Tuesday, June 28, 2016

The Geekcap: 12 Monkeys "Resurrection"

 An older Jennifer Goines burns the remains of his past including a newspaper of her breakout, her old identification, and a drawing of a monkey. Hannah rushes in and demands to know why she isn’t doing anything for the group during the storm’s descent. Jennifer simply muses that this is the end of the beginning, another cycle. Hannah pleads with Jennifer to lead them out from this storm rather than wait for Cole, but Jennifer replies that there are many endings. This is one of them.

Jones tells Cole that they only have about six or seven hours before the facility itself is engulfed by the storm. Cole offers to splinter away immediately, but Jones remarks that would have no way to predict where he would land at that time. At this point, she states that they are moving more on hope than calculations which may have been prevented by a better physicist. Cole reassures her that he trusts in her abilities. Using a reluctant Dr. Lasky, they find that they can make a calculated jump in approximately six hours, right when the storm would be upon them. Though Jones is aware of the situation, she notes that it was Adler who was more versed in setting locations. Meanwhile, a figure breaks Ramse and Adler out from their rooms.

Jones: The worst thing about betrayal is that it never comes from one's enemies.

Ramse and Adler meet up with Cassie, revealing that there are other members of the military who have lost their faith in Jones. With the piece of the map that Ramse ripped, Adler traces the location of Titan to Colorado. He theorizes that he could use the machine to splinter Ramse and Cassie almost instantly to that spot. There, Ramse believes that they can exact their revenge and use the Witness’s form of time travel to escape, hopefully undoing everything that he has done. Cassie asks about what they should do about Cole, but Ramse instead insists that they shouldn’t bet on Cole being on their side. Cassie wonders what should happen if they are wrong. Ramse approaches her and asks if she’s sure the Witness is in Titan. Remembering her vision, Cassie replies yes. Ramse tells her that she can’t think twice on that belief.

The military and scientists pack up the evidence in hopes of evacuating, though they are still unsure about what to do with Cassie, Ramse, and Adler. Suddenly, one of their soldiers is shot, bleeding out in the hall. With the situation critical, they require the help of a doctor: Cassie. Cassie tends to the soldier’s wounds, though she remarks it is only delaying the inevitable. Cole offers Cassie a chance to go back to 1957 with him, but Cassie responds that he is only running away from the real problem. Cole claims that Cassie is only shutting him and everyone out, truly running away. They are interrupted by another shot in the hall. Unable to trust her, Cole handcuffs Cassie to a table as he goes to explore what the noise was.


In the hall, Cole confronts Ramse at gunpoint as they stand at odds with each other. Ramse reveals that they are after the time machine against Jones and Cole’s wishes. Cole warns his old friend that this move could lead to the deaths of everyone in the facility, but Ramse replies that he’s already dead. Cole, who no longer has a family, couldn’t understand. Cole retorts that he always considered Ramse part of his family, making their standing that much more tragic. Instead of killing him, however, Ramse leaves Cole alive as his men move for the machine.

Cole informs Jones that Ramse is after machine, imploring her to start the splinter sequence as soon as they are ready. In the meantime, Cole searches and finds Deacon who sits naked drinking extensively as he sings “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” Cole asks Deacon for his help in fighting back Ramse and his men. Deacon lashes out against Cole, replying that everyone who asks him for help ends up deserting him after they are done just like his men and Cassie. Cole implores him that after making it through the virus and the scavengers that he can’t simply give in to a storm, a remark that reminds Deacon of his brother. Cole reminds Deacon that he is a survivor, someone who is needed on this mission. Deacon then agrees to help Cole but quickly vomits in the hall after joining. To make matters worse, Cole believes that Ramse will be headed to the core power system and proven right when the lights go out. When Deacon arrives at the core, he finds the electrical system has been taken.

Whitley then reveals that he has joined with Ramse as he allows the men to seize control of the machine from Jones. Jones reminds Ramse that they would not be able to splinter without the power core he stole, but Ramse says that they don’t have to worry about that. Jones tries to appeal to Adler after their experience together. Adler, however, throws back that all their work has led to nothing. Now, they can go on the offense. Ramse releases Cassie who asks about what happened to Cole. While Ramse admits that he did not shoot Cole directly, he advises not to be concerned about him since he is now on an opposing side. Just as Adler works on the machine, Cole arrives to hold the man at gunpoint. With the military surrounding his friend, Ramse advises Cole that he can’t take out all of them. Cole actually agrees, saying he doesn’t have to take all of them out. Cassie tackles Cole, diverting his shot to Adler’s leg as the rest move out. Cassie fights Cole to submission, but Cole understands what she’s doing. He tells her that, although she can kill the Witness or him, she’ll still be afraid of herself for letting the Witness into the base in the first place. Cassie doesn’t answer him but leaves and locks the room behind her.

Near the machine, Cassie tends to Adler as they reprogram the coordinates. Jones confronts Whitley about his betrayal, especially since it means a betrayal of his father’s dedication. Whitley ultimately believes that this was only her mission rather than his, meaning he had no attachment to it. Ramse then threatens her to keep quiet by holding her at gunpoint. Undeterred by the threat, Jones then slams her head against Ramse. Despite the attack, they leave Jones handcuffed to a table, though Whitley threatens Ramse should he ever really try to kill Jones.


Soldiers outside the building spot a vehicle leaving, discovering that Cole has escaped. To their knowledge, Cole has left to meet up with the Daughters. In the forest, the women implore Cole to speak with Jennifer since she has refused to leave. Once Cole arrives, Jennifer correctly deduces that he needs her help to take back the facility. However, she also remarks that in the times that they have shared together, even the ones they haven’t yet, she has noticed a change in him. He is becoming a leader. Unfortunately, she adds, being a leader requires sacrifice, even sacrificing someone he cares about most. She asks him if he is willing to sacrifice someone to save the world. Once he replies yes, she agrees to join him, since she has never said no to him.

Whitley and his fellow soldiers watch outside the facility and spot the Daughters marching down the south loading dock. Ramse and Whitley then deplore their men to the location, but Whitley is stopped by a reappearing Deacon. Deacon kills the lookout soldiers but spares Whitley as he fires a flare to the others. Instead of moving to the loading dock, Cole, Jennifer, and the Daughters sneak in over the wall while the rest of the Daughters, including Hannah, move to the machine.

Cole and the Daughters then ambush the lab, releasing Jones and Lasky to reprogram the machine by holding the others at gunpoint. Deacon arrive, perfectly content with seeing Cassie and Ramse put in their place. When Ramse makes a remark, however, Deacon turns on him, raising his gun. In the chaos, he accidentally shoots the older Jennifer. Cassie quickly runs to tend to the woman, but prospects are looking grim. The Daughters then threaten that if Jennifer will die, everyone inside the base will die as well.

