12 Monkeys

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Did anyone watch this show? I thought it was a promising start. It is going to be a lot different than the movie which is understandable when adapting a 2 hour movie to a serialised story.

Premise: "Time traveler James Cole travels from the year 2043 to the present day in order to stop the release of a deadly virus by the enigmatic organization known as "Army of the Twelve Monkeys". That virus, in Cole's original timeline, caused the death of 93.6% of the world population".

They have kept the main 2 characters (Cole and Railly) and several minor characters.
Minor end of episode spoiler (view spoiler)[The crazy Brad Pitt character has been changed to a woman for the TV show (hide spoiler)]

There are going to be major changes from the movie but the 2 biggest are the Time Travel Rules & Cole's Mission Objective

Time Travel Rules in the Movie.
Nothing the time traveller does in the past will affect the future.
Time line is fixed. Everything in the past has already happened and can't be changed.

Time Travel Rules in the TV Show.
Anything that the time traveller does in the past will affect the future.
He is outside the timeline and can alter the future.

Cole's Mission Objective in the Movie
Cole is sent back to find the location of the original virus. So that another agent can travel back to get a pure sample, so that a cure can be made in the present (Future)
The humans in the future live in underground bunkers because the virus is still present in the air.

Cole's Mission Objective in the TV Show
Cole is sent back to find the source of the original virus and stop it from being released or even made. Thus saving 7 Billion lives.

It will be interesting to see where they go with these changes. I am looking forward to the future episodes and hope they can keep it as good as the pilot promises.

[Jonathan Cate]

I watched the premiere and was pleasantly surprised for a SyFy production. This gives me hope that the Expanse series might be decent after all.

[David H.]

Better than Ascension, for those who have seen both?

I'm definitely interested in 12 Monkeys, and I've got the premiere recorded--I'll probably watch it tomorrow morning.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

So far it is better than Ascension, and I liked Ascension.

It can go either way. I hope they don't overuse the time travel paradox. With their take on the rules they can use it as a "reset button" for anything that happens in the show.

[Trike]

I thought it was okay, but I don't see the point of the remake.

Much better than Ascension.

[Louie]

I was a bit weary after being burned by Ascension. Also, I was not in the mood to dive into a new series.

Maybe after Season 1 is done, I'll marathon the whole thing.

[Will]

I really enjoyed the episode. I'm excited to see what they do next

[Arrika]

I was hesitant to watch but enjoyed it thoroughly. The production levels are great - they worked hard to entertain us with this one. I also enjoyed the chemistry of the actors though I kept having déjà Vu trying to place them.

[Rob, Roberator]

Watched the episode last night, and realized just how long it must be since I've watched the movie.

I'll keep watching the show for now, but I mostly want to just rewatch the movie.

[Clare]

I liked it. The actor who plays Cole was in the Indie movie Tadpole years ago with Sigourney Weaver and Bebe Neuwirth.

[Will]

He was also Pyro in the X-Men movies

[Dharmakirti]

I liked the first episode and I will see how things play out. My main complaint is that I had a hard time rallying behind Cole and his mission because I felt that the show didn't really do a good job establishing the future timeline and what life is like then.

[Clare]

I agree. Cole says that everybody that lived is about to die as well but that's all we get. I am sure future episodes will show some of the chaos, misery etc that is presumably happening in the future ( to the few who survive the plague), and explain more about why further disaster is imminent for them, but knowing a little now would have made Cole more relatable.

On the other hand, maybe we are seeing it and processing it all as Railly does.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

There is an explanatory scene showing the future conditions and outlook about 17 minutes in.

Cole explains to Cassandra that 7 Billion die in 2017.
The virus continues to mutate and evolve. Very few are immune. (Cole being one of them)
The surface world is full of human scavengers killing to survive, the rest live underground, starving and close to extinction.
Cole believes that the human race has, at best, 1 generation left.

Cole's motivation, at least initially, is that he will rot in a prison cell if he doesn't go back.

[Trike]

I don't recall the movie's details all that well -- was it ever addressed that Cole might have brought the virus back with him? That would be one of those wacky head-scratchers: where did the virus originate?

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

Trike wrote: "I don't recall the movie's details all that well -- was it ever addressed that Cole might have brought the virus back with him?"

(view spoiler)[In the future all the survivors live underground in sealed bunkers and are virus free. The virus is still in the air outside. Stopping them from going above ground without fully sealed Hazard suits. (hide spoiler)]

Trike wrote: "That would be one of those wacky head-scratchers"

(view spoiler)[There is a point in the movie where Cole believes he caused the plague by giving Goines (Brad Pitt) the idea when they first meet. (hide spoiler)]

Trike wrote: "Where did the virus originate? "

(view spoiler)[The future believes it was released by the Army of the 12 Monkeys but (Major Spoiler)(view spoiler)[it wasn't. The leader of the Army of the 12 Monkeys (Brad Pitt) is the son of a Virologist. The virus is developed in his Lab and is released by an assistant (He believes man is killing the planet). This occurs after the end of the movie which ends with an agent from the future seated next to the assistant on a plane (on his way to spread the virus world wide.) Implying that she will get a sample and save the future. (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Clare]

oh, Ok Thanks Tassie Dave, that makes it clearer. I have high hopes for this series.

[Trike]

Dude, you double-spoiler-tagged that! I didn't even know that was possible!

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

You can do it infinitely. But it gets a bit messy after 2.

I usually only use it to separate minor and major spoilers inside the same spoiler.

[Trike]

I bow before you, sensei.

[Dharmakirti]

Tassie Dave wrote: "There is an explanatory scene showing the future conditions and outlook about 17 minutes in.

Cole explains to Cassandra that 7 Billion die in 2017.
The virus continues to mutate and evolve. Very f..."

The show did attempt to establish the future timeline, my complaint is that it was mainly "tell" and not enough "show" for me to feel compelled.

[Trike]

Excellent point. I just chalked it up to uninspired low-budget production. Also, I substantially lower my expectations for SyFy shows.