Warning: If you don't want to know what happened in this episode, don't read this photo recap!
Recap City, team. There’s even voice over from Madeline Stowe! Here’s what you need to remember. Dr. Katarina Jones, in the present day 2043, discovered that there was a vast conspiracy to release a global epidemic and created a machine that can send people back in time to try and stop it.
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The man who seems destined to do that, based on what she’s seen in that conspiracy theory , is Cole. Who was sent back in time and fell in love with Dr. Cassie Railly, who is ALSO destined to be a part of this.
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There’s also this guy. Ramse. Now, he was Cole’s friend, but then he realized if the plague never happened, the future wouldn't turn out as it did, meaning his son wouldn't be born. So, he went back in time and became one of the architects of the plague. He was a good guy, then a bad guy (for good reasons), and then Cole saved his life and now, he’s a good guy again.
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Basically everyone is working to stop the coming global plague that’s about to be released by Jennifer Goines. She is being manipulated by the Army of the 12 Monkeys (who want the plague released), brainwashing her into believing this is her destiny. Jennifer is a little crazy, you see, and hears voices, so she's easily controlled when it comes to telling her she has a purpose.
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And back in 2016, Cole and Ramse are running from the Army of the 12 Monkeys, who seem to be taking orders from this woman, named Olivia. But SHE gets her orders from someone called “The Witness.” The problem is that once Ramse and Cole thwart her on a bridge in Budapest, things that haven’t been foreseen by “The Witness” have started to happen.
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These two, Ramse and Cole, have been on the run for three months now, disagreeing about what to do next. The pair realizes that probably what’s happening is that Ramse has a tracking device that needs to come out. And once they get that done, they’re going to go their separate ways.
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Meanwhile, in 2043, Cassie wakes up in the care of Katarina. When she was shot in 2016 (during the Season 1 Finale), Cole had one last chance to save her, by sending her into the future. So now she’s there and Cole’s in 2016 and he can’t get back because he has none of Jones' injections, which allow him to time travel.
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So here’s what’s happening in 2043 – this group called “The Messengers” want to use Jones' machine and nobody’s sure why. When they try to get Jones to help them, she sets the first person to leave on fire. Because she’s a badass that way.
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The Messengers figure out how to use the machine without Katarina’s help and they send this lady through. As well as five more people. Nobody knows where they're headed. But like, probably remember this face. We don’t know why for sure yet, but we’ve learned it’s helpful to remember people who get a close up.
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Meanwhile, back in 2016, Cole finds an old friend of Ramse’s from Markridge (the people who made the virus) and asks him to perform surgery on Ramse. The answer is a hard pass, until the guy changes his mind and decides to give it a go. Also, dude looks like Mr. Bates from Downton Abbey (okay, because it is him. Well, the actor, not the character).
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In 2043, Cassie meets Deacon. He used to be a kind-of bad guy but now is in a temporary partnership and is responsible for Jones' protection detail. But also, Cassie realizes that Deacon has Wilson’s disease, which is too much copper in the brain and liver. She offers him medicine from the past if he helps her.
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Dr. Kalman operates on Ramse in the sewer, but then something is off. Turns out, he’s injected Ramse with a serum that paralyzes him and now, Kalman’s going to deliver Ramse to the Army of the 12 Monkeys in exchange for protection from the virus. Cole rescues Ramse by killing the doctor, and the pair decide to stick together a bit longer.
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Back in 2043, Deacon decides Cassie can help him, so she kills one of the Messenger guys with a knife pretty hard. It changes her. Like, pretty drastically.
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Ramse reveals what Dr. Kalman told him – that Jennifer Goines is planning to release the virus on Chinese New Year in New York City. So they go and try to find her. She’s gone completely off her rocker and is at a speed-dating event, where she asks a dude to kill her before she releases the virus. He calls 911 and she flees.
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In 2043, Deacon and squad blow up the machine. Like, kaboom. It stops any more messengers from going through and kills the rest of them. Cassie is now stuck in the future and Jones is going to rebuild the machine so she can get back to the past and Cole in 2016.
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Meanwhile in New York in 2016 on Chinese New Year, Cole and Ramse find Jennifer Goines, who seems thrilled that someone has come to stop her. Faith in humanity restored! But there’s a hitch – even though she wants Cole to kill her, he can’t make himself. And then…
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Cassie turns up. She’s been living in the future for eight months. And now she has gun skills and kills a few Army of the 12 Monkeys types. She wants to shoot Ramse for being part of the plot and Jennifer Goines who she’s tracked as the source (in the future) based on the speed date 911 call.
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And this is where we’re left. These two, once united, now opposed, pointing guns at one another on a rooftop in Manhattan. And they still haven’t stopped the plague.