Cole and Cassie move Jennifer to the back as Cole recognizes this as the sacrifice Jennifer had mentioned. She was aware that the day would arrive, but she is also aware that the Daughters will destroy the facility if she would die. The only way to change that path is for a resurrection of sorts through her younger self, the one who lost her way in 2016. Cole then rushes to Jones to ask for a splinter. While Jones reminds him that they don’t have the power or coordinates yet, Cole adds that they don’t need those features when making a return jump, a splinter back to the place he just left.
In 2016, Jennifer speaks with Cole just as he was about to splinter back to the future. He reminds her that there are many endings, but the right one is the one that you choose. He then splinters away, just as the present Cole arrives to ask for her help. Jennifer reminds Cole that she has never said no to him and agrees to his plan.

Cole returns to 2044. However, this time, he brings along the present Jennifer in the splinter. Recognizing their leader, the Daughters kneel before their resurrected Mother.

Cole brings Jennifer to the back where she sees her older self. Though they cannot approach each other to closely for fear of paradox, the two can speak with each other as older Jennifer requests some privacy with herself. Jennifer realizes that this is September 23, 2044, the day she dies. With that date in mind, the older Jennifer tells her younger self that her Daughters will need a leader as she vowed a resurrection. Jennifer doubts her strength, but her older self offers a new choice. Jennifer can take the Daughters on a path to fight at Titan, a path that leads to death, or lead the group far away from the storm in hopes that Cole can stop the paradox. Jennifer asks what decision she made, leading the dying figure to reveal that she lead the Daughters away from the base. However, she remarks, she would have lead the women to Titan if she had been braver. She also reminds Jennifer that there are many endings, but the right one is the one that she will choose. Before finally dying, the older Jennifer reminds her self that she loves her.

Jennifer: Hello egg. I'm chicken.

Jennifer returns to the crowd, ordering the Daughters to lower their weapons. With her older self’s guidance, she forms a new plan. Cole will splinter back to 1957 to stop the paradox while Cassie, Ramse, and the Daughters will take the fight to Titan. Jones reminds her that the machine does not have enough power for two trips, but Jennifer responds that they will not splinter to Titan. Using her guidance, the Daughters will navigate through the storm to Titan on land.

The groups prepare for their separate missions. Cole reminds Ramse and Cassie that the Witness is always one step ahead of them, so they must be careful. Ramse reminds him that they know what to do, but Cassie leaves without looking at Cole. As the storm reaches its peak, Jones preps Cole to be sent back to the beginning of 1957 with nearly a year to track down and stop the paradox. However, without the base, she warns, there will be no way of bringing him back. Nevertheless, Cole plans to leave before Jones calls back her thanks for his belief in her. The two then share a hug before Cole splinters to 1957.

Cassie, Ramse, Jennifer, and the Daughters begin their trek to Titan. Looking back, Cassie and Ramse spot the storm engulfing the facility. Without sharing a word, Cassie immediately runs back to the base. Before the storm settles, Cassie has Jones splinter her to follow Cole in the past.
The storm finally takes over the base as the building crumbles under the temporal force. Lasky is incinerated by the force as Jones and Hannah try to find another way out of the lab. The two are separated by a blast. With no time left, Jones orders Hannah to leave without her. Despite her own wishes, Hannah obliges, finally referring to Jones as her mother. Now alone, Jones stands by her machine as the storm engulfs her as well.

In 1957, Cole arrives at the Emerson Hotel. There, he is surprised to find a just-arriving Cassie who tells him that she doesn’t want to be afraid anymore.

Notes from 2044

  • Anyone spot that brief moment between 2016 Jennifer and Deacon? Perhaps there may be another connection on the horizon.
  • For those who didn't catch Jennifer's reference, the line about “Mayday mayday! Terrorists have taken over the Natakomi building in Century City!” is from the original Die Hard.
  • Apparently, Deacon was a fan of The Breakfast Club after endlessly singing "Don't You (Forget About Me)."
  • The director of this episode, Kevin Tancheron, should be a familiar name. He has also directed episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl!

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

The Geekcap: 12 Monkeys "Fatherland"

In 2016 Berlin, Olivia enters a building that, according to her guide, had been abandoned for fifty years. When he questions what happened to the place, she responds it was a betrayal.

In 2044, a group led by Deacon and Whitley searches around the area for more data on the storm. Deacon questions Whitley if he’s sure that this will help Jones, but Whitley instead remarks how most Deacon’s men have already gone AWOL. He questions why Deacon chooses to stay. Suddenly, they spot a young boy wandering around the area. They ask him where his parents are, but he replies that they are gone, likely caught up in the storm. The red storm then rages further, forcing the party to retreat back to the base. Whitley tries to grab the boy, but Deacon pulls him back. The boy then wanders towards the red storm.

Back at the base, Jones calculates that they have approximately five days before the red storm engulfs their lab as well. She tells Cole that she believes they can push back the storm by preventing the last primary paradox in 1957. Through her research, she believes that the event took place at a factory explosion in New York, a disaster that caused the deaths of hundreds. Such destruction could have been caused by a paradox.

Cole relays this new mission to Ramse and Cassie who are less optimistic about the plan. Cole believes they could prevent the explosion, but the two argue that they have no clear way to locate the primary or a guarantee that the storms will stop. Instead, they offer a new plan using the Keeper’s research. They have tracked Dr. Kirshner as a man who previously worked on Nazi experimentation and taken by foreign services in 1961. According to the redacted files, he was linked to both Titan and the Witness. With this time, Ramse and Cassie argue that they could end the mission altogether. Although Adler argues that they could have enough power for both missions, Cole insists that they work on 1957 first since they have no time to consider the possibility of 1961’s options. Ramse and Cassie argue their option, leading Jones to finally yield to Cole. Jones ultimately supports Cole’s plan of bringing hope back to the base as opposed to Ramse and Cassie’s plan of vengeance. They plan for 1957.

Jones: If I were being forced to bet my life on a mission, I’d prefer it would be one of hope rather than revenge.

Down the hall, Ramse speaks with Adler, questioning why he would oppose helping them stop the Witness himself. Adler remarks that he understands Ramse’s desire for revenge, having lost a son himself to the plague. However, he reiterates that he doesn’t make the decisions. He only programs the machine.

As Cassie prepares for the trip, Deacon enters her room. After hearing that she is about to leave once again, he has decided to give her a real goodbye. He recalls when he first saw her on television as a kid providing hope to the masses in the midst of the plague. Cassie, however, sees through Deacon’s goodbye and discourages his advances. She reminds him that they have only spent one night together after being surrounded by scavengers and her gas mask had broken. In the end, she emphasizes that they cannot have anything in the midst of the turmoil. Disappointed, he leaves.

