Time travel in Eureka.
Eureka, OR has explored the concept of trans-dimensional travel of both space and time in many episodes. Jack Carter and other members of the cast have traveled to alternate timelines including the 1940s, parallel timelines and the future. The show has used time travel as a way to drastically change the characters and create exciting paradoxes. In "Founder's Day" five residents of Eureka are stranded in 1947 when the town is still Camp Eureka and WWII era excitement is abundant. On another occasion Henry Deacon travels to the past to prevent his wife's accidental death, but he creates a universe threatening problem where two parallel realities converge on the same space-time continuum.
Space-Time Travel Events[]
Events are listed in order of their first reference in the show.
| Start | End | Travelers | Method | Description | Episode |
| Walter Perkins | Tachyon Accelerator | A malfunctioning Tachyon Accelerator causes Walters body to oscillate in and out of the space-time continuum. | Pilot, Many Happy Returns | ||
| October 3, 2006 | Henry Deacon | Artifact | Henry harnesses the transdimensional nature of the artifact sample. | Once in a Lifetime | |
| October 3, 2010 | October 3, 2006 | Jack Carter | Artifact | Jack returns to 2006 before Henry arrives using Henry's method and assistance. | Once in a Lifetime |
| Jack Carter, Leo Weinbrenner, Nathan Stark | Photon Deceleration | A 10-hour time-loop is created when Weinbrenner decelerates a photon. | I Do Over | ||
| April 15, 1947 | April 15, 2010 | Jack Carter, Allison Blake, Henry Deacon, Douglas Fargo, Jo Lupo | Bridge Device | Solar flares power the bridge device and, using the traveler's networked cell phones, creates a link between 2010 and 1947. It is speculated by Jack Carter that Kevin Blake may have targeted the travelers on purpose. | Founder's Day |
| April 15, 2010 | April 15, 1947 | Jack Carter, Allison Blake, Henry Deacon, Douglas Fargo, Jo Lupo, Trevor Grant | Bridge Device | Trevor Grant and Henry Deacon alter the cell phones to send the group back to 2010. Wanting to see the future, Grant alters Carter's cell phone so that it will work take him to 2010 as well. | Founder's Day |
| April 15, 1947 | Jack Carter, Trevor Grant | Bridge Device | Grant uses the Bridge Device to return to 1947, and Jack comes along for the ride. | I'll Be Seeing You |
Weinbrenner Loop[]
In "I Do Over" a decelerated photon created at 6:00PM by Leo Weinbrenner causes a fold in the space-time continuum. Leo's particle decelerator can slow down a single photon of light whose reflection causes a chain reaction that makes all light slow down and travel backwards to a point of Leo's choosing. The same day is repeated at least five times because the experiment causes a loop between 6:00PM (conveniently the time of Allison and Starks wedding) and 8:00AM. Jack and Leo are bathed in ultra-indigo light which allows them to perceive the time-loop while everybody else is oblivious.
Weinbrenner was able to start the loop with a decelerated photon however he lacked a sufficiently accurate timer to synchronize the creation of an opposite photon that would negate the time-loop and restore time. Stark and Fargo are able to use a new atomic clock to successfully close the loop but Stark is phased out of space-time in the process.
It is unclear how many iterations of the loop Weinbrenner experienced before Jack's initial experience.
It is unclear why an accurate timer was needed to sync the photon in the "looped" timeframe. Using the same timer for both experiments would be the most accurate since it would fire at exactly the same time in any looped timeframe barring any physics effects on the timer that happen differently in each loop timeframe.
Physical Effects[]
Time travel and timeline convergence has resulted in objects appearing in one timeline from another due to different realities competing for the same space-time continuum (I'll Be Seeing You, Once in a Lifetime). Jo Lupo was injured in 2010 by an unspent bullet from 1947 and WWII plane appeared inside Café Diem. Jacks body had physical bruises and cuts that grew worse with each time through the Weinbrenner loop. Time-travel events caused physical vibrations, storm clouds and a bright light. The bodies of Nathan Stark and Trevor Grant dissolved when they were caught between converging realities but Grant was stabilized. Walter Perkins' body flickers or appears as energy and his body degenerates to the appearance of a 16-year old.
Trivia[]
- Jack Carter has time-traveled five times
- Henry Deacon has time-traveled three times.
- Henry erased memories that Jack has of the alternate time line in "Once in a Lifetime". When Jack traveled to 1947 in "I'll Be Seeing You", he altered the future without Henry present. This marks the first time in the show where no character has a continuous recollection of the events of the show's main timeline.
- Jo Lupo, Allison Blake, Douglas Fargo and Trevor Grant have all time-traveled twice.