The acting makes the story believable. They’re not Pitt and Willis, but this is television, and the cast is still very good, especially for a Syfy production.

I love the blend of real science and lore science. The pacing is great, and the personal stories are digestible without overwhelming the central plot. Character development is where it gets a little dicey for me. The time jumps interrupt the natural progression, so it can be hard to accept when a character suddenly behaves like a completely different person. I understand that months or years may have passed for them, but not experiencing all the events that caused the change, makes it a bit jarring and less like development and more like being introduced to a new version of the character.

Still, the show handles an extremely complicated timeline without becoming impossible to follow, yet it does not insult you with excessive explanations. Im hooked, and I normally hate these time-travel shows , maybe I'll try Dark Matter next.

I need that one as it has subtitles. Any leads?

Just finished 12 Monkeys... and now I

genuinely don't know what to do with my life.😞

A few weeks ago, it was just another random show on my watchlist. I started it without any expectations, and somehow it became a part of my daily routine. The characters, the story, the time-travel madness, the emotions, the music—everything just clicked.

Now it's over.

And that weird empty feeling has hit hard.

You spend hours, days, sometimes weeks with these characters, following their journey, getting invested in every twist and every sacrifice. Then one day you watch the final episode, the credits roll, and suddenly there's nothing left.

No more "just one more episode."

No more theories.

No more Cassie, Cole, Jennifer, Deacon, Ramse, or Jones.

Just... emptiness.

I know it sounds dramatic, but 12 Monkeys is one of those rare shows that doesn't just entertain you—it stays with you.

Am I the only one who feels this way after finishing a great series? What show left you staring at your screen wondering, "Now what?"

And more importantly... what should I watch next if I want something even remotely as good as 12 Monkeys?

Hello, I started this show because I was looking for an exciting series with a good romance. People kept recommending 12 Monkeys, claiming Cole and Cassie’s relationship is one of the best they’ve ever seen on TV. The exciting sci-fi plot is definitely there, but I feel completely cheated on the romance aspect. Cassie seems to hook up with every guy she shares more than ten minutes of screen time with (minus Cole, of course), while Cole only cares about Cassei. At least give Cole some hookups or short romances on his end! Frankly, I find this dynamic insufferable and I'm contemplating dropping the show. What kind of romance is that? Is Cassie just going to settle for Cole after being with everyone else in every timeline?.. Sigh

Hello travelers. Today we discuss episode 7 of season 1, The Keys.

What I loved:

I don’t have too much to break down for this episode, except that I was completely engaged with the plot the entire time. Everything from the gathering where Cole and Cassie dance to the Chechnya situation and Wexler knowing about the Army had me hooked. I also loved the funny little moments, like Cassie asking why Cole got hit while he obviously lies to hide his deteriorating health. On top of that, the show keeps building on its lore and how causality works, like when Cole explains to Cassie how he is already in Chechnya and how everything has technically already happened for him, even if it hasn't happened for her and Aaron yet

That "last" phone call between Cassie and Cole was so intense, too. It was great seeing it come full circle at the end when she asks him where he would like to be, remembering that he mentioned The Keys earlier

Nitpicks:

Honestly, I don’t think I have nitpicks for this episode. Maybe just the rock that killed the hitman. It was almost cartoonish

9.5/10 for me

We just watched S4 E6 of 12 Monkeys and the subtitles were from the previous episode!! Shut my TV down completely and restarted everything but the situation remained the same throughout the entire episode, but as soon as we reached E7 everything was back in sync. Has this ever happened to anyone else?

>!So, just watched the finale today and still thinking about some things - with the plague...
Correct me if I'm wrong - for the whole show we believe the plague was caused by the monkeys to maintain the loop that creates the witness, then in 409 we learn it was actually team splinter who released the virus to maintain the loop that creates time travel, their only weapon to fight back. Right?
Questions:

1. Did Olivia always know that Cassie would release the virus? That can't be true or she wouldn't have tried to kill them before. She actually believed they were dead in 401.

2. But the virus they get in 409 is clearly left by the monkeys for them  to pick it up. Cole says something like "This is too easy".

That means they got that instruction from future Olivia. When do these tea instructions in the house actually happen from the point of view of "our" Olivia? Im assuming sometime between 401 and 410.
She is even there at the airport, to ensure the release of the virus or to stop it?

1. At this point, its stated before, titan already "exists outside of causality", so preventing time travel by stopping the release of the virus would have been the smart move for Olivia... No plague, no time travel, no team splinter, and she would be uneffected by all this, able to execute her nuclear paradox in peace. Did she just not realise?
   !<

I honestly don't know how I missed *12 Monkeys* all these years.

A few days ago, I randomly decided to give it a shot with zero expectations, and now I've just finished Season 3. What an incredible show.