Cole, Ramse, and Cassie then splinter to the past. As they wait to consider their next move, the three go to the bar of the Emerson Hotel. Cole apologizes for his attitude towards their plan and thanks Cassie and Ramse for agreeing to his mission. The three toast to their work, but Cole’s drink causes him to stir. He then hears a report on a television remarking on the year 1961. He passes out just as he realizes that Cassie and Ramse have changed the plan.


Cole then reawakens in the hotel room. He finds that their guns and identification has been taken, leaving him behind. Frustrated, Cole then spots the picture of himself and Cassie from 1944. From that memory, he then contacts FBI agent Robert Gale for help. An older Gale reveals that he has been tracking the female messenger from 1944, but the search has caused his wife to leave him as well as a developing drinking problem. Still, he has also found Ramse and Cassie’s fake identification in Berlin. However, he notes that, with the construction of the Berlin Wall, it will be more urgent for them to find Kirshner as he is wanted by the governments within the area. Gale offers advice as an old friend, though Cole remarks that they have supposedly only met once, that he should distance himself from his loyalty for this case. Despite Cole’s insistence to follow his friends, Gale agrees to help.

In East Berlin, Cassie and Ramse track Kirshner to an opera. Reports state that he was killed by government forces from this night, so they must sneak him out before that happens. Cassie secretly sends a message for him to meet them outside the building, but the two quickly spot officers looking to capture Kirshner. Cassie distracts the agents while Ramse sneaks the man out the show. However, once they leave the building, they are surrounded by officers at gunpoint, forcing them to give up the man.

The officers immediately interrogate and torture Kirshner for his crimes, though he claims to be innocent. To Cassie and Ramse, they question why they wanted to evacuate Kirshner. They respond that they only want to question Kirshner about Titan and the Witness. Once that happens, they will gladly let him die. The officers, however, only become more suspicious upon seeing their fake identification. If they are not a part of the CIA, they could be part of something worse.

Gale: Nefarious characters coalesce around you like bum hairs in a drain.

Meanwhile, the FBI, including Gale, track down the Mossad agents as well as Cassie and Ramse. Unfortunately for Cole, the agency also considers Cassie and Ramse to be Nazi sympathizers after their attempted rescue of Kirshner. When Gale shows him the FBI file on the event, Cole recognizes the information from Cassie and Ramse’s redacted file. He asks Gale to find a way in, but Gale reminds him that it’s not possible to legally sneak his friends out the country. Still, Cole plans to find his friends.

In 2044, Adler admits to Jones that he changed the location to 1961, though the tether only gives the three four days until they return. Jones denounces Adler for betraying them, but Adler responds that she has forced him to wait ten years for revenge for the death of his son. Nevertheless, Jones orders him to be seized and confined to his room for his defiance.

In 1961, the Mossad officers continue to question Ramse and Cassie’s motives since they are not members of the CIA or FBI. They move to torture Ramse and eventually Cassie, who reiterates that they just want to ask Kirshner a question. Before they can go further, Cole and Gale arrive to take out the officers and free Cassie and Ramse. Cole orders them to leave, but Cassie insists they stay for Kirshner’s connections to Titan. Cole remarks that the only reason Titan and the Witness appeared on the redacted file was because of this very moment from her comments on Titan and the Witness. They were chasing their own tails. Cassie refuses to believe there’s no connection and moves to speak with Kirshner herself. There, they discover Kirshner wearing a medallion with the same symbol from Titan.

Kirshner then explains his connection with the symbol. As a young man, he came across a man who “witnessed the future” and told him about his potential. When the Witness predicted the events and experiments of the war, Kirshner grew more fascinated by the development and assisted in Nazi organizations under the eugenics program. After the Witness predicted the plague, Kirshner began experimenting on breeding not only immunity but a stronger human being. In other words, he was designing a new humanity. Cole recognizes that Kirshner might have been discovered to create the messengers. Kirshner, recognizing Cole’s name from the words of the Witness, confirms that he has a lab in East Berlin where he is currently conducting a new experiment as the “father” of a new humanity. If they can take out this experiment, they can eliminate the messengers and stop the paradoxes altogether. Kirshner warns that they would have to hurry since he is being watched, and they still need to sneak past the wall.

Cole, Cassie, Ramse, Gale, and Kirshner sneak by the wall where officers are watching the area. Ramse then distracts the guards while the others attempt to escape. However, Kirshner knocks against their hiding spot, causing a noise that alerts the guards to start shooting. In the chaos, Gale moves the others out by taking the bulk of the shots himself, effectively killing him before Cole’s eyes. Ramse reminds Cole that they can still complete what they want: stopping the messengers.

The rest of the group find the lab, located in the same building Olivia visits more than fifty years later. There, Kirshner reveals that he has created and kept a young girl. He states that the Witness had given him a woman whom he used to cultivate the eggs to create a new human. With the girl’s blood, the Army can effectively create the messengers. Off to the corner, however, the three spot something more surprising: the Word of the Witness, including their names. Before they can go further, they are interrupted by gun-wielding soldiers led by the female messenger from 1944, the woman who assisted in the experiment. Because of Kirshner’s betrayal, she proceeds to shoot against the crowd, planning to evacuate the girl. Kirshner is shot as Cassie tries to revive him. Just as she tries to move, however, she splinters back to the future. In the chaos, Ramse has a clear shot to take out the girl. Instead, against Cole’s wishes, he uses this time to rip a piece of the Word, one that details the location of Titan. The two then splinter back to the future as the army escapes.

Following the escape, the messenger takes the girl, a young Olivia, to a house where she will be protected. The messenger reassures her that she has a purpose to fulfill, and, under the Witness, she will be safe. In 2016, the present Olivia remembers these words as she regains the strength to walk with her developed system. She visits the grave of the female messenger, marked with a plaque reading “Our Mother.” At that moment, she renounces her dedication to the Army since they have forsaken her.


In 2044, the three return to the lab, awaiting Cassie and Ramse to be taken for their tampering. This time, Cole orders them to be taken since they made the call to betray him. Cassie and Ramse are then taken from the base. Because of their diversion, the base only has hours before the red storm engulfs them all.


Notes from 2044

  • According to the timeline, Olivia was created using the eggs of the female messenger. In turn, Olivia's blood was used to create the messengers who were sent back in time to create Olivia. Talk about a chicken vs. egg scenario.
  • According to the location, Titan is located somewhere in Colorado.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

The Geekcap: 12 Monkeys "Hyena"

At the J.D. Peoples Psychiatric Facility, the Pallid Man receives a message. As soon as he makes his way to a room, he receives a call from Dr. Barbara. Dr. Barbara turns out to be Jennifer Goines who taunts the man with her own plans. She marches through the building with weapons purchased from her father’s money to set the female patients free as revenge for keeping her trapped. The women trap and kill the doctor that secured their incarceration along with Jennifer’s father Leland, splattering his blood everywhere. As a final mark against the man, Jennifer hangs the body of the dead doctor near a splattered painting of the monkey’s natural enemy: the hyena.

