12 Monkeys - Looking Under the Hood


  


Is it possible to parse just 16 seconds of video?

Sure why not, let's give it a try.

Here we have the teaser for the penultimate episode of 12 Monkeys for season 2 entitled, "Blood Washed Away."  It contains a glimpse at the events in the immediate aftermath of the last episode "Resurrection."  At the end of that episode we find Cassie and Cole being splintered off to 1957 in order to stop a Primary Paradox.  Ramse, Jennifer and her Daughters are off to do battle at the Titan complex.  And finally at the Splinter center, Jones and the rest are consumed by the temporal Red Storm.

Knowing all this let's take a look at what the teaser offers us.




Our teaser opens with Deacon passing through what looks to be an urban landscape.  We know that our team is headed out to Colorado so perhaps he is moving through Boulder or CheyenneHe's alone though so it makes you wonder where the rest are.  He's outfitted himself for cold weather yet for ease of movement should he encounter trouble.  He's sporting that hellacious scar that Hannah gave him which might explain his solitude.  You might not want the company of others if you are fresh off combat with them.

There's some graffiti  to the right.  It might look like a monkey or it might be Dory or Nemo for all we know.  We didn't see Deacon leave with Ramse and the rest so he could be actually anywhere.  We'll learn more soon enough.




Jennifer appears and she too seems to be in that bluish urban landscape. She looks about with furtive glances as if she anticipates trouble.  I suppose if you're off to kill The Witness then being on guard would be prudent. 

Is Jennifer alone also?  Is she in Colorado?  I can't see her being pictured on her way there as there are only two episodes left and taking the time to catalog her travels would be a bit of a waste.

She looks worried though.  None of that manic excitability or the depths of depression.

Just fear.





Solitude over!

Deacon is now joined by Marcus, Hannah and Ramse.  If Deacon's wound isn't patched up then at least their differences are.  Also, if Deacon didn't travel with the rest he soon caught up with them and or valued their company versus the Red Storm they left behind.

Hannah is with Deacon too and she is the one that gave Deacon his scar.  In fact, Ramse is the one that antagonized Deacon into getting his scar!  This could be a case of, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."  So, at least these politics make strange bedfellows.  Good to see Marcus among this group to add his military prowess to their effort.

Note they are at the edge of a wooded area so it seems they have left their urban landscape behind.

But where is Jennifer and The Daughters?





Our next shot reveals the four running across an open field and heading towards Titan.  Too bad Marcus didn't set them in a skirmish position.  Running in a close group makes for an easy target.  Maybe The Witness wants them to come close unharmed.

What is so glaring about this frame?  The Sun!

There is a Temporal Storm on the horizon to the left but there is abundant sunshine to the right.  It would seem The Witness' plans aren't fully realized yet especially so close to what seems to be his main base of operations.

Should we conclude that Cassie and Cole were successful back in 1957 and the storms are being rolled back?  ( The bluish urban landscape betrayed no red storm tint either.)

Or, is The Witness capable of rolling back his own storms?  If true, he may have done so in order to let the four approach thereby hinting at a trap.

Remember, "Titan only leads to death."




We cut away to Cassie and she is pictured in a very rural landscape.  She is standing next to a Fifties looking vehicle and she seems to be alone.  Her visage is one of bewilderment. 

What is it that makes her look so bemused?




Ah, the House of "Cedar and Pine."  She's been there before.

How odd this house looks.  Painted and cared for on its first floor and run down and scarred on its second.  Almost as if telling two stories, one metaphorically and the other literal.  Is this to suggest there is work left to be done?  Did the tenant have to leave before the work is done or does someone await?

The curtains on the first floor are slightly parted.  When Cassie was mentally trapped there she seemed to have looked out that very window when she gazed upon her vision of Titan.  Is she the one that left the curtains parted or was it someone else?

