What I’m Watching: 12 Monkeys (Season Premiere)

12 Monkeys: Season 2, Episode 1 “Year of the Monkey” (B+)

It’s been just over a full year since this show finished its first season, and it’s great to have it back. I loved the movie that was then turned into this series, and the first season was pretty cool. This episode started things off on a strong note, with just enough freakiness with flashes of red and darkness in the woods to ground it. I’m most excited about the fact that Cole chose to defy time and fate by saving Ramse instead of killing him, and now the two of them are on the run together trying to ensure that the virus doesn’t get unleashed. I was surprised to see Brendan Coyle, best known as Bates on “Downton Abbey,” as the duplicitous Dr. Kalman who nearly killed Ramse. I also recognized David Richmond-Peck, who was the tailed Olivier on “Orphan Black” and got himself taken out very quickly in this episode. Cassie adjusted pretty well to life in the future after allying herself with Jones and ensuring that she had Deacon on her side after diagnosing him. Jones did an impressive job of destroying the first person to try to go back through time, and after she fixed it, a few creepy blue people made it back also with Scottie Thompson of “NCIS” fame. The best part of this episode was its ending, where Cassie, after eight months in the future, has come back to stop Jennifer, confident that killing her will do fix everything. Cole is no longer so quick to violence, and now the two of them have changed places in their outlooks on the certainty of the future. I’m pumped for this season.