In 2044, Whitley reports more casualties of the red storm. Camps surrounding the area are filled with skeleton bodies or men turned into infants as time shifts around them. Cole remarks that preventing the paradox death in 1973 succeeded in pushing back the storm, but Whitley believes it was just a coincidence since no one can explain what is happening. Nevertheless, Jones believes that they have tracked another paradox occurrence between 1951 and 1973. If they can track down the primary in that time period, they can likely push back the storm. Cole decides to ask Jennifer for any knowledge on the primaries.

As Cole gathers weapons, he meets with a returning Ramse. Cole takes this time to express his condolences on what happened to Sam but continues to go after Jennifer. Ramse reveals that Cassie informed him on a place called Titan where they could find the Witness. Cole questions why Ramse would know this since Cassie never informed him, but Ramse insists on going on this path for revenge.

Cole speaks to the older Jennifer who, in her usual form, provides only vague details of the past. She informs him that the way they see things now with him, Cassie, Ramse, Jones and her daughter might only be a distraction from the real trick. However, she reveals that the Pallid Man, the new leader of the 12 Monkeys, would know of the primary between 1951 and 1973. She tells him to go back to 2016 where he and her present self will work to capture the man for this knowledge. Cole questions why she should be vague since she likely knows how everything will end anyway. Jennifer responds that there are many endings. The right one is the one you choose. Cole finally brings up Titan, leading Jennifer to experience a brief flash of shock and death. She orders him to avoid anything regarding Titan since that only leads to pain and death for his friends. For the time being, he, Cassie, and Ramse must stay the course of protecting the primaries.

Jennifer: A wise man once told me there are many endings, but the right one is the one you choose.

Cole reiterates this advice to Cassie and Ramse who are not too happy about having their revenge shelved for another wild goose chase. Cole reminds Cassie that she didn’t even inform him on seeing Titan in the Witness’s head, though Cassie just replies he would have thought she was crazy. Regardless of the connection, he states that it has to wait while he goes back in time to secure the location of the last primary. Cassie remarks that, while their revenge is put on hold, Cole gets his chance to seek revenge against the man who killed his father. Cole then splinters back to 2016.

In 2016, Jennifer’s group, now known as the Hyenas, set up their supplies in a warehouse. Jennifer gladly encourages the disturbed women to fight as they track down the source of their anger: the Pallid Man. On their security footage, they spot Cole wandering the facility. One of the Hyenas, Vanessa, takes her weapon to fight off Cole, but he fights back before they are found by Jennifer who welcomes him. She informs him on her progress in tracking down the army of the 12 Monkeys and gathering the women from the psychiatric wards. Cole questions Jennifer’s choice to release several socially disturbed women, but Jennifer merely calls them misunderstood. The women respond in kind since Jennifer had liberated, fed, and armed them like their mother.


In 2044, the grown Hannah confronts her mother Jones by returning the baby blanket. Jones protests that it belongs to her, but Hannah insists that Jennifer has taught them not to care for sentimental attachments. Jones then informs her that she was born in New York City, and the name on the blanket was hand-stitched by Jones’s father, Hannah’s grandfather. Hannah asks about her father whom Jones then describes as a man about self-preservation. However, he was the creator of the time machine they now use to try and save the past. Hannah informs Jones that Jennifer told her as a child that she was rescued off the back of a swan. Now, she is told that she was a product of an attempt to cheat death. Jones informs her that she tried to change the past to save her as well as billions, but Hannah maintains she prefers the swan story. No one has to die from the machine that caused the red storm.

In the back, Cassie and Ramse pour over their limited research but cannot find any mention of Titan. Cassie mourns the loss of a database to find more information prior to the virus, leading a listening Hannah to bring up the Keeper. She refers to the Keeper as a having a database of knowledge just as Cassie has described, but he is considerably questionable in his behavior. Jennifer has forbidden the Daughters from meeting with him due to the intensity in his trade in truth. Ramse prepares to search for the Keeper with Cassie planning to join him through her own need for revenge. Ramse warns her that it’s dangerous outside the base with the virus in the air. Despite this, Cassie takes a gun and a gas mask and follows him.

In 2016, Jennifer reveals that they have tapped into the Pallid Man’s phone in order to listen in on his conversations. From there, they hear the man mentioning Oliver Peters, the man who created the virus. Cole remembers that Cassie had found the man and told him to hide, but Jennifer informs him that the army was tracking him. While Peters was adopted to another family, he had a brother. That brother came into Peters’s money which is now being used in a particular way. Jennifer deduces that Peters now works as a janitor at the Hudson University hospital. From there, the hyenas make their move.

At the university, Cole and Jennifer successfully find Peters working as a janitor but also transporting a mysterious vial into the supplies. The hyenas hold him at gunpoint where he persists that he is only a janitor now. When Cole brings up the vial, Peters reluctantly reveals that he has been creating a vaccine for the virus despite Cassie’s insistence to run and hide. The product in the vial is only an experiment, but he continues to work secretly in the hospital. Cole informs him that they have destroyed the virus, setting the army back years in their plan, but Peters is still being tracked for his knowledge of the virus. Peters fears that the hyenas will kill him, but Cole informs him that he is only bait for the Pallid Man.

In 2044, Ramse and Cassie drive out into the woods to search for the Keeper. In her frustration, Cassie removes her gas mask, despite Ramse’s warning of the virus. Cassie throws back that she’s meant to survive to leave the message that will set the entire mission into motion. The two wonder what would happen if she were to die in the forest. As they walk closer, they pass a tree with bloody bodies hung on crosses. On their chests are Latin signs reading “Liar.” Despite this warning, Cassie and Ramse continue to follow the path until they reach an old observatory. There, they are confronted by an armored man who holds them at gunpoint and orders them to drop their weapons. Reluctantly, they obey him.

In 2016, a wheelchair-bound Olivia looks on The Word of the Witness as she questions their mission. The Pallid Man replies that in the changing times they needed to develop to the technology. He believes that the future is still secure according to the Witness, though Olivia is uncertain after what happened to her. On the news, the two watch a report that reveals that Oliver Peters, a member of the controversial Markridge Group, will be holding a press conference. Olivia notes that this was likely not foreseen by the Witness, fearing that Peters will reveal the virus to the public. The Pallid Man does not respond but nearly strangles Olivia before finally leaving to secure the future.

