The Time Traveler's Wife: A Tale Of Love And Loss

It was only a matter of time before we saw the other half of things on The Time Traveler’s Wife. After all, the title implies the story is not about Henry. In episode 3 the point of view switches from Henry to Clare. While he’s a big part of her story, his presence is the passenger, unlike in the first two episodes. Clare sits in front of a camera and tells the tale of her love and what we see her lose along the way.

(spoilers ahead)

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We learn in episode 3 that the future Clare reveals Henry is dead but proceeds to tell her story of their chance encounters. Again we start the story of Clare at a young age and we see her bond with Henry when he visits. However, episode 3 gives us an idea of the Prince Charming figure that only lives in fairy tales. Clare has this vision of Henry and what she wants for her future. Henry is careful to tip-toe around the subject and flat out denies the connection between the two despite it being somewhat obvious.

From then on out we see just how much Clare misses out. Each time he leaves she’s left counting the days until he returns. We know he comes back to her 152 times throughout the story and each time he goes, a piece of her goes with him. The obvious message of valuing the time you have while you have it shines as bright as it gets in this episode. Each time Henry leaves, Clare is alone.

While we do get a glimpse of her father in this episode, too often we see times when she is left alone. There’s the scene where she’s left to count down the days until he returns. She takes a car and drives head-on into traffic after being left home alone. She heads off to a high school party without supervision. Later in the episode, she and Henry kidnap a classmate and scare him with a pistol. Every scene is careful to paint a picture of a young Clare.

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Even at a young age before they are romantically involved, Clare doesn’t seem to have a connection in her life that resembles any sort of relationship with her father. She doesn’t seem to have friends. We get the sense that she’s left adrift. How else would you describe her being able to sneak off to play checkers for hours with no one knowing? So each time Henry shuffles to a different time, she again loses that connection where someone seems to pay her some attention.

However, The Time Traveler’s Wife sets up a key part of the story in this episode. Henry consistently tells Clare that they’re not together in the future. The theory is, that if she knows the truth, she’ll wait for the version of Henry who isn’t the one she eventually meets. She’ll always be in love with that version of him, but that version of him won’t exist right away. Much like life, the love they’re both looking for won’t exist until they both grow together over time.

Episode 3 pushes both sides of the coin again. We see just how safe Clare feels around Henry, and we see just how much it hurts her when he’s gone. We see her hopeful for a future together, and heartbroken when she thinks it won’t come to be. The balance this show has for the rollercoaster of emotions of life is perfect. It takes the good, the bad, and everything in between and tells the story of a love that ripples through time.