Why exactly wasn't he running things? Why not just have Vera be the inventor as well as communicator? Either way, it seemed like nobody really understood how it worked and neither did the director. The movie seemed to set up a "he has to die" rule with the first few trips. He dies at the EXACT SAME TIME for various reasons, but then that isn't important for the rest of the picture? I choose to believe in the unreliable narrator because this thing is sloppy without it.