’12 Monkeys’ Review: Jennifer’s Holy Resurrection

Reeling from the impact of last week’s botched mission, Team Splinter find themselves out of time with the storm at their doorstep in 2044.

Old Jennifer sits calmly inside her tent, burning away relics from her past including her Markridge ID and a picture of herself as a child. Hannah enters asking her Mother to lead them somewhere safe, but the leader says that today is the day when one ends at the beginning and begins at the end. Very cryptic but also very important!

Meanwhile within the facility, Jones and Cole discuss his final jump back to 1957 as they only have the time to do one last splinter, which will hopefully stop the massive storm anomaly from happening. They only have a few hours before all hell breaks lose but with Dr. Adler in lockdown, the calculations are taking significantly longer than normal (since Dr. Lasky has taken over). Speaking of Team Revenge, looks like Ramse has other allies as he and the scientist go into Cassie’s room to discuss their plan to take over the facility from Jones and Cole. Adler has worked out that Titan is in Colorado and explains that he can splinter them there since an overland trek would be next to suicide (aka time travel without the time). Cassie though brings up a good question, how are they going to stop the storm? Ramse then says that The Witness must have another way to time travel and so they will use his method to go back and stop all of this from happening. Dr. Railly is still unsure though because she knows how dangerous a coup can be (hello Spearhead) and she is worried about Cole. The former scav appeals to her need for revenge against the 12 Monkeys leader and asks if she’s willing to bet her life on Titan and The Witness. She answers yes and is left in her room to mentally prepare herself while Ramse and Adler go about orchestrating a coup.

The whole facility is in the process of evacuating when some kind of electrical issue happens and while only two people are injured, one is in critical condition and requires medical attention. Cole reluctantly has Whitley bring Cassie out to help. As Dr. Railly is treating the wound, the two chat and it seems that Cole isn’t quite as pissed off as he was last week because he asks her to come with him to 1957. Unfortunately Cassie is still very upset and says that they don’t even know who the primary is during that period.

Cole: We’ll find them.

Cassie: There is no we remember? The fight is here Cole. I’m not running away.

Cole: Is that what you think I’m doing? Running away? I’m trying…

Cassie: Don’t try to save me. I’d rather take my chances in Titan.

Yikes! Well these two obviously still have their issues. Cassie though asks Cole what if there was another way to get to Titan, they could go together and kill The Witness. Just then gun shots are heard and Cole handcuffs her to the table, asking if this was the other way.

Cole and Ramse then encounter each other in one of the hallways with gunfire, but the later instructs the soldier with him not to shoot so that the boys can chat. Cole thinks that going to Titan is not the answer as Jennifer told him that only death waits for them there and they won’t find The Witness. Ramse responds that he’s already dead (because of his missing son) and that Cole can’t understand because he doesn’t have family and that he’s never been a father. Cole then says that he always thought Ramse was his family. Ouch. You guys, this opposite sides thing is not healthy for your relationship. Haven’t we learned from this already? And to top that off, Ramse tells him, “I love you too.”

Understanding that they both aren’t going to end up on the same side, the two men part ways knowing that the next time they meet, it’s going to be on because only one of them can win. Cole radios Jones to secure the planning room because Ramse, Adler, and Harris are coming to get it while he goes to even the odds. Enter drunk Deacon who has copious amounts of alcohol because Cassie’s rejected him. The ScavKing’s decided that he’s going out the way he came in, naked that is. Pissed off, Cole confronts him and says that he is a survivor, he’s been through so much and this is not how he should die so he needs to get dressed and help save the world. Deacon rallies but before anything else, pukes in the hallway with the time traveler just waiting. That’s right, just throw it all up. Moments later, the power goes out as Team Revenge has taken over the core.

Adler and Ramse are allowed into the planning room through Whitley, who turns out to be working with them much to Jones’ shock and dismay. He explains that they need to start playing offense instead of defense. Jones tries to appeal to Adler that they can still stop all of this by going back to 1957 but the other man is done with her missions because they haven’t been able to prevent anything, now it’s their turn and they are going to Titan. Cole manages to somehow get inside and hold a gun out at Adler. Ramse tells his friend that he can’t possibly stop all of them and the time traveler agrees, saying that he doesn’t have to. All of a sudden Cassie tackles him down and ends up shooting Adler in the leg. The two fight with Dr. Railly emerging the victor.