At the lab, the hyenas prepare Peters for the press conference to reveal the virus to the world. Meanwhile, Cole and Jennifer watch the security footage to wait for the Pallid Man. Cole insists to the others that they must remain calm when the Pallid Man arrives, but the other women grow impatient. He then reveals to the hyenas that the press conference was only a ruse to draw out the man, having no intention to reveal the virus to the world. Cole insists that if they were to reveal an extinction-level virus to the public, the public will turn on each other in the fear and chaos. Jennifer argues that they have to fight back, but Cole responds that the people need to be protected. Furious, Vanessa then aims her gun at Cole, believing he is corrupting their mission. To stop her, Jennifer uses an old EKG machine to shock the girl. The remaining hyenas then turn on Jennifer and Cole. Their new plan is to kill the Pallid Man once he arrives and reveal the virus to the world after that.

Jennifer: Don't point the gun at my friend!

In 2044, the Keeper secures Cassie and Ramse to chairs as well as an old polygraph machine. He reveals that in the wake of the virus he secured copies of books and digital information to protect history. Now, he only records and demands the truth from the people he meets. Cassie immediately requests information regarding a location called Titan, causing Ramse to scoff. The Keeper then questions why the two seem to hate each other. When Ramse claims to not understand, the Keeper shocks Ramse, warning the man that lies are what destroyed society in their fruitless attempts to pacify fears. Cassie then jumps in and claims that she hates Ramse because he is selfish and sacrificed billions of lives for only one. The polygraph, however, alerts the Keeper to the lie, and he demands the true reason. Cassie then admits that the reason she hates Ramse is because the person she cares for most in the world, the one whom she sacrificed everything for, chose him over her. Ramse responds the same. The polygraph confirms that they speak the truth.

In 2016, news broadcasts prepare for the press conference as the hyenas spot the Pallid Man headed into the building. The group move to find the man while one stays behind to guard Jennifer and Cole. In this time, Cole insults Jennifer for recruiting crazy people and losing control. Jennifer responds that she couldn’t trust him. Just as the argument reaches its peak, Jennifer knocks out the guard and steals her gun. The two then head out to secure the Pallid Man before the hyenas.

Using their guard’s communicator, Cole and Jennifer succeed in tracking down the Pallid Man and take him back to the headquarters. There, Cole beats the man as revenge for killing his father. Cole demands to know the location of the remaining primary, but the man claims he doesn’t know. Cole responds by breaking the man’s kneecaps. Meanwhile, the hyenas decide to hold the press conference.

In the midst of the torture, the Pallid Man reveals that the last primary is in Upstate New York in 1957. The death will create a paradox so large that it will destroy the fabric of time and give birth to the red forest. The Pallid Man then reveals that they already had a plan for Peters. While Peters gives his announcement to the public, the man secretly placed a bomb in the basement that is set to explode at precisely eight. Cole and Jennifer attempt to warn the hyenas to escape, but, in the women’s attempt to evacuate the building, the hospital explodes. The Pallid Man also reveals that they were aware of the women’s use of the cell phone. The army uses the phone to track down the headquarters, leading to a shoot-out that Cole and Jennifer barely survive.

In 2044, the Keeper gives Cassie all remaining references to a place called Titan from CIA classified documents. Before the two leave, he warns them that the lies they tell to cover their hatred will be a greater threat to their mission than their hatred alone. The documents reference 1961 East Germany and a doctor named Kirchner, giving the two a new mission. Cassie insists on staying with Ramse to exact their equal revenge on the Witness. Ramse responds by handing Cassie her gas mask for her protection.

In 2016, Cole and Jennifer return to the hotel as Jennifer drinks to console herself. Cole reveals that he rescued her turtle to cheer her up, but Jennifer is still depressed. She mourns the loss of her group as well as the people of the hospital, believing that she was unable to help anyone. Jennifer asks if this is how she ends up in the future. Cole responds, using her words from the future, that there are many endings. The right one is the one you choose. Cole then splinters back to the future. However, moments later, Jennifer answers a knock from the door. She is then greeted by a returning Cole who bears new scratch marks on his face.  

In 2044, a meeting between Jones and Adler is interrupted by Hannah. Adler exits the room as Jones reveals that the two used to share an experience in losing a child. Hannah apologizes for her response earlier, acknowledging that it was likely too direct for ordinary people. Jones, however, responds that they have lost enough time to not be direct. Instead, she asks what Jennifer called her as a child. Hannah reveals that she was called Zeit, the German word for time. Jones then shares with her daughter a picture of her father, Jones’s former husband. Jones explains that her ex-husband gave her two things: Hannah and the time machine. Her daughter was the only one of those things that she loved. Jones’s daughter replies that she would like her mother to call her Hannah.

Back in 2016, Jones’s ex-husband Elliot mourns the loss of his machine and life’s work. The Pallid Man, bruised but still alive, consoles the man by bringing him on a new project: Titan.

Notes from 2044

  • Jones's ex-husband Elliot returns and apparently has some connection to the Pallid Man. Could his creation of the time machine have something to do with Titan?
  • The last primary is located in 1957 while the only known mention of Titan takes place in 1961. Between the two was the splinter of the military men in 1959 as seen in "Meltdown." Perhaps there is a connection.
  • J.D. Peoples Psychiatric Facility makes another appearance since its introduction in the second episode "Mentally Divergent." It is named after Janet and David Peoples, the original screenwriters behind the movie Twelve Monkeys.

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

The Geekcap: 12 Monkeys "Lullaby"

 In 2020, doctors and military figures walk around and guard rooms in hazmat suits from the spread of the virus. A younger Jones sings a lullaby to her passing daughter Hannah. Behind her, Cassie enters. She immediately shoots Jones.

In 2044, Jones reads over a passage from Hamlet as Cassie watches over Cole and Ramse walks closer to the red storm. She then prepares Cassie for a new mission and sends the doctor through the machine. Deacon then wakes Cole up after discovering Cassie’s departure, wanting him to find out where she went. Cole and Deacon march up to Jones just as the other scientists report a glitch in Cassie’s tether. Jones replies that if Cassie is successful her tether back to 2044 shouldn’t matter. Cole asks Jones where she sent Cassie, and she reveals that Cassie is in 2020 to stop a worse plague: the creation of time travel. She sent Cassie back on a mission to kill her younger self following the passing of Hannah when she was inspired to develop the machine. Cole argues that erasing the machine isn’t the way, but Jones explains that her machine was part of the destruction of time itself, believing the world would be better off without the machine altogether. Cole nevertheless orders Lasky to pull up the time Cassie was sent to, determined to stop her before assassinating Jones.

