Title: 12 Monkeys: “One Minute More” Review
Air Date: June 29, 2018
Network: Syfy
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama
Warning: Full spoilers for the ninth episode of 12 Monkeys‘ fourth season!
“One minute more,” is what I am going to be shouting at my screen after the season ends tonight!
Deacon’s death is not the only tragedy the splinter team suffers. This episode seeks to shatter our hearts with unexpected poignant scenes, but also shocking reveals. If this is how the ninth episode will treat us, then I don’t even want to imagine the finale’s moments. So, we finally know who Cole’s mother and why she left Cole the ominous Ourouboros myth. Contrary to what the seventh episode might have led us to believe, Emma is certainly not Cole’s mother. She dies soon after one of Olivia’s goons manages to fatally shoot Emma. The reveal that Hannah was his mother all along, just left me unprepared to take the next shot. In fact, I was so enthralled with this revelation, that when Jones started to discover that Cole was the demon all along, my brain was already failing to compute it.
I will be honest, I had to rewatch the scene and go to Reddit to understand how Cole was the Djinn. I mean, this show always pack a punch when dealing with time travel explanations. Although I did not fully get this one at first, it did not disappoint. Every single time jump that Cole has made has only made the “serpent,” in this case, the timeline (I think), to eat its own tail.
Cole’s time traveling is the reason the gang is always running in circles. Remember, the Primaries’ concern with Cole and that he was the supposed key? Well, Cole is the key, but not in a “he will save us all” way. It is more of “him being nonexistent will save the timeline” thing. The realization that Cole was the demon only made his fate more concerning. Will our gang get a happily ever after? If he is the demon, will the new timeline include James Cole? If there is even a new timeline.
As of this moment, Olivia is full on heading with approaching the “Red Forest.” When Cole and Cassie arrive moments before the first outbreak happens, they see that the vile was apparently released by the Pallid Man. The easiness in which they acquire the vile was concerning and rightfully so. They, or rather Cassie was the one who purposefully dropped the vile containing the virus. It makes it even more impactful that Cassie started this journey to save the people from the virus. To save her present from turning into Cole’s future.
The scientist who recorded a message for Cole to stop the outbreak is the one who has partaken it its release. While Hannah saves Cole from a fatal bullet, we see from Cassie’s perspective the possibility that the Red Forest might not be so bad. All the tragedy unfolding right before her eyes lets us as the audience sees at the same time Olivia’s take on the Red Forest.
I have been saying that this episode is the reveal of Cole’s mother’s identity. Sure enough, we did not expect that Marion was Hannah all along. Right before the pair go into the airport, Cole and Cassie make a stop at the Emerson Hotel to find an aged Hannah who never returned to the future after splintering to 2007. It is until the very last moments when we realize that Hannah was not talking about Emma but about herself. She was confessing her motherly love for Cole, not Emma’s, not someone else named Marion. Cole reading Hannah’s letter made me think someone was chopping some mad onions. The Jones’ family reunion at the end only made the episode more heartbreaking than it already was. Yes, James Cole is a Jones since he is, after all, Katarina Jones’ grandson.
One of the most endearing aspects of this show that I have been failing to mention is the soundtrack. Season one had a very pleasant soundtrack that did not to manage to make a lasting impression. The scenes were accompanied with a fitting track, but I can’t recall myself trying to find the music of season one to replay it. Season three and onwards, however, that’s another deal. The music in season four has been splendid and on point in every single scene. The scene where they reunite is no exception.
You can read my review of the fourth season’s seventh episode right here. If you want to read my review “Demons,” which is the previous episode of 12 Monkeys, click right here. For more episode reviews of the final season of 12 Monkeys and other popular shows and movies, check back to our website!
Verdict: With shocking revelations one after the other, this episode manages to break your heart and mind at the same time.
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