12 Monkeys series finale links
Jul. 26th, 2018 02:06 pmAgain, this is mostly for my own reference, but let's start with this piece, written after the S2 premiere: Why you should watch 12 Monkeys, just in case I can persuade you:
I don't agree with everything in that piece, but if you're looking for a show that mostly does right by its characters and its narrative, this is one for you -- also if you like time-travel shenanigans and middle-aged women given meaty roles. (This show has also introduced me to the ineffable hotness of Barbara Sukowa.). Unlike some other postapocalyptic shows I could mention, the characters never stop trying to make things better, to save the world and each other. It's a hopeful show, even in the ruins; the characters aren't always good people, but they're doing their best.
By the same reviewer, Todd VanDerWerff, a review of the series finale which argues that it is a meditation on narrative endings: 12 Monkeys has a surprising amount of thematic depth for a show that sets a climactic battle in its finale to the strains of “Time of My Life” (you know, from Dirty Dancing), in a cheeky homage both to its beloved ’80s pop culture and the idea that everything is coming to an end.
(That scene gets mentioned in a lot of reviews. Look, it was VERY MEANINGFUL for people who'd seen the whole show.)
An interview with Terry Matalas about the finale: In a lot of time travel, there’s always talk about the past and the future. But 12 Monkeys talked about how important now is. You have the opportunity to pick up the phone right this very minute and tell somebody that you love them...
And this interview with Matalas, which answers a lot of specific questions about who knew what when.
I am fond of this review, because the author shares my love of "Die Glocke", the episode where they go back to WW2. Every time-travel show has to have one, and this must be one of the best: It’s the episode where the gang travels back to World War II. They sneak into a fancy gala, where some smarmy Nazi grandee is showing off a bunch of artifacts for a gathering of well-heeled fascists. It’s an old-fashioned heist, with every kind of time travel twist. Jennifer (Emily Hampshire) delivers a stirring six-decade-early rendition of P!nk’s “U + Ur Hand,” the scrub-shaming anthem given stirring historical resonance given that the audience includes, um, well, like, Hitler.
And this review, which isn't quotable (wall-to-wall spoilers!) but which focuses on the characters and the way their relationships resolve.
This review starts out with a relatively spoiler-free opening: From the beginning, one of the show’s most interesting choices was to gender-swap the character Brad Pitt played in the film, and let Emily Hampshire run amuck. In a classic example of long-running television at its best, Jennifer grew over the course of four seasons from unhinged antagonist to, in many ways, the show’s beating heart, and Jennifer’s manic grin will be one of “12 Monkeys'” lasting legacies.
Though 12 Monkeys is deeply silly, with the sort of goofy, time-stream-altering shenanigans you'd expect from a time travel show, it's also haunted and sad, riven with grief, as befits a show set in part after an apocalyptic plague wipes the world of billions of its inhabitants. Its characters long to change the past, to save those they have lost. And they fail and again and again, but hurl themselves into new missions, because they think this time might be different. This, above all else, is a show about faith and how it is tested.
I don't agree with everything in that piece, but if you're looking for a show that mostly does right by its characters and its narrative, this is one for you -- also if you like time-travel shenanigans and middle-aged women given meaty roles. (This show has also introduced me to the ineffable hotness of Barbara Sukowa.). Unlike some other postapocalyptic shows I could mention, the characters never stop trying to make things better, to save the world and each other. It's a hopeful show, even in the ruins; the characters aren't always good people, but they're doing their best.
By the same reviewer, Todd VanDerWerff, a review of the series finale which argues that it is a meditation on narrative endings: 12 Monkeys has a surprising amount of thematic depth for a show that sets a climactic battle in its finale to the strains of “Time of My Life” (you know, from Dirty Dancing), in a cheeky homage both to its beloved ’80s pop culture and the idea that everything is coming to an end.
(That scene gets mentioned in a lot of reviews. Look, it was VERY MEANINGFUL for people who'd seen the whole show.)
An interview with Terry Matalas about the finale: In a lot of time travel, there’s always talk about the past and the future. But 12 Monkeys talked about how important now is. You have the opportunity to pick up the phone right this very minute and tell somebody that you love them...
And this interview with Matalas, which answers a lot of specific questions about who knew what when.
I am fond of this review, because the author shares my love of "Die Glocke", the episode where they go back to WW2. Every time-travel show has to have one, and this must be one of the best: It’s the episode where the gang travels back to World War II. They sneak into a fancy gala, where some smarmy Nazi grandee is showing off a bunch of artifacts for a gathering of well-heeled fascists. It’s an old-fashioned heist, with every kind of time travel twist. Jennifer (Emily Hampshire) delivers a stirring six-decade-early rendition of P!nk’s “U + Ur Hand,” the scrub-shaming anthem given stirring historical resonance given that the audience includes, um, well, like, Hitler.
And this review, which isn't quotable (wall-to-wall spoilers!) but which focuses on the characters and the way their relationships resolve.
This review starts out with a relatively spoiler-free opening: From the beginning, one of the show’s most interesting choices was to gender-swap the character Brad Pitt played in the film, and let Emily Hampshire run amuck. In a classic example of long-running television at its best, Jennifer grew over the course of four seasons from unhinged antagonist to, in many ways, the show’s beating heart, and Jennifer’s manic grin will be one of “12 Monkeys'” lasting legacies.