The core trio features Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer) as the history professor protagonist and Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett) as the engineer/pilot whose Black identity drives repeated confrontations with historical racism, including a pilot monologue boasting about future Black figures like Obama, Michael Jordan, and Michael Jackson to a 1930s bigot, plus the explicit line that no place in American history will be awesome for him. These elements recur across every era visited, positioning Rufus's perspective as a central lens that interrupts the time-travel premise with modern racial commentary. Creator intent amplifies the intrusion, with Eric Kripke and Shawn Ryan stating the goal of using the Black and female leads to deliver untold history from a minority and female perspective while critiquing the history of rich white dudes through contemporary social issues. Supporting cast choices reinforce this, including Sakina Jaffrey as lesbian Indian-American Agent Denise Christopher and Paterson Joseph as Black billionaire Connor Mason, alongside episodes that spotlight figures like Katherine Johnson and Nonhelema to foreground identity-based narratives over straightforward adventure.