Michael Hogan's career has spanned over forty years, and in that time, he has portrayed such larger-than-life figures as Saul Tigh on Battlestar Galactica (2004), Otto Gerhhardt on Fargo, Dr. Eckland on 12 Monkeys, and Gerard Argent on Teen Wolf.

He often attends conventions and, from personal experience, I know that he is a kind and warm individual who was willing to chat with this fan girl when she accosted him in a Vancouver hotel lounge.

So the tragedy of the injury he sustained in February of this year and the subsequent health setbacks exacerbated by COVID-19 restrictions is just heart-breaking.

This may be slipped right by your attention despite the many times you have enjoyed inviting Hogan into your homes through your TV.

But the sad events are best told by Hogan's wife, Susan, as was shared on the Michael Hogan Fund GoFundMe page.

You probably know Michael as an actor. Or maybe you know him as a friend, an acquaintance, a co-worker, a father, a grandfather, or a husband. My husband. I am Susan Hogan and I am married to this extraordinary man. We have been each other’s best friend for decades.

On Feb. 17, 2020, everything changed drastically in our world. Michael was in Vancouver participating in a Battlestar Galactica convention, and at dinner following his day’s work, he fell and hit his head. Hard. He went to bed that night not realizing that the impact had caused a massive brain bleed.

He was unable to be woken the next morning and was taken to Vancouver General Hospital and emergency surgery performed. It took 57 staples to close the part of his scull they had to remove in order to reach the damage.

The accident left him with complete paralysis on his left side, memory loss, cogntivie impairment and an inability to swallow.

Then things became incredibly more difficult during the COVID pandemic with visits by family being restricted then denied and no care team (physiotherapist, OT, speech therapist, etc.) allowed in.

On September 21, 2020, family friend Shari Ulrich set up a GoFundMe and reached out to Hogan's colleagues, friends, and fans to help.

In a single day, with many actors spreading the word through their social media platforms, the GoFundMe surpassed its initial goal of $150,000 with over four thousand individuals donating.

A new goal has been set as the costs of home care and rehabilitation are unpredictable and will be long-term costs for the family.

Ulrich, as the GoFundMe organizer, has been amazed and grateful by the outpouring of support. She has printed out the many messages of support and love for Susan Hogan to take to her husband.

She continues to update the fundraiser page with information from Susan and Michael. 

Although the situation remains incredibly challenging, Ulrich describes Michael as "ONE TOUGH GUY" and holds out hope for his eventual recovery.

That's me, above. I've enjoyed Michael Hogan and wanted to share his situation with you. 

The fundraiser continues to gather donations at the Michael Hogan Fund.

If you're a fan, too, maybe you can share this news with others who might be able to help.

The post Friends and Fans Flock to Help Michael Hogan In His Time of Need appeared first on TV Fanatic.

As 12 Monkeys Season 4 Episode 1 kicked off, Olivia had barely had time to wear the robes of the Witness. She was grasping at straws to find her endgame before even warming up to the idea that she was the thing she had once despised.

By the end of 12 Monkeys Season 4 Episode 3, Olivia was fully entrenched as the Witness thanks to Cassie's need for vengeance, but the heroes had also made their first step in putting an end to her reign — forever.

Without airing the full arc of that development with the inclusion of 12 Monkeys Season 4 Episode 2 in addition to the others mentioned above, we would have received the story, but it wouldn't have felt quite as satisfying.

The three episodes together told a complete chapter from beginning to end, and it's time to turn the page. 

Related: 12 Monkeys Season 4: Terry Matalas Says It's Like Three Movies and a Blockbuster!

It couldn't have been scheduled more beautifully if we had planned it ourselves. And unlike 12 Monkeys Season 3, we don't have to jump right back in but have time to digest and converse about what we witnessed (ha), and play around with what could be upcoming. 

This is going to be a very enjoyable month. For all of you watching for the first time in the future on a streaming network, give yourselves time to breather after episode three. No, really.

Discovering that Jones had been working all along on a plan to move the facility in the even they needed to escape and play mini-Titan shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was. 

Don't be surprised, though, when I tell you I looked at the mapping of the beams and had no idea what went down and how some (my Deacon!) were left behind and most of the important stuff went with the facility to the Emerson.

The beloved Emerson Hotel is their home away from home and remains so even when they don't expect it.

Cassie's hope was for everyone to split up and splinter off into the past to live, much like she and Cole did in 1957. They were ready to do that until the Titan army broke through. Signs of what was to come for her and how she might effect time were planted with this seed:

Cassie: We may have saved Athan’s soul, but I am losing mine.

_{🔗 permalink: We may have saved Athan’s soul, but I am losing mine.}

If there's one thing we have learned through watching 12 Monkeys, there isn't a lot of personal choice involved with their actions. They are just as likely to be subjected to things as they are to take actions themselves.

