Plus: Syfy sets premiere date for season 3, which fans will be able to binge over one weekend

12 Monkeys type TV Show network SyFy Channel genre Adventure

Mystery

Syfy has renewed 12 Monkeys for a fourth and final season, EW has learned exclusively.

Based on the 1995 film of the same name, the Syfy series follows weary time traveler James Cole (Aaron Stanford) and virologist Cassandra Railly (Amanda Schull) as they attempt to save the world from the Army of the 12 Monkeys, who released a plague that killed off most of humanity. Season 4, which is expected to debut in 2018, will consist of 10 episodes.

EW can also reveal that the third season will debut on May 19 at 8 p.m. ET. In a surprising move, Syfy will air the entire 10-episode season over three consecutive nights starting Friday, May 19 and concluding Sunday, May 21 — the first four episodes will premiere on Friday, with three episodes airing each night on both Saturday and Sunday from 8 p.m.-11 p.m. ET.

"12 Monkeys has a dedicated and enthusiastic fan-base thanks to the epic storytelling by Terry Matalas, and the stellar cast and crew," says Jeff Wachtel, president and chief content officer for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. "We are thrilled to be able to offer fans an opportunity to binge the third season as a reward for their lasting support, and we couldn't be more excited to see where Terry takes us with the final chapter of this fabulous story in the fourth season."

Adds Chris McCumber, president of entertainment networks at NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment: "With its time-twisting themes and edge-of-your-seat storyline, 12 Monkeys is the perfect show to air this way. It's grown into a world well beyond the original film, and after seeing the creative strength of Season 3, we couldn't wait to pick it up for a fourth season."

Here's a promo for the new season, followed by new scoop from Matalas! <iframe src="http://player.theplatform.com/p/hQNl-B/GbiKM6aEyErt/select/media/GghNSn1x5XR7?form=html" width="480" height="270" frameborder="0" seamless="seamless" allowfullscreen="" class="" scrolling="no" resize="0" replace_attributes="1" name=""></iframe>

"Each night is going to play like a summer blockbuster," Matalas tells EW of season 3, which picks up months after Cassie (Amanda Schull) was kidnapped by the Army of the 12 Monkeys and discovered that she is the mother of the Witness. Thus, if the first season was about fathers and the second was about mothers, the third tackles the plight of children. "It's very much the life of one child as the show really explores what it means for these characters to have any kind of notion of family," Matalas says.

For the time being, Cassie's "family" is the Army of the 12 Monkeys, who are keeping her in isolation in 2163, where the plague has ultimately mutated over the years and killed off the rest of humanity. Viewers will, therefore, get much more history about the origins of the Army and delve into the psyche of its members. "We get to see the birth of the Army of the 12 Monkeys and how the cult came together," Matalas says, revealing that Christopher Lloyd's character — as the father of the Pallid Man, he will appear in episode 6 — is the recruiter for the Army. "The episode really dives into religious belief, cults and what kind of person would be drawn to this particular philosophy on time."

But there's one person who may be able to help in stopping the Army: Jennifer Goines (Emily Hampshire). Well, that is, if they can find her after she got lost in time in the season 2 finale.

Image zoom Ben Mark Holzberg/Syfy

Stay tuned for much more scoop on the third season of 12 Monkeys, which debuts Friday, May 19 at 8 p.m. ET on Syfy.