Story-wise on the show with the plot and characters, did the time travel aspect really change anything, I.E. sort of like the movie "The Butterfly Effect?"
The now defunct "Soapnet" here in The U.S. used to air re-runs of the show out of order a few years ago. In the eps I caught it didn't seem that they really did all they could with the time travel plot device. Maybe that was just the episodes I saw, though.
Thanks!
I believe Dr. Tom said at some point that the point of time travel therapy was to help Erica deal with her challenges in the present and going forward, rather than fixing every little thing about her past. Minor changes were allowed (and we saw a few, but not as many as perhaps we should have), but making large changes which could seriously affect the course of someone else's life was against the rules. In the season 1 finale, Erica breaks the rules and we see the consequences: someone fated to die ends up dying anyway, just later and in a different way. Dr. Tom makes her undo the big change, but lets a minor change stand.
shareThanks. BTW, what was the minor change he let stand?
shareThe day before he died, Erica's brother Leo got into a big fight with the parents and it was never resolved because he died that night. Knowing that he was going to die that night and she was going to have to let it happen, Erica got Leo to write a letter to their parents explaining his feelings and such. She then buried it in a box in the yard. Back in the present day, she "found" it and took it to the parents, so they could get some closure on his death.
If the show were still on Hulu, I would have just told you to watch the episode.
Other examples of minor changes were that Erica lost her virginity to a different guy the second time around and Erica was able to remain friends with Cassidy after rejecting her romantic advances.
Thanks for all that! Just one more question if you don't mind;
When Leo died but some 13 years later than he was supposed to, how did that play out? I mean did Erica immediately go from saving his life in the barn fire and travel to the present day/ future to where he died in the car crash?
When I first heard about Leo's fate, I thought Erica actually did the right thing to prevent him from dying in the fire. I mean even though he eventually died at a young age anyways, she still got to spend 13 extra years with her brother that she never would have.
Or did she?
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the alternate present where Leo survives was much rosier; Leo ends up an architect, Erica ends up with Juliannes job with Julianne as her assistant. I think the main reason she goes back and restores the timeline (or at least most of it) is because she didnt want to see the remainder of her family go through the grieving process in the present, she'd rather it started 13 years prior.
That was the biggest change. But there were others; for instance she changed the way she lost her virginity; same time but different guy.
Guys, the whole point of you not being allowed to bring back the dead is that you're gonna lose them again and this time will be harder. Plus: there are certain things that you can't do in therapy, like going back to win the lottery, because your life will be drastically changed and eventually you won't recognize yourself. Like Erica said, the "therapy is not really about changing the past. (...) Changing the past is easy, but changing yourself is much harder". So there you have it. This was never about drastically changing the past. It's about changing your behaviour and attitude.
shareChanging the past was never the point of the show... the point was learning from past mistakes and regrets, learning the truth or other POVs about situations that she didn't or couldn't know about the first time, and using what she learned to apply to her present life. "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -George Santayana. (BTW, one reason I like Dr. Tom's character so much is cause I love quotes). While not as simple as the quote, it's more like she didn't remember/know things about the past as well as or the way she thought, and therefore was repeating the same mistakes over and over. The time travel was meant for her to gain new perspective.
That said, she did make SOME changes... but all minor. And in most cases, even the things she changed ended up leading to new events with similar outcomes. And anything major she changed drastically changed the timeline... but in those cases either she had to correct the past (like let Leo die), or it was a non sticking lesson by Dr. Tom (like seeing what would happen if she'd gotten rich).
Also, we later learn in S4E8 "Please, Please Tell Me Know" that each time Erica changes time, she causes the timeline to branch and she ends up on a new timeline thread. In most cases, the new timeline is basically the same as the one she changed. For example, she lost her virginity to two different people, and while both timelines exist, she ends up on the one where she lost it to Alex. But the changes were so minor in the overall scheme of her life, that the new timeline was substantially the same as the old, and didn't have any drastic changes. But, major changes that were made upset the timeline, and while multiple outcomes existed, the timeline Erica ended up on would act to correct major changes... for example, when she saved Leo, he died shortly after she returned to her present. So in the end, she could only make minor changes, or else would have had to live with the consequences of major ones (therefore, undid the major ones she could). And, all the times Tom had her relive days or experience different lives, he was sending her to alternate realities... but in the end she stayed in her own. So yes and no... changes were made, but the timeline she always went back to was one created and affected only by the minor changes she made and not by the major ones.
Or, I could just let Dr. Erica explain it... here's the episode, cued to the scene where future Erica shows up to explain how the timelines work...
http://youtu.be/2l8l-SSLZkU?t=27m32s
Someone ever tries to kill you... you try to kill em right back.
But the thing is, not all changes were minor. they may seem minor but when you think about them they are not.
Take for example friendship with Cassidy. This is not a minor thing. While butterfly effect from it (probably) won't cause nuclear war down the road maintaining important friendship has impact on person's life. So erica will be changed from that point, yet when she returns to now her life is same
Again, my understanding is that you can change your past, but not drastically, like bringing back the dead.
The writers probably thought that the friendship with Cassidy would not change Erica's life that much, but you are right, keeping her in her life makes her richer in terms of life experiences and moments spent with her friend. That episode was only written by Aaron Martin, so you can't expect much from it.
The Cassidy thing was probably the only major change that Erica made.
I understand the reasoning and the fact that minor changes are allowed by larger ones are not. the problem is that writers don't seem to understand what is a major or minor change in terms of changes down the road. Keeping close friend is important, it giver Erican different expereinces which in turn can lead to different outlook on life which in can turn lead to different interests and different career.
Same with her losing virginity. Doing it with different guy changes her relationship with both of them which will have important changes down the road. That's the whole point of butterfly efect, small changes can lead to big ones once their effects accumulate. A leads to B, B leads to C, C leads to D etc etc. Until your life is very different
I get what you are saying, and it's valid. But the other way around also makes sense. In the pilot episode they pretty much say that this show does not believe in butterfly effect.
They think the minor changes will only alter a specific aspect in ones life (example: facing your evil college professor will make you not fail his class and make your relationship a little better, and that's it. The bigger impact is when you come back to the present. In this case, Erica felt stronger in order to face her boss).
However, I agree that in certain cases (such as the Cassidy thing) they should have thought about the impact of the change in order to be believable.
i don't think you can deny the butterfly effect in any form of time travel especially when you are talking life and death; saving someones life WILL change the timeline. That season 1 finale was the only time she returned to a different future. The time travel was more of a therapy.
shareI'm not saying there is no Butterfly Effect. I'm saying it is only trully triggered with bigger changes. That is why there are rules for therapy: Because the Doctors know that if you go back and save someone's life, your life will drastically change (like what happened in episode 1x13); or if you go back to win the lottery; or if you go back to discover a truth that impacts your present.
That's when it's triggered. With those minor changes, nothing big will happen in your life, because what matters is that you change your inner self when you go back.