12 Monkeys: Season One, Episode Five – “The Night Room”

First Aired February 13th, 2015.

Flashbacks to 2011 depict Jennifer Goines’ (played by Emily Hampshire) first time entering the Night Room. She is worried that whatever is being locked into the vault is a huge danger to the world.

In 2015, Cole (played by Aaron Stanford) and Cassandra (played by Amanda Schull) arrive at the Night Room and break into the facility. They find the scientists murdered and are captured by Scar Man (played by Tom Noonan). When the lone scientist left alive isn’t able to open the vault, Scar Man kills him and tries to torture Cole for the information. They are locked in a lab with Jennifer as Scar Man breaks into the vault which has a centuries-old human torso carrying the virus, but a fail-safe prevents him from entering. Jennifer brought them to the lab knowing they couldn’t get past the fail-safe and that activating it would bring security. Scar Man and his thugs flee and Cole convinces Jennifer to deactivate the fail-safe so they can destroy the virus, realizing too late that Scar Man faked the retreat. Cole and Cassandra activate the Night Room’s primary defense mechanism and incinerate the lab and the viral specimen.

Being outsmarted by an insane woman has to be a huge blow to a man’s ego. I’m starting to think Jennifer’s crazy like a fox because she was one step ahead of everyone, although it was pretty easy to trick her into opening the door in the end. The virus can’t have been man-made since it dates back so many years. It was probably the source of a huge viral outbreak in the past like the Black Plague. I really want to know where it originated from and what Jennifer’s father was planning to do with it. Scar Man’s speech about species eventually going extinct solidifies in my mind that the 12 Monkeys are bent on destroying the world. It’s still unclear why they do but it could be anything from issues with the government to growing up disadvantaged and hating the world.

In the future, Cole celebrates with his friends Ramse (played by Kirk Acevedo) and Max (played by Romina D’Ugo) about the possibility of completing his mission. Jones (played by Barbara Sukowa) decides to join them and brings alcohol to liven up the party. Unfortunately, the time machine is damaged and a time jump is risky. However, Jones insists on sending Cole back to 2015 because the power source is slowly degrading every day. Max tells Ramse that she doesn’t trust Jones and that she heard rumors of a Russian scientist turning people inside out. Ramse breaks into her room and discovers that Jones sent others back through time and that not all of them survived (some turned inside out). Jones tells Ramse that he’s too young to remember the world before the virus and insists that the lives of a few men were worth their ultimate goal. Ramse disagrees and believes that their actions matter in the end and makes her promise to keep Cole safe.

If nothing else, bringing Jones to a party would be a blast because getting her to talk about the mission is a great drinking game. Having enough time is never an issue with a time machine, but now that the time machine is slowly running out of juice, a layer of urgency that wasn’t present before. While I can see why Ramse is upset at Jones’ methods, I would think in the end he’d be happy the process was made safe for Cole. Plus, I would assume these men knew the risks when they signed up to be Jones’ guinea pigs. It’s similar to Cassandra’s outrage when she learned Cole killed her friend Henri (played by Lyriq Bent) from Haiti. Sure, Cole could have let him live, but if the 12 Monkeys had found him they could have found the Night Room sooner. As ugly as it is, a feat like changing the course of human history has to come at a price, even if that price is a few human lives.

After the Night Room is destroyed, Cassandra is kidnapped by Scar Man. Cole and Jennifer try to save her but Cole ends up going back to 2043. He notices the lab is completely trashed. While walking through the facility Cole realizes it has been taken over by his old gang the West 7. At first glance, it appears as though the West 7 simply took over the facility while Cole was gone. But I think there’s the possibility that with all the time traveling Cole has ended up in an alternate future. I might have to brush up on the rules of time travel, but I think it’s possible.

Quotes & Thoughts

“This is a bad idea. This thing falls into the wrong hands; brimstone, horseman, zombies, crazy clowns. The party’s over.”

I noticed the Night Room was full of scientists, but I didn’t see much security. You’d think a top secret lab would spring for more guards.

“Notice anything weird about that place?” “I’m from the apocalypse. Everything here looks weird to me.”

This virus killed off mankind but nobody bothered to name it. I find that weird.

If you enjoyed Manny’s trip through time, you can find the rest of his work right HERE on Sci-Fi Bloggers. You can also follow him on Twitter @KN_Manny.

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