Cassie arrives in 2020 wearing a gas mask to protect herself from the virus but hears a military fire for a fallen soldier. She removes the mask within the perimeters and attempts to enter the base. The military immediately accosts her as she introduces herself as Dr. Cassandra Railly from the CDC. They shout that the CDC is dead, but she replies that she survived and needs access to the base.
The military check her for infection and take her DNA to confirm her claim to be Dr. Railly. When asked about her lost I.D., Cassie claims that she escaped Baltimore. The officer questions how she went around the West 7 quarantine zone, but Cassie maintains that she escaped despite reports from the CDC. Lieutenant Foster then leads Cassie through the base, explaining that they hope that her presence as a virologist will help boost the morale of the base since they believed that the CDC was taken over by riders. Because they have seen up to 75% containment rate of outside wanderers, the military fears a greater infection on the inside, especially since almost a dozen officers have been buried. With this fear, they have kept all outsiders, known here as “scabs,” detained. Cassie asks to speak with Jones, but the lieutenant reveals that she is with her daughter who is in serious condition.

Lieutenant Foster takes Cassie to his office where he reveals that security measures have changed since the escalation of the virus. To Cassie’s shock, he reveals that their doctors and security team have stopped assisting many of the sick out of fear of losing some of their valuable members. An officer interrupts their talk to inform the lieutenant that Jones’s daughter had passed. Lieutenant Foster leaves to find Jones while Cassie secretly steals his gun.


Foster speaks to Jones as she sings her lullaby to daughter. Despite his insistence to leave, Jones doesn’t respond. Once he leaves, Cassie sneaks into the room and shoots Jones.

Cassie is then sent back to the outside of the base with her gas mask on once again. This time, Cole arrives to try and stop her from killing Jones. Cassie insists that she already killed Jones, but Cole informs her that he was sent back to the moment she arrived in order to prevent Jones from dying. Furthermore, nothing has seemed to change. Cassie tries to prove that she already killed Jones by leading Cole to the military base.

At the base, however, the two are confronted by the military who once again accost Jones, insisting that the CDC is dead. Cole and Cassie go through the entrance process when Cole asks Cassie why she wanted to to kill Jones in the first place. Cassie admits that both she and Jones felt responsible for the deaths of Sam and Eckland, realizing that their problems with the Army stemmed from the introduction of time travel. Eliminating time travel could eliminate the threat and save time from collapsing on itself. Cole questions what they plan to do about the plague, but Cassie argues that perhaps the plague was inevitable. Cassie is then once again asked by the military about how she arrived there. Cassie, confused, tells the officer that she already explained that she escaped Baltimore, but the officer once again asks how she went around the West 7 quarantine base, a name Cole recognizes. While the officers corroborate Cassie’s DNA, they find that Cole’s only connects to an 11-year-old, Cole’s 2020 self. Unsure of their origins, the military place Cole and Cassie in detainment with the scabs.

In detainment, however, they find 2020 Jennifer Goines who is excited to see both of them. Before she goes further, Jennifer questions what they know about the hyenas in order to find out which versions they are. To Cassie’s surprise, Jennifer remembers that Cassie had already shot Jones only to have time reset itself. Jennifer insists that she keeps hearing the situation repeat with Cassie killing Jones only to have the day begin again. Cole remembers that there was a glitch in the system when Cassie splintered, possibly finding a reason for the loop. However, Cole and Cassie are then taken from the compound.

Jennifer: See you soon! They're like my best friends.

Down the hall, Lieutenant Foster then confronts the two, revealing that he discovered that Dr. Cassandra Railly had died at the CDC. He demands with soldiers at gunpoint to know who they really are with the threat of death otherwise. Cole and Cassie then fight back against the soldiers to escape. Unfortunately, the fight leads to a soldier shooting Cassie in the back with a fatal wound. In a desperate situation, Cole shoots his way through the hall to find and kill Jones, leading to another reset.

Cole and Cassie once again arrive outside the base with Cassie’s bullet wound disappearing. However, both are beginning to falter after the excessive splinters. Nevertheless, Cassie suggests they split up to try a different idea in killing Jones. Cole argues that he only killed Jones the second time to save Cassie from her wound, knowing that it wouldn’t solve their problem. Instead, he says, they should figure out how to escape the loop, but Cassie insists that the mission is still the same.

Separately, Cassie enters the base with the military believing her story and detaining Cole who once again meets with Jennifer. Cassie then steals Foster’s gun and dons a hazmat suit to sneak into the hospital room to find Jones. Just as she is about to kill Jones once again, Cassie notices the readings on Hannah as the girl stirs. Cassie asks Jones about her daughter’s condition, but Jones insists that her daughter will heal because she is immune like her mother. Cole, meanwhile, demands Jennifer to help them out of the loop through her knowledge as a primary. Jennifer offers that perhaps time does not want Cassie to kill Jones. Time may, in fact, need time travel. Cassie looks on the records regarding Hannah, but the group is interrupted by Foster’s arrival. In the chaos, time is reset once again.

Despite the failure, Cassie insists on another try inside the base with Cole once again being detained. This time, however, she asks Foster for his files on the virus. Instead of killing Jones, Cassie rushes into the room with Jones with a plan to help Hannah. She reveals that she noticed Hannah’s condition had a fluctuating temperature, but the symptoms of the virus include a steady rise in temperature. With Cassie’s expertise, she discovers that Hannah might actually be suffering from a bacterial infection rather than the virus. Hannah is immune to the virus just like her mother. Cassie then injects Hannah with an anti-biotic vaccine, but Cole and Cassie begin wincing from the timeline effect. Jennifer warns Cole again that time wants to keep the event the same.

Cole and Cassie splinter back outside the base with Cole vomiting at the effort. Cassie reveals that Hannah was immune and only suffered from meningitis following Foster’s new medical procedures. While Cassie was able to save her, it made no difference in their loop. Cole remarks that Jennifer told him how time wants to keep things the same, believing that includes her daughter’s death. This time, he suggests waiting out the day to return home.

At night, Cole and Cassie discuss Jennifer’s words. Cole believes that time needs Jones to invent time travel, a notion that Cassie believes is ridiculous. Cole then remembers a time when he and Ramse were boys and came across a gun store armed by five older men with boxes of ammo at their feet. The two were out in an open area when the men took fire. However, both Cole and Ramse survived that day without a scratch. Cole argues that perhaps it wasn’t their day to die, that something was looking out for them to survive. Or perhaps the boxes were filled with blanks. Cole then admits that he understands Jones wanting to undo her mistakes since he reveals that he would undo breaking into Cassie’s car in 2013 if he could. Cassie argues that she made her own choices, like waiting for him to return for two years at a hotel, and he needs to stop blaming himself for her actions to save the world. Cole admits that he doesn’t care about the world and only worked to stop the virus for Cassie’s safety, revealing his feelings for her.

Cassie: Did she also tell you that Time has a long white beard with commandments "Thou shall not splinter and kill the creator of time travel"?

Despite not doing anything, Cole and Cassie splinter back to the day’s beginning with Cassie having a brief vision of Titan in the red forest. Although the situation is fruitless, Cassie and Cole return to the military base where Cole speaks with Jennifer who is angry at not seeing Cole and Cassie in the previous loop. She then encourages Cole to “do something by doing nothing” to escape the loop and save the world. To begin with, Jennifer encourages him to keep hope like she has, despite her fear of being killed and leaving her people without a leader. Using Jennifer’s words, Cole comes up with an idea.

