12 Monkeys "The Keys" Review: The Splintered Heart

12 Monkeys S01E07: "The Keys"

One thing I've been waiting for 12 Monkeys to develop is its sappy, emotional center. So far, the series has largely focused on saving the world, time travel, and melting your brain, but I always believed there was also room for the show to melt... your heart. *wink* Episode 7, "The Keys," was a total tearjerker that finally acknowledged the connection between Cassie and Cole, and it was bittersweet, potentially tragic, and the linchpin of what was probably my favorite episode of 12 Monkeys to date. Hey TV shows, you wanna know how to catch my attention with a love story? Make it really sad!

There were hints at the beginning of the episode that Colsie (the official 'shipper name of Cole and Cassie, duh) was in the works, when Cole and Cassie attended the opening of the museum exhibit in order to track down some details on the fragmented plate that might contain information on the Army of the 12 Monkeys. Watching Cole enjoy himself at a black-tie event with free all-you-can-eat-and-so-he-did tandoori chicken skewers, I momentarily forgot that the guy spent all of his pre-Project Splinter life in a wasteland, scavenging for food and killing chumps for scraps. He was in awe of the museum and the spectacle, and for the first time, he wasn't fully attentive to his mission. Hanging out in 2015 must be a total trip for him; he's not aware of history because it essentially didn't exist for him. If I traveled 30 years into the past, it wouldn't be that big of a deal; I'd just miss text messaging and Major League Baseball's Wild Card playoff system. But Cole was seeing the world before the virus decimated it, and thus surveying everything he was trying to save.

Part of that everything was Cassie, who, between Cole's time jumps and headaches, has become more than just an ally he needs to stop the virus. She's his biggest champion and one of the few people who actually believes him. And don't forget that he's lived in a timeline where she was dead, so it makes sense that he looked at her a little more wistfully in "The Keys." Throw in the fact that succeeding in his mission means that Cole will no longer exist, and these two are as star-crossed as it gets. Cassie has become a dream who's just out of reach, a ghost he'll never be able to hold. Even though Cole theoretically has the power of infinite time behind him, their relationship can end forever at any minute.

So Cole said, "Let's... just be us for a while." And for a brief moment, they were. They danced, they forgot about stopping a plague, they were just two people crashing a party and enjoying each other's company. And we were all allowed to squee for just a little bit.

Soon afterward, Cole would splinter away again, as usual—and Cassie would nonchalantly tell Aaron, "You'll get used to it." Her statement didn't seem like much at the time, but it revealed a lot about her state of mind; she'd gotten used to Cole disappearing that, just like she probably expected him to return each time, as he always did.

The twist in "The Keys" was that Cole would later be sent back in time to that very day, just a few hours earlier and all the way to Chechnya, where he was supposed to retrieve the virus that was being used as part of Project Troy. And he only knew about Project Troy because one week from that moment, Cassie and Aaron would tell him about it, detailing what was happening, where to go, and how to stop the virus from being released. Meanwhile, we saw the whole thing in Cassie's time, so it seemed as if Cole had just left and then magically reappeared in Chechnya, even though the Cole in Chechnya had already experienced everything that would happen a week later (follow all that?).

Cole would eventually be kidnapped by Russian militants... the same Russian militants who were holding a CIA whistleblower who the CIA wanted to kill by using the virus (the logic was that death by virus wouldn't make headlines the way an airstrike would, and the CIA could pretend it wasn't involved). Well, the virus was released and everyone died except for Cole because he's immune, but the Russian military helicopters that were en route to the area meant that the virus could potentially escape the isolated region and wipe out humanity. So the CIA did what it had to do and vaporized the facility—with Cole inside—while Cassie looked on in horror via one of those digital boards in a war room.

Yeah, that was bad enough. But "The Keys" twisted the knife when it fast-forwarded a week into the future, to when Cassie and Aaron were supposed to tell Cole about Operation Troy so that he could go back in time to stop the virus. Cassie knew Cole wouldn't make it out alive, but she had to stick to the script—you know, because the future of mankind was at stake.

With the shoe suddenly on the other foot, Cassie was hyper-aware of her limited time with Cole. Cole was already dead; she'd seen that single red blip (the airstrike) hit that green circle (the building Cole was in) on the war room's digital screen. Yet here he was again, unaware of his future and unaware of Cassie's past. They started a conversation we'd already seen the end of, and "goodbye" was all Cassie could muster in those final moments as Cole blinked out of existence and toward his doom, because there was nothing else to say. How fucking heartbreaking was that?!

What made the scene so effective was the restraint 12 Monkeys has shown with regard to the relationship between Cassie and Cole. They've enjoyed plenty of small moments together, but nothing has ever felt rushed. And now that we're staring at the end of their time together, it stings.

Obviously Cole isn't gone forever, but that's not the point. Cassie thinks he's gone, and that moment of emotion was worth the price of admission for this episode. They'll get their second chance, and that can only strengthen their desire to make it work. But who even knows whether that chance will be with the Cassie we saw this week, or with an earlier version of Cassie who didn't experience this loss? Maybe the conclusion of "The Keys" will only exist for us; maybe we were the only ones who witnessed that particular fragment in time, and the story will continue with Cole jumping backward even further, to a time when Cassie hasn't had to deal with the grief of losing him. Or maybe Cole jumped before the missile hit, and he'll return to Cassie in the immediate future, oblivious to what she went through even though she's scarred by losing him. The possibilities are once again as endless as time. But we'll always have that moment of seeing the look on Cassie's face, and time can't take that from us. Well done, 12 Monkeys.


NOT QUITE 12 NOTES


– This episode was LOADED with paradoxes (if Cole already went back to Chechnya, why did they have to tell him again? etc.), but at this point, 12 Monkeys is just rolling with 'em, and that's fine with me.

– The series is quickly approaching Fringe territory with the possibility of different existences and intertwining romances. I love that. Cole and Casie haven't yet reached the same level as Peter and Olivia, however.

– So, was the virus wiped out in the airstrike? Does Cassie change something so that Cole survives at the cost of unstopping the virus?

– A recurring images have started to become more prominent, including a gun firing, and a glass shattering. If you've seen the film version of 12 Monkeys, you know what that could mean and you should start worrying.

– Poor Cole was being metaphorically compared to a T-Rex in that one scene at the museum. At least he has regular-sized arms.

– How dumb does the military have to be to unleash a potentially lethal virus just to kill one guy? Hello, send in Team Zero Dark Thirty to do the job!

– Cassie: "You can't touch art, just look." Cole: "That's bullshit."

– Aaron: "I'm just worried about my tux!" Oh Aaron, you so funny.

– I've been enjoying 12 Monkeys quite a bit, but this was the first time where an episode left me dying to see the next one.