12 Monkeys type TV Show network SyFy Channel genre Adventure

Mystery

It’s increasingly becoming less and less likely that 12 Monkeys’ weary time traveler James Cole (Aaron Stanford) will be able to change the past in order to prevent a deadly plague from killing most of the world’s population in the future.

Cole and Railly’s (Amanda Schull) efforts have continuously been foiled by the Army of the 12 Monkeys, as the former deteriorates due to his jumps through time. Facing the final jump Cole’s body can handle, he’s now traveled back to Tokyo in 1987, where he first comes into contact with Leland Goines (Zeljko Ivanek), who is but just one cog in the machine of the plague’s eventual release. The only problem is that Ramse (Kirk Acevedo) has also jumped to 1987 and is determined to stop Cole from changing the past so he doesn’t lose his son in the future. What’s next? EW got executive producer Terry Matalas to answer some burning questions:

As far as we know, Cole only has one jump left and he’s just used it to go to Tokyo in 1987. What steps might he take to prolong that so he can continue his mission?

TERRY MATALAS: There are none. If there is more time-jumping in Cole’s future, it’s left up to fate, as you’ll see. Forces stronger than he will have to intervene.

Ramse is also in Tokyo in 1987. What is his first step in trying to thwart Cole?

His first step is to stop Cole from doing anything in 1987. We know in 1987 that Cole is very close to destroying what he believes is the origin of the virus. Ramse, who is a little unhinged and on emotional overdrive, is going to try and stop Cole. Also, there’s a bit of vengeance. He knows Cole gave up he and Elena’s location because that was a place where he and Cole once stayed before. He blames Elena’s death on Cole as well, and sees Cole as the ultimate threat to his son. He’s going to do whatever he can. I don’t think he’s really going in with a blue print as to what to do other than track Cole and stop him.

The promos indicate that we’ll see Ramse in the future working with the Striking Woman (Alisen Down). What can you tease of how they cross paths?

It’s funny, because online they call her “Red Forest lady.” We put that in the script as a placeholder. We learn what her name is in episode 11. It’s clear that the Striking Woman knows more than we do. The question is how much more? Clearly she knows a lot about Cassandra Railly, which probably means she knows a lot about James Cole, but does that mean she knows anything about Jose Ramse? That’s my tease.

The Striking Woman offered Aaron (Noah Bean) a way to keep Cassie alive. Will he go so far as to sacrifice humanity just for this one person?

Only time will tell. He’s tempted in the same way that Ramse is. He wants to save someone he loves, but he’s definitely not on board with what the Army of the 12 Monkeys is doing. Also, he’s been involved in this conspiracy for a while that he and Cole failed to stop. He’s going to have to ask himself, “Maybe this is always going to happen and maybe the right thing to do is to just survive it.”

Cassie let Peters (Ramon De Ocampo) go free. Will that eventually come back to bite her, whether that’s in this season or a future one?

That’s a good question. Oliver Peters is still out there. He’s a guy who has knowledge of the plague, but for now, Peters’ story is done. Going into Season 2, Cole and Railly are going to have bigger problems than just the plague.

One of the things that’s adapted directly from the movie is Cole having a mysterious vision. I assume eventually Cole will catch up to this in real time. Can you tease when?

We will definitely know what those visions of the gun shot, the silhouetted woman and the dropping of the milk are by the end of the season.

And the same thing goes for the note that Railly gave Cole in 2017?

You’re going to know that. You will definitely know what that means by the end of the season.

Check out a sneak peek from Friday’s episode, which airs at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy: