If other aspects of the show were more engaging, perhaps this spiral down into confusion and illogic wouldn't matter. Perhaps then we'd want to set our DVRs in the present, in order to watch the show in the future.
It's a cool conceit: going back in time is no guarantee everything's going to wind up okay. Sci fi fans are definitely going to want to watch to see what happens.
12 Monkeys is far from perfect, but it's an encouraging step forward in Syfy's original programming, as it looks and feels crisp despite obviously working with a reasonable budget.
Like the trippy paradoxes it so heartily embraces, the premiere of 12 Monkeys is a bit of one itself: it's more enjoyable when thinking about the teases of what's to come versus the somewhat plodding hour of what's already happened.
12 Monkeys, like much classic science fiction, is aiming for our intellect, not our emotions. Genre fans are advised to geek out while the geeking is good.
I didn't have high expectations for this project, but the pilot-which faced the difficult task of laying out the series' premise -came off as a confident and well-paced homage rather than a watered-down retread.
The series beckons with a broader, intriguing look at the future dystopia, with more background on Cole and even a sidekick Ramse (Kirk Acevedo), and with a creepy killer in the present known only as the Slender Man (Tom Noonan).
