What I’m Watching: 12 Monkeys (Penultimate Episode)

12 Monkeys: Season 4, Episode 9 “One Minute More” (B+)

As this episode started and our friends were talking about going back to JFK Airport to when the virus first broke out, I was thinking how crazy it would be if this show ended the same way that the movie did with a scene at airport security. It’s not looking that way, but we did get a few very interesting revelations, namely that Cassie was the one to unleash the virus because that’s what the primaries always wanted her to do, and that we didn’t quite know who Cole’s mother actually was. Emma still subverted the purpose that Olivia always intended for, but she died too soon to become Cole’s mother, something that Hannah stepped in to do when she fell in love with his father. Sacrificing her life so that Cole could live at the airport was a perfect end to her cycle, one that demonstrates immense loyalty both to her son and to the mission that she seemed to know she was on all along. Whether or not Cole has to die remains a question, and the very ominous “To be concluded” end title was extremely exciting. It’s been a long run with this show and a wild ride with all of this time-destroying business, and I do think that it’s been worthwhile, getting back to causality, time travel, and a true nail-biter of a conclusion to figure out just how this wacky show is going to wrap all of its many ever-changing threads and characters up once and for all.