This is a story that begins at the end and ends at the beginning, so I guess it makes sense that 12 Monkeys has repeated their big twist from Season 2's finale and revealed the identity of The Witness again at the end of Season 3. But for real this time. And wasn't it the greatest? The pay-off was two-fold: one, Cole and Cassie's son isn't evil (whew!) and two, Olivia gets to be the Big Bad she was built to be. We ended up in the same places as we did last year too: the house of cedar and pine in 1959, and Titan in 2163, but everyone was changed, and everything had a different meaning.

12 Monkeys: Season 3 Photos 16 IMAGES

The chase across history that Cassie, Cole, and Athan engaged in before they finally all ended up in 1959 was great fun, showing how far our time travelers have come since their earlier splinting days. Those nifty vests not only help move the story along more quickly, they have a cool steampunk aesthetic to boot.This entire remarkable season has revolved around Cassie's unconditional mother's love for her and Cole's child. Almost everyone else seems determined to kill him, is betrayed by Cassie's (and eventually Cole's) decision to hide his identity and try to save him, but her instinct that he wasn't born evil and thus could be saved if separated from the crazy cultists were correct. Cole was right too--nothing bad could come from their time oasis or from their love. It was great how, even with the stakes at their highest, the scene in the house played as parents trying to get their kid on the right path while he rolled his eyes at how they just don't get it, man.So, Athan was never the Witness. He was a witness, little w. In a truly insane twist, the real Witness was Olivia. And similar to Ramse's reveal as one of the creators of the time machine, one reason we didn't see it coming was because she didn't see it coming. Olivia has gone from one of the most devoted members of the Army of the 12 Monkeys to it's most disillusioned enemy and now it turns out...she's the god that she was so angry at for not being what she'd hoped. I mean, there's a lot to unpack there but ultimately it suits someone as selfish as Olivia to end up being the source of their own religious devotion.One of the weaker elements of Season 3 seemed to be the too quick "is that all it is?" wrap up of Ramse and Sam's involvement in all this, so it was cool that it was actually intentional. We didn't know it, but this is Olivia's story. Thus Ramse and Sam got short shrift because Olivia didn't care about their story, just how they could be used to further hers.It certainly makes sense that someone bred to be unbreakable and alone and who was raised in a box would be able to unleash a plague and all the other sick stuff the Witness did/is going to do but it's typically mindbending of this show that she's now going to have to ensure her own awful childhood. Alisen Down makes Olivia so terrifying yet surprisingly sympathetic at times. She was frightened when she first saw, ala Luke Skywalker in the cave, her face in the enemy's mask, but clearly embraces it once she has time to think it over, and kill the false Witness, Athan. Oh, and Pallid Man. He probably deserved a bigger send-off, but like I said before, Olivia's telling this story and she's just so completely over her brother after 200 years of his flower-petal nonsense.Our time family was torn apart for the latter part of the season, with Jones having gone all Team Olivia, since killing The Witness was at the top of both their to-do lists. That felt a little forced, though she's teamed-up with former enemies Jen, Ramse and Deacon and those alliances sort of mostly worked out so it's not completely implausible. Like everything on 12 Monkeys that doesn't work 100%, it just could have probably used a little more time to develop more satisfactorily.Jennifer had a great scene to kick off "Witness" but then took a bit of a backseat role as she and Athan prepped for his trip to 2163, and presumably for the final battle that she will fight alongside the others once they're reunited. The way Jen walked Athan through the "Athan is healing" montage like it was Primary stuff as opposed to TV production stuff was very clever.Athan may not have been The Witness, but he clearly has a special relationship to time and his miraculous birth coupled with his ultimate sacrifice definitely gives him that Chosen One cache. I'm sure we'll see many glimpses of the dead next season but is there any chance at all for that "another life" Athan and Cole spoke of when they were saying their goodbyes? It's hard to imagine a way for Cole and Cassie's love to surmount death and destiny to raise a family together, though it's equally hard not to wish for it, too. And Time appears to have a thing for Athan, given that it allowed him to stay conceived, timelines be damned.Some questions I still have after watching the finale that I expect will be answered in Season 4: What's the deal with Cole's mysterious mom? Will Cole master the red tea and save the world through his time tripping? Is Virus Meat Man Cole? When is the Cole who saved Cole in "Mother" from? He seemed more evolved than the Coles we know so far. And when will everyone finally just listen to Jennifer?