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.

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