12 Monkeys. Open Spoilers.

Cafe Society
1

There have been five episodes so far. So, to get everyone up to date, here is what has happened.

We know that a terrible virus kills 99% of the world’s population in 2017. The only survivors are humans that are immune to it. Society collapses, and those survivors devolve into scavengers. Most of humanity lives underground.

About 25 years after the virus almost extinguishes the human race, a group of scientists that are holed-up in a bunker, are able to get some sort of fission generator going, to provide power, and are able to scavenge “Project Splinter” from the top-side - a not-perfected method of time travel.

The scientists enlist Ne’er Do-Wells to go back in time to try and prevent the virus from ever being spread. Using clues that survived those 25 years, they pursue leads on the who, what, and how the virus was released, in order to stop it. Since the potential future lives of 6 billion people hang in the balance, violence is the default method used to stop someone from doing something.

The Futures aren’t interested in gathering a sample and maybe finding a cure. They want to reverse the course of events, save all of humanity (including the culture) from a devastating future, and so they just want whoever or whatever is responsible to be destroyed.

The “current” year is 2043.

The first two leads are Dr. Railly and Leland Gaines. Dr. Railly, is part of the CDC, helping to combat the virus, when it kills the world in 2017. Leland Gaines is a genius, and the head of a bio-pharmaceutical company, somehow connected to the virus that kills the world. Cole goes back to 2015 and introduces himself to Dr. Railly. After he proves to her what is going on, she is a willing participant in 2015 to Cole’s mission - much to the chagrin of her professional and personal life.

Leland Gaines is the obvious antagonist. Cole, with Dr. Railly’s help, finds and kills Leland Gaines.

Nothing changes.

And, that’s the thing. Cole, as well as all the other Futures, know that when they succeed, these versions of them will cease to exist. That is how they know the succeeded, and they are actually looking forward to it.

Cole finds out that Leland Gaines has a genius daughter, named Jennifer, who was supposed to inherit the company, and has all the codes in her head. The problem? She is insane, and is admitted to a mental hospital.

The reason she is insane? The virus that Leland’s company was working on was being developed in a secret laboratory referred to as “The Night Room”. One night, a Man in Black, along with some mercenaries, came in and slaughtered everyone except Jennifer and one other scientist that got away. But the MiB and the troopers did not find what they were looking for.

Cole goes back to 2015 and finds both Jennifer and the escaped scientist. After getting what information he can from the scientist, Cole kills him to help keep the secret a secret.

Meanwhile, in 2043, a group of scavengers called “The West VII” find the bunker, and attack it. The Futures are able to fend off the attack. We learn that Cole and other Futures have a past with The West VII.

Dr. Railly, meanwhile, is able to track down the location of the secret “The Night Room” using her contacts in the CDC, as well as searching for the extremely proprietary equipment that such a laboratory would require. At the same time, the MiB abscond with Jennifer, who also has such knowledge in her head. Up to this point, we have heard and seen mention of “The 12 Monkeys”, but there is no direct evidence that this MiB is associated with The 12 Monkeys - just assumptions.

Which brings us up to this past Friday’s episode.

The two groups of people - Cole and Dr. Railly, and Jennifer and MiB - converge on The Night Room at the same time. The MiB wants to steal the virus from the vault. Cole wants to destroy it. We find out that MiB is working for someone referred to as “The Witness”.

Through some trickery, Cole is able to destroy the virus. MiB captures Dr. Railly and leaves. Jennifer is left behind.

But, Cole still exists. He is surprised to see that nothing changed. It didn’t work. Something else is needed.

Cole gets splintered back to 2043, only to find out that the bunker is now a dormitory for The West VII. Destroying what he thought was the virus back in 2015, somehow created a future where the time machine is still there and functional, but none of the scientists or Futures are anywhere to be seen.

I really like this show. I’m not too crazy about the casting - I can think of more likable actors. But, even though it’s almost too slick in its execution, I really like the detective angle of the show, and the desperation that the main characters exude. The show doesn’t resort to vague and long platitudes. It keeps the speech direct and succinct.

It seems like the show doesn’t necessarily automatically resort to violence - that is, the violence is mainly plot-driven. And, the violence is mostly off-screen, which tells me that the creators don’t want the violence to me a central point or draw of the show.

