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12 Monkeys: 5 reasons why it’s the perfect sci-fi series to binge

By Shana Lieberman

SAN DIEGO, CA - JULY 20: (L-R) Producer Terry Matalas and actors Emily Hampshire, Todd Stashwick, Aaron Stanford, Amanda Schull and Alisen Down at the "12 Monkeys" press line during Comic-Con International 2017 at Hilton Bayfront on July 20, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - JULY 20: (L-R) Producer Terry Matalas and actors Emily Hampshire, Todd Stashwick, Aaron Stanford, Amanda Schull and Alisen Down at the "12 Monkeys" press line during Comic-Con International 2017 at Hilton Bayfront on July 20, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images) /
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12 Monkeys
12 MONKEYS (Photo by: Dusan Martincek/Syfy) Acquired from NBC Media Village /

12 Monkeys is a science fiction gem that’s perfect for your next binge

Did you sleep on 12 Monkeys when it aired on Syfy? Now would be the perfect time to binge the full series on Hulu.

If you’re familiar with the film by the same name, which starred Bruce Willis and was released in 1995, you might think you know what the series is all about and want to skip it. But don’t.

There are definitely elements of the movie that you’ll recognize—the time travel to prevent a plague and the conspiracy of the Army of the 12 Monkeys, most prominently—but then, as can be done on a TV show more than in the couple of hours a movie provides, things get so much more complicated. More importantly, it’s all so much better.

In 12 Monkeys, a man named James Cole travels back in time in a process called splintering to stop a plague that killed billions. Because of a broadcast from Dr. Cassandra Railly of the Baltimore CDC—played to utter and complete perfection by Amanda Schull, whose previous work on Center Stage and Suits doesn’t even begin to do justice to the range she displays in this series—Cole thinks he knows exactly what his mission is.

But it’s really not that simple. And we wouldn’t want it to be, either, because there’s about zero fun in that.

There’s so much that can be said about this show and why you should watch it, but we’re going to try to keep it as simple and spoiler-free as possible with our top five reasons.

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