12 Monkeys Review: “Blood Washed Away”

“Why would you walk towards the weird music?”
–Deacon to Ramsay, and good advice for many characters in horror movies

It’s the penultimate episode of the second season, and everything happens according to plan. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen according to our heroes‘ plan.

Title: “Blood Washed Away”

Directed by David Grossman
Written by Sean Tretta

Aaron Stanford as James Cole
Amanda Schull as Dr. Cassandra Railly
Kirk Acevedo as José Ramse
Emily Hampshire as Jennifer Goines
Brooke Williams as Hannah Jones
Todd Stashwick as Deacon
Brooke Williams as Zeit
Joey Klein as Charlie
Demore Barnes as Whitley
Maxwell McCabe-Lokos as Reginald
Ayisha Issa as Emissary
Bruce Beaton as Roger
Andrea Carter as Melinda Duchamp
Stuart Clow as Dr. Ed
Justin Landry as Arnold
Aisha Evelyna as Nurse
Nic Rhind as Lenny
Courtney Lyons as Secretary
Carson Durven as Rooftop Worker
Jonathan Collard as Bar Guy

Premise

Cole and Railly attempt to stop the paradox, while remaining as conspicuous as possible. The 12 Monkeys are ahead of them, but Cole does find a familiar piece of real estate.

In the future, Jennifer Goines loses the support of her daughters, while several characters lose their lives.

High Points

“Uh, spoiler alert: I’m not Wise Old Me, am I? And if I’m being frank, my daughters are assholes. Knife fights, ridiculous eye shadow, and serious, serious Mommy issues. And the worst part is, you’re all I have to look forward to in my retirement.”
–Jennifer Goines

The characters make a number of bad decisions that have terrible consequences, but I could accept that, given the strains they face (Ramse’s still seems a stretch. Did they have anything like a plan for when they found Titan?).

Jennifer Goines, after being ineffectual all episode, makes an intelligent decision.

Low Point

The investigation in 1957 really required its own episode. They rushed through the build-up to get to a point which, as a result of the rush, lost a lot of its impact.

Is there a reason Railly doesn’t say, “so about this house…”?

The Scores:

Originality: 3/6

Effects: 5/6

Acting: 5/6

Story: 4/6 The show often gives us parts of a story arc; this week really feels like the first half of a two-parter. The High and Low Points explain the score.

Emotional Response: 5/6 A portion of the audiences has been waiting for Railly and Cole to have sex. They finally get their wish.

They might not be too happy with the other half of the ending, but there’s no denying its emotional impact—even if we know some events might be undone.

Production: 6/6

Overall: 5/6

In total, “Blood Washed Away” receives 33/42