunning. He is not easily foiled.
DOUG LAWSON: He may be Jack the Ripper, but he's still from 1893. His little knives won't come close to my 9 millimeter Glock.
H.G. WELLS: Does everyone in this era carry a firearm?
DOUG LAWSON: Pretty much.
VANESSA ANDERS: Let Doug come with you.
H.G. WELLS: It's too dangerous.
