At the end of last week’s episode, things looked pretty grim for our Cole (Aaron Stanford). On a positive note, all the signs pointed to the plague being stopped by the destruction of Wexler’s compound in Chechnya. However, the cost of that appeared to be Cole’s life due to his being shot and unable to escape the base before the missiles hit. The only wildcard was whether Cole got the very subtle warning sign in Cassie’s (Amanda Schull) “Good-bye” and decided to do something differently. And, if Cole does diverge from the original plan, will it cause the plague to be released, thus beginning this cycle all over again?

YES, COLE IS ALIVE, BUT…

Given last week’s ending, I had expected the episode to open with Cole being in the same crazy time loop but one week later, on his way to Chechnya to find Wexler and destroy the virus. Again. What we learn instead is that somehow, someway Cole survived the blast but is severely injured at the bottom of the rubble.

Okay, right off the bat, this tells us 2 big things. First, destroying the bunker did not stop the plague because otherwise Cole would cease to exist, instead of lying bleeding at the bottom of a pile of concrete. So, something changed, but what — that remains to be seen. Second, Cole is injured and in distress, and so why in the hell isn’t Jones (Barbara Sukowa)  not pulling him back to 2043? Well, it turns out there’s a good explanation for that.

Apparently, the time machine is going on the fritz, with the core stabilizer starting to malfunction, and so, Jones cannot lock accurately on Cole’s coordinates. Several attempts are made, but unfortunately, no dice. Jones has to think quickly because unless she can find a way to fix this, then Cole is stuck back in time, and her entire mission is hosed.  It turns out that she knows one person from her past who may be able to help her out by providing her with another core stabilizer. But, she’s not quite sure he’ll be exactly thrilled to be hearing from her.

The man’s name is Jonathan Foster (Xander Berkeley),  a former Colonel in the U.S. Army and someone Jones knew years ago who began working on a competing project to end the plague called Project Spearhead. After his wife succumbed to the disease, Foster became obsessed with finding a cure and has been working on it for the past 10 years.  Jones had always thought that trying to find a cure was a pointless endeavor since the virus mutated too often and too quickly, and she left Foster’s group to form Project Splinter. So, while Jones and Foster aren’t exactly enemies, they aren’t friends either because neither agrees with what the other is doing.

Still, Jones needs the core stabilizer, and so, she sends Ramse (Kirk Acevedo) and Whitley to talk to Foster. Ramse is the muscle for the trip in case they run into any resistance, and Whitley is to be a valuable negotiation piece since his father is at the base and works for Foster.

RAMSE, ELENA AND SAM

Truth be told here, I actually thought Ramse’s Elena wasn’t real, just an ideal woman that he made up and liked to talk about for whatever reason. Well tonight we find out that she’s very real and in fact, has been working at Foster’s base the entire time as a lab technician. So, while Ramse wasn’t really fond of the idea of going on a road trip with Whitley, I’m sure he’s very glad he did now.

And, there’s more. In some really great, touching scenes, Ramse and Elena (Amy Sloan) reminisce on the last time they were together, and Ramse questions her about why she just took off. One day she was there, and the next she was gone, without saying good-bye and no clue of where she had gone. Now we find out why.

It wasn’t me I was worried about — Elena to Ramse

At first, Ramse thinks Elena fled because he was involved with the West 7, and she was afraid for her life. Then, he realizes she wasn’t scared for herself — but for their son, Sam. Wow, now this is a surprise! She was pregnant at the time, and so she felt like she had no choice but to run in order to protect her son.

Some really great scenes here, but to tell you the truth, I am worried about Elena and Sam now. Here we have this big dispute building up between Jones and Foster over the core and core stabilizer, and Elena and Sam are right in the middle of it. And, what about Ramse? He works for Jones, and I wonder how he will react if he’s ask to do something that could hurt Foster and his base, thus indirectly hurting Elena and Sam? I’m anticipating things getting complicated very quickly.

