12 Monkeys Season 4 Review: One Of The Best SciFi Shows On Television E-V-E-R (Series Finale)

"There once was a serpent who could only travel in only one direction-- always forward, never back. Until one day the serpent came upon a demon. The demon cursed the serpent driving him insane, causing him to eat his own tail. The serpent was blind. But there were a few, those who were seers, knew the serpents true path so they created a weapon. A weapon to destroy the demon. They hid the weapon in the snake's den where he waited for his madness to end. But it never did. For the seers discovered that the only one who could wield the weapon was the demon himself. And so the serpent was doomed to circle in madness forever"

SyFy presented the final season of "12 Monkeys" over 4 weeks with 3 episodes per week. All episodes of season 3 were released on one weekend. Not sure what the rational was behind this release structure but who am I to judge? 

If you're trying to watch the season now, it's not going to be easy. It's not available on NetFlix, Hulu, the SyFy channel or VOD from my provider. You can purchase it from Amazon Prime for $26.  It's a shame there arent more viewing options. 

Season 4 continues to provide what we fans want-- a thought provoking story with characters we have grown to care about.  "12 Monkeys" is not for passive viewing. You really need to pay attention to keep track of the multiple timelines.  

When we left off at the end of season 3, Olivia had taken her place on the throne as the true Witness. We incorrectly thought it was Aidan (Cassie and Cole's son). Olivia kills Aidan. That woman is ruthless. 

Season 4 picks up again in 2046.  Deacon is left behind when the good guys attempt to escape Olivia by splintering part of the facility away. Olivia later finds him alive and he joins her ranks. Olivia is experiencing some dissent among the troops. They want the Red Forest they were promised. Plus she's not even a primary. Olivia's reaction is to kill anyone who complains. 

Over the course of 11 episodes, our gang travels from the future to the Middle Ages and many places in between in order to stop Olivia from destroying the world. Their plans become more and more desperate. They're never able to positively affect history no matter what they do. To make matters worse, Olivia is using Titan's energy to search the past/present/future in order to break the Djinn of continual cycles. She is hot on the good guys' trail most of the time.   

During their first mission the team heads back to 2043 and borrow a power core from themselves. Jones gives herself a nice talking to along the way. Meanwhile Jennifer is in 2018 where she lifts an artifact (an Ouroborus or snake eating his tail) from a museum (with hilarious results as usual). She of course gets caught but the museum curator is not a bad guy after all. His grandmother was primary and it is his family's duty to protect the codex. Cole is able to solve the puzzle thanks to a story he heard as a child (see the first paragraph above). Inside is a scrap of paper that reads "Blackleaf 1852". 

Off to the wild west they go. In a interesting twist, who do they find there but Dr Elliott Jones (Katarina's husband and Hannah's father). He is the person that built Titan. It was funded by 12 Monkeys research dollars. And he is gone almost as soon as we meet him-- shot when Deacon and company arrive and transport Titan (before Cassie, Cole, Hannah and Jennifer can blow it up). Kat finally tells the others that she is dying from radiation poisoning (from when she handled the fuel cell back in episode 1).  

Cassie goes back to 1971 to meet a younger pregnant Olivia. She was a nasty piece of work even back then. Cassie first tries to reason with her, the tries to kill her but Olivia's mother (Manthis) jumps in the way. Manthis had lost her faith. Olivia is still a true believer.  

We learn that Primaries in the Middle Ages built a weapon to stop the Witness. We just dont know where or when it is located. The only clue is "climb the stairs, ring the bell". The group think the Nazis found the weapon during WWII. They head back and retrieve the artifact (it's a bell shaped like a monkey head). They also blow up a younger Hitler on the way outta Dodge. That was one of the most fun episodes. Jennifer singing Pink's "U + Ur Hand" gave a delightful middle finger to the Nazis. 

