No time quite like the future
‘12 Monkeys’ lives up to the legacy of the critically-acclaimed movie. The action, suspense and drama are relentless as Cole and Railly find themselves at an interesting stand-off, writes Debashine Thangevelo
‘THIS all ends when she dies. Cole, you need to move now,” says Railly.
Having worked so closely to stop the deadly virus that wipes out 93.6 percent of the human population, how did the situation escalate to this in season two of 12 Monkeys?
Well, they are still on the same side. However, there is a disagreement on how best to handle the situation with a very unstable Jennifer Goines (Emily Hampshire) on the brink of releasing the contents of the vial in her possession.
Sigh, if only Goines’s speed dater took her up on her offer to end her life. But he couldn’t handle her kind of crazy, despite all that hotness she had going on.
Before her fate is decided by Railly, she utters: “You’re gonna have to stop me. Finally, someone is gonna stop me. Faith in humanity, restored. Faith in myself ? Not so much!”
The first episode really goes balls to the wall with the narrative. There is also a distinct change in the personalities: Cole has become more empathetic, while Railly has toughened up. This is most evident when they find themselves in do-ordie circumstances; him in Budapest 2016 with Ramse and her, in 2043, when Katarina Jones has patched up her gunshot wounds. Despite Ramse’s betrayal at the end of last season, Cole saves him from the Army. And he gets Kalman, who is still on the Army’s payroll, to remove a tracking device planted in him.
Meanwhile, Railly, who is now imprisoned by the Messengers, along with the others, manipulates Deacon, one of the gravely-ill foot soldiers, into helping her. She promised to help save his life in exchange for her freedom.
Although the storyline effortlessly flits from the present to the future, with key characters often meeting in the present, the danger they face in both worlds is omnipresent.
Amid all of the dramatic twists and deadly encounters, the writers also add some humour to the dialogue. An example is Ramse’s altercation with the Army, who used him as their pawn. He questioned: “Why is the Army of the 12 Monkeys hunting me?”
The ringleader replied: “You served your purpose. Not really, we just don’t like you!”
Also, the banter between Cole and Ramse unleashes a few chuckles.
Meanwhile, the Messengers used the time machine to send a few people back to 2016… before it was damaged in the hostile takeover spearheaded by Deacon and Railley. So Railley then returns to 2016 from 2044 – as it took several months to rebuild the time machine – to stop Goines.
On her character’s evolution, Schull told Collider.com: “I didn’t know this season was going to be everything that it’s turned out to be. I am really, really happy and delightfully excited about it. I knew last season was going to be an arc, of sorts. Terry (Matalas) was very specific in reminding me that I had a journey to make that would be gradual over the course of 13 episodes and that she was going to be thrust into the 2044 world by the end of the season. But, as far as what was going to happen to her and how far she was going to go emotionally and physically, I didn’t know that.”
As for her relationship with Cole, she revealed: “It’s funny because it’s beyond the ‘It’s complicated’ relationship status on Facebook. It’s beyond complicated on so many levels. It is a really interesting relationship to experience in scenes because there’s so much unspoken that they both feel. Aaron and I are aware of the unspoken comfort and desperate physical need. Neither of them would be where there are without the other. This season, we work on that a little bit further.”
There’s a lot at stake. And with Cole and Railly’s outlook on the situation undergoing a paradoxical shift – he has broadened his perspective, while she has narrowed hers – it’s going to be one epic battle for them both.
12 Monkeys 2 airs on M-Net Edge (DStv channel 102) tonight at 8pm.