WE WILL TAKE THEIR CORE — BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY

We’ve always known that Dr. Jones is a spit fire and tough as nails, but man, this woman doesn’t hesitate to go running up and grab the bull by the horns. After the entire core of the time machine goes out, the situation becomes desperate, and so, Jones decides to make the trip to talk to Foster herself.  And, she was there not 5 minutes before they started going at it, arguing about which Project was better and basically just picking up where they left off 10 years ago.

Honestly, Jones seems to make the better argument. She thinks trying to find a cure is a big waste of time since the virus has mutated twice since she was last at Spearhead, and what’s more, it is unlikely that even the immune will survive another mutation. She also isn’t too keen on Foster’s methods, which included killing several people 10 years ago and threatening others to force them to see his point of view and join him in his effort to find a vaccine.

I remember the day when you spilled blood in the name of hope. And there’s nothing to show for it. Show us this vaccine, show us your cure. Show us something that is real — Jones to Foster

Here Jones makes a very good point, and in my opinion, is what wins her the argument. Foster, in fact, has not a single thing to show for all his efforts. Yes, he is successful in finding a vaccine, but it’s for the strain from 10 years ago. Again, it’s mutating much too fast, and even with the super-computer that Foster has built, it is virtually impossible for them to keep up. In contrast, Jones does have something to show for her work, and here she hands Foster a near-perfect photograph of his wedding day. And, this stops him in his tracks.

All of his wedding pictures had been destroyed in a fire, and there is no way Jones could have gotten the picture, unless…. Unless her Project Splinter actually worked and she was able to send someone back in time. And, that’s exactly what had happened. On one of his trips, she asked Cole to get the photograph for her. For a brief moment, I think Foster was in awe of Jones, stunned that was actually able to pull the impossible off. She sees that he is starting to come around and takes this opportunity to plea for Foster’s core as not only the entire mission but Cole’s life as well depends on it.

Whatever moment of doubt Foster may have had, it was very short-lived because in a matter of minutes, he’s back to his belief that a cure is the only solution and tells Jones emphatically that he will not be sharing any of his resources with her. Period.

We take their core… by any means necessary — Jones to Whitley

I told you this woman is a spit-fire! Things are about to get really ugly. Barbara Sukowa does an amazing job in this episode and added so many layers and dimension to her character. Dr. Jones isn’t just a geeky scientist on a mission to save humanity. Instead, she’s a very driven woman who will do whatever it takes to make this project a success — even if that means resorting to violence. Very, very Jones-centric episode, and given the plans she’s making with Whitley, I suspect next week’s episode will be as well.

COLE IS ALIVE — BUT THE PLAGUE REMAINS

This revelation is the most exciting part of the episode but also the most confusing. As we saw in the opening scenes, Cole miraculously survived the explosion and after yelling for help, finally gets the attention of a little girl, Anna, and her father. Putting aside the fact that Cole must have been unsuccessful in stopping the plague, well, because he’s still there, we are excited regardless to see that our hero is alive. Well, until that cough.

Yes, folks, while Anna is trying to get help, she begins coughing, and that immediately gets Cole’s attention. Could that be a cough from an innocent cold or flu, or could it be the beginnings of the plague? They finally are able to pull Cole out, and then, reality hits him like a ton of bricks. In one of Jones’ unsuccessful attempts in pulling him back, she inadvertently must have sent him 2 years forward because the year isn’t 2015 but 2017.  And, the plague has already begun.

So, what does all of this mean? What caused the plague to happen anyways, even though the explosion should have destroyed the virus? How did Cole survive the blast to begin with? From what we saw at the end of the last episode, those missiles should have destroyed everything. And, what will Cassie do now? In the final scene, Cassie travels to the blast site and confirms that Cole’s body’s not there. In her eyes, this is a confirmation that the mission was successful, and Cole is gone for good.  So many questions, so few answers, and another damn week to wait for the next clue.

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

 

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