*** SPOILERS FOLLOW ***
When Ramse met Sam, I knew it would cause him to rethink his stand on undoing the plague. In order to preserve the timeline that led to the birth of his handsome modest son, I knew he'd do whatever he could to stop Project Splinter, and this episode, that's what we see him do.
Gotta say, though, I did NOT see him becoming a force for preserving the viral outbreak in the past. Mostly because I had it in my head that Cole was a one-in-a-million Splinterer. Y'know, uniquely, genetically, qualified to accept the Splinter serum and survive the time jump process, for more than one trip, at least. I figured the odds that any other random person could do what Cole was doing would be astronomical.
Hrm… Was that a concept I lifted from the Terry Gilliam film?
Well, I'm kinda glad I was wrong on that, because Ramse vs. Cole vs. Yakuza in 1987 Tokyo? Ain't nothing wrong with that, I tell you hwhut. =)
Seriously, the writers did some wonderful work getting Ramse, the master strategist who preaches the dangers of atari, *into* atari! If you haven't picked it up from Ramse's descriptions, atari is a defensive position in Go where you only have one possible move (thanks, Interwebs). When Jones sealed Ramse in the Splinter chamber and then straight up told him…
JONES: There's no where to go. Give up, Mr. Ramse.Well, you knew what he had to do. And for such a righteous reason, too.
RAMSE: I promised my son I'd always protect him. I can't do it now. I'll do it then.12 MONKEYS has turned Ramse, the guy who in 2041 convinced Cole to accept Project Splinter's mission of retconning the plague, into a time traveler dedicated to making certain that M5-10 is released, resulting in the plague-pocalypse that kills billions, but also ultimately leads to his meeting Elena, and thus the birth of young Sam. Too bad Ramse doesn't get the chance to discuss that calculus with Cassandra Railly, like Aaron does…
CASS: Helping to destroy the world to save just one person?Cass and Cole *so* belong together, don’t they? =)
AARON: One person… that you love? In the end, isn't that all that matters?
CASS: No.
So, what do we have to look forward (or rather, backward) to? Well, it looks like Ramse *did* land in Tokyo (or Epcot Japan?), but we don't know when. I'm kind of hoping that he was thrown farther back into the past than 1987. Remember, Jones mentioned that with the serum so fresh in Ramse's bloodstream, his Splinter landing would not be precise. An earlier arrival would give him time to prepare for Cole's appearance. I'm not sure if he'd know the November 12 date, but from Cole's stories, he def knows that the White Dragon in 1987 is important.
Heck, maybe Ramse takes advantage of some snippet of ancient history (to him) to invest or gamble very profitably in the 80s and opens the White Dragon night club himself! Well, maybe, maybe not. It would be enough that he builds an organization of some kind that is ready to move on Cole whenever he shows his otter eyes in 1987. Maybe the Yakuza are with him? Or, maybe they're his (and Markridge's?) rivals in some shady deal/bidding war over the Precursor/Annapurna Remains. That sounds about right. That could work out nicely.
Working on a next post… Just a list of cool $hit from the episode… =)
It’s later than you think~
Keep on keepin on~
