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12 Monkeys - Pilot - Advance Preview

Jan 16, 2015

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12 Monkeys premieres on January 16, 2015 at 9pm. Terry Matalas and Travis Ficket wrote the pilot which was directed by Jeffrey Reiner. Natalie Chaidez is showrunner. Matalas and Ficket have also written for Nikita and Terra Nova, and Matalas also wrote for Star Trek: Enterprise. Reiner’s long list of credits also includes the Pilots for Caprica and Helix, as well as The Event, Trauma, and Friday Night Lights. Chaidez also produced V, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Heroes. Clearly there’s lots of experience on this project with thrillers and science fiction! The series itself is, of course, based on the 1995 Terry Gilliam movie of the same name which is based on the 1962 French short film La Jetee by Chris Marker. The show is described as a “re-imagining” of the originals.

I think that fans of the movie will like the television, show, but you definitely don’t need to have seen the movie to understand what’s happening. I actually never did get around to seeing the movie – so I’ll be really interested to hear from people who did see the movie.

The “Pilot” has a lot of ground to cover. There are time jumps from 2043 to 2013 to 2015. We meet the cast of characters from the future – James Cole (Aaron Stanford), the “chrononaut” who travels back in time, his best friend Ramses (Kirk Acevedo), and Jones (Barbara Sukowa) who is in charge of the time travelling ‘program’. We also meet Cassandra Railly (Amanda Schull), a virologist in the present, and her significant other, Aaron Marker (Noah Bean).

The “Pilot” gets through a lot of exposition but also gives us a good look at the two main characters. Stanford is excellent as Cole. He’s clearly driven but he’s also clearly not quite of this time – he’s a lot less “refined” and more direct. Schull is very enjoyable as Cassandra. She’s smart and competent – and it’s always nice to see another strong woman character on television. Sukowa also brings a level of intelligence and strength to her role. I’ve been a big fan of Acevedo since Fringe, so it’s always great to see him. Neither he nor Bean have a great deal to do in this first episode, however.

The series is generally shot in very dark and atmospheric lighting which you’d expect from this genre, and it works well, particularly in the future. Time travel is dealt with in a sufficiently complex and believable way. The special effects are also done extremely well. The premise of the show – that he’s travelled back in time to stop the destruction of mankind, knowing that ground zero is 2017 – may seem to be limiting, but the show sets itself up to be intriguing for quite some time.

I’d definitely recommend catching this one. The action zips along with plenty of twists and turns along the way. The guest star is Zeljko Ivanek, and he delivers his usual terrific performance. There’s a great surprise at the end of the episode. The episode also sets up a number of questions that will clearly be answered as the action unfolds – like what Cole’s real motivation is for joining the program. SyFy recently stated that they want to start becoming leaders again in their own genre – science fiction – and 12 Monkeys may just be the vehicle that really allows them to do that! Be sure to catch the “Pilot” on January 16, 2015 on SyFy at 9pm ET/PT.

About the Author - Lisa Macklem
I do interviews and write articles for the site in addition to reviewing a number of shows, including Supernatural, Arrow, Agents of Shield, The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Forever, Defiance, Bitten, Glee, and a few others! Highlights of this past year include covering San Diego Comic Con as press and a set visit to Bitten. When I'm not writing about television shows, I'm often writing about entertainment and media law in my capacity as a legal scholar. I also work in theatre when the opportunity arises. I'm an avid runner and rider, currently training in dressage.

28 comments:

  1. do you know what the rating could be? and are there humorous moments?

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  2. Syfy deciding to be leaders in their genre again. About damn time.

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  3. Good for syfy, now less fake "sports" and more syfy.

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  4. A good move would be extending the lifespan of a great sci fi show: Continuum. However, it seems unlikely since the showrunner already said he'd stablished the course of this last season...

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  5. This sounds pretty different from the movie. I can't wait to see a few eps to see if it's better or not. The movie is well worth a watch.

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  6. I was interested until I heard Syfy channel. I'll pass.

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  7. Thanks for the great preview Lisa! 12 Monkeys is one of the upcoming shows that I am looking forward to most, so hearing how good it was is an added bonus! I look forward to seeing the show, and reading your reviews.

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  8. Definitely some humor, but think humor like in The Walking Dead rather than ZNation.

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  9. It's definitely worth watching. I'm betting it will at least stand up to the movie.

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  10. I'd watch at least the Pilot before you decide. This is much more like Battlestar Galactica than a lot of their more recent programming!

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  11. Thanks Robert! I'll look forward to your comments!

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  12. I'm so on the fence about this show. I liked the movie, but I'm not entirely convinced this could work as a show. Based on your excellent preview I guess I'll give it a try.

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  13. Syfy has been getting better in recent years. Don't judge the show by the network.

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  14. So looking forward to this. Even more so now with your review.

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  15. do you know the rating?

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  16. I'm not sure what you mean by the rating?

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  17. I think the show has a lot of potential - good acting and writing and a really well-paced pilot!

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  18. It does seem like the time frame - things need to be solved by 2017 - might put a natural end date on the show - though it's easy to see how that could be pushed back. My initial reaction was to be sceptical about how it could be stretched out, but the 13 episode format lends itself to tighter storytelling. There are also some hints in the Pilot about how the premise will be teased out... Do give the show a try!

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  19. Ah! Sorry, ivan, I don't know.

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  20. um well how was the language very hard or...?

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  21. I didn't think the language hard - but I'm a terrible judge of that. I would think TV-PG maybe just based on violence?

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  22. Definitely no f-bombs...

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  23. Thanks for the great preview. I'm a big fan of the movie, and I'm generally skeptical about movie/tv conversions, so I'm coming in with something of a bias against it, but it sounds like it's worth giving a try, anyway.

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  24. Yep - definitely worth watching!

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  25. Great preview, Lisa! I was a big fan of the pilot and I'm looking forward to watching it again!

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