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12 Monkeys (2015)

12 Monkeys is an American television series on Syfy created by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett. It is a science fiction mystery drama with a time traveling plot loosely adapting the 1995 film of the same name, which was written by David and Janet Peoples and directed by Terry Gilliam, itself being inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 featurette La Jetée; the series credits Marker and both Peoples for their original works.

In the series, Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull star as James Cole and Dr. Cassandra "Cassie" Railly, two strangers destiny brought together on a mission to use time travel to stop the destructive plans of the enigmatic organization "Army of the 12 Monkeys". Kirk Acevedo and Noah Bean also star in the first season. In the second season, Bean makes a guest appearance, and Todd Stashwick, Emily Hampshire, and Barbara Sukowa are promoted from recurring guests to regulars. In the fourth season, Acevedo moves from starring to recurring guest star. Stanford, Schull, and Hampshire play reimagined versions of characters respectively portrayed by Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt in the 1995 film. Stowe made a guest appearance in the second season in a small but pivotal role.

Natalie Chaidez was the showrunner of 12 Monkeys during its first season, working closely with creators Matalas and Fickett. For the second season, she stepped down to the role of consultant and Matalas and Fickett became showrunners. In the third and fourth seasons Fickett became a consultant, and Matalas was the sole showrunner. The series was produced by Atlas Entertainment, which also made the 1995 film, and Universal Cable Productions. Charles Roven, producer of the original film, was one of the series executive producers.

12 Monkeys premiered on January 16, 2015, with a 13-episode first season which received mixed critical reception, and ended with the completion of its 11-episode fourth season on July 6, 2018, for a total of 47 episodes produced. From its second season and onward, it enjoyed more consistently favorable critical reception. The series won two awards for its cinematography, one by each of the American and Canadian Societies of Cinematographers, and was nominated for a further four.

This show literally starts with a speech about the next epidemic or pandemic… So the real world situation makes this show somehow hit home all the more.
Welcome to 12 Monkeys, an obscure show, which I can promise you, might just be the best time travel show in recent history.

12 monkeys was originally a 1995 film starring Bruce Willis. I was aware that a TV Show based on the same premise was coming out, but I waited for the show to end before seeing it. Also, during a worldwide pandemic and a nationwide lockdown, what else have I got to do…
I had zero expectations from this show. All I knew was there was an element of time travel and global pandemic involved. I will not discuss the plot of the show, as its better to experience it than be told, but this show has got to be one of the best Sci-fi shows recently despite a very minimal budget.
The acting performances are all natural and somehow the actors manage to pull off their outlandish dialogs with ease and believability. Most often-such shows get hokey very fast, but 12 Monkeys manages to keep it grounded.

Special mention for Amanda Schull playing Dr. Cassandra Railly, she is the heart and soul of the entire series. Not only is she very pretty to look at, but her acting really brings to life her character and makes us feel for her and the situation she finds herself in due to the time travel shenanigans.
Also, such shows often manage to get VERY procedural, for example 1995’s TV show ‘Sliders’ or 1989’s Famous TV show ‘Quantum Leap’. Both these shows are of the same genre as 12 Monkeys, but they manage to get very repetitive and in those shows, every episode works on its own without carrying the story forward. Not this show. Here every episode has some meaning in a larger framework and often things that happen in season 1, which can only be explained in season 3 or 4. The story keeps moving without many filler episodes meant to pad the time. It’s almost like Christopher Nolan’s Memento, where some episodes are out of context and makes sense only much later. It’s like time being seen in a skewed manner and somethings show results without the cause being evident.
Any show which forces you to think like that is brilliant in itself, but after having seen all 4 seasons in a binge, the thing that struck out to me was the ending. Often shows fail to stick the landing with the ending season or last few episodes.

Case for point is, How I met Your mother, Game OF Thrones and lots of other shows which have a really horrible or rushed ending. Thankfully, the show runners worked their magic and this show has a satisfactory ending, which works extremely well and enhances the entire show rather than diminishing it. I cannot explain how rare that it, to have a satisfying ending which is not rushed and done to perfection. It’s for this reason, I will highly recommend this show.

Rating : 9/10. This is one of the best Time travel Sci-Fi shows ever done.

Overall : The episodes keep the story moving forward without becoming procedural or repetitive, it’s a narrative driven plotline which takes us for a wild ride. Highly recommended.