Man, wasn’t this episode one frakking crazy ride! And, we thought last week’s grand tour of the Night Room was insane.

1.05 ended with all indicators pointing to Cole (Aaron Stanford) being totally screwed. FUBAR’ed times 10. His destroying the Night Room somehow changed something critical, and when Cole returned, he found himself in an alternate reality — a very bad alternate reality.

Tonight, we find out just how bad things really are. Let’s see. The West 7 is now in control of the base, the virus was somehow released a year earlier, and Dr. Railly (Amanda Schull) had been murdered shortly after she was kidnapped by the Army of the 12 Monkeys. This episode was chock-full of memorable moments just like last week’s “The Night Room,” and while it was a tall task to pick out the best ones, here’s our top 5:

5. SAY “HELLO” TO RAMSE — THE NEW “GOVERNOR” OF THE WEST 7

A couple of weeks ago when Deacon (Todd Stashwick) was introduced, I jokingly mentioned that the menacing leader of the West 7 reminded me of the Governor from AMC’s The Walking Dead — but minus the eye patch. I never would have guessed that the West 7 would get a new leader WITH an eye patch — and, I certainly never thought it would turn out to be Ramse! (Kirk Acevedo)

After laughing for about a minute at the sight of Ramse wearing that eye patch, we realize that everything initially points to Ramse being the complete opposite of the guy we have grown to love — he’s cold, he points a gun at Cole, just a complete jerk. But, as it turns out, Cole had been killed in this alternate reality, and Ramse was the one who had buried him. So, yeah, if I thought I was seeing a ghost, I probably would have freaked out too.

After getting all that settled, we learn that Ramse was able to take down Deacon, which is how he lost an eye.  He and the West 7 have been at the base ever since then. As we probably could have guessed, Cole really needs to use the time machine to get back to 2015, but Ramse gets a lot of pushback since it would drain their power and most importantly, Ramse had never seen the machine actually work in his own time. Several men had been sent, but none returned (all of Dr. Jones’ failures as we saw in the last episode?)

But, he knows his brother, trusts him, and ultimately allows it.

You’re a good man in any reality — Cole to Ramse

Yep, we knew it all along.  Ramse, just a big, huggable teddy-bear at heart.

4. DR. JONES COMES CLEAN

Right before the alternate Dr. Jones (Barbara Sukowa) sends Cole back to 2015, she mentions all of the sacrifices that had been made for the mission and tells him that when he returns, he should ask her about what those “sacrifices” entailed.

I don’t know if this really registered with Cole, but when he finally does make it back and has this sick feeling, he remembers Dr. Jones’ comment and asks her about it.

Eventually it WILL kill you — Dr. Jones

How many jumps do I got left? — Cole

Not as many as I’d like — Dr. Jones

Is there enough? — Cole

It has to be — Dr. Jones

I really liked this scene. I wouldn’t call them friends, but as the season has progressed, these 2 characters have gotten very close and have come to mutually respect, and care for, one another. However, with respect comes honesty, and true honesty means no secrets. This has been a big secret for Dr. Jones, and I’m very glad it’s out in the open. Plus, it gets Ramse off the hook about debating whether to tell Cole about this very secret that he discovered last week.

3. AARON MARKER — A VERY UNLIKELY ALLY OF TEAM MISSION COLE

I’ve had a bone to pick with this guy since the pilot, but when Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull said in an interview before the premiere that Aaron (Noah Bean) may surprise us and end up on Team Cole, I knew there was more to him than meets the eye.

Before tonight’s episode, the only side of Aaron we had seen was this arrogant prick who abandoned Cassie when she needed him the most. And, when Cole decides to reach out to Aaron when he returns to 2015 to correct the timeline and save Cassie, the guy pretty much continues with the attitude — at least at the beginning. He rants for a good 10-15 minutes about how crazy Cole is, how he ruined both his and Cassie’s lives, and even tries to wreck his car after Cole sneaks up behind him and holds him at knife point.

It isn’t until Cole mentions an intelligence project called Operation Troy that Aaron sits up and listens. Operation Troy is a highly classified project in the CIA, and Aaron is privy to it only because of his connections with Senator Royce. But, somehow, someway, Cole knows about it, and so, maybe Cole isn’t a fruit loop like Aaron made him out to be.  He’s not really convinced about the time travel stuff, but he does decide Cole is reliable enough to help him find and save Cassie.