There is a fresh pile of cut wood to the distance left which suggests someone has recently worked there and perhaps is still there.  Is that a piece of farm machinery behind the wood pile?  Is there another building just to the left of Cassie?

The road up to the house leads to an arrival point to the front door.  It also forks off to the right.  This suggests either access to another building such as a barn perhaps or even farm land to tend to.

There is a shovel left next to the green door  (Marilyn Chamber better not be behind there.)  Did someone recently use the shovel?  It doesn't seem to be a dirt digging shovel.  More of the coal shoveling type.  What would you need coal for if you have all that wood to burn?

BTW, where is Cole?

Lastly, is the reference to "The House of Cedar and Pine" a Biblical one?  There is a passage from the Song of Solomon about the houses being built of beams of cedar and rafters of cypress.  Does The Witness fashion himself as a wise king like Solomon?  Or is this taken from "Preparations for the Temple" where Hiram gave Solomon material to make his Temple of cedar and cypress?




Here's Cole and he is with Cassie. 

The two are very close and one could extrapolate they are actually in the House now as there seems to be a window behind them.  Is the same window that Cassie used to gaze upon Titan?  By the way, I'm saying her vision of Titan was not a literal one but something granted to her psyche instead.

Cole and Cassie seem to be preparing for a kiss.  Is this the long awaited moment for all the shippers out there?  Do they take up residence there while looking for the last Primary to protect?  Readers should go back to my last 12 Monkeys blog post where reader Glenn posits a theory where a lot more happens between the two!





The leaves us with all those questions and returns us to Ramse.  He seems to be inside the Titan complex as the background looks to be those cylindrical containers as seen at Titan.  He could be outside where it is dark by now or probably inside where it is just poorly lit..

His gun is drawn and it is trained on someone or something.






Is this the someone Ramse is pointing his gun on?

The blue and red lit cylinders are pictured in the background suggesting Ramse is either in the Titan complex with this person or just outside it.  Note the partial look at the mark of The Witness on one of the cylinders.

Who is this cloaked figure?





We shift to a look at a blade being unsheathed.  It also has the mark of The Witness on it.  Is it for self defense or is it ceremonial in nature?  I was reminded that Cole had to be ready to make a sacrifice.  Does this blade signal a sacrifice is about to be made?  Or will a fight ensue?





The cloaked figure returns and is masked just like The Witness always is.

It's The Witness!

Is it?  The hood and the mask hide the identity of the cloaked figure.  Call it my imagination but the figure looks slight in stature.  Could it be that of a child or a female?

I had a theory where The Witness captured Sam and takes him with him.  Does The Witness have Sam standing guard at Titan and Sam reveals himself to his father?  Is that why The Witness feels safe there because he knows Ramse won't kill Sam?

The others may not feel that compunction to protect Sam.  Where are the others?

If this is truly The Witness does his mark signify a duality of sorts?  Perhaps across time?  Is The Witness someone we know?  Will the identity reveal The Witness to be unkillable for emotional reasons?

Todd Stashwick hinted in a Twitter post that the reveal would blow us away.  

If the figure above is a female and The Witness is revealed to be Katarina Jones that would blow me away.  She was incinerated in the last episode so maybe the duality is possible now.  (Hmm, or is it impossible now?)

Then again, The Witness is always referred to as a he so there is that!

16 seconds of video leave us with a lot to ponder.

  • Who is The Witness and will we get our reveal in this episode?
  • Where is Jennifer and her Daughters? 
  • Will someone die in this episode as in forever to the series?
  • Will Cole and Cassie become romantic and where will it take them? 
  • What of the House of Cedar and Pine, is it something "biblical" in nature?  Or is it something transitory?
  •  Will this episode, "Break the internet?
 
 
We'll find out Monday.  Everyone put on your Temporal safety gear and strap in for a ride for the ages.  Or is it through the ages?




Comments

  1. Really looking forward to your post for 2x12!

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    Replies
    1. Working on it. A little cynicism may have crept in. But overall, I liked it.

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