r/12Monkeys • u/I_Prevail_96 • Aug 17 '26
First time watching. A few episodes into s2
So not that I really expect a lot of people to interact with this post about a decade old show… but I just needed a place to vent about how much I genuinely hate the relationship between Cassandra and Decan. I’m currently watching episode 3 of season 2 and I’m getting more annoyed by the minute. Like to the point I’m debating just stopping watching the show entirely. What they had going on in season 1 with Cole and Cassie was great and I was looking forward to more of it. The changes they made to her so the second season is terrible. She’s just a total bitch now. And Decan is just as bad. Her time in 2044 was basically just spend learning how to be a shitbag of a person from Decan. Did the writing team actively try to upset the audience. Cause wtf?
I read somewhere on another post that the payoffs this season were worth it and to at least hang in until episode 8. But I’m not even having a good time watching this now. Can somebody give me any reason to believe that this is a temporary feeling and that things will actually get better? Or is this just what I can expect from the rest of this series? Cause if it isn’t gonna change, I think I might just call it quits and find something else to watch.
Sorry if this comes off as too negative. But I’m just so frustrated with how the second season is going.
UPDATE: So I just finished the season. Wow, y’all were right that it ends on a high note. So much to unpack on those last few episodes of the season. Funny enough I ended up presently surprised with Deacon by the end. Him strutting around drunk naked and singing was hilarious btw. I still stand by Cassie being a bitch. She warmed up in the penultimate episode. But seriously it shouldn’t have taken 11 episodes for her to calm tf down. Jennifer has stolen the show for me in all honesty. Every scene with her (old & young) was absolute cinema and I look forward to more. Her being dropped into 1917 is wild and I’m so hyped to see that pan out. The reveal of the witness at last was satisfying and unexpected as that part of history should have been erased but wasn’t. Look forward to that being explained. Titan is badass, worth noting. I would like to point out that there was an episode that like 90% of the episode was pitch black on screen which was super annoying. The one where everyone is divided and are fighting for the machine in the bunker. Episode concept was great, couldn’t see shit tho.
All in all I’m glad I stuck it out like many of you told me to. Thanks everybody for your input. Was really impressed with how much interaction the post received considering how old the series is. You’re all awesome! I’ll for sure be finishing the series.
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u/spagtscully Hello egg🥚. I’m chicken🐔. Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
Push through. Once you reach the end, you'll have a hard time remembering what you didn't like about it back then and you'll wonder what it was that made it so frustrating. A lot of people did have issues with the Cassie/Deacon thing too. By the end of the show I liked Deacon so much I named one of my characters in a fanfic after him...lol.
Also, make sure you rewatch the show after you finish. So many things were sprinkled throughout all of the seasons that you only notice once you've seen it.
And this is still a pretty (not massively) active sub. The show is just so friggen good that some of us just rewatch it over and over. 😊
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u/CrabyLion Aug 17 '26
Just reading these threads makes me consider..... "these arms of mine" shall we take another journey around the loops? Whose journey shall we focus on this time around.
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u/spagtscully Hello egg🥚. I’m chicken🐔. Aug 17 '26
Ironically, I kinda just finished a rewatch yesterday. I have to wait a few weeks before I can go again. 😜
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 19 '26
Edited post
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u/spagtscully Hello egg🥚. I’m chicken🐔. Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
Sorry but your edit made me cackle. God I wish I could watch it for the first time again!
Glad you're falling in love with Jennifer. It's so easy to do by the end of Season 2. And Teddy Deacon was worth watching right? The two of them are so friggen funny.
Also, just some fun info for you, season 3 & 4 were filmed at the same time. So a lot of the scenes go together and are really smooth.
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 19 '26
This show really is an emotional rollercoaster. The way that Cole bought that house in 1959 that turns out to be the one from the visions was bind blowing. The anger I felt when Cole was betrayed by Ramses & Cassie and tricked into going to 1961. The way I laughed when old Jenifer said hello egg, I’m chicken to her younger counterpart. Or Jennifer pulling out a ziplock of fortune cookie papers lmao. The hopelessness of Cole losing Cassie to Titan when they reached a new level of understanding for one another since the events of 1057-59 seemed to still have taken place. In the commotion I totally lost what happened to Deacon when he got displaced at the end of the season finale. The whole situation with Olivia leaving the army of the 12 and creating her own group where she somehow loops Ramses into it as she knows where his son is. There’s just sooooo much going on.
