12 Monkeys, S02E09: Hyena
Jan. 2nd, 2023 09:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annavereThe title had me certain it would be Jennifer-centric. It was. Another quality episode.
Random 2044 Stuff:
Oh hey, Whitley! Nice to see you're still around. Guess you won't get to do anything interesting in this episode but I'll take what I can get.
The Ramse/Cole post-Sam scene finally happens, but Ramse doesn't cooperate with Cole's desire to talk about it and switches to his Witness research immediately. Cassie having told Ramse about Titan before she told Cole should really be sending up red flags. Cole, after all, is no stranger to the allure of a death trip and as entertaining as I find the Ramse/Cassie team up, elderly Jennifer is right that Cole needs to keep a handle on those two. Although that sounds about as easy as controlling a tornado, so good luck with that, Cole.
Hannah speaks! I appreciate the rocky, realistic start to her relationship with her mother, and the extreme divergence in their outlook vis a vis what science brings to the world. Katarina recognizing that Hannah might prefer to go by another name and Hannah's response seem like positive developments.
When Cassie starts second-guessing her psychic intel, Ramse encourages her to stay the course. Cassie calls shotgun because she knows she's not an indispensable part of his plan and he insists on bringing her mask along with them - because he doesn't actually want her getting herself killed. I love every second of these two.
Things then take a turn for the fantastical with their visit to the Keeper, a hermit in an astrologer's dome who gives Cassie and Ramse couples' counseling. This is so far off-the-wall it should not work, but it was very entertaining. Of course, the heart of Ramse and Cassie's problem with each other goes back to the end of season one when Cole managed to pick each of them over the other and they have not gotten over that. Commonality strikes.
This sequence also means I have officially made it to the scene which got 12 Monkeys recommended to me in the first place, namely the appearance of Paul! Ezekiel's father with the deep voice and soulful eyes - those attributes are not put to quite as good a use as the Keeper, because it's a less dramatic role, but it's nice to see him and he seems like a useful contact to have.
And on to the main plot:
There's an interesting bait and switch in that the episode begins with what seems like the origin story for the Daughters. This is a brilliant ploy, because it means when Jennifer makes her enthusiastic claim that she can take the fight to the Monkeys because she already knows the end of her story, I was on board - though the cavalier attitude was nevertheless worrisome. "What about everybody else?" says Cole.
Also, I thought it was stretching the bonds of disbelief that her dysfunctional little group could possibly become the level-headed 19th Century survivalists of the future, so not only did it make a terrible kind of sense when that group fell apart, it also delivered a gut punch of reality when they got blown up, along with a whole hospital of people. It was shocking, and sad, and their deaths carried a surprising amount of weight for being one-shot, stereotypically crazy chicks.
I did like to see Jennifer happily roaming with her Hyenas (her opening monologue was darkly amusing), and it was sad to see her broken all over again by the end of the episode. Cole's continuous support for her is a thing of beauty, and the way they improvised an argument (admittedly a cliched trope I've seen in numerous action movies) was cute.
A visual callback with Cole torturing a man for information while he's tied to a chair, with Jennifer looking on. Cole is not playing around with the Tall Man, but he needs to rethink his methods - this is now the second chairbound victim who has busted free on him, and violence tends not to be Cole's most successful method of fixing things. Interesting that he gives in to Cassie's predicted desire for revenge as soon as he has the Tall Man in his grasp.
The Tall Man does make a much better villain than the Messengers. He's genuinely unnerving. Can't comment on the material detailing Olivia and him falling out, or the scene with Katarina's ex getting new employment. Not enough information yet.
This episode did need a little levity, so the two second knock on the door from future-future Cole was a perfect way to cut the tension. I've never seen time travel utilized in so exuberant a fashion as this show does. They take full advantage of what the concept offers and it is marvelous to see.
Random 2044 Stuff:
Oh hey, Whitley! Nice to see you're still around. Guess you won't get to do anything interesting in this episode but I'll take what I can get.
