12 MONKEYS: The Goines family tree…

Allright. I've got a rabbit hole I'd like to show you. Navigating it successfully depends on a couple of small details and some guesstimation, so I'd love to hear if anyone thinks my 12 MONKEYS math works or doesn't and why… If you haven't watched season 1, turn back now, for here there be *SPOILERS!*

NB: I do my best to avoid pre-episode chatter and promotional material. I’d always rather encounter characters and story in their full episode text. So, I may very well have missed some bit of press or clip from season 2 that totally conflicts with my math here.

Hey, I *do* tag this “crazy talk.” =)

Okay. Let's start in 1987. One night at the White Dragon night club in Tokyo, Leland Goines mentions that his daughter wanted him to see THE GOONIES with her (01x11, "Shonin"). That didn't bug me at all when I first heard it. I was just excited about the idea of little Jenny Goines being keen on seeing THE GOONIES, and maybe a bit mystified at the notion that Leland might once have been a "cool dad." Later, I tried to imagine Leland taking Jenny to the movies and wondered just how old she would have been then. For a GOONIES fan I'd think 10-ish would be right. Maybe younger, what/w Jennifer's precociousness.

So, if we say 10 years old, that puts her birthday in 1977. Which means that in 2015, she'd be…38. Which, if you'll excuse my judging by appearances, seems like it adds a decade to the age of the woman we and James meet at J.D. Peoples. I took that Jennifer to be in her mid to late 20s, post-higher ed (probably accelerated) and w/a couple of years of legit and black site lab work experience under her now-committed belt. MAYbe 30.

So—one—we've got Leland's daughter wanting to go see THE GOONIES in 1987. Note that THE GOONIES was released in 1985. I can't remember Leland's exact phrasing, but maybe he's talking about a second run screening or picking it up at that new Blockbuster Video in town.

And—two—we've got a 2015 Jennifer Goines in J.D. Peoples (and later, fashionably hostilely taking over Markridge) who seems maybe a decade too young to be that daughter.

Hrm…How to explain this discrepency?

Obviously, there's only one explanation: Jennifer has an older sister.

Wanna know her name?

Marion!

In 2015, Cassie and Katarina meet Cole's father, Matthew Cole (01x12, "Paradox"). At the time James is a young boy, maybe 7 years old.

Matthew is suspicious of the pair-o-docs until they mention the Army of the 12 Monkeys, reminding him of something James's mother said…

MATTHEW: Marion, the boy's mother. She was going on about some monkey army.

Matthew calls James's mother Marion, and gives a cursory description of an apparently cursory relationship…

MATTHEW: I didn't know her that well, Marion. I loved her like crazy, but it was a short thing. I asked her to marry me but she wouldn't. Then took off pretty soon after without saying much. When she tracked me down a year later, she had a kid. My son—You. Told me she couldn't protect you. I never understood what she was talking about, but I was grateful. Every day. Look at that. He's a… he's a good boy.
COLE: He won't always be. But I'm trying to make up for it. I'm sorry I can't.

So, I'm thinking that it's Marion, age 10-ish, who wanted to see THE GOONIES with her dad in 1987. Jennifer would've been wee yet. Maybe Marion was on track to be a Markridge rock star, perhaps a Night Room specialist, but not necessarily. But she turned her back on Leland and his work when she somehow uncovered the dark forces that were backing it (the Army of the 12 Monkeys, which would have included Ethan Seki for many years). Or maybe she never got that deep into Markridge operations. Perhaps she was simply a good daughter to her mother, her confidante, and Mom reveals the machinations of the 12 Monkeys to her, urging her to escape their designs and leave the family. When Leland uses his wife's supposed ravings as grounds to have her committed, Marion does just that, leaves the family. Leland disowns her, black sheep that she is, bumping Jennifer into the position of Goines heir.

And while on the lam, doing the David Banner INCREDIBLE HULK thing in Philadelphia in 2007, Marion meets and falls a bit in love with Matthew Cole. Fearful of the Army and perhaps Leland/Markridge, she can't stay anywhere for very long, so she leaves Matthew after a short time. However, once James is born, she realizes she can't raise him while on the run, so she returns, and entrusts James to Matthew for a chance at a decent normal childhood.

I have a feeling that Marion knows that Cole is meant to be with his father, for as long as he can be, and to be there to help save his future self. I believe that the Goines women (whether Marion is one or not) have a gift-slash-curse of some kind of extrasensory sight. I suspect it's connected to ingestion of or exposure to red leaves. My favorite imagined scenario has Mom Goines being dosed w/red leaf tea while pregnant, either by an unwitting Leland, prescribed by an Army doctor, or a direct agent of the Army, affecting both herself and her unborn child/ren.

And now—well, as “now” as we can get in 12 MONKEYS—Marion is still at large. Does Jennifer remember her? I suspect that tracking her is probably a pet project of the 12 Monkeys. Or not… What if she successfully faked her own demise at some point? Early enough that Jennifer and Leland believe her dead for many years in 2015? That might be an "easier" explanation for her not being a factor in Goines business over the years.

* Of course, the EASIEST explanation is that I'm off my rocker, but where's the fun in that?

Oh. And who would play Marion Goines?

How about Madeleine Stowe?

