In the season finale of “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” the whirlwind of Clare and Henry’s courtship has it where, within a year of meeting, they get married – which clearly Henry isn’t ready for.
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In the season finale of “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” the whirlwind of Clare and Henry’s courtship has it where, within a year of meeting, they get married – which clearly Henry isn’t ready for.
| Aired (HBO) | 6/19/2022 |
| Director(s) | David Nutter |
| Writer(s) | Steven Moffat |
| Introduced This Episode | |
| Ben | Will Brill |
This content contains pertinent spoilers.
Recap
Married, So Soon? – Henry, Clare, Richard
Clare is working fast. She met her version of Henry when she was 20, and within weeks or months, she has had him meet her friends and her family and is planning a wedding. Because of this, Richard gets involved, Henry’s father, and things are awkward. Why? Because Henry and Richard seeing each other reminds them of the person who is missing. So while cordial and even throwing subtle jabs that Clare can join in, things are definitely less than ideal.
Oh, This Isn’t Going To Work For Me – Ben, Clare, Henry, Richard, Gomez
The idea of marriage freaks out Henry. It makes it so that he, from weekly to daily, time jumps to the future, leading him to worry he may jump during the ceremony. Because of this, he goes to Ben, who makes drugs in his kitchen, and Henry hopes he can come up with something to dampen his dopamine center or anything that could calm him.
Unfortunately, what Ben gives him knocks him out and leads to him jumping under the influence of drugs, leading Gomez and Richard to show up and monitor him. During all this, it seems Clare is just worried about the wedding she and her parents are planning and Henry being gone for days is an issue but not one at the forefront of her mind.
Though, in Clare’s defense, Henry is hiding where he is jumping into the future and what happens. Why? Well, likely due to barely missing an older version of her who is upset about something. Which he doesn’t want to tell her since Clare is so excited about her pending nuptials.
Isn’t This What You Wanted? – Clare, Henry
Luckily though, to a certain point, it all ends well. When Henry jumps 9 years into the future, he swaps places with his older self, who handles all of the wedding without any issues. And as a bonus, Clare ends up marrying the person she loves rather than the person who becomes the man she loves.
But things aren’t all sunshine and daisies. It is confirmed in this episode that Clare did want kids, and the lack of them wasn’t necessarily her choice. In the future, 29-year-old Clare, alongside 36-year-old Henry, reveal that a combination of the baby being a time traveler in the womb and Henry getting a vasectomy is why Henry and her end up childless.
However, while 20-year-old Clare is marrying the older Henry, 29-year-old Clare is looking at 28-year-old Henry, who is pre-snip, as a means to solve her problem. But whether or not things will be different just because the sperm is younger is anyone’s guess.
Things To Note
Question(s) Left Unanswered
- Was the girl Henry saw when all the leaves preceded him getting blown away his daughter?
- Where would a child in the womb time travel to? Isn’t time-traveling memory-based? How does that work? Also, wouldn’t they suddenly show up in Henry or Clare’s life? Or someone else they know and freak them out?
- How and where did Henry meet Ben?
- Should this ad by HBO be seen as us being at the end of the road?
What Could Happen Next
- We still need to learn why Henry ends up losing his feet in the future
Review
Highlights
Clare and Henry Ultimately Getting Who They Wanted
It’s poetic that, on Clare’s wedding day, both she and Henry got who they wanted. Clare married the man she truly loves, the 36-year-old Henry, and Henry got to be with a 29-year-old Clare who wasn’t waiting for him to grow up but loved him for who he is/was. She missed him being an ass and his hair and even vocalizes how she regrets changing him. And after Henry hearing so much about his older self and the only nod he got was for his sexual abilities, this was probably the best way he could spend his wedding day.
After all, now Henry too has a Clare to look forward to, rather than it solely being Clare longing for a better, more ideal version of her partner.
Furthering Establishing Richard and Henry’s Relationship
While not much is added to Henry and Richard’s relationship regarding his upbringing, you can understand the gist. Once Annette died, what held Henry and Richard together as a family was lost. Now, could the show have dived more deeply into Henry’s relationship with his father before and after the accident? Yes.
Also, was it a missed opportunity to see if Richard ever asked Henry if he could change the past and save his mom? Also, yes. However, again and again, when it comes to “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” there is a need to remember this is not Henry’s story, and we’re often going to miss what feels like notable details since Clare may simply not know the whole truth. Hence why the first season ended on one of the most memorable days in Clare’s life, rather than with all the answers you’d want regarding Henry, especially his older self.
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