The Ramse/Cole post-Sam scene finally happens, but Ramse doesn't cooperate with Cole's desire to talk about it and switches to his Witness research immediately. Cassie having told Ramse about Titan before she told Cole should really be sending up red flags. Cole, after all, is no stranger to the allure of a death trip and as entertaining as I find the Ramse/Cassie team up, elderly Jennifer is right that Cole needs to keep a handle on those two. Although that sounds about as easy as controlling a tornado, so good luck with that, Cole.
Hannah speaks! I appreciate the rocky, realistic start to her relationship with her mother, and the extreme divergence in their outlook vis a vis what science brings to the world. Katarina recognizing that Hannah might prefer to go by another name and Hannah's response seem like positive developments.
When Cassie starts second-guessing her psychic intel, Ramse encourages her to stay the course. Cassie calls shotgun because she knows she's not an indispensable part of his plan and he insists on bringing her mask along with them - because he doesn't actually want her getting herself killed. I love every second of these two.
Things then take a turn for the fantastical with their visit to the Keeper, a hermit in an astrologer's dome who gives Cassie and Ramse couples' counseling. This is so far off-the-wall it should not work, but it was very entertaining. Of course, the heart of Ramse and Cassie's problem with each other goes back to the end of season one when Cole managed to pick each of them over the other and they have not gotten over that. Commonality strikes.
This sequence also means I have officially made it to the scene which got 12 Monkeys recommended to me in the first place, namely the appearance of Paul! Ezekiel's father with the deep voice and soulful eyes - those attributes are not put to quite as good a use as the Keeper, because it's a less dramatic role, but it's nice to see him and he seems like a useful contact to have.
And on to the main plot:
There's an interesting bait and switch in that the episode begins with what seems like the origin story for the Daughters. This is a brilliant ploy, because it means when Jennifer makes her enthusiastic claim that she can take the fight to the Monkeys because she already knows the end of her story, I was on board - though the cavalier attitude was nevertheless worrisome. "What about everybody else?" says Cole.
Also, I thought it was stretching the bonds of disbelief that her dysfunctional little group could possibly become the level-headed 19th Century survivalists of the future, so not only did it make a terrible kind of sense when that group fell apart, it also delivered a gut punch of reality when they got blown up, along with a whole hospital of people. It was shocking, and sad, and their deaths carried a surprising amount of weight for being one-shot, stereotypically crazy chicks.
I did like to see Jennifer happily roaming with her Hyenas (her opening monologue was darkly amusing), and it was sad to see her broken all over again by the end of the episode. Cole's continuous support for her is a thing of beauty, and the way they improvised an argument (admittedly a cliched trope I've seen in numerous action movies) was cute.
A visual callback with Cole torturing a man for information while he's tied to a chair, with Jennifer looking on. Cole is not playing around with the Tall Man, but he needs to rethink his methods - this is now the second chairbound victim who has busted free on him, and violence tends not to be Cole's most successful method of fixing things. Interesting that he gives in to Cassie's predicted desire for revenge as soon as he has the Tall Man in his grasp.
The Tall Man does make a much better villain than the Messengers. He's genuinely unnerving. Can't comment on the material detailing Olivia and him falling out, or the scene with Katarina's ex getting new employment. Not enough information yet.
This episode did need a little levity, so the two second knock on the door from future-future Cole was a perfect way to cut the tension. I've never seen time travel utilized in so exuberant a fashion as this show does. They take full advantage of what the concept offers and it is marvelous to see.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-07 03:24 pm (UTC)Emily Hampshire is such a gift. I can never watch her have emotions without having emotions. And her delivery on "you weren't kidding" is just a pure delight.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-09 05:00 pm (UTC)I think Jennifer Goines had to have been the most challenging role to cast, and the most easily spoiled, because of the potential for overacting that always comes with "crazy" roles. Emily Hampshire does an incredible job.