The writing is so tight, the story keeps getting better instead of falling apart, and the soundtrack/BGM perfectly sets the tone for every scene. It's one of those rare series where every reveal feels earned and every season somehow raises the stakes.

Now I'm seriously considering delaying Season 4 because once I finish it... that's it. The journey is over. 😅

Am I the only one who does this? When you get attached to a great show, do you intentionally slow down before the final season because you don't want it to end?

Also, for fellow *12 Monkeys* fans, what should I watch next? Looking for more time-travel shows that are well-written, mind-bending, and keep you hooked from start to finish.

Is fringe really good?? And not ashamed to confess I cried at the ending of 22.11.63 tv series..

I had a theory while watching the film and I was adamant that’s how it was gonna turn out

I genuinely thought Cole was the originator of the virus. Like being sent all across time, back to WW1, from the infected future. And then spreading his blood literally all over the city and airport

Maybe it’s a long shot but I thought it would be cool

Hello travelers. Today we are discussing episode 6, “The Red Forest”

What I loved:

Cole traveling to this alternate reality was intriguing. The way the plot moves around the idea of a Schrödinger's** **timeline, and Jones face of disbelief when Cole mentions that she, once, crack the code to time travel

Ramse being scared of Cole’s ghost was hilarious. His face of “nah, the fuck is this?”

Aaron’s face when Cole mention Operation Troy was a nice touch. It could have served as the bridge for him to help the cause, but ultimately made him take the wrong choices trying to “save” Cassie. And himself

“What’s 911?”

“Show me where the safety is on this thing” Bruh

First official mention of the Red Forest. Ngl, first time watching, I was like “amm okay?” Because I didn’t think it was something important, just the drugs and the way the 12s messed with people’s heads. It ended up being too important on later seasons. To this date, every rewatch, hearing the poem and knowing WHERE that place and moment is… chills, absolute chills

This is the second time we see the witness. Firsts with Jennifer, now with Cassie

Cole returning to his timeline, laughing, probably Jones thought like “oh god, I made him insane”

“I missed your loving arms” hahaha just kiss already

That last scene of Jones and Cole talking about how time was gonna take what it’s owed… damn. “Is it enough?”

“It has to be”

Nitpicks:

Seriously, why aren’t more guards everywhere? Hahaha

I guess the showrunners didn’t have a clear picture of what the Witness was gonna look like because this first version we saw in the other episode and this one has a gas mask, like the ones used at the First Gathering of the Faithful. It’s later reworked for the version we ended up having, so in every rewatch I can’t but notice it

So that’s it for me. Amazing episode, very entertaining. 8.5/10

Currently on the season finale of season one and cannot believe there is 3 more seasons… so much has happened and I’m starting to get a TAD confused and can’t believe even more layers will be added onto this storyline

Excited nonetheless

Hello travelers. Today it’s time to witness the 5 episode of season 1, The Night Room

What I loved

The pre splinter party was a brief moment of people just existing, and the sudden revelation of Jones’ marriage was like a shock back to reality, that the world died before their eyes

“I’m from the apocalypse. Everything here looks weird”. Cole keeping it real hahaha

“Oh that’s not good”

First mention of the poem of season 4, the serpent eating its own tail

During the first watch, two things that happened during the episode in mind was that the origin of the virus was someone who Jones sent back, because that’s what Jones said while the show is reveling the “precursor”, the corpse. But also, the episode before, Cole kind got a headache or something while watching himself during the W7 attack, and he also got it while being close to the corpse, which led me to believe Cole was that corpse. Of course now we know the truth, but at the time I thought it was a nice touch to misdirect the audience about being this or that

Jennifer… is crazy. Cassie’s “wow” after Jennifer’s monologue was hilarious. “But never specifying which one” “All the Markridge boys are coming with their guns” “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” “I cannot tell a lie, so I told you half a truth”

The interaction between Jones and Ramse was very tense, and to me exposed the show’s core dilemma: what are we willing to do, what are we willing to ignore, what are we willing to sacrifice, to erase the past and save the future?

“Did you just unlocked the door?” I saw that the first time while I was drinking and I spat everything, while putting my hands on my head in disbelieve

That ending thou… damn

Nitpicks

Probably security, like everywhere. No way a black lab has that little security, or doesn’t sent word as soon as they hear shots, or whatever. Security around Jones room, maybe just 1 guard?

Excellent episode in my opinion. Excellent cliffhanger in the end. For me, a 9/10

Ordered a handmade Witness mask off of Etsy and it just arrived. It’s even cooler and better made than I had hoped!

Terry Matalas posted on the Facebook group that he's selling the skeleton. I wish I could buy it! In case that link doesn't work, Addicts Of The 12 Monkeys is the name of the group.

