“The Death Trap” is episode twelve of season one of The Time Tunnel.
At the end of the previous episode, “Secret Weapon”, Doug and Tony had landed in a barn where armed men, one of whom was with John Brown, are meeting. Tik-Toc lost their fix on Doug and Tony in 1861, then saw Abraham Lincoln assassinated at the Ford Theatre. Which was supposed to happen in 1865. The leader in the barn in the past, Jeremiah, is saying they will kill Abraham Lincoln. Tik-Toc wonder if Lincoln could have been assassinated in 1861. In which case someone would have impersonated him for four years.
Jeremiah is saying that Lincoln will be coming through Baltimore; General Kirk remembers there were two attempts on Lincoln’s life. Jeremiah’s plan is for the Southern secessionists to be blamed so that the North will invade and the cancer of slavery will be rooted out. Then armed men crash their meeting. Tony escapes but Doug is captured. Allan Pinkerton wants to question Doug and for Lincoln’s train to be stopped until he can make sure it’s safe.
Tony, who was knocked out, comes to in a house belonging to Jeremiah and his brother, Matthew. They explain that Doug was captured. Tony claims he can’t remember the day. Jeremiah explains he is going to kill Lincoln with a time bomb and his plan will still work with only three people. Tony insists it won’t work. According to Jeremiah, Tony is either with them or against them; there’s no in-between. Three is plenty. Their younger brother, David, wakes up and asks about the time bomb. It’s kind of a clock.
Kirk and Ann are going through the data; there are two different assassinations. It’s thought that might have altered the time fix.
Doug is being interrogated by Pinkerton, who doesn’t believe his claims. And he can hang Dough without a confession anyway. Then why press him? So he can get all the others too. Doug says all he knows is that Jeremiah is the one in charge. Pinkerton thinks Doug is a fool, because he could have just claimed something innocent was going on, rather than that there was a plot and he was just an innocent bystander. No, he doesn’t think Doug could be telling the truth.
The president’s train arrives and Jeremiah hears it, as their house is near the line. There isn’t supposed to be a train due, so he goes to investigate. With Jeremiah gone, Tony tries to convince Matthew that what he’s doing is wrong and will fail.
Pinkerton is briefing Lincoln on what happened and that he wants the president to remain at the depot until Pinkerton is sure it’s safe. Jeremiah sees Lincoln there. Pinkerton’s men start taking Doug away, but Lincoln decides he wants to speak to him.
Jeremiah returns and says they can blow up the depot, not the train. He doesn’t see a problem with killing everyone else who is there. When Tony continues making a fuss, Jeremiah wants to kill him. Matthew won’t stand for that; it’s murder. Those with Lincoln and Lincoln himself are a different matter. Tony is tied up instead of being shot, though David wants to know what’s going on.
Lincoln is speaking to Doug. He asks why men who wish to see slavery abolished would want to assassinate him, and he’s against slavery. Because they are followers of John Brown, and want it to end now. John Brown was executed and Lincoln believes slavery is an evil men will abolish with reason. Four states have already seceded and Doug tells him more are certain. War is inevitable; Lincoln may try to stop it, but war will come. Lincoln asks if Doug has an insight into the future then. He does, though he doesn’t explain why or how. Lincoln assumes Doug is claiming to have a gift.
The assassination – and apparently there was another attempt on Lincoln that Pinkerton was involved in stopping – is naturally going to fail. It’s already been shown that history cannot be altered. The main question is how many others might get killed in the process.