Related: Enjoy UNLIMITED access to thousands of Movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video

So when Deacon was out causing a commotion to take Olivia's eye off the ball while Lasky focused on moving the facility, we should have known nothing good would come of it.

That didn't make it any easier when they were two of the casualties of the shifting facility. 

Cassie: Deacon!

Deacon: Don’t leave me.

Cole: We have to go!

Cassie: No, we can’t leave him!

Cole: We already have. Come on!

_{🔗 permalink: We already have. Come on!}

The pain on the faces of both Deacon and Cassie had me right in the gut. But what I didn't understand was why Deacon didn't fly like an eagle and whip through the beam right after Hannah. There must have been time if she did it, right? Help me, please.

The losses of Lasky, Whitley, and Deacon led to great things to come.

Jennifer's scene with her dual dueling gray matter pulling off a bank heist was one of the funniest things I've seen in ages. I seriously thought she had been doing some kind of training of late and pulled off something of a different kind.

Then the guard started watching on the camera and it became clear what was happening. God bless Emily Hampshire. That must have been one of the best days of filming for the rest of the cast and crew.

Related: 12 Monkeys Season 3 Finale Review: Will The Real Witness Please Stand Up

The way that artifact made its rounds was pretty clever. Not only did something finally tie into the story Cole's dad always told him, but it's been around since the Primary guys at Westeros gave it to someone back in the dark ages. 

Jennifer steals an artifact, takes a chance on losing her life because an agent chasing her is hoping to get his hands on it only to turn it over to the man who saves her from her dramatic death-defying stunt. It's crazy!

There were so many of those clever trails during the premiere. Jennifer wishing for her friends while watching Cassie on TV in 2018 while Cassie was watching 2043 Cole queuing up the same 2018 footage on the computer while the woman he had yet to meet stood behind him peering in on him.

Cole and Jones watching Jones preparing to send Cole off on his first splinter, reminding him that everyone he would meet would be dead and nothing was as important as the mission. Find and kill Leland — that will fix it all!

They were so naive and it seemed so easy, that daunting task they had set before them all the way back on 12 Monkeys Season 1 Episode 1.

Whitley taking to his grave the knowledge Jones had suffered terrible radiation poisoning and Jones then sharing it with her past self, only to ensure she'd never remembered so she'd do it again in the future.

The facility while they were trying to steal from themselves (and only in the future do they realize why their first trip had so little energy) is full of so many wonderful but bittersweet memories, and one that really cut was Cole addressing Ramse about being unable to forgive himself for killing Ramse.

Whitley: There may be scavs inside. My job is to keep you safe.

Jones: I may never say so, but I am grateful for everything you have done, for everything you will do.

_{🔗 permalink: I may never say so, but I am grateful for everything you have done, for everything you will do.}

Ramse inadvertently forgiving him in the past by assuring Cole that only the dead can forgive and to stop being so hard on himself must have felt like a one-two punch to Cole. 

Related: 13 Dynamic TV Power Couples

The combination of memories and present story lined up perfectly and nowhere did that work better than when it came to understanding Olivia accepting her place as the Witness.

Cassie: You two want to chase visions. I can’t. I’m going to go to 1971, I’m going to find Olivia, and I’m going to kill her, with or without you.

_{🔗 permalink: You two want to chase visions. I can’t. I’m going to go to 1971, I’m going to find Olivia,…}

Thanks to Cassie's need to avenge Athan's death, to try to stop it in some way as if she had learned nothing of time travel in all the time they'd been doing it so far, she gave to Olivia exactly what she needed to embrace the darkness in herself as far back as being a teenager.

The child that was once going to be a sacrifice then became a purpose. So what purpose will it be? And how will the newly anointed Primary acquire the Red Forest for her followers?

Now that you've seen the cunning way the time streams are being tied together, how do you believe some others will play out?

What do you expect will be found in 1852? What effect will opening the ouroboros have on stopping the Witness? Will it only lead to further clues?

Deacon wasn't killed when the facility was moved but he's been given a new position in Olivia's army. Will he accept it willingly and if so, how much will he reveal about his former friends? Does he blame them for leaving him behind even with the pain on Cassie's face??

I'd love to hear from all of you, so jump in and start talking with me. What did you think of the beginning of the end?

You can watch 12 Monkeys online if you need to get on board. It's not one to miss!

13 Notable Male Roles Rewritten as Amazing Women

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The post 12 Monkeys Season 4 Premiere Review: Breaking the Cycle appeared first on TV Fanatic.

So when I spoke with Terry Matalas about 12 Monkeys Season 4, I kept it as vague as possible (except when I didn't, and I can't share that with you!).

Matalas is one of the greatest guys in television, both creatively as evident with his vision for 12 Monkeys and with his kindness toward fans and people like me. check out a condensed version of our conversation below and prepare to be awed when 12 Monkeys returns TONIGHT on Syfy!

What can you talk about with a show we don't want to spoil?

I think you're in the last epic chapter of this series where there's a lot of questions and there needs to be a lot of answers, and I think that's what Season 4 is about. And it's about these characters coming together for one last battle.

Related: 12 Monkeys Season 3 Finale Review: Will The Real Witness Please Stand Up

I was surprised with what I've seen of the new season and the feeling of hope that prevails. It's hard to put into words, but it may be because they aren't guessing at a goal and I wondered if it was done on purpose.

Well, I think they know they have to work together if they're going to beat this thing, which is something they never really … They are going to have to become this family to take down the Army of the 12 Monkeys, so maybe that's what you're feeling.

How much of the story did you have going into all of this and how much of it was plotted out as you went along?

We didn't really wing it. Before each season we always had a plan, but before Season 3 we needed to know how exactly it was going to end because there were scenes from Season 4 in Season 3 because it's time travel, so we needed to know exactly where we were going. So we had to be really far ahead.

And did it help to film them together? Because that's what you did, right, film them concurrently and together?

It does help. It also adds a mental exhaustion factor to it all. This show does require a lot of brain power and certainly to keep that going in every department from writing to props to actors to music, it's just not a traditional television show by any stretch of the imagination.

As the first set of episodes comes up, what can you tease for people about what they can expect for the first set of three?

It's going to be… each one of these nights is sort of like its own movie, so you're going to get a nice little summer blockbuster leading to a giant one at the end on night four. So there's going to be a lot of emotion because everybody's facing the end, and a lot of answers to seasons, series-long questions.

How did that work out last year for the episodes airing over a weekend as it did?

I think it was a noble experiment. I think ambitious and it was cool that they tried it. I think it's similar to how a streaming outlet would just drop a whole season at once, but I think this is a good way to do it, to make it a month-long event.

Related: 13 Dynamic TV Power Couples

It's such a unique show that it's going to be hard to get something with quite as many facets of the characters again.

I agree, but that's the goal. That's what you always set out to do when you develop a show, is to have multiple-dimensional characters and storyline and mythology, the kind of stuff that I gravitate to. So I'm hoping to do that again.

It's pretty big, I'm not going to lie. It's the biggest thing we've ever done, so hopefully, people will like it.

Is there anything you can compare it to?

The final night, again it's the only thing I can … It feels like it's from a blockbuster, it's just so big in scope. That's the only thing I can say. Everyone that sees it says this feels like a movie. So yeah.

——————————————————————-

So, yeah, you're excited, right? What answers will come? Will you ever be satisfied with a show so intricately planned ending?

Tune in tonight at 8/7c and prepare to stick around for THREE HOURS while 12 Monkeys Season 4 kicks off and come on back for a discussion. If you're behind, watch 12 Monkeys online. You're running out of time!

13 Notable Male Roles Rewritten as Amazing Women

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The post 12 Monkeys Season 4: Terry Matalas Says It’s Like Three Movies and a Blockbuster! appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Oliva hears whispers among the elders who speak of the Witness as if it was not her. They were promised the Red Forest and it has not come. Athan was primary and would have known the path to the red forest. Is it clear to Olivia?

She's killing them one by one until she gets answers she wants. And she doesn't like a single thing her sidekick has to say.

Teen Olivia gets a knock at the door and she and her friend begin eating and having a good time before ultimately escaping when her mother comes for her. She's pregnant and on the run. She doesn't want to be what her mother says!

Awaiting her exit from the police station, Cassie is suddenly the target instead of the shooter. It works out well for her, though as she wakes up in a jail cell right next to Olivia. Olivia's vomiting in a bucket as Cassie prepares to strangle Olivia … until she sees Olivia is pregnant.

Then it begins. Olivia starts telling her "story" to Cassie. Her mother believes something Cassie doesn't. It's only a matter of time before she gets her.

Olivia shares more of her story with Cassie in Jail. She learns she has a purpose. She will have a child as a sacrifice. Her mother cannot believe she would doubt the witness.

Teen Olivia is so scared she runs.

Deacon crawls into the room with Olivia.

Bonham is shocked when Jennifer falls onto the tracks and into the arms of Cole aka future asshole.

She needs to find her asshole and get him a cheeseburger. He'll be at the Charles Bridge.

Jennifer stole the doodad because she thinks it's meant for her. Jennifer and Cole then stumble over the cellphone and call Bonham. He'll be waiting for them at the beginning.

Olivia drinks some red tea and discovers from herself that the purpose of Titan is to make a non-primary primary. She's opening her mind to the time stream. It could be fatal, but there can be no answers, no plan until she truly witnesses.

She gets her own special Witness mask to keepher alive so she can endure the process.

When Cassie tries to interfere with Olivia, she discovers that TeenyBopper Olivia lied to her. Her mother chose to go out in the world and have a child for the witness. She murdered the friend who was helping her and her devotion to the witness ran deeper than she ever imagined. She tried to help her daughter, bu tshe couldn't.

The next time Olivia comes into the room, she's infused with the adult Olivia.

Cassie kills Olivia's mother trying to shoot Oliva and runs.

Cole opens the ouroboros with the story his father told him and finds a message inside. A new mission in 1852?

Deacon is the new Mallick.

Mother tells her son to go do his part. Olivia tells him they have work to finish.

Olivia's baby is left in the forest for someone to find. Who is the baby? Now the time shows that every time the witness appeared it was Cassie.

Cole appears in Cassie's room. They're reunited. They're stuck in a loop, and endless cycle. But nobody knows the first move has been made to break it.

The post 12 Monkeys Season 4 Episode 3 Recap: 45 RPM appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Cole and Ramse are walking in the snow and under attack. After they take down a guy, they laugh. It's the day Cole finds Cassie's watch.

Cassie and Cole take Jones to the facility. She can't believe they moved in time.

The facility is a minefield, full of causality and paradoxes. It's not their machine, but theirs.

While talking about Olivia, Cassie spits out, "She was never more protected than she was when she was with you."

The team has the worst peripherial vision ever. Our guys don't even need to hide to be hidden from view.

Cole has a hard time seeing himself with Ramse, his old friend, instead of how the two of them ended.

An inspector is looking for clues as to Jennifer's identity and why she stole the artifact.

When Jones sees Whitley, she begins to shake and drops her glasses.

They all watch when their younger selves still thought it was as easy as targeting Leland Frost to save the world.

Suddenly, Our Jones heads off. She's going to talk to herself.

In 2018, Jennifer sees Cassie on TV before she knew anyone, and Jennifer misses her friends very much.

At the same time, Cassie sees the other Cole watching the same interview on his computer again.

The Jones try to decide why things didn't work as they should have. Who they trusted they shouldn't have. Past Jones wonders why the shaking, and Our Jones says it's because she was exposed to radiation.

Past Jones wants to know how to get tethers working. Our Jones tells her. Past Jones is going to have a difficult life as a result, but she'll think of their conversation as a hallucination thanks to benzos and booze.

Cassie wants to go and kill Olivia to save their son. There won't be a tether. She goes back to 1971. Alone. Never to return.

Cole and Jones are preparing to steal the core. They're waiting in Past Jones' room.

Cole finally comes face to face with Ramse and can't get their last moments out of his mind. Ramse says they'll do it however many times it takes until his soul is saved. What if it never stops, Cole wonders. They were such great friends before all the time traveling bullshit took over.

Ramse says he has to stop trying to forgive himself because only the dead can do it.

Jennifer kills off her cool sidekick, forgets her passport as she was just reminded not to do, and takes off just as the police get there.

It's Cole's turn to steal a core. He gets one.

Whitley walks up to Jones as she's helping Cole to steal it. She winces.

Jones and Cole watch as Cole begins to splinter for the first time, her past self reminding Mr. Cole that everything but the mission is secondary and everyone he meets is already dead. How incredibly wrong she was.

At the same time, she begins to shake and Cole asks if she's alright. She wants him to promise she'll see it rhough to the end.

At the train station to Heathrow, Jennifer is trying to escape. The detective catches up with her. Bonham from Interpol catches up with her.

He knows a lot about Jennifer, her artistic ability, the Army of the 12 Monkeys and James Cole. He tries to assure her she's cornered and alone, but she says she's not alone, and falls into the path of the train.

The post 12 Monkeys Season 4 Episode 2 Recap: Ouroboros appeared first on TV Fanatic.

2046

Time is spinning through Jone's head as she lay nearly dying, blood coming out of her mouth.

Hannah wants to know what to do. She can help. Cassie doesn't think Jones is going to help. Cassie doesn't want to help because Jones shot Athan.

Deacon still thinks Athan was the Witness. He's shocked to learn it is and was Olivia. Cassie saves Jones, but she wants to run. She's done. She's losing her soul.

She suggests to everyone they all find a place in the past to take off and disappear, live their lives for as long as they get.

Before they get a chance to go, the river begins boiling. The storms are coming. She's here.

Olivia only has one move. Kill them all.

An army descends upon our heroes and the term "outnumbered" is worthless in comparison.

The machine needs to be stabilized and the core cooled manually. Jones wants to splinter everything. Aaron says it's not finished. Jones seems to think it would work.

When their only wall to the outside world is infiltrated, Cassie calls the team back. They may have a way out.

Project Karen will splinter the facility somewhere safe. Time travel without the time part.

There are beams and everything inside of them would be transported somewhere else, but not somewhen else.

It's up to Deacon to leave the facility to load the place with explosives to do some major destruction.

It's the teacher and the student as Jones tries to outsmart the woman she taught too much in hindsight.

One weapon left behind keeps coming into focus. Why will it be important?

Deacon sees Olivia's moves and reports back. Olivia's got herself a deathstar.

Inside, Lasky is shot through the head. He can't help. Jones shoots herself with adrenaline and heads to the core.

Those masked bastards are everywhere. It's a testament to the heroes how much they want to survive how well they're doing.

Whitley holds off the bad guys for as long as he can while Jones irradiates herself to cool the core. He dies protecting her, but it was enough.

Everyone is running to get inside of the beams. With Hannah at the controls, it begins. Deacon is left behind.

They're at the Emerson Hotel. Right back in NYC.

They don't have enough power to get the splinter up and running again. It's broken. Cole wants to go back to the place they just left to see if the extra they left behind is smashed or they can get it for parts.

Jennifer looks like a friggin' superhero from the Matrix. She's on a quest to steal something from a museum, smoking e-cigarettes. It's a museum of Uroborus pieces. This is one of the very best scenes they've ever done with Jennifer. Simply outstanding from the beginning to the shocking ending.

She gets the weapon, and has been seeing the history of it in her head.

Hannah has been following Cole, and when they get to the facility, they discover they didn't just move it, they went back in time. To the beginning.

The post 12 Monkeys Season 4 Episode 1 Recap: The End appeared first on TV Fanatic.

While 12 Monkeys Season 3 Episode 8 was a nice breather from the more intense episodes of the season, all it really did for me was drive home how much secrets suck because of how angry Jones and Deacon became.

The standout regarding material was 12 Monkeys Season 3 Episode 9 merely because it's felt like we've waited very long to get to know the adult Athan (who we once thought was the Witness) and James Callis. When is James Callis ever NOT entertaining?

Of course, it should have been a dead giveaway as soon as there was hope for Athan (and he got a name) that he wouldn't end up being the witness. 

That was our first clue. 

The second came during "Thief" when he fell in love. Would all of this really be the result of a deep connection gone terribly wrong? A feeling of betrayal because of everything you could do as a time traveler except the one thing you want to do more than anything being out of reach? Of course not.

Still, watching James Callis struggle with Athan's emotions for an hour was as wonderful as we'd imagine it would be. I want to fall in love with Athan, dammit. He can drag me in my sweat shorts to the most decadent restaurant in town and ask the men to remove their shirts and pants. I'm up for it!

He can be so bloody charming.

The story was so easy to peg, though. As soon as Athan wanted to save her, her predisposed death was obvious (June 26 is my birthday). But for someone who had never been given the benefit of a relationship that wasn't preordained, the pain could have been enough to bring about the end of the world.

Knowing Athan went to his parents seeking guidance for how to handle the situation was as lovely as was the continual earlier reminders that he was not a bad boy, and the future that was mapped out for him was not one he wanted.

The lies everyone told, meanwhile, were as essential to bringing about the witness as Cassie and Cole being together and creating Athan. 

It's confusing, and no, I don't totally understand how Olivia became the Witness, but her birth as a product of time itself being born of her own mother and genetically engineered is surely as important as a primary. 

Olivia almost wanted to be a good guy for a second or two. Or it seemed she held out hope for herself, which you could see as her face fell when the realization she was the Witness overcame her. 

Olivia: You are the witness!

Athan: That’s where you’re wrong. But I witnessed.

_{🔗 permalink: That’s where you’re wrong. But I witnessed.}

But Olivia also seemed to be behind in the timeline, almost as if she was purposefully protecting her various selves from knowing too much so they didn't screw anything up intentionally. 

Could she have made that face and been so damn shocked at the news she was the Witness and yet still have been on the path she was on all this time? From here on out, the future is new, unless I'm misunderstanding things. Most of what was seen by anyone with foresight was either misinterpreted or will be new.

Those who did know didn't share it back down the line.

The intricate ties between Jennifer and Athan were only just barely touched, and my hope is we're going to see more of their time together (they spent a year or so) during 12 Monkeys Season 4. 

There isn't a single character with whom Jennifer doesn't have a brilliant rapport, and seeing more of Emily Hampshire and James Callis is definitely on my itinerary. To tease the two and rip them apart without further exploring the primaries together would just be cruel.

I have this image of the two of them in my head, and it's beautiful. 

Sebastian: To be primary is beautiful. It is to be a part of nature, a part of time itself.

_{🔗 permalink: To be primary is beautiful. It is to be a part of nature, a part of time itself.}

If being primary in and of itself is wondrous, imagine all that we would have revisiting the time those two shared. Gimme!

