First, a big congratulations to 12 Monkeys on the season 2 renewal. It’s always a nail-biter this time of year, and I am so glad I can enjoy the rest of the season knowing we’re going to get plenty more of this crazy monkey business next year.

The past few episodes have been action-packed with their primary purpose being to move the plot forward. This is a sci-fi series, and so, of course, I love the fast-moving, plot-driven episodes, but at the same time, I think it’s good to occasionally slow down and concentrate on the development of the characters. Tonight’s episode is exactly that, and for that very reason, I absolutely love it. The spotlight is on Dr. Jones (Barbara Sukowa) and Cole (Aaron Stanford) but unfortunately, what we learn casts a seriously bad light on both and makes us question the integrity and morality of these 2 characters that we’ve come to view as the heroes of the series.

Last week, Dr. Jones is pegged as the hero of the hour, a relentlessly driven woman on a fearless mission to save humanity as opposed to her counterpart, Col. Foster (Xander Berkeley), who is nothing more than a fruit loop fixated on the impossible venture of finding a cure. Well, so it seems. Good Dr. Jones. Bad Col. Foster. It seemed pretty simple, right? Well, maybe not because tonight’s episode turns the tables with Dr. Jones being depicted as a female version of Foster — and perhaps a lot worse. Jones returns to Spearhead one last time to try and convince Foster to give her his core, but honestly, from the very beginning, I think she had ulterior motives. While she is with Foster, Ramse (Kirk Acevedo) and Whitley (Demore Barnes) try to work some of the people on the base, trying to convince them that Foster is nothing but a sham. Ramse is unable to change Elena’s mind as she claims to have seen Foster cure the virus with her own eyes. But, Whitley is able to sway his father, which is extremely helpful since he is the head of Foster’s security. With Whitley’s father now on their side and with the additional forces Jones brought with her, they now have more than enough for a coup when the time is right.

As it turns out, that time comes pretty quickly. Jones quickly begins to see that Foster isn’t going to budge and so, anything else would be a complete waste of her time.

You were one of the most brilliant people I have ever met — Foster

But I was much more. I was a mother — Dr. Jones

Then, out of the clear blue sky, Jones pulls out a gun, shoots Foster in the heart, and in a matter of seconds, he’s dead. Problem solved. Hot damn! I knew this was going to end badly, but man, I didn’t expect that.

Now, all hell breaks loose. With Foster now dead, Ramse, Whitley, and Co. need to neutralize the rest of the base in order to obtain the core. This involves gunning down over half of the people at Spearhead, including virtually everyone who worked in the lab. As the scenes unfold, take a close look at Jones. As she walks through the halls, bullets are flying and blood is splattered everywhere on the floors and walls, but only once did she show an inkling amount of emotion — when Whitley’s father is shot and killed. She drops to the floor and kneels by his side for a moment, but then, casually gets back up and walks to the center of the lab to claim her “prize” — Foster’s core.

Congratulation Dr. Jones, you won. But at what cost? Sure, you think you’re right and Foster is wrong, but Foster thought the same thing 10 years ago when he staged his own coup and gunned down most of the people on the base. What makes this situation any different, Dr. Jones? You constantly taunted Foster for the blood on his hands and his crackpot ideas, but how does what you just did make you any better?

And, it gets worse, folks — much, much worse. Dr. Jones was so sure that Foster was a fake and that he cured only the first mutation of the virus — in fact, she was 150%, 200% sure. However, we ultimately find out that Dr. Jones was completely wrong about Foster. She stands holding a picture of the first mutation of the virus on one side and a picture of the strain that Foster cured on the other side, and we can clearly see that they’re not the same. At this point, we know — and so does Dr. Jones. Foster was, in fact, successful and cured the virus, and she just destroyed it. And what for? Not for humanity, not for the mission, not even for Cole — but for her own foolish pride. She then burns the picture of the virus, thus insuring that no one ever finds out about the catastrophic mistake she had just made.

But, Dr. Jones isn’t the only character in this episode to show their true colors and reveal themselves as nothing more than a cold, selfish fool. While Jones is murdering people to insure the continuation of Project Splinter, we may recall that Cole is still stuck in 2017 at the very height of the plague.  Things are bad, really bad, in Chechnya where there is widespread panic and people desperately trying to get out of the country and to the U.S. where there are rumors they are working on a cure. A crowd of people are huddled around a television, and when Cole sees what they are watching, he is surprised to find that it is Cassie. She is one of the lead scientists at the Baltimore CDC who is working on this alleged cure, and she encourages anyone who is immune to come immediately to the facility. This is Cole’s cue as the broadcast is obviously a message from Cassie for him to come to Baltimore.

As it turns out, they were already expecting him. Cole raises his hand and shouts that he is immune, and he is immediately scooped up by a woman in the U.S. armed forces who is also immune. She knows Cole’s name, and she has instructions to take him to the CDC where Cassie is working. When he arrives, it is a bittersweet reunion. Cassie, of course, has been expecting Cole, but she is also sick and dying. However, over the past 2 years since the bombing in Chechnya, Cole has made several other trips back to see Cassie, trips that haven’t happened yet for present-day Cole.

It’s been 2 years since we bombed the compound. A lot has happened since then between you and me — Cassie to Cole

What exactly has happened between them? Have they been romantically involved? That’s my guess, but we don’t find out in this episode because Cassie dies just moments later. God, what a heart-wrenching scene! One thing for sure, Cassie’s dying impacted Cole in a major way and changed him significantly as we will see once Jones finally brings the new core online and is able to pull Cole back to 2043.

At this point, Cole is on a personal mission to save Cassie and at all costs — even if it means sacrificing his best friend, Ramse. By now, Elena has convinced Ramse that Foster, indeed, was the real deal and had found a cure for the virus. So, Ramse is pissed and adamant that Cole give up this time-traveling bullshit because Dr. Jones is a fraud and a sham. But, Cole is completely fixated on saving Cassie’s life and will hear nothing of it.

You don’t get to make that call — Cole

Oh, we’re 7 all over again? You willing to do anything? — Ramse

I’m not going to let her die, Ramse — Cole

You’re blind and you’re selfish. What about me? — Ramse

What about you, Ramse? — Cole

My son — Ramse

Your son’s already dead — Cole

That was it. Ramse punches Cole, and a huge fight erupts. Ramse finally walks away, but the damage has been done. Cole threw the best friend he has ever had and his son under the bus for a woman, and I’m not sure how he can come back from that.

All in all, this was a fantastic episode. While there were some plot development, that’s not what made this episode so good. What made this episode stand out was the spotlight it put on the 2 characters that we all have viewed as “heroes” since the Pilot — Dr. Jones and Cole. They have been going from episode to episode being put higher and higher up on that pedestal as they continue on their quest to save the world and humanity. In this episode, the curtain is pulled back, and we get an eye-opening, disturbing glimpse of who these people really are and how far they are willing to go to get what they want. And, it isn’t pretty. Both of our “heroes” came crashing down off these pedestals, and their paper-doll image shattered.

But, can they be redeemed? What’s next knowing that Dr. Jones may not be the world’s savior as we all had thought? And, what about Cole? Can he wake up and follow the directive that Dr. Jones gave him way back in the Pilot with that being Cassie doesn’t matter in the big scheme of things and that he shouldn’t get too close?

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

 

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