Common Sense Media Review
By Joyce Slaton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Twisty, clever dystopian thriller has disturbing images.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
12 Monkeys
What's the Story?
When an armed man breaks into Dr. Cassandra Railly's (Amanda Schull) car one ordinary evening, her world begins collapsing around her. The armed man, Cole (Aaron Stanford), is a time traveler from the future, and he has a message for Cassandra: In a few short years, a mysterious group known as the Army of the 12 MONKEYS will launch a plague that will decimate humanity. In the apocalyptic world that remains almost 40 years after the plague struck, scientists are piecing together how the pandemic was created and spread when they stumble upon technology that will allow them to send one man back in time. Can Cole find the Army of the 12 Monkeys and stop them before they bring their nefarious plan to fruition?
Is It Any Good?
The idea of a pandemic that wipes us all out is definitely realistic enough to give this Syfy series a creepy chill. It's easy to picture an unhinged somebody (or an army of somebodies) hell-bent enough on some esoteric goal to unleash destruction, and 12 Monkeys plays it smart by making the Army of 12 Monkeys' motives a mystical puzzle that Cole and Cassandra must unravel piece by piece. What is the connection to shadowy, resolute virologist Leland Goines? What did his unstable daughter Jennifer (breakout live wire Emily Hampshire) witness that landed her in a psych ward? How can Cassandra and Cole stop the plague when they aren't even sure where it came from?
Time travel is a typical and tidy way to tie up loose ends in sci-fi, but 12 Monkeys skewers the trope by making "splintering" an inexact science. When the desperate academics of 2043 try to send Cole back to find someone, they're as likely to send him to the wrong country (at one point he's captured in North Korea) as to the wrong time. It's a cool conceit: Going back in time is no guarantee everything's going to wind up OK. Sci-fi fans are definitely going to want to watch to see what happens; and, so long as you don't have young or sensitive viewers in your house, the whole family can check this show out.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about why the premise of 12 Monkeys is frightening to modern viewers. What about our society makes a pandemic possible or even likely?
Watch the original movie 12 Monkeys on which this show is based. Which characters are much like they were on-screen?
What are the emotions the creators of this show want you to feel while watching? Should you be laughing? Feel frightened? Nervous? Disgusted?
TV Details
- Premiere date : January 16, 2015
- Cast : Aaron Stanford , Amanda Schull , Kirk Acevedo
- Network : Syfy
- Genre : Drama
- TV rating :
- Last updated : July 9, 2020
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