Cole tells her that she can kill him and The Witness but it won’t matter because she’ll still be afraid of herself because she let him in. Right on the money.

She locks him in the room and goes into the splinter chamber to patch Adler up. Luckily the shot missed the artery and he is able to get to work on programming the machine to take them to Titan. Jones confronts Whitley’s betrayal but the soldier says that the mission had always been hers not his. Annoyed, Ramse sticks a gun at the scientist and essentially tells her to shut her pie hole. Jones doesn’t take it laying down and calmly takes her glasses off before headbutting him.

Whitley and Ramse though get radioed that one of the Humvees took off heading north and they realize that Cole has gone out to get help from the Daughters. When he arrives at the camp, one of Old Jennifer’s lieutenants tells him that something is wrong with Mother and that he needs to convince her to leave before it’s too late. But as soon as Cole enters the tent, Old Jennifer is ready for action armed with a shotgun and a line from Die Hard, “Mayday mayday! Terrorists have taken over the Natakomi building in Century City!”

Cole doesn’t know what that means but Old Jennifer says it means that she knows why he’s here, that they’ve got his machine and he wants her and her daughters to be the cavalry.

Cole: Will you help?

Old Jennifer: Have I ever said no to you? Self preservation was never my thing.

Before they head out though, Old Jennifer tells Coles that he’s changing into a leader but that he must be prepared to make sacrifices because it’s the price of taking people on. She asks if he’s willing to let someone he loves die for his mission and for the good of the world. He answers yes and sagely she nods, saying that once he does he mustn’t look back.

Back at the facility, Whitley sees Cole and the Daughters approaching from the south while on lookout with Harris. As he is about to go and guard the loading dock, Deacon makes his surprise appearance. Honestly I can’t believe Ramse and Cassie forgot about him during their plans! The ScavKing kills Harris and shoots out a flare while having Whit secure a rope that the Daughters can use to scale the building and get inside. With the might of the Daughters, Cole is able to take the splinter room away from Team Revenge and Deacon re-appears singing Don’t You Forget About Me from the Breakfast Club soundtrack.

He apologizes to Cassie who understands that it’s not personal, oh but actually for him it is. He could care less about the mission, he just couldn’t pass up a chance to piss off Jose and her. Ramse angrily tells Teddy to get over it. The ScavKing literally is about to fire back when the other man pushes his gun away and Old Jennifer is shot instead. Hannah screams and slashes Deacon’s face but allows Cassie to come help.

They take Old Jennifer to the other room and Cole asks if this is the sacrifice she was talking about. She tells him that today is September 23, 2044, the day she dies. When this happens her daughters are going to kill all of them unless there’s a resurrection. Now what could that possibly mean? Cole says that there’s no time for him to undo this but Old Jennifer instead explains that he needs to find a version of her that needs the Daughters.

Understanding, Cole has Jones send him back to his last coordinates in 2016 where he reunites with Jennifer in room 607. She is confused as all hell but doesn’t refuse him when he asks for her help. The two splinter back to 2044 where the Daughters bow down acknowledging that she is their Mother.

Jennifer’s trippy journey doesn’t end though because she meets her older self who is dying. Old Jennifer tells her that the Daughters are hers now and that they need a leader. For years she had apparently promised them a holy resurrection, wink wink. She says that 2016 Jennifer now faces a choice, to spit in the face of death and take the Daughters to Titan to fight the Army of the 12 Monkeys once and for all or to take them far away from here in the hopes that Cole succeeds and that one day this war will be over. Teary-eyed young Jennifer asks what she had picked when she was her and the dying woman answered not to go to Titan because she wasn’t willing to risk the lives of her Daughters, but maybe if she was braver she could have helped save the world. Old Ms. Goines tells her 2016 self that she can be a better version of her. They finish each other’s sentence and both giggle-snort while both saying, “choose your own adventure.”

