And I really like this.
But...lol..I'm laughing at some things,i.e...the kid wakes up fully shave...he has a substantial adult beard,but he's shaved. The junkie is still a junkie...??? They have all this technology,can put people to sleep and wake them,and so much more,..but nothing to make opiates clear they system. We have that in some instances already.....doesn't detract from the story,.,but,,,hmmm
Yes, exactly, and that's what makes the story so intriguing. Apparently the volunteers (30% success rate) are inserted into 21st century humans just on the point of death so not to randomly change the time line. However, the team is there to carry out instructions that will change the future in specific ways.
Unfortunately, the team must improvise when they find themselves in host bodies that are not always in optimum condition. Probably the future does have, as you mention, opiate clearing technology, but the insertion seems like a desperate move of the future planners.
The team is carefully put together with a medic, a historian, etc., but on the other hand they are just ground pounders trying to carry out a mission with no idea of the overall strategy.
They seem to have other teams creating necessary items of future tech. Marcy got a med kit from another Traveler containing such items as a blood type converter, which you're not going to find in a 21st century medical supply warehouse. There must be facilities set up by people who were sent back, having memorized detailed instructions on how to bootstrap future capabilities step by step beginning with off the shelf 21st century hardware. They provide necessary tools and components which are impossible to assemble with native tech to any Traveler teams that need them. Once they started producing nanites, as someone obviously did for the special team of doctors who saved MacClaren, they could probably manufacture at least a limited quantity of almost anything the future knows how to make.
As for why they don't give Phillip a shot of detox in a tube and just be done with his heroin habit, the honest answer is: the writers want to keep the drama of his struggle with the addiction. Within the story you can explain the organization's reluctance to ship an instant fix as either consuming limited resources that are needed elsewhere (after all he can kick the habit on his own) or there's some specific reason the Director doesn't want to instantly cure him.
Phillip and Marcy keep their problems a secret from the rest of the team, except Marcie does discover Philips addiction and helps him and the team eventually learns of her underdeveloped brain.
My Chimp DNA seems to have lost its password temporarily. Sluggr-2
In one episode Phillip mentioned that the historical record showed his host died of a heroin overdose the very first time he used it (a story planted by his parents, who were embarrassed).
That they couldn't see through that obvious lie is what I find bizarre.