Warning: Spoilers ahead for those who have not seen tonight’s series premiere

As I had mentioned in my Advance Preview, I have not seen the original 12 Monkeys film, and to make sure that it would, in no way, bias my perception of the new series, I opted not to watch it either. And, after having screened the first few episodes, I am actually very glad I made that decision. The new series is fantastic all on its own, and so, it’s completely irrelevant what movie, short film, etc. it may be based off of.

One thing I can say about this series is that it wastes no time. We are quickly introduced to the premise of the show, which is a plague that ravaged the world starting in 2017 and has wiped out over 7 billion people. It is now 2043, and everything is pretty much gone, including the CDC, and the only thing that remains of a renowned virologist by the name of Dr. Cassandra Railly (Amanda Schull) is her watch. It is found by James Cole (Aaron Stanford), a convict and one of the few survivors of the outbreak, who is recruited by a team of scientists who have devised a plan to send Cole back in time, find the origin of the virus, and stop it before it even happens.

Now, switch to present time, which is 2013. The time-travel experiment apparently worked because the next thing we see is Cole kidnapping Dr. Railly and mumbling on like a crazed lunatic about a virus and about the man who supposedly started it, Leland Frost (Zeljko Ivanek).  His mission is to find Frost, kill him, and if all goes well, the plague will have never happened, and humanity will no longer be on the brink of extinction. The problem is Dr. Railly hasn’t a clue who Leland Frost is, which is odd since she had mentioned his name on a voice recording they had found in the future.

In the meantime, Dr. Railly’s boyfriend, Aaron (Noah Bean), has called the police, and they are quickly surrounded. Unfortunately, Cole is shot and begins to transition back to his own time, but not before giving Dr. Railly a message: if she believes him and she wants to help, she is to meet him at the John Adams Hotel in Philadelphia exactly 2 years from now. Then, he disappears right before her eyes.

And, this ALL occurs before the opening credits. Talking about hitting the ground running. Wow.

Apparently, Cole made a big enough impression on Dr. Railly because sure enough in 2015, we see Cassandra waiting patiently in that hotel. It seems that time travel isn’t an exact science because she’s there 2 years to the exact day and no Cole. But, she continues to wait and wait and wait, and just when she’s about to give up and leave, Cole shows up. Remember that Cole had been shot the last time we saw him, and even though 2 years had passed for Dr. Railly, it’s as if it just happened for Cole.

Fortunately for Cole, Cassandra is a doctor, and so, she takes him to her room and is able to save his life. Whatever chemical process is involved in time travel, it seems to have enhanced Cole’s healing ability because after only 3 days, he has almost completely recovered. He then picks up exactly where they left off before he disappeared 2 years prior and asks the same question of Dr. Railly:

It’s been two years now. Please tell me you know who Leland Frost is — Cole

I don’t — Dr. Railly

It’s definitely not what Cole wanted to hear, but Cassandra has been busy over the past 2 years. She couldn’t find the Leland Frost they were looking for herself, and so, she enlisted the help of a friend of her father’s who has ties with the NSA. As it turns out, the man they are looking for is Leland Goines, the CEO of a biomedical engineering company called the Markridge Group.  What’s more, they know where to find him because he is supposed to be attending a big D.C. fundraiser. Their luck is definitely turning around because as it so happens, Cassandra’s former beau, Aaron, is supposed to be there too, which will be her ticket to get into the event without an invitation.

This is when things start to get really interesting, and the scenes that follow are the best of the entire episode. Yes, Cole does succeed in finding Goines, and yes, he tries to kill him even though Dr. Railly tries her hardest to stop him. But, after they are taken away in handcuffs by the police, they aren’t taken to the police station for booking — instead, they are taken to the Markridge Group. When Goines and Cole’s eyes met for the first time at the fundraiser, this look of confusion — or perhaps even shock — came across his face.  We are about to learn why. Apparently, in 1987, Goines was paid a visit by Cole, claiming that he was the source of an apocalypse.  In fact, we learn it must have taken place in Cole’s future because Goines makes reference to something that Cole doesn’t even know about — yet.

Army of the 12 monkeys ends the world. Wait? You don’t know what that is yet? — Goines to Cole

Regardless, Goines can’t have someone who just tried to kill him leave, and so, his intentions are to kill both Cole and Dr. Railly, and also, have Cole dissected because he discovers the biomedical advancements in him leading him to believe that he is, indeed, from the future. But Cole is able to think quickly, and what comes next is the infamous “watch scene” that has been mentioned on some of the forums for the show. Cole creates a diversion by putting Dr. Railly’s old watch right next to her current one, so close that they are touching. It seems that allowing the same objects from 2 different times to touch can have explosive results (literally!) because a huge blast is the result, which gives Cole and Dr. Railly time enough to escape.

Miraculously, Goines survives the explosion, but even with the pleas from Dr. Railly, he still kills him. But, nothing happens. Nothing happens! If it had worked and Goines was truly the root cause of the plague, Cole would have disappeared and ceased to exist. Oops. It looks like their intel was wrong, and Goines wasn’t ground-zero for the outbreak after all. But, if it’s not him, who is?

Well, not all is completely lost. Cole does remember Goines’ comment about the Army of the 12 Monkeys because when he gets back to his own time, he finds a series of pictures of 12 monkeys with the 1st one showing up at a mental institution — the same institution where Jennifer Goines, Leland’s daughter, is a patient.

So, what does this mean? Could it be that Jennifer Goines is the actual cause, and not her father?

All in all, I really liked the episode, and I think it’s a great start for what I see as a great series.  I love the overall storyline, and I particularly am intrigued with some of the changes they made from the original film, especially the fact that you can change the future by going back in time. In the movie, time is immutable, and no matter what you do and how hard you try, you can’t really change anything. Being able to unmake history is definitely more interesting and exciting, and I can see why the writers made that decision.

The acting is also stellar, with everyone giving top-notch performances, especially Zeljko Ivanek. He’s amazing in every project he works on and has an impeccable talent for being able to morph into any villain imaginable, including our alleged horseman of the apocalypse, Leland Goines.

Which brings me to the only thing I can honestly say bothered me in the entire episode — they killed off the series’ best talent right out of the gate. Ivanek is one of my favorite actors, and so, naturally I was very upset to see this happen. But, upon thinking about it, I finally had to ask, ‘Is this really the last we’ll see of Leland Goines?’ Remember, Goines said he met a future Cole back in 1987, and unless killing Goines somehow prevents that from happening, my guess is we’ll see the character again but in another time. At least I hope so. I think it would be a terrible shame to cast such an immensely talented actor like Ivanek only to kill his character before the end of the first episode.

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

Critic Grade — A

Next time on “12 Monkeys” — Episode 1.02 “Mentally Divergent”

Official Synopsis from Syfy: “The trail of a mysterious organization called the “Army of the 12 Monkeys” leads Cole to a mental institution in 2015, where a patient holds the key to the plague that destroys the world. Meanwhile, despite warnings that her involvement may disrupt the course of history, Dr. Railly risks her life to help him.”

PHOTOS

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