It's sad that Jones and Deacon had to go so far to the edge and help bring about the Witness, but it evens the playing field for the final season. They cannot hate on Cassie and Cole for what they did or held back.

Yes, there were lies, but if there was not hatred as a result of the lies, things might have ended up much differently. The game board was vastly different than anyone imagined and the pieces not carved out as they believed. 

Olivia has been one of the scariest, most unexpected people on 12 Monkeys. The only person who hasn't underestimated her was Jennifer. Jennifer is now more important than ever. The only person who has regained trust in Jennifer is Deacon. Are they the team to beat in Season 4?

Destroying Olivia will be more difficult because she's such a wild card, but she'll be easier to destroy because they have no strings attached to her. 

What do you think the final season holds in store? It might already be done filming, so hopefully, we don't have to wait too long to find out!!

If you're a little behind, watch 12 Monkeys online and then drop by for some discussion. Believe me, this barely covers the surface of the three hours that aired! 

Quotables from Week Ending May 19, 2017

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The post 12 Monkeys Season 3 Finale Review: Will The Real Witness Please Stand Up appeared first on TV Fanatic.

At the very beginning of "Causality," Jones pointedly asked Cassie if, in all the time she was at Titan, she had the opportunity to discover the identity of the Witness. Cassie, of course, said no.

Looking back at the full three hours, lying was probably the wrong approach.

This group of people has been through so much, and each has carried extra burdens of secrets along the way. While the one Cole and Cassie currently have is a whopper, they haven't been carrying it very long.

They also aren't the first two people to suddenly discover they have an adult child who was caught up in the whole 12 Monkeys mess.

The problem is Cassie and Cole had no time together to discuss fully the ramifications of their secret, let alone sharing it. Cassie lived with for a long time. Cole had mere moments in comparison.

It's a shame, really, because something tells me Jones might have understood what they were feeling based on her experience with Hannah. They've been far too secretive about each other all along, and it's generally been good for no one but themselves.

If Jennifer, who had a huge crush on Cole for the longest time, was capable of understanding their desires to keep their personal issues a secret and to protect their privacy, why not guess everyone might behave just as decently?

God. Don't you love Jennifer? "Causality" was another Jennifer-centric hour in which she was the brightest star, even when coming face to face with her father, Leland. The whole plan to steal the painting to get their hands on the Witness' map was her idea, and she orchestrated it perfectly.

The outfits were so much fun and the light attitude was welcome in the middle of the darker installments. Everyone looked great except for Cole, who apparently dressed himself as a walking pun.

Deacon: Nineteen eighty-nine. What a trip. Do you know they’re playing Genesis in the lobby? You really should let Jennifer dress you. I will have a scotch, neat, with a beer back.

_{🔗 permalink: Nineteen eighty-nine. What a trip. Do you know they’re playing Genesis in the lobby? You…}

Jennifer and Cassie had time to bond while they were waiting outside the auction house, and Jennifer was not a bit crazy as she talked about being formed by what happened in her childhood. 

It was an essential conversation when it stood up against what was to come in the following two hours.

Cassie: We could change that for you. It’s 1989, your mother tries to drown you in 1991. We could warn someone, maybe get you some help.

Jennifer: I don’t know who I’d be if I wasn’t the kid whose mother tried to kill her. It’s kind of a defining moment in one’s life, you know.

_{🔗 permalink: I don’t know who I’d be if I wasn’t the kid whose mother tried to kill her. It’s kind of a…}

Jennifer isn't the exception, as it turns out. She and Athan (I hope that's right) are very much alike. In fact, he thinks she will one day be far more than he has ever been, going back to the earlier episodes when Future Cole tried to get Cole on board with why Jennifer is so important.

Aethan: The symbols. You see them too?

Jennifer: What do they mean?

Aethan: I don’t know. You’re like me.

Jennifer: I don’t think I’ve ever been like anybody. I don’t think I’m like you at all. I think you’re better.

Aethan: But one day, I think you will be the best of us all.

_{🔗 permalink: But one day, I think you will be the best of us all.}

Jennifer was defined by what happened with her mother and nurtured partly by her father and the nuthouses in which she was raised.

There is so much about Jennifer that is like the little boy who wrote out his life story on that map. They are both intelligent beyond anyone's imagination and wish to be people they are not. They were in situations they couldn't control, doing what was expected.

The more we learned about Athan along the way, the more I started to like the little guy. 

Even so, isn't it ironic how even Athan's parents don't quite understand him? Cole couldn't mourn the loss of someone he never knew, even while Cassie couldn't let go of a child she carried and to whom she gave birth.

Cassie: James?

Cole: There’s nothing to say.

Cassie: They made him. That’s nurture, not nature.

