12 Monkeys (TV series)


12 Monkeys is an American television series on Syfy created by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett. It is a science fiction mystery drama with a time traveling plot loosely adapting the 1995 film of the same name, itself based on Chris Marker's 1962 featurette La Jetée.
In the series, Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull star as James Cole and Dr. Cassandra "Cassie" Railly, two strangers brought together by destiny on a mission to use time travel to stop the destructive plans of the enigmatic organization "Army of the 12 Monkeys". Kirk Acevedo and Noah Bean also star in the first season. In the second season, Bean makes a guest appearance, and Todd Stashwick, Emily Hampshire, and Barbara Sukowa are promoted from recurring guests to regulars. In the fourth season, Acevedo moves from starring to recurring guest star. Stanford, Schull, and Hampshire play reimagined versions of characters respectively portrayed by Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt in the 1995 film. Stowe made a guest appearance in the second season in a small but pivotal role.
Natalie Chaidez was the showrunner of 12 Monkeys during its first season, working closely with creators Matalas and Fickett. For the second season, she stepped down from the role of consultant and Matalas and Fickett became showrunners. In the third and fourth seasons Fickett became a consultant, and Matalas was the sole showrunner. The series was produced by Atlas Entertainment, which also made the 1995 film, and Universal Cable Productions. Charles Roven, producer of the original film, was one of the series executive producers.
12 Monkeys premiered on January 16, 2015, with a 13-episode first season which received mixed critical reception, and ended with the completion of its 11-episode fourth season on July 6, 2018, for a total of 47 episodes produced. From its second season and onward, it enjoyed more consistently favorable critical reception. The series won two awards for its cinematography, one by each of the American and Canadian Societies of Cinematographers, and was nominated for a further four.

Plot

In the year 2043, scavenger James Cole has been recruited by a team of "Project Splinter" scientists led by physicist Katarina Jones, to travel back in time to the year 2015 and stop the release of a deadly virus by the enigmatic organization known as the "Army of the 12 Monkeys". In Cole's original timeline, the virus caused a plague that resulted in the death of seven billion humans in the year 2017, and its mutations will mean the eventual end of the human race. In the 2015 timeline, Cole will meet and enlist the help of brilliant virologist Dr. Cassandra "Cassie" Railly ; the two are brought together because a recording mentioning Cole, that Cassie made after the viral outbreak, is uncovered by Katarina Jones in the future timeline, prompting her to select Cole for the mission. Cole will also encounter a seemingly unstable math genius named Jennifer Goines, whose father Cole has been ordered to kill, Cassie's ex-boyfriend Aaron Marker and the dangerous high-ranking members of the Army of the 12 Monkeys, "Pallid Man" and Olivia. In the future timeline, Cole will also have to deal with his best friend José Ramse, and a man named Theodore Deacon, who leads a brutal pack of scavengers from which Cole and Ramse fled. Cole and Cassie will try to unveil the identity and whereabouts of the mysterious leader of the Army of the 12 Monkeys, who is only known as "the Witness" and who is always one step ahead of them.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Aaron Stanford as James Cole, a scavenger who travels back in time to stop the plague and redeem himself from his troubled past
  • Amanda Schull as Cassandra "Cassie" Railly, a virologist who leaves a message about the origins of the plague that scientists recover in the future
  • Kirk Acevedo as José Ramse, Cole's best friend
  • Noah Bean as Aaron Marker, Cassie's ex-boyfriend and political insider
  • Todd Stashwick as Theodore Deacon, leader of a brutal group of survivors called the West VII
  • Emily Hampshire as Jennifer Goines, daughter of Leland Goines and a math genius, who meets Cole in a psych ward
  • Barbara Sukowa as Katarina Jones , the inventor and operator of the time machine