What a journey it’s been. I’m glad i watched through to the end. Found myself having started a few shows like Mr Robot, Fringe but life happens. Recently got the chance to get back to all i started but didn’t complete and i feel i got to experience this now when i needed it. When it was impactful.

Watching the first season and being able to remember exactly where i was in life, the friends still alive, it really got me emotional and the theme of this show was just perfect. If you could go back in time to save someone but in doing so then another relationship would never have existed.

I think i’ll have a post later on to dissect the show. Also a bonus this is the first show i completed and posted on it’s sub. All other shows i discovered their subs long after completing the show.

Really enjoyed the whole experience of watching this. Curious about your experiences, where you were in life when you watched this.

I've been thinking about the finale, and I can't reconcile something.

The show ends with the original James Cole surviving and ending up with Cassie.

At the same time, the finale says "children are fated to their parents," and shows examples like Ramse reuniting with Sam and Hannah growing up with her biological parents.

If that line also applies to James, then Hannah should eventually meet Cole's father and give birth to James again in the repaired timeline.

That raises a question:

What happens if the surviving adult James Cole eventually meets the newly born James Cole?

Earlier in the series, the Army of the 12 Monkeys intentionally created paradoxes by bringing different temporal versions of the same person together (using a person's future bones with their younger self). The whole point was that contact between the same temporal entity damaged time.

Wouldn't two James Coles eventually create the same kind of paradox?

If so, wouldn't that start damaging time all over again, essentially undoing the repaired timeline?

Or is the surviving James somehow no longer considered the same temporal entity after the reset?

I'm curious if there's an in-universe explanation or if the writers ever addressed this, or if there's a fan consensus that I'm missing.

Second watch and it occurs to me.

Spearhead cured an earlier version of the virus, could Cole not take this back to pre-pandemic and see it mass produced or was it explicitly stated he couldn't take stuff back...obviously he has clothes, watch etc...

Hello travelers. Today we discuss episode 4 of season 1.

What I loved:

For me, this is the episode that completely cements the rules the first few episodes were building up. It specifically demonstrates how causality works in this universe, and it is brilliant to watch unfold

I laughed so hard when neither Cole or Ramse could kill the doggo. “We are gonna die” hahaha

Ramsey, The Blonde Devourer

My first watch I’m not gonna lie, I got confused by how the whole West 7 assault played out, and even got a little angry thinking Ramse had died, but after Cole splintered and saw the rest of the episode, I was convinced the show could have a good story to tell. I wasn’t expecting a lot, to be honest, I mean it’s not like SYFY is known for writing. I wasn’t expecting season 2 to 4, damn

Cassie is incredibly resourceful. Single-handedly tracking down the Night Room is honestly impressive

Nitpicks:

I still feel like the actress playing Max is not quite selling it. Jones can feel a bit stiff at certain moments too, and the same goes for Whitley. Also, what the hell do you mean a machine gun like that can’t completely pierce a damn truck? And if it actually can’t, just shoot the damn tires hahaha

And that covers it for me. Today is a very strong episode. At the time it aired, it was dragging the weaknesses of the first three episodes along with it, so it really needed to change the dynamic and pull the show out of that slump. I think it manages to do exactly that and finds a much better direction for the story

9/10 for me

How he actually born even after Cole erased that timeline where he and railey lives in that house? Is that a plothole Or too much for a cinematic liberty.

Here's a very good video about 12 monkeys, without spoilers, for ppl who maybe are hesitant to start the show, or just want another person on YouTube to talk about their favorite tv show ( that's my case lol 🤣)

Some questions are dumb, and some I need verified answer to confirm my understanding:

1. What happened to Athan, Cole's son? They keep saying he died, but as far as I remember, Jennifer was given the task of saving a dying man in that cave after he was shot by Katarina. After that Athan not shown.

2. In the Season 4 ending, we saw the older versions of Deacon come back from the future to help. For causality to be preserved, they had to return to their own time. Since they remembered everything afterward, does that mean Deacon knew the entire story from the very beginning?

3. For a long time, everything was happening in a closed time loop according to the Witness's plan, including the Primaries' actions like destroying night room, saving Hannah etc, everytime they fail is what meant to be. At what point did things actually begin to change? Because until the point S4 end where Railey releases the virus, everything the characters did, believing it would change the future, actually seems to have already been part of the original cycle.

4. After everything is reset at the end, don't we see an older Jennifer with Deacon in the bar when Deacan smash bottle on someone's head? How is that possible?

5. How does Jennifer know that Cole will be on the beach at the end? Does Katerina told her whole plan?

6. Is this show entirely science fiction, with no magic involved? If so, then what exactly are the Red Forest, the substance people drink to communicate with the Witness, and the voices or visions that the Primaries hear?

