Parallel Paradox

**"Parallel Paradox"** is the eleventh episode of the first season of Elliott from Earth and the seventh episode in Chapter Two, written by Guillaume Cassuto, Mic Graves, Tony Hull, Daran Jonno Johnson, and Richard Overall. It premiered on April 2, 2021 in the United States.

## Synopsis

Elliott finds himself having to be in two places at once.

## Plot

At home, Elliott and Mo notice Frankie is in a particularly upbeat mood. Elliott says that Frankie must have had a pretty good day, only for Frankie to explain that she actually had a horrible one: accidentally upsetting a neighbor, getting stuck on the way to the bus, and being rejected at a job interview. It wasn't until later on, when a friendly stranger greeted her, that she felt better and realized how a single good deed could change her day.

The next day, Elliott and Mo hang out at a park. Elliott tells Mo that Gurt, the hot dog vendor, was having a bad day due to poor business at the restaurant, and it made Elliott think more about what Frankie had said before. As a result, he had decided to do a good deed for a stranger, by agreeing to help Gurt launch a new menu at the restaurant that afternoon. Mo mentions that he knows someone else in need of a good deed: an alien named Dugg, who he'd heard was moving to another zone of the Centrium and was feeling sad about it. Elliott eagerly takes the opportunity for another good deed, and goes to look for Dugg.

After searching for a while, Elliott finds Dugg, and tries to give him a paper going-away card. The interaction goes awkwardly, though, when Dugg is upset by it since his home planet was destroyed by deforestation, and has an allergic reaction to the card's glitter. Trying to fix the situation, Elliott immediately says there was actually something else he meant to do. Upon thinking of something off the top of his head, he returns to Mo and explains that he organized a going-away party for Dugg that afternoon. Elliott doesn't realize the issue with that plan until Mo nonchalantly points out that he has two events scheduled for the exact same time.

Back at home, Elliott tries to figure out how to be in two places at once. Frankie then walks in the door, upset, and tells Elliott and Mo that it turns out the friendly stranger from before was actually a pre-recorded hologram. Frankie says that the holograms look so real, and mentions how hard it is to adjust to the Centrium when she doesn't know how anything works. Elliott, considering the realistic holograms, suddenly has an idea for how he can solve his problem.

Later, Mo and a live holographic projection of Elliott attend Dugg's party, while the real Elliott goes to the hot dog restaurant with a visor that lets him see both places. Mo keeps any guests from touching the projection and revealing that it's a hologram, while Elliott tries to interact with both parties at once. When the guests at Dugg's party ask for Dugg to give a speech, Dugg asks that someone else does it. Elliott accidentally draws attention to his hologram while comforting Gurt, and makes Dugg's party think he's willing to give a speech. Gurt then overhears Elliott's reaction to this, and thinks that it means he'll give a speech for the hot dog place.

While Mo tries to hide the fact that Elliott is using a hologram, Elliott thinks of a speech that fits both parties at once. At first it is difficult, but soon he gets the hang of it and gives a clever speech with a double meaning for both parties. As the audiences applause afterward, Mo gives Elliott a high-four, but accidentally reveals the hologram to Dugg's party with it. Elliott explains the truth, but the other attendees and Dugg himself reveal that they were also in two places at once using psychic projections, clones, and even cardboard cutouts. Though things worked out on Dugg's side, Elliott takes off the hologram visor and finds that most people at Gurt's party left after he began talking about holograms. Gurt tells him that it's alright, though, since Elliott still tried his best and helped him realize the problems with the hot dog business as well.

That night, Elliott and Mo chat in the habitation pod. Mo says that he did a nice thing for a stranger too, by sending Dugg a housewarming gift (which is revealed to be full of the glitter Dugg is allergic to). Elliott then says goodnight to Mo as he prepares to go to bed.