beerbad

Hello journal!  I've been meaning to make this post for months but y'all know how it is.  A lot has been going on in my personal life (baby due in 3 weeks, just bought a house, crazy stuff), but all the friending memes and 3weeks4dreamwidth have been inspiring me.  So here's a little primer/elevator pitch/list of reasons why I love 12 Monkeys - and why you might too!

12 Monkeys is a TV series that originally aired on Syfy from 2015-2018 and is now available on Hulu (at least in the US).  There are 4 seasons and a total of 47 episodes.  It is loosely based on the 1995 movie of the same name, and is about a group of people who are trying to use time travel to prevent the outbreak of a plague that kills 99% of humanity (and eventually prevent the collapse of time itself).  My wife and I began watching it because she loves time travel and I love survival/apocalypse stories, and killabeez recently ran a rewatch group which piqued my interest!  Considering it's one of the very best shows I've ever seen, it makes me sad that so few people have watched or even heard of it.  Hence, this post. :)

Here are some reasons to add 12 Monkeys to your watch list:

• An intriguing, well-written plot that makes sense
• A planned out, complete story with no loose ends (seriously. NONE)
• Writing so tight and intense that every episode feels like a finale (no filler, no time wasted!)
• Great, compelling acting with boatloads of chemistry between the leads
• Beautiful cinematography
• Team-as-family themes & tropes
• Lots of time travel and its related tropes (and yes causality is discussed constantly)
• Well-paced and well-earned character development
• Character-first writing (plot in service to the characters, not the other way around)
• Amazing costuming for a wide variety of time periods
• Plenty of OT3 potential
• Buttloads of ANGST, drama, hurt/comfort, and romance
• An absolutely impeccable star-crossed lovers story
• Lots of different parent-child themes and dynamics
• A variety of messy, complicated, powerful female characters
• The single best and most satisfying series finale I have ever seen on TV
• Plenty of rewatch value due to foreshadowing, time travel shenanigans, and a finale that makes the whole show even better
• It's really all about love - both platonic & romantic
• Honestly, if you just love watching your faves suffer horribly (but not without hope!) and find solace in each other, you will probably love this show

I will say that the show's general weak spot is its limited POC & queer representation.  I would be happy to elaborate on any of the above, answer questions, or provide content warnings as desired!  Hit me up in the comments :)