Old Jennifer: I love you, I know that’s a weird thing to hear but later you’ll need to remember that. Ok I’m dying now.

Oh Jennifer, I love all versions of you! This was an incredibly powerful scene that was acted the hell out of by Emily Hampshire.

Returning to the splinter room, she makes her decision and tells Cole that he needs to get ready to go back to 1957 then says to Ramse and Cassie that if they want The Witness they’re gonna go after him. Ramse complains that they can’t navigate the storm but Jennifer has a yellow brick road map in her mind son! They all start prepping for their own missions and it seems that boys have made peace but Cassie still isn’t talking to time Jesus.

Jones thanks Cole before sending him off for believing in her because she knows that this could be the last time that they ever see each other if he fails to stop the paradox. The two share a tender moment amidst the oncoming apocalypse and hug while I get intense sad feels thanks to the orchestral accompaniment.

As Team Revenge is heading out towards Titan, Cassie looks back to see the storm over the facility and then at Ramse with obvious torment in her eyes. The man eventually stops the vehicle as if to say, just go hurry up and be with Cole cuz you know you luvs him. She gets out and sprints back. Run Cassie run! This is all so dramatic and I love ittttttt. She makes it into the machine room just as Cole splinters and goes up to Jones with tears in her eyes. After a moment the scientist grabs one of the injections and Cassie rolls her sleeve up so she can get the shot then she scurries to the machine for one last jump.

Hannah, Jones, and Dr. Lasky then try to exit out of the facility but the time storm is already inside and the poor man gets caught in the anomaly. The doctor takes her daughter through another way out when another anomaly gets in between them. Jones urges Hannah to go but her child refuses to leave her. Finally the younger woman is convinced and cries as she says goodbye to her mother. Jones heads back into the splinter room and sits on the chair as the storm encircles her and then she is gone.

Are you crying yet? No? You have no soul. After being reunited only a few episodes ago (episode 8 – Lullaby), this has got to be one of the saddest scenes ever. I’d say though that Jones didn’t have any regrets, she at least had a little bit of happiness now that she knew her daughter was alive. She believed in her mission and hopefully Cole succeeds and manages to save the world.

In 1957, Cole emerges from the bar of the Emerson hotel into the lobby and is surprised to see Cassie there. She tells him that she doesn’t want to be afraid anymore.

Geez louise what an episode! Now that 2016 Jennifer is in the future, she will have to learn from her experiences with the Hyenas and become the Mother that she is meant to be. Who knew that she would end up in 2044 to take the place of her older self. I did not see that coming. At some point though she will have to go back in time again to establish the Daughters to begin with since we know in 2020 she was already leading them (when she was being held in Spearhead).

Speaking of Spearhead though, after episode 8 when time kept resetting itself to make sure that Jones invented time travel, what Jennifer had said to Jones (after she had drunk the red tea) that time can think and therefore is more than just an infinite progression of events. How will that eventually affect the rest of the characters we’ll just have to wait and see.

The whole season thus far has been a crescendo and we’re entering the most intense episodes yet. What will Ramse and the others find at Titan? Will Cassie and Cole succeed in preventing the paradox? Will Jones come back to life or is she dead dead?

Syfy needs to hurry up and renew the show for season 3 already because this is the best science fiction show on television right now.

Final Thoughts:

• Really amazing performances from Kirk Acevedo, Todd Stashwick, Barbara Sukowa, and Emily Hampshire in tonight’s episode
• What was that little moment between Old Jennifer and Deacon?? Is young Jennifer and the ScavKing going to get together?? That would be AWESOME.
• Also I will never forget Deacon’s naked scene and then him barfing in the hallway.
• Ramse, Cole, and Cassie’s love/hate relationships triangle is nutty.  I just want them to all just get along already.
• Is there something brewing between Cassie and Ramse after last week’s episode when Ramse told the Moussad agent that if he hurts her he’ll kill him? Plus when he asks her this episode who handcuffed her he seemed more than “just friends” pissed. Just sayin.
• While Jones may be the mother of time travel, Adler is the father of teleportation!

Here’s the preview for the upcoming new episode:

12 Monkeys airs Mondays 9/8 central on Syfy.

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