Cole: That’s not what I saw, neither did you.

Cassie: I know what we’re supposed to do, but I can’t.

Cole: I can.

_{🔗 permalink: They made him. That’s nurture, not nature.}

While Cassie struggled with what her child became because of how he was raised, Cole believed he was so broken and damaged because of all the evil things he did that he was at fault for producing a child capable of killing a tent full of people.

But we were seeing a child struggling against what he was being forced to do. He didn't like it, but Magdalena kept forcing the issue. What a terrible spot that would be in for a child that age. To know what you're doing isn't right but feeling those who care for you pushing you into a direction you can't control.

It was very cool seeing Agent Gale again. He's such a good guy, and Cole was right. He'll probably help them in 1961 even knowing he's going to die. I wondered, though, if Athan drew him his fate as a way to tell him it wasn't written in stone.

It was very strange that the boy would choose him, of all people, to connect with at that tent rally. Of course, he was probably the sole survivor. Yet, it felt different than that. With so many people looking out for Agent Gale, it would be nice to know there is a way to change fate.

I had no idea what it was Cassie was begging to see when she asked Jones to splinter, but visiting her mom to ask her about the map and what it meant about her son was pretty cool. 

Her mom was just as intelligent as Cassie, and she had insights that led Cassie to believe by intervening as his mother, she could possibly change who the Witness becomes.

There is a time loop, of course, and they may all be stuck in it, but if the Witness and what he started is as important as we've been led to believe, could it be possible changing his life might change the course of history going forward?

The third hour suggested killing him would be the ultimate fix. 

Jones: The boy is the man. The totality of the life.

_{🔗 permalink: The boy is the man. The totality of the life.}

Jones reminded everyone there would be no reward for doing it, and if there was a God, they'd likely be punished for even considering it. Unless, of course, they were forgiven by time itself.

Because if they were successful, they would never have reason to even think about doing such a thing.

Cassie and Cole would be born decades apart. Deacon would be singing his song to people years in the future. Jennifer might rot in an insane asylum forever, or her mother may never try to drown her. Who knows?

At this point, could anyone pinpoint the exact moment in time where the effects of the Witness would stop and history wouldn't be affected?

I sure couldn't. Now that I think of it, I don't think killing the boy would do the trick. For the boy to come into existence, there had to be a Cassie and a Cole. For there to be a Cassie and a Cole, there had to be a Witness. There is some circular logic missing that won't make the death change what needs changing, but I don't know what it is.

And call me crazy…but when I saw the boy in the tent, young Athan looked so much like Cole, and the age wasn't so far off, that it hit me Cole's dad could be his son. Or his grandfather. Unless he's going to be flitting around time too much to be in any one place to knock someone up.

What I didn't understand (other than what I just wrote) was whether or not Jones fully understood Cole to be the father of the Witness. 

She didn't come right out and say it to Cassie when they argued but rather allowed Cassie to take the blame for ripping apart the world as she knew it, and Cole and Ramse. Sure, Cassie came first, but Cole went back in time to tell Cassie about their future. She was originally an innocent.

I'm getting myself very confused! Haha

Everything's coming full circle. Only Jennifer understood Athan and suggested they stop the killing already and start making different choices. Cassie ran into the room and shot Deacon. Even the deepest crush would have had a hard time accepting that.

Hannah was gravely wounded for a mission Jones thought had been ALL ALONG about Cassie and Cole and their child. 

Jones: This whole time. This entire mission. All of it. It’s been about them.

Deacon: You do know what we have to do, right?

Jones: Yes.

Deacon: May God have mercy.

_{🔗 permalink: May God have mercy.}

The secret threatens to tear everyone apart because nobody understands it. If Cassie and Cole had shared the truth with them in the first place, they would have surely been on the same side. It's the silence and being forced to piece together odds and ends that led to the wrong conclusion.

I don't think they'll be torn apart for long. 

Someone will find a way to share the truth of what's going on. Maybe it will be Athan himself. When he sees what his parents are doing in their quest to reach him, he could begin to change. He's not a bad person. The map proved his confusion and wishes that he was someone different. 

If the opportunity arises, he could take it, starting a different world. Who knows? It's 12 Monkeys. The whole thing could already be tied back to the very beginning, and we just don't see it yet.

What do you think? When you watch 12 Monkeys online look for clues and bring them back to the conversation! 

Quotables from Week Ending May 19, 2017

Open List

The post 12 Monkeys Review: Nature vs Nuture appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Two kids are going into the mausoleum. A voiceover talks of a serpent…two heads always forward never back.

They call Jennifer a bloody bag lady. She owns the mausoleum. She's just waiting around for the dying man. 

The lights begin to flicker…here's Johnny!!

