“You find out you’re the mother of the destroyer of the world … [what’s] the right thing to do?” How do you grapple with that? It’s a question 12 Monkeys showrunner Terry Matalas posited to us during a conversation earlier this week, and it’s certainly appropriate to consider on the eve of Mother’s Day. It’s also at the heart of our worries over poor Cassie Railly in the wake of season two’s terrifying reveal around the parentage of the elusive, spooky leader at the center of the Army of the 12 Monkeys, The Witness. In this exclusive new clip from season three, the mom-to-be has a lot of questions about her son and future savior, and is clearly grappling with as many for herself.
“It’s all about asking the questions,” Matalas added. And there are MANY questions to be had after watching this clip. Arianna (played by Dominique Provost-Chalkley of Wynonna Earp, a show Nerdist also really loves) is a handmaiden who’s lived her whole life devoted to The Witness that’s been tasked with looking after Cassie. But it doesn’t seem as simple and chaste as all that; Arianna was “taken” to the time-traveling city from a time long gone. It sounds like she’s less of a follower and more of a hostage with a little bit of Stockholm Syndrome—especially when you look at how nervous she is when she begins to tell the story.
Will the same happen to Cassie? Most people develop their own religious beliefs through how they were raised. As Matalas noted to us, “You get a sense that that’s also true in the Army of the 12 Monkeys.” But in this particular case, it doesn’t seem all that simple, especially the way she says that “all [she’s] ever known is the story of The Witness.” Could Cassie, who seems so emotionally resigned to this moment, change her thoughts and feelings on Titan, the Army, and The Witness? Will she come around to being the mother of the savior, or will she risk it all to kill the child? And would she even be able to? One can only hope, because it doesn’t seem like Cassie’s got much to live for (in her mind). As Matalas told us, “She’s so indoctrinated and submissive at this point you just really get a sense, emotionally [that] she’s not actively fighting at this moment; how resigned is she to her fate and the fate of her child?”
Hopefully not too resigned, because we need Cassie and James to figure all this shit out and save the world. When the series returns, Cole and Cass embark upon a “desperate search across time to find the man responsible for the apocalypse – a time traveler who calls himself the Witness. Killing the Witness will save the world, but the journey will come at tremendous personal stakes for the pair.”
But we’ll have to worry about that later, when 12 Monkeys premieres in an unprecedented binge event starting Friday, May 19th at 8pm, with all 10 episodes airing from 8-11PM ET/PT each night through Sunday, May 21st on Syfy.
Are you watching the series? Let us know in the comments below!
Images: Syfy
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Alicia Lutes is the managing editor of Nerdist and creator/host of Fangirling! Find her freaking out about how goddang good 12 Monkeys is on Twitter.
