The breaking of Cole and Ramse’s relationship was set in motion at the end of the last episode, and this week, it came to ahead immediately. The emotional heart of the story can be said to be the brotherhood that stands between Cole and Ramse as much as the blossoming relationship between Cassie and Cole. Both take a hit this week, leaving Cassie discontent with the Sisyphean task she has been set and Ramse and Cole actively working to destroy the other.
A big factor in Ramse’s turn has been the rediscovery of his love, Elena, and his previously unknown son, Sam. Unlike most characters on this show, which grow to be fan favorites in short while, Elena has moved in the opposite direction. She was once a source of mystery and softened the edges of what we knew of Ramse. However, since her introduction, Elena has served as nothing more than a plot point to Ramse’s character development. Disappointingly, Elena’s predictable death in this episode is nothing more than the catalyst for Ramse’s complete disavowal of Cole, rather than an emotional beat.
Desperate to save the son he has found in this timeline, Ramse starts the episode by sabotaging all future attempts of Project Splinter. He sets fire to the research Jones has accumulated and steals the injections Cole takes to make splintering possible. Cole is sent on one last desperate trip to the past, on what is potentially his last trip, to save the future. It is a testament to the writers that in a storyline full of expected “last” trips, they manage to make this one seems extra fraught with desperation. Jones send Whitley to hunt down Ramse, who is hiding out in a survivor camp at an amusement park with Elena and Sam, in order to retrieve the injections.
Ramse is one watch when he sees the traveling nomads known as the “Daughters” passing in the distance. This seems to tie in with the ramblings of a 2017 Jennifer Goines and the 12 Monkey’s insignia on their carriage causes Ramse to try and discover what they know. It is interesting that, despite his very strong disavowal of all Jones and Project Splinter stand for, he still decides to go after the Daughters. The moment is a commitment to the character Ramse has been established as, and regardless of his development into an almost antagonist, he is not unrecognizable from his role as Cole’s moral center. At the Daughters Ramse meets with their leader, an older yet still crazy Jennifer Goines. She rambles at Ramse and both he and I are confused, yet I predict all will be made clear by the end of the season. Because of this move, however, he is not in camp when Whitley arrives and one of his soldiers kills Elena. Ramse returns to camp to find her dead and storms the facility for revenge. Trapped by Jones and Max, he finds himself with one move left, Atari, and sends himself back to 1987 Tokyo to stop Cole, who must go to find Leland Goines and the source of the virus. This puts Cole and Ramse directly at cross-purposes and though Cole says he’ll be willing to kill Ramse for the cause, will he really?
In 2015 Cassie is ecstatic to see Cole alive again, though her happiness tempers as she realizes what his presence means. So far, none of the moves they’ve made, all they have gone through, has been successful in stopping the plague. She realizes that they left one open ending, the doctor who gave the plague to the CIA, and tiredly, she Cole and Aaron set off to find him. Aaron has reached the end of his rope seemingly, and is offered an out by the strange woman who was with the Pallid Man when they kidnapped Cassie. “How far will you go to save Cassie,” she asks and something tells me the answer is very far indeed. Though he gets the impression from Cassie that she wouldn’t appreciate it.
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The episode served to take a moment from the main action and expand of the mythology of the show. With very emotional moments between all of our main characters, it sets us up for a very high action and (hopefully) revealing endgame.
Episode Rating: 7/10
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