Warning: Major spoilers ahead for those who have not seen the season 2 finale

You know, without question, last week’s penultimate episode could have easily served as the season 2 finale of 12 Monkeys. Dr. Jones (Barbara Sukowa)  was already presumed dead after having disintegrated in the temporal storms. And, Deacon (Todd Stashwick), Ramse (Kirk Acevedo), Whitley, and Hannah had been executed after carelessly descending upon Titan even after Jennifer’s (Emily Hampshire) stern warnings. I personally hate cliffhanger finales, but if this had been any other series, that’s exactly what we probably would have gotten.

But, 12 Monkeys isn’t like every other series out there. If season 1 was about finding the origin of the plague, then season 2 has been about finding and destroying the true threat of the world and humanity — the Witness. There had been a steady build-up of this arc since the season 2 premiere, and so, it stands to reason that the curtain would finally fall and the architect of — as well as “witness” to —  the world’s destruction would be revealed. Unfortunately, the identity of our heroes’ nemesis turns out to be Cassie (Amanda Schull) and Cole’s (Aaron Stanford) unborn child. And, as if that isn’t bad enough, Deacon makes that final heroic stance as I always knew he would and throws himself under the bus so that Jennifer and her Daughters could escape. Son. Of. A. Bitch! Sigh.

But, is it really over for the Scav King? On a show like 12 Monkeys where time is so easily bent and manipulated, nobody is technically ever dead, and just last week, Deacon died for the first time but is then resurrected after Cole successfully stopped the 1957 paradox. Below is the 2nd part of my interview with the Scav King himself, Todd Stashwick, where he discusses that shocking finale and what Deacon’s future may hold as we embark on the series’ 3rd season. Check out what he had to say:

TV GEEK TALK: Even before watching the season finale, I had been worried about Deacon’s fate for a while. You have a guy who used to be bad, who has now redeemed himself, and a lot of times that ends with the character making one final herioc stance and sacrificing himself. And, that’s exactly what Deacon does in the final episode. I can remember screening the episode and thinking, ‘Well, shit!!!’ I will tell you that fans are going to wig out with Deacon’s supposed death, and so, I have to ask this question. What can you tell us about Deacon’s fate? Will we see him again in season 3? Or, is this the last we’ll see of the Scav King?

TODD STASHWICK: “[Laughs] Dooooon’t you forget about Deacon!”

TV GEEK TALK: Well, of course, we would **never** forget about Deacon! He made sure of that in song, drunk and naked, 2 weeks ago [Laughs].

TODD STASHWICK: “[Laughs] No, what I’m saying is, as Terry Matalas would put it, we have not seen the last of Theodore William Deacon. [Laughs] You can’t keep a good Scav King down. He’s one tough mother…”

TV GEEK TALK: Well, all I can say is we better! Okay, let’s be positive here and be optimistic that Deacon will be back in season 3. What would **you** like to see for your character in the new season?

TODD STASHWICK: “Specifically, I would love to see him time travel. But, what they have always continued to do with the writing is surprising. So, I, more than anything, want to be surprised. I want to be another kind of Deacon that we haven’t seen before. We’ve seen the sociopath. We’ve seen the redeemed, humble, heroic Deacon. What else is out there, and that’s what Terry and the writers are so good at. That is, showing us more of what these people are capable of and what they could be.”

“The last we saw of him he was being attacked by acolytes of The Witness and in Titan City as it splintered. So, the whole city left with him.”

TV GEEK TALK: So, theorectically, anything could happen. The door is literally wide open to possibilities.

TODD STASHWICK: “Yes, anything could happen, and I think I would like to see more opportunities of pairing him with people [Deacon] hasn’t been paired up with before. Just selfishly as an actor, we have such an amazing cast, and [for instance], I would like see more scenes with Jennifer. I think it would be awesome because there’s a dynamic that didn’t get explored this season. And, I want to see how they get out of all of this! [Laughs] I want to see his part in the resolution of these stories.”

“I know, I know, I’m being vague. But, you know, today (July 11th) is actually the first day of the writers’ room for season 3.”

TV GEEK TALK: Oh my God, really? Wow.

TODD STASHWICK: “Terry and the gang, they’ve all been talking to each other and trading notes and ideas. And, I’ve been trading notes and ideas [with them] like ‘I would like to see more exploration of his past. Of Deacon’s past.’ I want to see what happens with his brother specifically, and his family and father. And, then, how it all relates to Cole and Cassie and the time-travelling Scooby gang.”

TV GEEK TALK: That’s interesting because the show has brought up Deacon’s family several times, and especially his little brother, like in the episode just 2 weeks ago. So, it does raise the question of whether we will eventually get to see people like his baby brother.

TODD STASHWICK: “Yes, it’s all out there to be explored, isn’t it? That’s the great thing about a time-travel show. You can actually dig into these events and interact with them.”

TV GEEK TALK: Now, just one final, fun question. Fantastic season. As I have said, I swear Terry Matalas is a mad genius. After everything that has happened in season 2, what has been the best or most memorable or funnest part for you while working on this season of the show?

TODD STASHWICK: “The fans. It’s kind of like you spend a lot of time in a kitchen making something you believe is delicious, but the moment you’re waiting for is to look at a person’s face when they taste it. We make it for other people, we don’t just make it for ourselves. We make it to be consumed, and so, how passionately the fans and the critics reacted to our show has been the most gratifying experience. Watching new people come to it and watching the die-hards discuss it week after week.”

“Ultimately, that’s the strength of not binge-watching a show. Watching it with a week in-between and watching the online community discuss and theorize and us interacting with them and spending that week kind of chewing on and savoring that week’s episode before they get the next one. I think in this binging culture that we live in now, we’ve lost community. And, I think that’s important for people, it’s our social campfire, where we gather around and we talk about these stories and we connect with each other. That, ideally, is the point of a story — to relate to it, to discover new things in it, to delight in it, to get angry about it. But, it’s hard to do that when people are watching all 13 episodes in a row over a weekend. They spend about 5 minutes to go to the bathroom and refill their beverage, and then, they watch the next episode. Which is great for television producers that people are loving the show, but it’s not the strongest thing for a fanbase. You want that fan reaction. You want that time to savor and dissect and analyze, and that doesn’t happen when you’re alone in a room watching everything. You don’t have that time to think about the next episode.”

“So, yeah, I think for me the biggest thing has been connecting and delighting with our fanbase.”

So, what’s next for our Scav King? Todd, of course, couldn’t spill everything, but if I had to guess, I definitely think Theodore William Deacon will be back for season 3 and cause all sorts of new trouble. In fact, I’d be willing to bet on it. And, Todd had already hinted at where Deacon’s arc may be going and that includes more quality time with “Miss Crazy” herself, Jennifer Goines. Even without these hints, the signs are definitely there. The “Granny, you see something you like?” comment in “Resurrection” with Jennifer responding “Not yet.” And, then, Deacon sacrificing himself tonight for Jennifer and the Daughters. All a coincidence? Ummm, I kinda doubt it because nothing is ever a coincidence on this show. This definitely isn’t a partnership I would have foreseen, but ironically, I kind of like the idea and can’t wait to see where it goes.

Regardless, here we are and welcome to that looooonnnnng hiatus where we are left to only discuss, theorize and obsess about what the next chapter may hold for our merry band of travelers. In the meantime, as Deacon said himself so well, “Doooon’t you forget about meeee!” 

12 Monkeys  returns for season 3 in 2017.

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