When it comes to time travel in sci-fi stories, one of the first questions your brain is asking is: What kind of time travel is this? Is this the you-can-change-the-past sort of time travel, or is this the everything-you’ve-done-has-already-happened predestination type of time travel? Interestingly, the now-cult classic 12 Monkeys TV series did all kinds. While the film was content to only present a closed loop of a few specific paradoxes, the epic TV series took several big swings, including alternate timelines, altering the present, and yes, plenty of predestination paradoxes.
Ten years ago, one of the show’s best predestination paradox stories came in a pivotal episode in Season 2 called “Fatherland,” which aired on SyFy during the week of June 20, 2016. While this episode doesn’t quite work as a standalone like a few other great episodes from 12 Monkeys Season 2 (namely “Lullaby”), it does provide one of the best paradox twists in all of TV sci-fi. Not only does this story show the unique problem with chasing time travel clues, it also has a double twist that still feels fresh today.
