Temporal Tedium

**"Temporal Tedium"** is the thirteenth episode of the first season of Elliott from Earth and the ninth episode in Chapter Two, written by Guillaume Cassuto, Adam Hess, Daran Jonno Johnson, Joe Markham, Joe Parham, and Jess Ransom. It premiered on April 6, 2021 in the United States.

## Synopsis

It's Fizzness Time! What does that even mean? Elliott and Mo make it their thing to find out as they meet Preston, a slow, yet hilarious prankster with a penchant for jewelry.

## Plot

During lunch at the Hive, Elliott and Mo look around for someone to sit by, but find that most seats are already taken. They see someone they've never met before—Preston—sitting at a table with open seats, and think he must be a lively person to chat with. Once they're sitting next to him, though, they realize that they were wrong when they see that he moves and talks in slow-motion.

Once Preston leaves to get more food after his soup goes cold, Elliott and Mo complain about how slow he is and consider ditching him. They come up with a plan to tell him that they're ghosts with elaborate backstories, but doing so makes them think of how much their friendship means to them, and they decide that they should share it with Preston too. Preston soon returns, but before they can chat any more, the bell rings and they plan to meet up with him another time.

Later on, the duo goes to Preston's habitation pod to spend a day with him. When his house turns out to be a simple, sandy, and boring space, they hurriedly decide to go ahead with their plans for the day. First, they go to the nearby hot dog restaurant, where they play a game of using "the bubbliest soda in the Universe" to burp through a tune together. Preston doesn't participate, leading Elliott and Mo to assume he must be interested in doing more "cultured" things. They go to the observatory window to witness a beautiful once-in-a-lifetime natural phenomenon, but Preston suddenly burps loudly and interrupts it. The duo rushes him outside, and Elliott realizes that Preston must be moving so slowly that he's still doing the previous activity.

They decide not to change their plans, but Preston keeps on doing the previous activities in the wrong time and place, accidentally causing trouble as a result. Eventually they realize it just won't work with their plans, and decide to call it a day. Later, they show up to a classroom where Preston asked to see them so that he could attempt a prank and surprise them, but is too slow to even do his own prank. Elliott and Mo mention to each other that hanging out with Preston is unfortunately boring since he just can't keep up with them, but are unaware that Preston is hiding out of sight and can hear them.

Preston decides to take off the necklace that slows him down, not wanting to be slow anymore. Elliott and Mo later find him in his new, lively state, and are surprised that they were wrong about him being boring. When Preston begins rapidly aging, though, Elliott and Mo suggest getting the necklace back to stop it. They go to the trash dump of the Centrium, where a giant monster lives and consumes all of the garbage, and search for the necklace as Preston keeps aging.

While Mo stays with Preston, Elliott finds the necklace and tries to grab it, but is nearly eaten by the trash monster when it grabs the trash the necklace is stuck in. Elliott falls away from the monster, and uses the necklace to slow his impact just before he hits the ground. After getting the necklace back, he rushes back to Preston, who has become elderly and is near the end of his life already. Preston tells them that it's already too late, and says that it's all Elliott's fault just before withering into dust.

Elliott, distressed, says that Preston was right and that he was responsible for Preston dying. Elliott sobs and Mo hugs him, and as they hug, a baby Preston suddenly rolls out of the trash nearby. Preston, now reborn, reveals it was a prank, and that he'd stated earlier that his species can regenerate but they hadn't been listening. Elliott returns the necklace to Preston, who has grown back to his original state, and they happily agree to be friends. When the monster suddenly grabs near the trash they're standing on, they all decide it's best to get out of the garbage dump, and run away.