And the surprises keep on coming. It turns out Olivia's daughter Emma is disguised as a lab assistant for Elliott and Kat. Her sole purpose in life is to finish Titan.  But Olivia is a really bad mother. Emma escapes to the past. Katarina sends Hannah on a mission to the same time period. It is to find Marion Woods (Cole's mother). She in the one that initially told Cole's father the serpent story. Hannah and Emma team up. We are led to believe that Emma is Cole's mother (which would have been cray cray). Instead it is Hannah. So Jones is actually Cole's grandmother.  If Cassie and Cole had not saved Hannah several seasons ago, he would have never been born. Mind blown!

The gang goes back to the Middle Ages where they find another time travel machine (but it is quickly destroyed by Olivia). Turns out it was designed by the Primaries to wipe Cole out of history. He is both the cure and the disease. The team next tries to stop the plague before it happens. That doesnt work either. They eventually figure out that they are supposed to UNLEASH the plague (thus killing 7 billion people). That is heavy. 

With no other options left, the heroes go on the offense and attack Titan. This gives the show a chance to bring back all the major players from the past including Deacon and Ramse. They eventually succeed (although it was looking iffy for while as Cassie contemplated NOT turning off the Titan program). She wanted her and Cole to spend eternity together in the Red Forest. Cole finally convinces her to push the button saying time is only precious because it has an ending. 

Everyone is sad because they must return to their own time lines in order to preserve history. Cole must be erased from history as well. They say their tearful goodbyes. Cole and Kat spend some final moments together before she succumbs to the radiation and dies. 

We think that is the ending. But wait, it is only the beginning (hence the episode title). Cassie is back to being a doctor. She buys the house of cedar and pine. Jen continues to be her crazy self and bioengineers a unicorn. Of course she does. Kat is living a happy life with Elliott and a young Hannah. Deacon, despite dying twice (once by being beheaded) survives to chill out in the future with Old Jennifer. James wakes up a beach. Is he in heaven? Nope, Jen is there. He is in her timeline. Jones dying act was to remove Cole from everywhere in history so he could try to have a decent life. He goes to Cassie's house. They run to each other and tearfully embrace. I'm not crying. You're crying!

So in the end, everyone (except Olivia) gets their happy ending. Cassie pushes Olivia into an energy beam but only half of her body is transported to the Himalayas almost 1200 years earlier. It turns out Olivia is the Annapura remains (ie the Virus Meat Man) saw back in season 1. She is also the originator of the Kalavirus. Payback is a bitch indeed. 

Grade: 5 Monsters (out of 5). Excellent! The complexity to which the stories and characters are woven together over 4 seasons is superb. I was originally skeptical when the series was announced. What could it add to the "12 Monkeys" movie mythology? I am happy to say that I was very wrong.  "12 Monkeys" is one of the best sci fi shows E-V-E-R on TV. There's something for everyone. There's time travel, apocalyptic events, a love story, life lessons and great humor. Jennifer Goines (Emily Hampshire) is one of the highlights of the series. The WWII episode where she sings Pink's "U + Ur Hand" to a room full of Nazi officers is a delight. 

So what have we learned from "12 Monkeys"? No matter what the odds, never given up. Hope always wins over despair. Love transcends all (even time). Live in the moment because that's all we have. 

Photo Credits:
https://25yearslatersite.com/2018/07/11/12-monkeys-the-power-of-now-series-finale/
https://twitter.com/12monkeyssyfy/status/1015384902261342208
https://projectsplinter.com/2018/07/12/finale-reviews/
https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/12-monkeys-syfy-cancelled-renewed-season-five/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spejZVk1f5k
https://www.thetvjunkies.com/12-monkeys-terry-matalas-talks-season-4-part-3/
http://12-monkeys.wikia.com/wiki/Annapurna_Remains
http://12-monkeys.wikia.com/wiki/Demons
http://fallenrocket.blogspot.com/2015/05/relationship-spotlight-james-cole-dr.html

GMonsterTV

TV: Heavy On Sci Fi, Horror & Fantasy; Light On Reality

December 25, 2018

11:09 AM