1891

Cassie and Cole are meeting Athan. He's in full on pity mode, which is not good for a guy who could be responsible for the end of the world as we know it. They synchronize their vests and begin running through several different timelines, with Jones and friends tracking them.

Athan sets Cassie's destruct button to throw them off. They get rid of Cassie's vest and go after Athan. Cole destroys Athan's vest and the three tandem to their home. 

The conversation between parents and son doesn't go so swimmingly. Athan tries to get Cole to pull the trigger, but Cole won't do it despite the taunts. 

Olivia is making red leaf tea to find where they are. Deacon wants to know when Jones is going to reach her tolerance for batshit. Sending her consciousness up the timestream?

But Olivia gets her answers. As soon as she does, Athan feels it. 

While Cassie and Athan show each other their matching Eliza watches, the place is riddled with bullet holes. They're here.

Big shootout. Inside, Jones gets Athan in her sites. She apologizes to Hannah and shoots Athan's vest. Hannah looks at Jones and wonders, "what have we done?"

Outside there are people from Titan. The "nice" dude who was there for Cassie while she was being held hostage. They are taken into the ceremony room. Olivia kills the Pallid Man. 

Olivia made it out. How? Deacon finally put everything together. It was just a long con. She killed people, escaped and took the place of the Witness.

Jennifer saves the dying man. The Witness takes his rightful place at the ceremony and everyone runs. Bullets are flying flying flying.

Cole, Cassie and Jones escape. 

Athan tells Olivia she's the Witness. She always has been. She's shocked.

In 2018, Athan says goodbye to Jennifer. It's up to her now. 

Meanwhile, James is listening to his father tell him a story. James looks exactly like Athan did as a child. It's the story of the serpent. And who wrote it? His mother.

The post 12 Monkeys Season 3 Episode 10 Recap: Witness appeared first on TV Fanatic.

Meanwhile, we get to know Athan, who travels time and lives amongst ghosts. He knows everything and witnesses the worst humanity has to offer.

The only way Athan stays sane is by traveling anyway, anywhen, at will. Then his time suit breaks. 

Athan is trying to buy something special when a thief in a white mask robs the jewelry. He follows her to a hospital where she points a gun on him. He gets what he wants back. She wears the mask because when you're promising death, it's best to look the part.

The two spar and a week later Athan is back at the watchmaker asking him to take another pass at the gold thing.

He goes back to the hospital only to discover the doctor he met is dying of the plague. 

Jennifer is drawing all of it. Jones wonders what's going on. Jennifer says it's the end of the story. 

Eliza wakes up in Athan's house, cured. She merely had a staph infection.

Athan begins wooing her in earnest. He wants to know all about her, why she left her privilege behind. She thinks he either wants to beat her or bed her. She's embarrassed to be in a restaurant underdressed and he ensures she feels very comfortable in her surroundings.

They fall in love, and C&C read all about it.

Jennifer's voices are overwhelming. Versions of herself are driving her mad. She keeps seeing the mausoleum. It's her present. Time is trying to tell her something. She needs to think outside the box to save the dying man.

She begins bashing her head on the floor. Deacon finally gets his head on straight and stops Jones and Hannah from killing Jennifer. He asks her where she wants to go. Anywhere but here. She wants to go home.

Athan met up with his father only twice. Once when he was very young, and once later. Vagrant Cole was eating beans out of a can (as all vagrants do), and said he'd give up a lifetime of anything else if he could have a life like that.

Eliza gets out of bed to go back to the hospital. She's killed. Athan feels it as he's writing a letter to her. He rushes to her side, but he's too late. 

Athan is beyond pissed off that the watchman hasn't fixed his piece yet. All he's done is take his money. At gunpoint, the guy fesses up. He has it. The vest is operational. This time, Eliza goes back to the hospital, still feels the strike to her leg, but sees brains flying as all around her go down in a hail of bullets. 

Athan, wearing his vest, kills them all, brutally. Instead of thanking him, Eliza backs up in fear, wondering what he has done. He confides in her and shows her his map and iPad. She looks at him not like a hero from a romantic novel, but with disgust. She gives to him a watch. It's broken. It's broken, from this moment forward, he is to be reminded that time cannot be manipulated, It is ungodly. Of course, we know she's going to die of something he can cure. The ache in her leg proves it. 

That night, the watch is ticking and he has a hammer. Eliza, however, is dead nonetheless. Athan tried 607 times to save her. No matter what he did, on the 26th of June, 1897, she dies. 

Then Cassie finds the time she met her son. On the day she lost her first patient. She only had a staph infection, and he says what he tried to do, but she catches that what he did wouldn't have worked. 

Before they send Jennifer away, Deacon says, "Like a fox." 

Olivia and Jones are now besties. Olivia wants Jones to finish it.

C&C walk up on Athan in a chapel.

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