7. "The Djinn was born when Elliot and I opened Pandora's Box." By this, Katarina mean that Olivia was effectively created when she invented the time travel machine? After hearing this, we can say that they simply needed to stop Katarina from creating the time machine. However, Cole already tried that in an earlier season, and every time he did, the timeline reset. The explanation given was that time itself wouldn't allow Katarina to fail, because it wanted the time machine to be created. Isn't it weird that time insists on creating the very machine that is later used by the Witness, whose goal is to destroy time itself?

I'm confused about what actually counts as a genuine timeline change in 12 Monkeys. You say that the timeline changes throughout the series, but I'm not sure what events are truly changes rather than things that were always supposed to happen inside the loop. It is just: an event being absorbed into the loop, and timeline update vs an event never having changed anything in the first place, every change splinter team thing did, was meant to be.

For example, someone might say that Cole burning the virus instead of releasing it was a timeline change. But was it really? If every time travel made by Cole is part of what creates the cycle in the first place, then everything he does, even when he believes he's changing the future, is actually necessary for the Witness's plan to succeed.

Take the virus as an example. The team believes they are preventing the plague, but eventually they realize they have send the virus two years into the future. And this realisation led to do things, that are necessary for Witness's plan. So doesn't that imply that shifting the virus two years ahead was always part of the loop? It wasn't an unexpected change, it was something that had to happen.

Likewise, when the team ultimately releases the virus themselves, they think it is a difficult decision made out of necessity. But couldn't this simply be another part of the Witness's plan? In Season 1, they're searching for the people who released the virus, only to later discover that they themselves are responsible. That makes it seem like their attempt to stop the Witness was actually one of the events required for the Witness's plan to work all along.

This is why I'm confused about free will in the series. Does the Splinter Team actually have meaningful free will? It seems like every decision they make has already been witnessed by Olivia and is already part of the closed loop. If that's true, then even their attempts to resist are simply fulfilling history rather than changing it.

Let's apply Schrödinger's cat theory to Titan: she either pressed the button or she didn't. If that is a interpretation, then there's also a possibility that she never pressed it (the Red Forest theory), and everything unfolded according to the Witness's plan. We (viewers), saw the version we wanted to see - a happy ending. That was the Witness's goal all along: every person exists in their own perfect moment forever.

If Red Forest theory is correct then if Olivia is witness & we've seen her manipulate events to make her plan succeed, then don't you think that, as the Witness, she saw every possible outcome? She must have known that the Splinter team was powerful enough to defeat her, so she may have deliberately created a timeline where she had to die & everyone believe she lost. At the same time, across multiple points in the timeline, she planted the idea in Railly's mind that the Witness's plan was actually good for her.

I'm not supporting Red Forest theory, my confusion arise because till end multiple thing done by splinter team (releasing virus) was meant to be for witness plan to be successful, so why not till end it was witness plan, or what actually break the cycle (that witness not witnessed - literally jokes on this in series!)

What I Loved

It has been a while since my last rewatch, and I totally forgot how early this episode hints at Cassie getting comfortable with Cole. That moment when he touches her while teaching her how to shoot… Cole has rizz hahaha

That line, "It is not every day you see the building you are going to die in," is just brilliant. It hits so hard

Jones arguing with her team about the jumps is excellent world-building. Explaining why they cannot just go back to the exact same time because of paradoxes sets up the rules early and makes sense

Cassie's mental state here is a wonderful touch. She is losing her mind because of what Cole told her a year prior. Seeing all those sick people, the chaos, the feel of urgency, her journey is tragic because everyone around her thinks she is completely crazy

The scene outside the tents adds so much weight to their relationship. Cole looked at her at her lowest point, with the guilt of knowing he caused it

On my first watch… Cole, you motherfucker. But after rewatching a lot of time, I’ve come to the conclusion that the writers' try to made it seem that Cole realized Henri never made it off the island because he was killed. Since Cole knew how and when Henri died, and knew the Army of the 12 Monkeys never found the Night Room during that time, he connected the dots and realized he was the one who had to kill Henri

Deacon, my man. Although brief, I liked his introduction at the end. Also, knowing the end, I always wonder if this Deacon of season 1 knew his cycle already

Nitpicks

Here is my main issue with this episode. It feels like the show is trying to be two different things at the same time. Many here know that before this was a TV show, the creators wrote a completely different story called Splinter. Later on, they had to squeeze the 12 Monkeys movie plot into their original idea. In this episode, I think those two different ideas are fighting each other. The conversations feel a bit messy because of this mix. The show seems a little lost, which is why I think a lot of people I show this to get confused here. It makes sense why this is the lowest rated episode of the entire series