Sometimes the choice isn’t even yours. It’s fate — James Cole

There have been multiple themes throughout season 1 of 12 Monkeys, but if there is one that rises above them all it’s fate. Several characters have spoken of fate, with Cole (Aaron Stanford) being the first one in that very memorable and pivotal quote in the opening scene of the Pilot. And, it’s that same quote that we hear in the opening scene of tonight’s season finale, thus bringing us back full circle to the beginning of the season. The big question is whether “fate” is just a fairy tale, just some fancy word people use to try and explain away the problems they are experiencing in their lives. Or is “fate” something that is very real, a direct result of time being immutable. This is what the finale attempts to answer, with the results being quite unexpected.

Before we get to the actual “meat” of the episode which addresses these questions regarding fate, one big nagging problem is resolved first and actually in the first 10 minutes of the finale — Aaron Marker (Noah Bean). There had been rumors that a main character would die in the finale, and most of the viewers seem to be betting on Ramse (Kirk Acevedo). After all both Cole and Ramse appear to be hell-bent on killing each other and since it is unlikely our main protagonist would suddenly die, everything pointed to Ramse. However, I was personally betting on Aaron, and as it turns out, I was right.

As soon as Aaron led the Army to Cassie (Amanda Schull) and Cole last week, I knew that guy was a goner. His actions got Cole’s father killed, and if it weren’t for the paradox, Pallid Man (Tom Noonan) would have been successful in killing Cole as well. While I do think Aaron loved Cassie and was trying to protect her, I believe his motivations were more selfish than anything, which I’m sure was obvious to Cassie too. So, it didn’t surprise me at all when he is killed in a fight with Cole right off the bat. Now, it was a little disturbing to see him burn to death (even Aaron didn’t deserve that), but hey, Aaron is the one who pulled out the blow torch first. You reap what you sow, dude.

Now, back to the important topic of fate. When I talked with Aaron Stanford before the series even premiered, he confirmed that the premise for Dr. Jones’ splinter project as well as for the show is that you can go back and change the past. This is the whole purpose for Dr. Jones developing the time machine and is the foundation for their mission. This is in stark contrast to the 12 Monkeys film where it is believed that the past is fixed, and Cole is sent back to simply observe. As we watch the episode progress, it’s pretty apparent that Olivia (Alisen Down) and the Army also believe that time is immutable, the past cannot be changed, and in fact, they are counting on it. We know that the Army has been able to learn a great deal of facts and details about the future from the splinters of several time travelers, including Cole, Ramse, and possibly others. And, if we are to believe that the Army’s prime directive is to release the virus and cause the plague, you would think their mission would be to stop Cole and Cassie, and quite possibly kill them. Perhaps they already know this will happen since they’ve already seen big glimpses of the future through these time travelers, and the only thing they need to do is to just sit back and let “fate” take its course.

Regardless, Ramse seems to be critical to their plan. Ramse wants nothing more than to kill Cole and destroy the original time machine. If both of these pieces are eliminated, then nothing will be left to stop the plague, and his son will be saved. To accomplish this, both he and the Army become big investors in the company, Raritan National Labs, who creates the prototype for the time machine (interestingly enough, the chief scientist on the Project is Dr. Jones but not Catarina Jones. We don’t know for sure, but perhaps this is Catarina’s husband, the one she was married to for 6 days?). By being such a big investor, this gives Ramse unfettered access to the machine, which he intends to use in order to destroy it.

Of course, Cole and Cassie have come to the same conclusion, and so, when Ramse shows up, he is confronted by both of them. If everything went as planned or as “fate” would have it, Cassie would fatally shoot Ramse, and Ramse would get a shot off thus killing Cassie. Cole would leave both Cassie and Ramse to die and “disappear into obscurity” just as Olivia explained at the end of the episode. Apparently, this is history, these are the facts, and Olivia has full confidence this is how it will play out.

If you are wondering what’s going on in 2043 with the arrival of Deacon (Todd Stashwick) and those Pale Men last week, well, that ‘s all part of Olivia’s plan as well. As it turns out, the real “Army of the 12” aren’t Olivia, Pallid Man, and the rest of their sidekicks, but instead are 12 babies that had been born (and we assume had been genetically engineered in some way) back in 2015. And, these 12 babies grow up to be the Pale Men who are now invading Jones’ compound and attempting to take both her and the time machine.

Now, all of this would work perfectly if Olivia’s entire foundation that time is immutable and fate is fixed were true.

All of this is preordained, scripted by time, unmoveable. There is nothing more powerful than fate — Olivia

But, as we see at the very end of the episode, it appears that time can, in fact, be changed, and fate is not really fate at all. In that final moment, when Cole is running away and leaving Cassie and Ramse to die, he makes the last-minute decision to turn around and go back. He can’t get Cassie to a hospital in time, and so, he does the next best thing — he puts Cassie on the prototype time machine and sends her to the future Dr. Jones (this is a little far-fetched since the prototype hadn’t even been tested with a living specimen yet). Then, he picks up the wounded Ramse and carries him out. I really don’t think either of these action was part of Olivia’s idea of “fate.”

Of course, you can imagine the Pale Men’s surprise (as well as Dr. Jones!) when the future time machine all of a sudden fired up and Cassie appears. Oops. I think this is when Cole says, “Check and mate, bitch!”

I have no idea where all of this is going to lead, and thank God, the show will be returning next year because this would have been the crappiest cliffhanger ever. What will Ramse and Cole do in 2015 now, given they are both stuck there? What will Dr. Jones do about Cassie? And, what in the heck is Jennifer Goines (Emily Hampshire) up to? I know she wanted to be a “daughter” again, and she sees Olivia almost as a mother figure, but dammit, girl, you’re in cahoots this crazy woman, Olivia, who is about to destroy the world. Wake up!

Either way, it’s going to be a long damn year having to wait for the next chapter in this crazy saga, but something tells me it will be well worth it.

The paradox of the 12 Monkeys returns for season 2 in the winter of 2016.

Critic Grade — A