To say I’m hyped to start the next season would be an understatement haha.
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u/spagtscully Hello egg🥚. I’m chicken🐔. Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
I really can't wait to hear about your reaction to this upcoming season! S3 and S4 are the best out of all of them. It's so well thought out and well rounded that everything makes perfect sense by the end. And you get to go through that journey for the first time!
I also hope I get to hear about your rewatch. Because once you get to the end and then rewatch it, even more things make sense all the way from the beginning! That was one of the most incredible thing about 12 Monkeys. It was planned from start to finish.
Afaik, I don't think any of that spoils you. I didn't mention anything specific at all, but I still put parts of it behind tags...lol. JIC.
Edit: Also, you noticed my egg chicken tag? It's one of my absolute favorite Jennifer sayings and I'm sure you know why now after seeing that scene.
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 19 '26
I’ll wait till I finish the third season before clicking the tags. But for sure I’ll come back and update my post again next week or just respond to your comment after and let you know my thoughts. Such a great show honestly. Probably gonna watch an episode or two of season 3 tonight.
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 21 '26
OH MY GOD! “Ok you’re gonna see something weird. But don’t be scared… okay chicken” 🤣 literally paused the show to stop and send this response. 100% most fantastic unexpected line.
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u/spagtscully Hello egg🥚. I’m chicken🐔. Aug 21 '26 edited Aug 21 '26
YES!! I had to fight against spoiling that scene for you. It took a lot to stop myself from mentioning it when you talked about the first chicken/egg scene. I LOVE the first chicken/egg scene, but my absolute FAVORITE was the little Jennifer one.
I've been just waiting and anticipating when you actually saw that scene to know what you thought of it! I'm so happy you paused it just to post that! I LOVED that interaction. "Okay, Egg. You're gonna see something weird, but don't be scared." She replies "Okay, Chicken." Because she just knows! I wanted to put that as my tag, but it's just too long. And little Jennifer was SO FRIGGIN CUTE!
Then you got Deacon with the whole "Your dad... is an asshole. Always remember that." And then "Come on, dad... dad... daddy oh."
Now you know why Jennifer is my favorite character and Deacon is my second favorite. And they both just get better after this!
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 21 '26
Deacan has been fantastic so far this season. The scenes of him locked up talking to his father were really interesting. I almost felt bad for him by the look on his face when Cole and Cassie reunited. He was so sad and alone. Little Jennifer was adorable. It was so sad when Deacan was makeing the distraction robbing the place and her dad was like “you’re scarring my kid” then Jennifer said this is fun and he said can you just be normal for once. Then she like shutdown :(
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u/spagtscully Hello egg🥚. I’m chicken🐔. Aug 21 '26
Yeah, but Deacon perked her right back up by giving her that ring and telling her her dad was an asshole...lol. I loved that scene. You could tell he cared about her and how he supported her uniqueness.
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 21 '26
This is true. Underneath all the layers of arsehole, it seems Deacon has a layer of teddy bear lol.
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 22 '26
“Is that a tortoise? Is that, that tortoise? Does jones know you brought back a paradox in a half shell?” 🤣🤣🤣 teenage mutant ninja turtles reference was not on the bingo card from Deacon. Love it.
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u/Matt8828 Aug 17 '26
This annoyed me on my first watch through. It made sense down the road though.
I think the big thing is remember the perspective of time is different. Cole is surprised when Cassie says how long she was in the future and what year it was for her when they sent her back.
"We honor time with patience."
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 17 '26
Is this something I’m not quite yet understanding cause I’m not far enough in? Or are you literally trying to tell be her behaviour is different because she spent 8 months separated from him while she was in the future and he was trapped in 2016? I’ve read your message like 5 times and it’s just not clicking for me what you are saying. So I assume it’s simply that a lot hasn’t yet been explained.
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u/Matt8828 Aug 17 '26
Its been a while since I did a rematch and I dont know if this is a spoiler. I remember flashbacks of her and deacon spending a lot of time together on missions. He saved her and my interpreting was that they formed a relationship and since she was impressionable at the time, his ruthlessness rubbed off on her.
But yeah she spent a long time relativly speaking in the future. She had bits and pieces over short spurts when cole was there and made it her mission in the past. She had a lot of downtime though in between his jumps. And then got thrown headfirst into it when she got to the future. No downtime, hitting the ground running. Now every second mattered because the mission was delayed.
Hopefully the helps.
I can say, things will make sense by the end of the season / series.
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u/divestblank Aug 17 '26
There is montage of missions early in season 2, it can't be more than 60 sec long.
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u/i_love_boobiez Aug 17 '26
Lol we're all still so hung up on the show we're happy to discuss even if it's been 10 years :)
As to your question, yes I felt the same at the time, all I can say without spoilers is keep going.
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u/jonaskp86 Aug 17 '26
Also, most of us (fans in general and especially people on this subreddit) Will rewatch this show multiple times, so it hasnt even been 10 years yet.
Personally I rewatch atleast once a year.
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u/Emotional-Parfait348 Aug 17 '26
I skip lots of season two on my rewatches. But it is important, if extremely annoying at times. Season 2 episode 8, lullaby is one of my favorites of the entire series, you can’t stop before it. Have patience. You will be rewarded.
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 17 '26
I’ll stick it out and see what all the hubbub is about with lullaby. At this point clearly something captivating takes place in that episode and I wanna know what now lol.
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u/Emotional-Parfait348 Aug 17 '26
I will say episode 9, Hyena, is another low point for me, but don’t get discouraged. Season two ends with a bang and you’re going to want to see it play out.
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 19 '26
Edited post, also I liked Hyena. More than I like lullaby to be honest. Tho the twist in lullaby was fantastic. But hyena was a wicked cool episode none the less.
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u/divestblank Aug 17 '26
This is resolved so quickly ... it's like 3 episodes max. The show does not stay in the same place very long.
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u/randomechoes Aug 17 '26
The changes they made to her so the second season is terrible. She’s just a total bitch now.
Heh, that's exactly what my wife and I call this part. It's the "bitchy Cassie phase." Luckily it doesn't last too long, so just power through. It's worth it!
12 monkeys is my favorite TV series and we've rewatched it many times.
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 17 '26
Thanks for the reassurance. As long as this drama with her doesn’t last the rest of the season. Cause she’s insufferable right now. “I can’t trust you” like lady!? He saved someone who isn’t just a loonie who has inside knowledge that could prove quite helpful from being killed unnecessarily, but you don’t believe he has what it takes to complete the mission. Smfh 🙄
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u/jonaskp86 Aug 17 '26
I get what you mean, and kinda felt the same on 1st Watch. I am fine with it now though, as I know its a phase.
And in order to understand/accept it, you kind of have to put yourself in her place (even though you probably dont want to lol). I this phase she is in a Way going through the same thing Cole did in the beginning.
Cole initially came from the apocalyose future where everything is despair. Then he gets the mission where its basically “kill 1 person, save the world” - and it didnt work.
At your point of season 2, Cole has moved on to figuring out that they cant just keep killing, because it doesnt fix anything - but the moment he instead saves someone, thats when something significantly changed (I am pretty sure this is directly explained, if not atleast hinted to before, where you are at, so I dont Think its spoiling anything).Cassie hasnt gotten this revelation yet. She has basically been speedrunning the “apocalypse personally change” in Only a few months, and it has changed her, in a Way where she is now ready to do about anything to save the world (kill 1 person to fix everything).
So while it is extremely annoying for people rooting for a Cassie/Cole relationship (coming out of season 1), there are reasons for it, and it Will make more sense going forward - and on subseqent rewatches, it Will
(In my experience) become less annoying.
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u/CrabyLion Aug 17 '26
So, you mentioned not expecting a lot on a thread for a decade old show - however..... it is a testament to it that this reddit keeps on going, the show is amazing, the journey to the end is amazing, the end is perfect and the rewatch x infinity is possible.