Cole convinces Foster that Cassie and Jones were behind the smuggling of the virus into the base with Jennifer Goines. After revealing that Cassie is not really the late Dr. Railly, the lieutenant sentences the four of them to death. Just as they are being dragged to the firing wall, Cole asks Jones if a little bit of happiness is better than anything else. When she responds yes, Cole tells her to hold onto that thought. Cassie grabs onto Cole’s hand as the soldiers fire, leading to another redo. However, Cole claims to have another idea.   

Back in 2044, Jones and the scientists manage to reach Cole and Cassie’s tethers and fix the glitch, bringing both of them back to the lab. Still, Jones is disappointed that everything has remained the same. Cassie and Cole admit that they tried to kill Jones, but time kept resetting the day. After speaking with Jennifer there, Cole believes that time needs them and Jones to set things right in the world against the army of the 12 monkeys. In other words, time is on their side. Jones scoffs at the idea and insists that the only thing that happened was a machine malfunction. The glitch in the system caused them to be sent in a perpetual splinter sequence back to the same spot rather than time itself causing the act. Cole, however, still has something else to show Jones.


Cole, Cassie, and Jones walk outside the base to confront the Daughters and Jennifer. Jennifer is satisfied to see that the future came but tells Cole to explain what happened to Jones. Cole then reveals that they couldn’t change the loop by acting or doing nothing, so they did something by doing nothing. Cole and Cassie, utilizing multiple resets, came up with a new plan. Cassie explains that Hannah was immune to the virus but succumbed to bacterial meningitis. In one loop, Cassie had managed to save her, but time continued to reset itself. Jones blasts the argument since she remembered seeing her daughter dead. The two then reveal that time needed Jones to believe that Hannah was dead in order to be inspired to create time travel. Cole broke Jennifer out of the detainment facility while Cassie smuggled Hannah in a back room where she cured the girl’s meningitis. They then took Hannah to Jennifer’s group The Daughters where she has lived for the past twenty-four years. Now, Jones reunites with her daughter, alive and well, in a tearful embrace.

Amidst the reunion, Jones develops a new sense of hope in keeping the machine going. Cole and Cassie talk following his earlier declaration. He claims that, like Jones and her daughter’s reunion, he would rather have one moment of happiness with her than a lifetime without it. Unfortunately, Cassie rejects the offer, believing that losing anything is the greatest thing that haunts them. She tearfully leaves him and returns to her room.

There she finds Ramse carrying a half-drained glass of scotch and a gun with two bullets. Despite what happened, he believes that Cassie is responsible for what happened to Sam and plans to kill her and then himself. Cassie understands his anger but offers to help him go after the real culprit: the Witness. Ramse doubts that he’s a real figure, but Cassie recalls seeing the metal city Titan inside the Witness’s head while he was inside hers. Together, Cassie believes they can go to Titan and kill the Witness.

Notes from 2044

  • If you look carefully in the last scene, you can see Cassie is wearing the same watch used in the paradox from the pilot "Splinter"!
  • The Witness might be located in a place called Titan. Could the fact that there were 12 Titans be an influence on the 12 Monkeys?
  • This episode includes the return of Spearhead and a still-alive Colonel (then Lieutenant) Foster  in 2020!

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

The Geekcap: 12 Monkeys "Meltdown"

In 1959, military men play cards in a laboratory as a soldier brings in a dog for experimentation. The lights around them begin to flicker, similar to a splinter. The men wonder if someone broke in, considering there was no alarm. Before they can do anything, each of the men begin to shift and then disappear, as if they splintered out of time.

In 2016, Cassie stands watch in the hotel room until she hears a movement in the bedroom. She takes her gun and slowly creeps through the dark room. She finds nothing, avoiding a figure of the Witness behind the door. Finally, she injects herself with the splinter formula and returns to 2044.

In 2044, Eckland and Jones play cards in bed, appearing more friendly and comfortable with each other through a small bit of flirting. Eckland jokes that he’s seen Adler looking at her, an idea Jones scoffs at quickly. He then asks if she would have ever re-married if the world wasn’t nearly destroyed, something that gives her pause before denying. The two then nearly share a kiss before the time machine reactivates in bringing Cassie back. Cassie returns to the facility but is, at first, unresponsive as she sees the figure of the Witness in the back. Cole then arrives, bringing her back to her senses.

Meanwhile, Sam shows Ramse a complete model of the facility he had created, including the power connections through the river under the base. Ramse, impressed with the creation, indulges his son by reenacting a splinter sequence with models before he is called back to an intel meeting with Cassie’s return.

Cassie informs the rest of the group about her experience with the Witness in seeing him as Aaron and even feeling his touch. Ramse acknowledges that the Army often drank the tea in order to experience visions and communicate with the Witness, similar to a hallucinogen. Jones theorizes that the tea displaces the mind past the time stream to talk to the Witness, essentially splintering the mind. Cassie maintains that it wasn’t a hallucination since she seemed to have seen the Witness splinter. Jones argues that if the Witness could splinter, he wouldn’t require the use of the time machine to send back the messengers. Otherwise, his abilities remain elusive to them. Jones then asks Cassie if she has any idea why he would want to talk to her. Cassie hesitates to answer, leading Deacon to move her out of the room away from more questions.

In the middle of the night, Cassie takes a drink but then hears another shift. She wanders down the hall to the time machine where she sees the Witness near the machinery. Before she knows it, she’s suddenly back on the floor in the room where she got her drink. Unsure of what happened, she wanders, finding Cole looking at the travel research. He remarks that he’s had trouble sleeping after splinters as well as seeing things. Cole also says that he has seen the way Deacon has acted around her and claims that, although he doesn’t care for Deacon, he isn’t bothered by their relationship. Cassie replies that she didn’t think it would bother him, leading both to see how they don’t seem to know each other as well as they did.

Cole: Tough to sleep after you splinter. Kinda messes with your clock.

Jones and Eckland look back into their research while Cassie continues to train alone. The two attempt to find if there was another traveler in 2016 when they splintered Cassie and manage to find another tether linking back to the facility. At that moment, the machine begins to overpower and spurt blasts of electricity and light across the room. Streams of the time machine’s energy begin reaching across the building, forcing Cole, Ramse, and Sam to move. In another hallway, a wounded creature seems to appear from the blast.

