Alternate Character Interpretation: The nod that Stevenson gives Wells at the end. Is he telling him to just get it over with? Or is he finally acknowledging that he is indeed a monster and it is best if he is stopped?
Angst? What Angst?: By the end of the movie, Amy seems pretty cavalier about her best friend being killed in a Prophecy Twist, and doesn't seem to mind going back to 1893 and leaving her life in 1979 behind.
Shock from meeting a time traveler and Jack the Ripper, and from seeing a newspaper from the future foretelling her death.
Esoteric Happy Ending: If we figure that the rest of the life that Amy Robbins lives out with Herbert George Wells mirrors that of what actually happened in the real world.
Genius Bonus: Amy Robbins was, in fact, the name of Wells' wife. The movie writers did this on purpose.
Mary Steenburgen plays a 20th century woman who falls in love with a time traveler from the 19th century. In Back to the Future Part III, she would play a 19th century woman who falls in love with a time traveler from the 20th century, the inverse of this movie. Funnier, considering the time-traveling doctor is white-haired, and her character's name is Clara. And the date traveled to in this movie, November 5, is the same date Marty McFly accidentally traveled to in the first BTTF film.note Though that was a coincidence; November 5 was the birthday of BTTF writer Bob Gale's father.
At one point, Jack the Ripper calls H.G. Wells "Detective". On Batman: The Animated Series, Ra's Al Ghul, voiced by David Warner, frequently calls Batman "Detective". And in the episode "Showdown", Malcolm McDowell would reunite with Warner as Ra's Al Ghul's illegitimate son Arkady Duvall.
Tear Jerker: Amy goes into a severe state of shock when she goes into the future and reads she's the Ripper's fifth victim. Wells is so worried about her safety that he confesses to the murders as long as the police will protect her, and when it's revealed he isn't the Ripper it's because Stevenson already struck, killing Carol and kidnapping Amy. The policeman in charge of the investigation sincerely apologizes to Wells and lets him go.
The Series:
Tear Jerker: John's a monster, no question about it, but you have to shed a few tears in "Picture Fades" when he has to watch his son die as fated after making a concerted effort to save his life. Especially since said son is himself a wholeheartedly good man in a way that John never has been.
Unconvincingly Unpopular Character: Jane says she's broken up with her last boyfriend, has mostly had bad luck with men and when she'd tried online dating was dismissed as being "mediocre". She instantly attracts the romantic attention of the handsome, charming H. G. This is not surprising, since she's a gorgeous, charming woman, making the above very difficult to swallow.
