12 Monkeys 2.9: Hands On

A good, solid, self-reflexive episode 2.9 of 12 Monkeys this past Monday night, which delves into a lot of what makes our characters tick.

Jennifer is most likely the central character in this episode, if not in the entire series. In a profound sense, she's actually the least crazy person in the story, despite her presentation, because she alone has lived through most of the years of the narrative in real time.   In fact, even if she were thoroughly sane in the first place, living through a time in which time itself is changing would make her somewhat crazy.  Or, as someone says about Michael in The Deer Hunter, in an insane world a crazy person may be the least maladjusted.

Jennifer's advice to Cole in 2044 - old Jennifer to Cole, who is always at more or less the same age (but see below)  - is to pay attention to the hands not the cup.   And hands do play a major role in this episode, as we see when the Tall Man's hands are later under attack by Cole's hammer seeking information.   By the way, it's interesting that the Tall Man is also known as the Pallid Man - he could also be called the Pall Man, since he certainly casts a pall on everything he touches (but not the Paul man, no thanks).

12 Monkeys has been doing a great job rolling out as many classic time-travel gambits as it can, and there's a nice one in 2.9, as Cole takes his leave of young Jennifer in 2016, and reappears a moment later and at least little older at the door - a little older in age and apparently much older in experience. That moment vividly shows the other side of older Jennifer knowing much more than all of our other characters in the future because she's lived through time. When Cole reappears at young Jennifer's door, he's the one who knows more, much more, than the young Jennifer, for whom just a second has elapsed.   No wonder she's crazy - time has gotten her coming and going.

Hey, I haven't really said much if anything about the actual plot of this episode.   Maybe I'll come back later in time and fill that in - or not.

See you here next week with my review of the next episode, in any case.

See also 12 Monkeys 2.1: Whatever Will Be, Will Be ... 12 Monkeys 2.2: The Serum ... 12 Monkeys 2.3: Primaries and Paradoxes ... 12 Monkeys 2.4: Saving Time ... 12 Monkeys 2.5: Jennifer's Story ... 12 Monkeys 2.6: "'Tis Death Is Dead" ... 12 Monkeys 2.7: Ultimate Universes ... 12 Monkeys 2.8: Time Itself Wants Time Travel

And see also this Italian review, w/reference to Hawking and my story, "The Chronology Protection Case"

And see also 12 Monkeys series on SyFy: Paradox Prominent and Excellent ...12 Monkeys 1.2: Your Future, His Past ... 12 Monkeys 1.3:  Paradoxes, Lies, and Near Intersections ... 12 Monkeys 1.4: "Uneasy Math" ... 12 Monkeys 1.5: The Heart of the Matter ... 12 Monkeys 1.6: Can I Get a Witness? ... 12 Monkeys 1.7: Snowden, the Virus, and the Irresistible ... 12 Monkeys 1.8: Intelligent Vaccine vs. Time Travel ... 12 Monkeys 1.9: Shelley, Keats, and Time Travel ... 12 Monkey 1.10: The Last Jump ... 12 Monkeys 1.11: What-Ifs ... 12 Monkeys 1.2: The Plunge ... 12 Monkeys Season 1 Finale: "Time Travel to Create Time Travel"

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podcast review of Predestination and 12 Monkeys