What I’m Watching: 12 Monkeys

12 Monkeys: Season 3, Episode 2 “Guardians” (B)

This was a solid improvement over the opening hour, and a sign that we’re probably headed somewhere positive for the remainder of the season. The most significant thing is that this new technology that allows splintering without any sort of tether or an advertisement placed in the classifieds of a newspaper changes the game entirely, and now once again has led to time being changed around them since the both creepy and destructive Magdalena has again gone back in time to sacrifice herself so that their mission, to keep the baby witness safe, can be preserved. Cassandra was rightly horrified that, when she asked to see her son, she was brought just to a mask representative of him as an adult, with his younger newborn form being constantly transported throughout time to assure that he can grow up to be the man/demon/whatever he is that he will eventually become. I couldn’t have been more excited to see Jennifer, who was trapped in 1917 in France and doing what any good stranded time-traveler should, which is to recreate famous elements of pop culture long before they were actually invented, like playing Charlie Chaplin and E.T. That she put together a version of her own story with “Je splinter” was great, and I like that, after initially arriving in his traditional brutish fashion, he made up for it once they restarted the time loop by applauding Jennifer’s performance and telling her that they came to rescue her. Everyone in the future seemed pretty horrified to see her return, and I look forward to what Jones and crew can engineer now with enhanced knowledge.