Title: 12 Monkeys Series Finale Review
Air Date: July 6, 2018
Network: Syfy
Genre: Science Fiction, Drama
Warning! This review contains full spoilers for the series finale of 12 Monkeys.
Man, those onions were tough. Like who keeps chopping them?
If you don’t want to go through the whole review, then here is a brief summary: Amazing. Fabulous. Magnificient. Muah. 10 out 10 cat wows.
“Where are you now?” Somewhere safe, warm?”
Doesn’t matter. Why? All that matters is now. Now, we got a series finale which nicely ties all loose ends. There is no post-credits, no teases, no plot holes (I think?). Consistent with the seasons’ overall callback to the early episodes, we open up the finale with Jones’ and Coles’ very first encounter. From there we see a familiar face pop up to a Katarina Jones who had barely uncovered the Splinter machine. This face is non-other than her grand-grandson, Athan.
Athan is one among the numerous familiar faces that the finale brings back for us to see one minute more. The nice thing about their returns is that they feel earned. Mostly because the characters were endearing and were fully fleshed out before they met their ultimate demise. Time was given for us to connect and understand the characters. Although Athan did not return to help his father at the last mission to stop Titan, he went back in time to give Katarina a clue as to how to save his father. Whether unintentionally or not, it worked. The returns were unexpected, to say the least.
We saw the return of my boy Ramse. In fact, it was not Cole’s idea but Cassie. If you remember Ramse and Cassie were at odds. To some degree, Cole had to decide whether to follow the woman he loved or his best friend who was like his brother. The two then locked heads and Ramse met his demise at Cole’s hands. Remember Ramse’s last words to Cole? That “see you soon” was because he had already made peace with Cole.
His return was a plan in motion right from the very moment he utters his last breath. Before Cole shot him, there was a moment that Ramse suddenly vanished. This moment was when our Cole took him out of the season 3 timeline and brought him for the final fight. Aside from the loveable friendship that Deacon and Jennifer develop over the series, Cole and Ramse’s friendship stands right there on the top.
The greatest moment between these two was the car scene. The music, the editing, and the timing were just perfect. That scene alone speaks so much about the show. This show knows when to inject a light-hearted moment just in the right moment, without going over the top. Nevertheless, it is not afraid to embrace the wackiness of its own concept at the same time. If they are going to die, might as well go in style. In fact, everybody that the gang brings back is destined to die.
The scavking get a glorious return, saving both Ramse and Cole just in the nick of time. It reunites the West Seven group one last time. In fact, even Max gets a chance to save Jones at the last minute too. The latter’s return was able to be a reality only because of the joining efforts of our Jennifer and Old Jennifer.
Jennifer has always been the one to bring light in the darkest times despite her “craziness.” She seems to be the person who is able to be friends with anyone, except Olivia, of course. Whom the latter got her demise by becoming the very skeleton trapped in a box. Jennifer’s exchange with Ramse was sweet. “Sup Cocoa Puffs.” This is one combined with the everlasting friendship she forms with Deacon is the best. I say everlasting because the show manages to wrap up a happy ending for everyone without going out of its own established rules.
It’s hard to give a time traveling show a satisfying ending. Mainly because time traveling is a concept that is hard to grasp and follow through. Endings sometimes suffer from plot holes lingering or posing last-minute rules that were not established previously. Here, while the ending might have been seen as a happily ever after, it works. It works because Cole was always special. He exists outside of time. The show even states this in season 2. It works because the moments in which our heroes were able to feel happiness, were only for a brief moment. So, when we see their smiles, it pays off.
We chose our ending.
An ending that both our characters want, but also that the fans want. Especially any Casserole fan out there who might have almost had a heart attack if their story ended in a bittersweet note. It almost did. However, the universe ain’t stopping that boat from sailing. Neither is it stopping Jennifer from bioengineering her first unicorn. That was just lovely.
For my reviews of the previous episodes of the final season of 12 Monkeys click here. For more reviews of other popular shows and movies, check back to our website!
Verdict: 12 Monkeys starts with a band and ends with a double bang. The series finale manages to strongly wrap up a show that always found a way to captivate its audience. With fantastic performances and complex writing, 12 Monkeys is a show in which any other show that might want to tackle time traveling, must take notes from.
[review]