I figured it was a matter of time before they did a time loop episode on this show. And sure enough this week we got one.
12 Monkeys..tv show
- Thread starter SiddFinch1
- Start date
Ugh, this show's time-travel logic just keeps getting stupider. Now we have the cliche of "time storms" that rapidly age people to skeletons or revert them to babies. That makes no sense. Reverting in situ to infancy would only be possible if they'd actually lived their entire lives in that exact spot. Reverse their personal timelines and they'd just go back to a time when they weren't in that area, and then no more reversal. And the cliche of aging in place is even stupider in a way, at least in a case like Doctor Who's "City of Death" or Babylon 5's "Babylon Squared," where the victim of the accelerated-time field is turned into an elderly man in seconds. That wouldn't work! Where did they get the food and water to live subjective decades? Rather than growing old in seconds, they'd die of thirst in microseconds. Okay, the photos here showed only mummified skeletons, but skeletons left lying out in the open for centuries would probably erode to dust or be devoured by bugs and animals.
Well, at least the "time storm" stupidity was a minimal part of the episode. The main focus was on Jennifer being her crazy self, and that's always a highlight. ("It's like The A-Team with all Murdocks!") Don't have much to say about the surrounding story (except that I am so, so sick of torture porn), but as long as Jennifer's being sexily manic and babbling, I'm on board.
Though I wasn't crazy about the B-plot with Cassandra and Ramse ending up trapped in a situation that conveniently forced them to tell the truth about their personal conflict. That whole thing was very contrived, and kind of a waste of Christopher Heyerdahl. Although it was nice to see them acknowledge that they needed to go somewhere special to gather the information they needed. Lately I've been finding it very contrived that the scattering of surviving newspaper clippings they've managed to scrounge together at their base always just happens to include exactly the information they need to know for the sake of the plot.
Well, at least the "time storm" stupidity was a minimal part of the episode. The main focus was on Jennifer being her crazy self, and that's always a highlight. ("It's like The A-Team with all Murdocks!") Don't have much to say about the surrounding story (except that I am so, so sick of torture porn), but as long as Jennifer's being sexily manic and babbling, I'm on board.
Though I wasn't crazy about the B-plot with Cassandra and Ramse ending up trapped in a situation that conveniently forced them to tell the truth about their personal conflict. That whole thing was very contrived, and kind of a waste of Christopher Heyerdahl. Although it was nice to see them acknowledge that they needed to go somewhere special to gather the information they needed. Lately I've been finding it very contrived that the scattering of surviving newspaper clippings they've managed to scrounge together at their base always just happens to include exactly the information they need to know for the sake of the plot.
There was a switch of showrunners, but in an odd way. The series was created (they don't seem to call it "developed for television" anymore) by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett, but in the first season, Natalie Chaidez ran the show instead of them (though they were still onboard as co-executive producers). But Chaidez left to run Hunters, and so Matalas and Fickett have been the showrunners on season 2.
I agree, though, that the time travel rules this season have become totally random and fanciful, and I preferred the more grounded version in the first season, where it was unclear whether time even could be altered in any major way.
Still, this was a pretty good episode character-wise and drama-wise. I've been seeing online buzz for days about how it was going to be the best episode of the season, touting the fact that it was directed by Kevin Tancharoen, who's become known as a really impressive action director. And it did work out pretty well.
SyFy renews 12 Monkeys - season three will have 10 episodes instead of 13 --
http://tvline.com/2016/06/29/12-monkeys-renewed-season-3-syfy/
http://tvline.com/2016/06/29/12-monkeys-renewed-season-3-syfy/
I am surprised by the renewal order. Given the increased pacing of the series recent episodes, I figured it was fast-tracking towards a series finale by this seasons end.
Presumably because young Jennifer eventually goes back to the past and lives out her life until she reaches 2044 the long way around. Her time travel to the future was "always" part of her history, rather than a change. Most of the time travel on this show, even in this crazy-as-hell season, has been part of a predestined pattern. Note all the times that characters already know about time travels that Cole and Cassie haven't made yet, like Jennifer knowing about the Hyena incident before we saw it, or Jay Karnes's federal agent talking about knowing Cole well even though it's only their second meeting from Cole's perspective. Time can be changed, but infrequently. Most of the time, the time travels are part of a self-consistent causal loop.
That was a great episode. I wonder if we'll end up with a third timeline now, or if they'll just reset things? I was surprised they actually destroyed the facility and killed Jones, but I'm assuming that won't last.
Bringing 2016 Jennifer to 2044 was a cool twist.
That was Hannah riding away from the time travel facility as it was destroyed, right?
It will be interesting to see which mission is successful once the show comes back.
Bringing 2016 Jennifer to 2044 was a cool twist.
That was Hannah riding away from the time travel facility as it was destroyed, right?
It will be interesting to see which mission is successful once the show comes back.
Feels like they don't know where to go with the show
Drunk Deacon was a hoot though if he gets drunk again I hope he keeps his clothes on. Two more episodes left but no new episode on Monday...I'm sure I'll survive.
Is Cassie into Deacon, or is she just using him?
My nickname was "Naked Deacon"...totally not expecting that.
Also, i saw the episode on Demand, so they had some behind the scenes stuff...and the actress who plays Jennifer is a friend of Tatiana Maslany of Orphan Black...so she got her advice on plying this, nd they got an acting double, the way Tatiana does.
I think it worked well.
I was initially thinking it was Cole himself, but then I had the same thought you had.
This show is getting so random. Why didn't time collapse when the last primary was killed? Is it because Jennifer hasn't been paradoxed? But that would contradict the whole premise that killing this particular primary would collapse all of time.
I wish they hadn't jumped over so much of Cole and Cassie's years spent in the '50s. I would've liked that to be developed more, instead of just having these huge time jumps. It would've been nice if they'd started this storyline a week earlier so it would've had more room to breathe. A lot of the scenes would've worked better if we'd had more setup to contextualize them. I'm also surprised that Jay Karnes's federal agent character wasn't in this one, since the last time we saw him, he implied that he'd gotten to know Cole more closely sometime in his past and Cole's future. I was expecting this to be where that happened.
I did think the actor playing the undercover Messenger (Charlie?) did a terrific job in the bar scene with Cole, talking about his wife's cancer and how you have to take the time you have and so on. Really a strong performance there. (Hold on, Ramse's kid is named Charlie...)
I had been starting to wonder if The Witness was an older Cole, but him/her being his and Cassie's kid would work too.
I've been really enjoying the season and I can't wait to see where this is all going.
I was a little surprised when time didn't collapse when they paradoxed the Primary, but I'm not ready to right it off quite yet.
I got a bit of a laugh out of the source of Jennifer's quotes.
I was wondering it Titan appearing had something to do with Cassie and Cole's actions in the past. Or was Hannah lying?
They did get me with the twist on the identity of the Primary and the Messenger.
I've been really enjoying the season and I can't wait to see where this is all going.
I was a little surprised when time didn't collapse when they paradoxed the Primary, but I'm not ready to right it off quite yet.
I got a bit of a laugh out of the source of Jennifer's quotes.
I was wondering it Titan appearing had something to do with Cassie and Cole's actions in the past. Or was Hannah lying?
They did get me with the twist on the identity of the Primary and the Messenger.
We last see Cole and Cassie in 1959, while the Witness kills just about everybody else as time collapses in 2044. That's an 85 year gap. Witness-Cole would be what, 120? Even his potential child would be quite elderly. Maybe time flows differently for the Witness.
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