    Recurring

  • Tom Noonan as the man commonly referred as "Tall Man" by the characters, and "Pallid Man" by the writers, who is the villainous face of the Army of the 12 Monkeys
  • Romina D'Ugo as Max, a scavenger from the West VII group, and former lover of Cole
  • Demore Barnes as Marcus Whitley, one of the few remaining soldiers of the U.S. military.
  • Ramon De Ocampo as Oliver Peters, Markridge Group's medical researcher
  • Alisen Down as Olivia Kirschner, also known as "Striking Woman" outside the show, a high-ranking member of the Army of the 12 Monkeys
  • Amy Sloan as Elena, mother of Ramse's son
  • Andrew Gillies as Julian Adler, a Project Splinter scientist
  • Michael Hogan as David Eckland, a charismatic and intelligent scientist from the future who had been Jones' partner in another reality.
  • Scottie Thompson as the unnamed woman referred to by the writers as "Mantis" a calculating and menacing time traveler, and mother of the Tall Man and Olivia
  • Jay Karnes as Robert Gale, a savvy 1940s FBI agent who believes a series of grisly murders may have something to do with Cole, whom he suspects might not be from this time
  • Brooke Williams as Hannah Jones, also known as "Zeit", Katarina and Elliot Jones' biological daughter, whose death was Jones' personal motivation to invent time travel.
  • Murray Furrow as Dr. Lasky, a Project Splinter scientist
  • Hannah Waddingham as Magdalena, a member of the Army of the 12 Monkeys charged with protecting the Witness and who has been dubbed "both ruthless and expedient" in her methods
  • Faran Tahir as Mallick, an imposing and devout enforcer of the Army of the 12 Monkeys who resides in Titan
  • James Callis as Athan Cole, Cole and Railly's son, who has been raised by the Army of the 12 Monkeys to become their leader, "the Witness"
  • Julian Richings as an advisor to Olivia
  • Abigail Hardingham as Emma, also known as Marion Woods, Olivia's daughter

    Production

Conception

Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett, who had written together for the series Nikita and Terra Nova, wrote an original spec script television pilot with a time travelling plot, named Splinter. Eventually, the script found its way to Atlas Entertainment's offices, who had produced the 12 Monkeys movie and had been wanting to create a TV series based on it for some time. After some deliberation, Matalas and Fickett came to an agreement with Atlas Entertainment to transform Splinter into a 12 Monkeys adaptation. According to Matalas, most of the Splinter pilot was changed, aside from the overall structure of the plot being an attempt to stop a man from doing something in the past, the concept of the same watch from different points in time, the terminology used for traveling through time, and the female lead character named "Cassie".

Development

On July 22, 2013, The Hollywood Reporter first revealed that Syfy was developing a 12 Monkeys television adaptation, in the form of a 90-minute backdoor pilot that would lead to a straight-to-series order, similarly to what the Battlestar Galactica miniseries did. The pitch for the pilot, which would be written by Matalas and Fickett, was submitted to Syfy by Atlas Entertainment's Charles Roven and Richard Suckle; Roven was one of the producers of the original film. Jon Cassar was reported as being on board to direct. The following month, it was reported that Syfy decided to green-light an hour-long pilot, which would be executive produced by Roven and Suckle, with production set to begin in November. Due to the series being labeled as "cast contingent", production could not move forward until the roles of Cole and Goines were cast. On April 4, 2014, Syfy green-lit the first season, consisting of 13 episodes, including the pilot filmed in 2013. The pilot was directed and executive produced by Jeffrey Reiner; Matalas and Ficket, who wrote it, were announced to co-executive produce the season, while Natalie Chaidez would serve as showrunner. Chaidez credited her experience writing for the first season of Heroes and the two seasons of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, two science fiction series with time traveling plots, as valuable to understanding how to make 12 Monkeys work. Matalas presented the series as a "complete reimagining" of the film and not just a remake, citing Looper as an inspiration for the time travel visual effects. In fact, as Matalas explained, the story of the film was adapted into the first act of the pilot, and from there on, the series follows an original storyline, although it continues to homage both the film and La Jetée. Madeleine Stowe, who played the equivalent of Amanda Schull's character in the film, narrated the opening of the season 2 premiere and made an appearance in its finale. Two major differences compared to the movie are that this version of time travel allows for changes in the past to affect the future, and that the "Army of the 12 Monkeys" is a real organization rather than a red herring.
The series creators plotted three seasons in advance, although they noted that the show could go on for longer than that. During the second season they said they need four seasons to tell the complete story. The ending of the series has been known to them since the beginning. Matalas said about it: "We have a definitive target in place. It's very emotional and it's going to make everyone cry." Chaidez said the ending is designed to "circle back".
The series premiered on January 16, 2015, and was renewed for a second season on March 12, 2015, which premiered on April 18, 2016. Matalas and Fickett stepped in to replace Chaidez as showrunners during the second season.
The third season was announced on June 29, 2016, and premiered on May 19, 2017, with the first episode being the directorial debut for Matalas. Fickett left his position as executive producer and was credited as consultant, leaving Matalas the sole showrunner for the season. Nevertheless, Fickett provided the story and helped write the screenplay for the season's fourth episode, "Brothers". In a change over how the previous seasons were released, Syfy aired the entire third season over three consecutive nights. A fourth and final season was announced on March 16, 2017. It consisted of 11 episodes, which premiered on June 15, 2018, and concluded on July 6, 2018.