Adapted from the 1995 film of the same name starring Brad Pitt, The SYFY series 12 Monkeys explores the concept of time travel and depicts the struggles of a group of people who use it to try and stop a plague that wiped out most of humanity. Time travel can be tricky to pull off on a tv series or a movie, even when it’s just a small part of the plot but when it is the whole theme of your show it can be even tougher to pull off without confusing the audience but like the film in 1995, the series does a pretty decent job with how they handle the time travel aspect of the show.
The show mostly centers on Dr. Cassie Railly (Amanda Schull) and a time traveler from the future named James Cole (Aaron Stanford) and their attempts to stop an evil and mysterious organization known as The Army of the 12 Monkeys. As with any show involving time travel there are a ton of twists and turns to keep you guessing through 4 seasons of this science fiction tv series.
The Good
Although there aren’t any huge names attached to the series the cast is full of talent and Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull have great onscreen chemistry , really bringing the two main characters to life, plus Kirk Acevedo becomes a bigger part of the series in season 2, best known for his roles on HBO’s Oz and the science fiction series Fringe he helps to round out a decent cast.
Another good thing about the series is the way they approach explaining time travel, it starts out as basic as you can when it comes to time travel and slowly throughout the 4 seasons will complicate it a little more here and there, making it much easier to keep up with and follow the constantly changing plot. The inventors of time travel are constantly learning more about it as the show goes on and we get to learn right along with them.
The Bad
There’s not a ton bad to say about the show, I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece by any means but it is a decent show with 4 seasons to keep any science fiction fan busy for awhile. I guess the one bad thing I can think of would be the one aspect of the time traveling that is really tough to avoid and that would be the fact that any character that dies can always be brought back, either through traveling back and grabbing a different version of them from before they died or just traveling back and stopping their death. The fear of losing one of your favorite characters can be the main draw of some shows and 12 Monkeys is missing that feeling you get when you wonder if they’ll make it through a tough situation or not.
Is It Worth Watching?
If you’re into science fiction at all I believe you’d most likely enjoy this show, I wouldn’t say it’ll change your life or you’ll become a superfan or anything but 12 Monkeys will keep you busy with 47 episodes over 4 seasons and it will keep you guessing and stay unpredictable right up to the last minute. I would suggest this show to any science fiction fan and after finishing up season 4 last night I feel like my time was well spent on an enjoyable series. You can watch it on Hulu or get it at the link I provide below.
Buy season 1 on Blu-Ray here https://amzn.to/2Oo6Xdx
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The Listerzine 
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