Syfy has done a good job in the past couple of years of supporting solid science fiction dramas, and bringing audiences shows they can really sink their teeth into. One of those shows is 12 Monkeys, and now fans of the program are getting some good news, as the show has just been renewed for Season 3.
Word on the renewal came down today from Entertainment Weekly, and the outlet notes that the third season will have 10 episodes. Season 3 is expected to debut sometime in 2017, but an exact date has not been announced yet. The first two seasons premiered in January and April, respectively, so the best guess puts a Season 3 start at early in the new year. The first and second seasons of 12 Monkeys each received 13 episodes.
12 Monkeys is, of course, based on the 1995 film of the same name which starred Bruce Willis, Brad Pitt and Madeleine Stowe, which was, itself, based on the 1962 short film La Jetée. The show focuses on time traveler James Cole (Aaron Stanford), who comes to the present from 2043 to try and stop the release of a deadly virus that ended up killing 93.6% of the world's population in James' original timeline. The mysterious group known as The Army of the Twelve Monkeys is behind the attack, and James is aided in his efforts to track them down, find out why they want to destroy humanity and stop them, by virologist Cassandra Railly (Amanda Schull) and math genius Jennifer Goines (Emily Hampshire), who just happens to have severe phycological troubles.
The sci-fi mystery allowed its characters to stop the original release of the plague, but, unfortunately, their actions only served to push that deadly event back two years. So, while James, Cassandra and Jennifer are still working to stop the plague from wiping out most of the world, they now have a better chance of keeping more people alive, since they know it's coming and when it should hit. Now the trio and their allies are concerned with trying to find out why The Army of the Twelve Monkeys wants humanity destroyed and what the sinister organization stands to gain from all the destruction.
While critics' reactions to 12 Monkeys have been mixed, with the Rotten Tomatoes Season 1 score standing at 62%, audiences have responded much more positively to the series, and have given the first season of the show a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 82%. The series has proven itself adept at playing with the concept of time in original ways, and keeping the plot moving with twists that are hard to see coming. If you want to catch up with 12 Monkeys, you can watch it Mondays on Syfy.