I think a possible plot twist is that the MiB actually is a good guy. We got an inkling of this when we saw a photograph of someone who looked like him in the future - working on the same Project Splinter. We also saw others. Wonder what happened to them? I bet it is more than just them dying (except for the one person who was missing their head). Stuck in time?

On the flip-side, since nothing changed for the better when Cole destroyed the virus, and things actually got worse, that means that something he did actually aided the release of the virus, or stymied the scientists. Cole might find out he (and by extension - the Futures) are on the wrong side.

2

Well done. Nice write-up for the first 5 eps.

I’m really enjoying it too, and agree that it could use stronger leads. I’m a sucker for time-travel anything, so this show appealed to me at a base level, though I’m glad to see its plot is shaping up nicely and they’re taking it in interesting directions. I’d say if you enjoyed the Sarah Connor Chronicles, you’d like this just as much, maybe more. Time will tell (heh).

It’s curious that the MiB’s leader is called The Witness, which makes me think he was there during the pandemic of 2017. Maybe he was part of the original team who built the time machine, and he’s using it in that era to whatever means.

It’d be nice if this show really shapes up into something sustainable and intriguing. I thought episode 5 was the strongest so far, and the cliffhanger at the end really has my attention.

Good show.

ETA: I haven’t looked into the stuff on the web yet, concerning getting clues or whatever the ads say. Is there anything of real interest there concerning the story? Background even?

3

I agree. I think this past episode was the best so far, but they have gotten stronger with each episode. Episode 4, with the assault on the bunker by The West VII, was also pretty good.

I don’t really go for those extended content channels, like the Story Sync and mini web clips. In my opinion, it’s usually not worth the hassle, and only distracts.

One thing that occurs to me whenever we see Cole go back and forth through time, that I have a question about. Whenever he goes back, he doesn’t come back instantaneously. In other words, we don’t see him disappear from 2043, and then immediately reappear. So, I think that the time he spends in the past is counted against the real time in the future. If he spends two days back with Dr. Railly, then the Futures are in the future, waiting two days for him to come back. I think that’s how the time travel mechanics work in this show.

Also, I liked the line about how Cole drinks before every splinter, and Dr. Jones replies, “That explains our lack of accuracy. The alcohol in your bloodstream.”

Don’t know if there is anything to make of this, but who is this person in the advertisement poster? Are we supposed to recognize them?

4

I’m trying to like the show, but it’s hard to pin down where they’re going, or if they know where they’re going.

Every time jump takes a toll on Cole, bloody noses etc. How long can this go on? Is he going to be on the verge of death, every jump, forever?

That last episode was kind of brutal, and I don’t feel like it was worth it. I’m not convinced at all Doctor Monster’s time travel is better than Doctor Optimistic’s virus cure. We’re supposed to accept it because it’s a time travel show? Just because?

5

I assume eventually Cole will just be stuck in the past until he solves everything.

6

It’s pretty clear to me that Colonel Jonathan Foster, M.D. (I’m looking up names on IMDB) was on to something and Dr. Jones (Katrine Jones) knows it and doesn’t care, she just wants a timeline where her own daughter survives, no matter the cost. She thinks she will succeed. Maybe she will. But we’ve seen half a dozen efforts fail, some of which make things worse.

I’m going with the theme that the failure to accept mortality and the attempt to reverse prophecy makes both of those self-fulfilling. This is very common in mythic literature. The Cassandra effect if one goes back to Greek literature. Cassandra was a prophet doomed to see the future and her own demise, but nobody would believe her about her predictions (because they were unpleasant) despite those predictions always coming true. Dr. Railly seems to be unfortunately named Cassandra. We could have done without clobbering over the head.

It seems to me that this is going to wind up as Dr. Jones’ and Cole’s efforts set up a combination of events that cause this plague to be released, and that they turn out to be the time-traveling cause of the whole thing. That they cause hell and their own torment. I can’t wait to see how they eventually set up the Edward Snowden figure named Adam Wexler, who the government attempts to kill with the plague (I think that is the character’s name) to get the information he is being killed to prevent release.

7

You know, from the beginning i thought the doctors garbled message was going to turn out to be “don’t send Cole”.

8

I was thinking that might be the best idea. I’m a bit tired of the machine barely working and Cole constantly getting worse.