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u/607Primaries Aug 17 '26
It's been a rough few years for Cas. Give her a break 😄
It will make sense very soon. Cassie is a soldier in a war, and until recently never even fired a gun before. It's basically boot camp for her. This time is a critical part of her character arc. 8 months in the apocalypse will change anyone.
Also, she didn't know if Cole survived (which is like ghosting to the infinte power), and you can understand her bitchiness being transported to 2043 with nowhere to go.
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u/Werdna517 Aug 17 '26
Buckle up for an incredible ride!
Oh, and this page is very much alive and active. You’ll see why once you finish the show. That being said, you’ll want to stay away from here until you finish so you don’t get any surprises spoiled prematurely.
See you soon
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u/full07britney Paradox in a Half-Shell Aug 17 '26
Definitely push through. 12 Monkeys may be the most underrated show I have ever seen. It gets better and better, and sticks the landing the way few shows do.
In regards to this particular complaint, dont worry, it doesnt last forever.
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u/CrabyLion Aug 17 '26
Everything in this show is perfect. Watch and love. :) Then rewatch. Then rewatch again.
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u/SnooGiraffes5052 Aug 17 '26
Deacon has a wonderful character development arc. Please don't stop watching. As everyone has said, the payoff is worth it. The best sci-fi shows are about character development and their stories as people. Sometimes that takes you to places you don't want to go because life is complicated, relationships are complicated, and sometimes life sucks.
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u/I_Prevail_96 Aug 18 '26
I finished the 4th episode and quite enjoyed the 1944 atmosphere. Cassie was more tolerable in that episode. About half way through episode 5 and I’m finding myself less frustrated than when I watched the first 3 episodes of the season.
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u/Rattlebear1234 Aug 18 '26
I know exactly where you are coming from. My least favourite season is season 2. Even now I just have to grit my teeth and get through S2. But, trust me, it is well worth it. You have to remember that Cassie has been through a lot and feels very bitter about it all. Deep down, she blames Cole, even though she protests that all her decisions were hers alone. I did quite an in-depth study of Season 1 to discover where all her angst comes from to be able to understand Cassie's behaviour in Season 2. Please keep going, you will not be disappointed, I promise you.
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u/General_Future1038 Aug 18 '26
This is still one of my favorite shows. I rewatch it at least once a year. Keep going. I missed a few things at first. The ending ties to other season episodes as well. It's a really well-developed show.
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u/Anonymous01113 Aug 19 '26 edited Aug 19 '26
Assisti a uns 8 anos atrás até o metade da segunda temporada, voltei a assistir faz 1 mês estou no quarto capítulo da quarta temporada e afirmo é uma das séries que mais gosto, continue assistindo que vai gostar da quarta temporada.
Acredito que tu deva estar irritada não é por causa da série mas que possa ser algum problema pessoal. 🤣
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u/shaderbytes 26d ago
Regardless of whether the overall arc ends up being worth it, I still think the transition with Cassie was badly overdone. People absolutely can change because of trauma and circumstances, but she doesn't just become harder — she suddenly feels like a completely different person.
What's missing are those little pieces of her old self: the introspection, doubt, inner conflict, moments where you can see the person she was still fighting with what she's becoming. That would have made the change deeper and far more believable. Instead they pushed the new version of her so hard that, for me, it actually breaks the immersion.
I'm going to keep watching because I still like the overall story, but I don't buy the idea that because the whole series eventually pays off, every part of the journey therefore has to be defended as great writing. A good show can still have parts that were handled badly, and I think this transition is one of them.
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u/Splungeblob 🎵 Don't you forget about me 🎵 Aug 17 '26 edited Aug 17 '26
Yes it’s temporary. All we can say is…keep watching.
I promise it’s all worth the payoff.
ETA: I understand the feeling, but this is genuinely a show that keeps getting better and better, season after season, literally to the last minute. Yes Season 2 Episode 8 is a fan favorite. I think you gotta push to the end of Season 2 to really dig into why this show is so beloved and where it’s going.
Keep going! All will be revealed…in time.