I do believe the cult is real, but I don’t believe you’re Marty McFly — Aaron to Cole (BEST quote of the episode!)

Here begins a series of fantastic scenes, as well as some hilarious quotes that served as the comic relief for the episode. Cole’s plan is to go back to the Night Room, wait outside until the past Cole, Dr. Railly, Pallid Man, and Jennifer Goines come running out, and then, have Aaron fire at Pallid Man while Cole rescues Cassie. Sounds good, right? Well, this is assuming Aaron knows his way around a gun.

Show me where the safety is — Aaron

It’s a revolver, there is no safety — Cole

Doh! Of course, Aaron screws it up, shoots the past Cole by accident (which caused the very cool effect of the bullet wound appearing on the present-day Cole), and the Army of the 12 Monkeys escapes with Dr. Railly.

Sigh. But, not all is lost. Aaron is able to trace the Army’s van to a landscaping company, and once there, is very instrumental in getting the location where Cassie is being held.  This is in sharp contrast to Cole’s method of just trying to beat the information out of everyone he encounters.

I don’t know this guy. I don’t trust this guy. But, if you don’t know where she is, you’re of no use to him. And, then he’s just going to do this for fun — Aaron

They are able to ultimately rescue Cassie, which is the key event that reverses the alternate reality and which also causes Cole to immediately splinter back to his current time. Cassie just stands there because she has seen it happen a dozen times, but Aaron hasn’t, and the look on his face is priceless.

Holy shit! — Aaron

Team Mission Cole now officially has a new supporter, and something tells me he’s going to be pretty valuable given his powerful connections and resources.

2. DR. RAILLY TRIPPING AND “THE RED FOREST”

This is by far THE craziest scene of the entire episode — actually of the series thus far. After Pallid Man and the Army kidnap Dr. Railly, they take her to Pallid Man’s landscaping company where there are several other people that we haven’t seen before. Pallid Man wants to just kill Dr. Railly, but the woman who appears to be their leader emphatically says “No” and points out that “the Witness” thinks she is too important. What? Who is “the Witness”? And, why is Dr. Railly so important?

Of course, we haven’t even gotten to the insane part yet. Using a similar drug that Pallid Man used on Jennifer Goines in episode 2, the woman — I’m going to call her Hypnosis Lady — begins to rattle off some quotes that make absolutely no sense and appear to be using them to force certain memories into Dr. Railly’s subconscious.

You’re walking through the forest and the grass is tall. You’re walking through the forest and the grass is tall. You’re walking through the forest and the grass is tall

Then, an image of a man (the Witness maybe?) wearing a plague mask appears.

What in the hell is this? I haven’t a clue, and your guess is as good as mine. Obviously, this seems to be important to the virus and the plague, but it looks like we’re going to have to play the waiting game before being able to connect any of the dots.

1. RIP PALLID MAN?

I’m putting a question mark next to this one because we really don’t know for sure if he is dead. In the process of rescuing Cassie, a big shootout erupts, and Cole is able to get several shots off. One bullet hits an Army red-shirt, but another hits Pallid Man. This guy is so big and imposing that I expected the man to just get back up as if nothing happened. But, surprisingly enough, he stays down, and he’s still down the last time we see him right before Cole splinters.

Is the show’s biggest villain thus far really dead? I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t, but then again, they were very quick to kill villain #1, Leland Goines, before the series barely made it out of the gate. What’s more, we may have already seen the replacement villain for the Pallid Man. That short-haired dyke bitch who drugged and hypnotized Cassie has baddie written all over her, and I’m sure she’ll be back soon enough to finish what she started before Cassie managed to escape.

So, what does everyone else think? Do you think Pallid Man is gone forever? I know the guy was horrible, but it was so fun to watch Tom Noonan work. So, a part of me hopes he’ll be back. What about Cassie — how will the implanted memories affect her long-term and what do they mean? And, what in the hell is Operation Troy? What does it have to do with the virus and how is the Senator that Aaron works for involved? And, the big question we got from Dr. Jones’ full disclosure — just how many more jumps does Cole have before he is ripped apart and turned into bloody goo, or before he doesn’t return at all? So many questions and so few answers.

12 Monkeys airs on Fridays at 9/8c on Syfy.

s are closed.