Cassie and Deacon arrive at the center where Jones explains that whatever has happened was a deliberate attack based on rewiring the time machine. Now, the machine will start sending out beams in random directions, threatening everyone on the base. Suddenly, the group is interrupted by a gunshot. The creature appears as a twisted human being now wielding a gun. He shouts that Jones is responsible for what happened to him and moves to kill her. Before he can shoot, the man is killed by Cole who arrives with his own gun. Jones reveals that she recognizes the man as one of the volunteers from the splinter test. He was lost in the time stream during the experiment, emerging from the random blasts of the time machine. Meanwhile, Ramse and Sam try to reach the others as Ramse passes a pile of playing cards in the hall.

Jones explains that whoever was responsible for the sabotage wanted to create a meltdown which would cause a chain reaction across time itself. Cassie recognizes that the Witness wanted to destroy time itself and believes that he was responsible for this reaction. She recalls seeing him near the machine, leading Jones to believe that the Witness was the one connected to the phantom tether. As it is now, Cole and Cassie, despite Deacon’s wishes, leave to shut down the power at its core while Eckland and Deacon attempt to find a replace a part of the time machine to reverse the sabotage. Deacon offers Eckland his gun, but Eckland refuses, stating that he is a pacifist.

In the hall, Cassie elaborates on her experience with the Witness with Cole. She reveals that, after impersonating Aaron, he shifted his form into Cole to try and convince her that his true mission was to stop death. They’re stopped after seeing another grotesque human being crawling on the floor, moaning in pain. Cole puts him out of his misery by shooting the man but finds that Cassie has left.
Elsewhere, Ramse tries to lead Sam to the center while avoiding the new appearances. Suddenly, he is attacked by a vicious dog, the same dog from 1959, forced to let go of Sam. When Ramse finally fights off the dog, he sees that Sam is gone. Ramse then catches up to Cole who finds that his communication with Jones is down, leaving the two on their own.

Eckland searches for a replacement part while Deacon watches his back. He successfully finds one, but the men are confronted by gun shots fired by two other men. These two question what Deacon and Eckland are doing on their army base without permission. Deacon then asks the men about the year to which the figures reply 1959. Deacon offers to explain to them the circumstances for lowered weapons, but the two army men fight back regardless. Deacon fires against them along with Eckland, despite his pacifistic nature. Eckland is shot but successfully re-tosses a grenade thrown by the men, stopping the fight. Deacon helps Eckland back to the center.

Jones explains to Deacon that the facility they work in now was previously a military base, explaining the travelers’ confusion. She helps patch up Eckland but insists on the importance of shutting down the machine with the risk it now puts to the base. With the machine unchecked, the meltdown could turn the facility into a crater. She orders Deacon to find Cole and Cassie who are taken too long shutting down the power.

Deacon: Crater, I understand.

Cassie is revealed to be the one who took Sam, dragging him to the power grid at gunpoint. Cole and Ramse follow her until she barricades herself in the room and points her gun at Sam, preventing them from shutting down the power. In reality, Cassie appears to be trapped in the cabin in the red forest with the Witness controlling her body. Ramse tries to reassure Sam, but Sam secretly points to the floor, reminding his father about the river underneath the base. Ramse then finds an opening through a vent with a fifty-foot drop that could leas inside the room. Cole insists on him going, believing himself to be the best option of reaching to the real Cassie. Using a rope made by nearby wires, Ramse lowers Cole down the vent across to the other side.

With no communication through the base and the machine growing worse, Eckland finds himself with no choice but to change the parts manually, putting himself at risk to the blasts. Jones yells at him to return, believing it to be a suicide mission.

Deacon catches up to Ramse as he sees Cassie holding a boy hostage. He helps lower Cole through the vent, but both he and Ramse are confronted by two remaining members of the 1959 army men. They turn their guns, questioning Deacon and Ramse about the things happening on the base. Not believing the situation, the army men take Cole’s tether and try to pull him back, thinking they are helping him.

Eckland continues to replace the part while dodging blasts from the machine. Jones continues to shout for him to return, but he replies that there is nothing like going out on a romantic gesture for someone you love. Jones shouts back that she doesn’t love him, but Eckland states that she once did, which can never be replaced. He finally replaces the part on the time machine but burns and eventually dissolves from the blast back of the power. This reset of the time machine causes the soldiers to splinter away, allowing Deacon and Ramse to guide Cole into reaching the power core to face Cassie.

Cole tries to appeal to Cassie as she tries to fight her way out of the cabin. Cole urges her to fight if she can hear him, but it appears to be of no use. In their desperation, Deacon calls for Ramse to go after them, saying that Ramse is the only one of the men who could be trusted to kill Cassie. Cole then confronts the Witness holding Cassie hostage and asks him what he has witnessed. As Cassie, the Witness simply replies the end and the beginning. Ramse arrives, forcing her at gunpoint to let Sam go. In the cabin, the real Cassie peers outside a window and sees a massive industrial complex baring the name Titan.

The power core begins rupturing, leaving the group with little time left to argue. Cole finally brings up earlier about how she believed they don’t know each other as well as they did. He argues that it’s not true since she knows him better than anyone, and he her. One thing he knows best about her is that she would never kill Cole or allow him to be killed. Cole then orders Ramse to shoot him as proof. The shock of seeing Cole bleeding on the floor breaks Cassie free as she drops her gun and runs to Cole’s body. In the chaos, Ramse finally shuts down the power core.

Cole: The truth is, I don't think anybody's ever known me like you. And I know you.

However, Jones notices high levels still radiating from the room and shouts for everyone to abandon the power core room. Unfortunately, the power core gives off one final temporal blasts which hits and splinters Sam to the horror of Ramse.

Ramse looks back at Sam’s model of the base and the figure of the time traveler. He asks Jones if Sam is truly dead. Jones replies that she is unsure if Sam is dead, but it is unlikely if he could survive whatever happened or wherever he was sent. However, if Ramse could survive lost in time, his son might have a chance. Nevertheless, Ramse packs his things and leaves the base on his own.

Jones then checks on Cole lying in a hospital bed watched over by Cassie. Cassie informs Jones that with Cole’s healing ability, he should be fine. Jones explains that the phantom tether they tracked was the Witness, but, instead of traveling physically, he merely traveled as an essence, using Cassie’s mind as a receiver. The visions Cassie has been seeing around the base were actually Cassie tampering with the machine under the control of the Witness.Jones believes that she has created an injection to counteract the drug Cassie was given, but even she is unsure if it will keep the Witness out indefinitely. Nevertheless, Cassie still feels an intense guilt over what happened, blaming herself for the deaths of Sam and Eckland as well as Cole being hurt. Jones counters that the only one to blame is her. With that knowledge, Jones knows the way to correct it.

In an indeterminate time, Sam calls out for his father in a forest. He then confronts a figure who leads him away. 

Notes from 2044

  • The symbol on the water tower marked "Titan" bears the same symbol on Olivia's necklace and tattoo. 
  • Jones reveals that the base they use for time travel was previously a military base.