diff --git a/preprocessing/src/main/scala/com/facebook/spark/rl/Timeline.scala b/preprocessing/src/main/scala/com/facebook/spark/rl/Timeline.scala
index 74c5bcee..290adb6e 100644
--- a/preprocessing/src/main/scala/com/facebook/spark/rl/Timeline.scala
+++ b/preprocessing/src/main/scala/com/facebook/spark/rl/Timeline.scala
@@ -124,23 +124,31 @@ object Timeline {
                                             config.actionDiscrete)
     Timeline.createTrainingTable(sqlContext, config.outputTableName, config.actionDiscrete)
 
+    config.outlierEpisodeLengthPercentile.foreach { percentile =>
+      sqlContext.sql(s"""
+          SELECT mdp_id, COUNT(1) mdp_length
+          FROM ${config.inputTableName}
+          WHERE ds BETWEEN '${config.startDs}' AND '${config.endDs}'
+          GROUP BY 1
+      """).createOrReplaceTempView("episode_length")
+    }
+
     val sourceTable = Timeline.mdpLengthThreshold(sqlContext, config) match {
       case Some(threshold) => s"""
-      WITH a AS (${Timeline.getEpisodeLengthStatement(config)}),
-      b AS (SELECT mdp_id FROM a WHERE mdp_length < ${threshold}),
+      WITH a AS (SELECT mdp_id FROM episode_length WHERE mdp_length < ${threshold}),
       source_table AS (
           SELECT
-              c.mdp_id,
-              c.state_features,
-              c.action,
-              c.action_probability,
-              c.reward,
-              c.sequence_number,
-              c.possible_actions,
-              c.metrics
-          FROM b JOIN ${config.inputTableName} c
-          WHERE b.mdp_id = c.mdp_id
-            AND c.ds BETWEEN '${config.startDs}' AND '${config.endDs}'
+              b.mdp_id,
+              b.state_features,
+              b.action,
+              b.action_probability,
+              b.reward,
+              b.sequence_number,
+              b.possible_actions,
+              b.metrics
+          FROM ${config.inputTableName} b JOIN a
+          WHERE a.mdp_id = b.mdp_id
+            AND b.ds BETWEEN '${config.startDs}' AND '${config.endDs}'
       )
       """.stripMargin
       case None            => s"""
@@ -245,30 +253,21 @@ object Timeline {
     sqlContext.sql(insertCommand)
   }
 
-  def getEpisodeLengthStatement(config: TimelineConfiguration): String = s"""
-      SELECT mdp_id, COUNT(1) mdp_length
-      FROM ${config.inputTableName}
-      WHERE ds BETWEEN '${config.startDs}' AND '${config.endDs}'
-      GROUP BY 1
-  """
-
   def mdpLengthThreshold(sqlContext: SQLContext, config: TimelineConfiguration): Option[Int] =
-    config.outlierEpisodeLengthPercentile match {
-      case Some(percentile) => {
-        val episodeLengthStatement = Timeline.getEpisodeLengthStatement(config)
+    config.outlierEpisodeLengthPercentile.flatMap { percentile =>
+      {
         val df = sqlContext.sql(s"""
-            WITH a AS (${episodeLengthStatement}),
-            b AS (
-                SELECT CAST(${config.percentileFunction}(mdp_length, ${percentile}) AS INT) pct FROM a
+            WITH a AS (
+                SELECT CAST(${config.percentileFunction}(mdp_length, ${percentile}) AS INT) pct FROM episode_length
             ),
-            c AS (
+            b AS (
                 SELECT
                     count(1) as mdp_count,
-                    count(IF(a.mdp_length >= b.pct, 1, NULL)) as outlier_count
-                FROM a, b
+                    count(IF(episode_length.mdp_length >= a.pct, 1, NULL)) as outlier_count
+                FROM episode_length, a
             )
-            SELECT b.pct, c.mdp_count, c.outlier_count
-            FROM b, c
+            SELECT a.pct, b.mdp_count, b.outlier_count
+            FROM a, b
         """)
         val res = df.first
         val pct_val = res.getAs[Int]("pct")
@@ -284,7 +283,6 @@ object Timeline {
         } else
           Some(pct_val)
       }
-      case None => None
     }
 
   def validateOrDestroyTrainingTable(sqlContext: SQLContext,