12 Monkeys S2x02

Episode two starts off in 2044 with Cassie getting ready to go on a raid with Deacon- she's in full tactical gear. I have to say this is an interesting route they're taking with her character. We get a quick montage of her taking out a scavenger (her first kill?) and then working with Deacon and Jones to get the time travel machine working. She comes back to the present and shoots three guys belonging to the 12- the implication here is that she's harder now, willing to kill- just like Cole was when he first came back. Quite the role reversal!

And so we're back to the standoff from last time. It's Chinese New Year and Cassie and Cole are pointing guns at each other- Cassie feels like she needs to kill Jennifer to prevent the virus, and Cole is telling her no. Cole asks Jennifer not to drop the vial, but Jennifer says "But I'm supposed to. It's my purpose." We have a tense moment but then she slowly hands the vial over to Cole. "I'm going to be in so much trouble now," she says with a smile. She is so fun on this show, you never really know when she's crazy and when she isn't.



So everyone plays catch up, what they've been doing since the S1 finale. Cassie says they have to kill anyone associated with the virus, and Ramse detects Deacon's attitude in her words. Cassie tells them about the people that the 12 sent back, and no one knows where or when they are. They go to Jennifer's plane and get the rest of the virus, and burn it- and stuff starts to happen, they can feel time changing. But Cole says something is wrong. Cassie says they can't leave Ramse alive and she injects Ramse with Cole's tether and he gets pulled back to 2044. Then she goes back too.

She is killing it in this one! She tells Jones that they destroyed the virus but nothing happened. Jones tells her that something did happen. "You changed history." Cole and Jennifer are left in 2016, and Cassie and Jones discuss the changes in 2044. History was changed but  Cassie tells Jones that Cole has abandoned the mission, he's emotionally compromised. Wow, that's harsh.

Jennifer hears voices talking in her head leading her to the Emerson hotel. It's a dump and they get a room-210- but Jennifer says that's wrong, they need a prime number. Cole say's don't worry about it and they contact Jones, he tells her to write a note in her journal instructing her to send Cassie back to get him. I love how mind twisting this is. Meanwhile Jennifer is hearing the Striking Woman in her head telling her she has a purpose. And she flips out, breaking a mirror and attacking Cole. Deacon meanwhile is working Ramse over, and they have a discussion about fathers. Turns out Ramse went by Deac's house in the past and saw his father about to kill his mother, and he called the cops. Deac kind of freaks out and Cassie stops him from drowning Ramse.

There's an interesting dynamic going on with Cassie and Deacon. They seem to be on friendly terms and I can't tell if they're trying to make Deac a more appealing guy or if it's just that the characters are nuanced (I think the latter). Jones meanwhile summarizes some of the changes for the staff and we see that Dr. Lasky is alive (before the change he was killed when they attacked Spearhead). And... Dr. Eckland she doesn't know at all, which he says is odd since they have apparently been sleeping together! And poor Jennifer is at a loss- she doesn't know what her purpose is anymore, she took direction from her role as the progenitor of the virus. "Better living through mass extinction" as she puts it.

Apparently Striking Woman told her she was "primary"- that she could see the changes in time. Jennifer tells Cole that he wants Cassie to love him, but she doesn't. But being single isn't so bad, him and Cassie together would be though. Jennifer kisses him and he doesn't respond, then the manager shows them to the "correct" room- the suite has been reserved in perpetuity since 1944- by a James Cole. Jennifer sees a pic of him and Cassie from back then and despairs (apparently she has a thing for him) and slashes her wrist, but they bandage her up and Cole tells her to go, to leave all this behind, and find her purpose.

Then  Jones is brought before the Daughters (the group in the future who follow Jennifer) and they ask where James Cole is and why hasn't he been returned? Jones answers because he is no longer part of the project. See I'm just not buying that Jones and Cassie would throw him under the bus like that- way too abrupt. Anyway the Emissary of the Daughters tells Jones to bring Cole back, that he showed mercy long ago and for that a debt was owed and paid. She gives Jones a note, and Cassie goes back to get Cole. She hands him the note, and it's on Emerson hotel stationery and says "I found my purpose." Written by Jennifer.

So Cole is back in 2044 and a prisoner... just like Ramse. Cassie had Ramse's son brought there too as leverage against Ramse... man what is her deal now? Cole and Jones talk and she says that by changing the past they saved lives, and there is hope now. They don't know where the Messengers went in time, but she needs to know if he is still with her. He says he is, and then tells her he thinks 1944 is where the Messengers are. Then Cole talks to Cassie, and she says the mission will only work if he does what needs to be done. To which he replies-

"I was sent back in time to kill a man. That was supposed to fix everything. It didn't. So I killed more people. Nothing changed. And then I saved someone. Someone who should've died. And that- that- is what changed things. It's the only thing that's ever made any difference."

Then he tells her he's ready when she is, and hands her the picture of the two of them from 1944.