So, to recap my crazy talk theory:

Jennifer Goines is James Cole's aunt. =)

Keep on keepin' on~

P.S. Leland Goines is James Cole’s grandfather! =)

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS: rambling first thoughts/comments *SPOILERS*

Just gonna rattle off some random thoughts and comments on/after my first screening of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS. If you haven't seen the movie yet, STOP NOW, FOR HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!~

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I do *not* love Supreme Leader Snoke. He appears via hologram to Kylo and Hux. He has a humanoid appearance, but his projection makes him appear as a giant. But these Dark types seem to enjoy magnification, right (see Emperor's holograms)? He looks maybe a little REBELS Inquisitor-y. He's played by Andy Serkis. I wonder if there's a Great and Powerful Oz thing going on here, y'know? That the hologram is a facade, hiding a less imposing figure, or someone who's leading a double life, a la Darth Sidious / Palpatine, perhaps?

But it seems implied at least that Supreme Leader trained Kylo Ren, seduced Ben Solo, so that would have happened in person. And he asks some First Order goon to bring Kylo to him, altho maybe he meant into his holographic presence? Bleah.

Would be interesting if he has not been seen in the flesh by First Order minions. What if he's an AI? Could he be the Emperor, re-animated or inhabiting a spare cloned body?

Maz says something interesting. She's lived a very long time and says there's always evil, in different faces. She mentions the Sith, then the Empire, now the First Order. Differentiating the Sith and the Empire was interesting to me. Also the notion of a repeating cycle or pendulum of history. Maybe a little bleak, too. Would've been interesting if she mentioned a memorable period of peace, tho, wouldn't it?

Only mention of clones/cloning: Someone—Kylo? Hux?—scolds his troopers by threatening to replace them with clones.

Kylo's tantrums are fun.

Han mentions to Leia that Ben had too much of Vader in him. Kim suggested that that might've manifested itself as hurting his sister. That's kind of perfect.

Han calling out to Kylo Ren—"Ben!" *That* really got to me.

Han's death didn't really. For a little kid sitting near Jeff and Kim, tho, it was devastating. I saw it telegraphed in the movie a few minutes earlier. Some bit of dialogue that ended w something like "It would take a miracle…" led into a shot of Han and Chewie making their way into the StarKiller facility they want to blow up. In that moment, I knew he'd die. *sigh*

I immediately flashed ahead and questioned how/whether Rey would get to pilot the Falcon. Am I a cold hearted bastard for that?

Gotta say, as natural a pilot as she is, she failed to follow proper Falcon protocol—she wasn't wearing Han's clothes!

What's up w the blast from StarKiller Base? It seemed like it erupts as a beam of supercharged plasma, but when it got close to the target planet, the beam split, its branches tagging and destroying moons and satellites along with the planet itself. Weird, that. Is it a missile? With warheads? Maybe ammo HAS changed since ROTJ. Heavier on the particle and lighter on the energy? Is there such a thing as "stun" with the First Order's blasters? I would've been just fine with bloodless injuries and deaths caused by blaster fire. Nix that and the land Sarlacc's on Han's freighter and maybe the movie could've gone PG, right? Or are the Force torture scenes on their own enough to warrant the PG-13?

I would've liked more over-the-shoulder looks at just how that base got around and how close/far away it had to be to destroy a planet. STAR WARS gave us the progress of the DS around Yavin when it was getting into position to destroy its fourth moon. Somehow, the Resistance on the ground on Maz's world were able to see the destruction of whatever planet it was (seemed pretty heavily developed) that StarKiller wacked.

The wacked planet was the seat of the Republic, right? (Sorry, can't remember these planet/location names yet.) That's pretty F'd up. So, that was basically Alderaan again (keeping in theme w the movie and callbacks/echoes/deja views), right?

And did StarKiller kill that planet's sun? Was it in the same system at the time? What would we see from Earth if Jupiter exploded or imploded (without creating a singularity). Actually, I guess we'd want to see a planet burnt to a crisp, not exactly explode.

I think that Kes was not on Jakku by chance. He's there to watch over Rey from afar, the way Kenobi watched over Luke. Poe is a most-trusted pilot. Kes is his father, and of Luke and Leia's generation.

Saw a headline about Daniel Craig having a cameo in the film and guessed that he must've been the Jedi mind-tricked trooper!

I knew Simon Pegg was in it as a creature, but did not recognize him as the junk merchant, whom I wasn't all that impressed with, actually. Foo.

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More later. Maybe sooner. May the Force be with you~
aka
Keep on keepin' on~

STAR WARS: 11th hour pre-show rambling…

My first screening of THE FORCE AWAKENS is about 4 hours away. In this post I'm collecting/copy-pasting some bits and pieces of STAR WARS crazy talk rambling I've posted away from wuzzon…

A Disney-Fox-Lucasfilm ident mashup fix that works for me…



How do you kill a StarKiller (base)?

I've done my best to avoid any and all details about the new nouns we meet in episode 7, but pop culture osmosis of some facts about that big round gun in the background of the poster was apparently unavoidable. So, you’ve got a planet-sized war machine hopping around the galaxy destroying stars. What do you do?

Build a Death Star (or two - and I immediately picture Galactica + Pegasus vs. Base Star), that’s what. Wouldn’t it be something to see the Rebellion/Resistance build its own Death Star?

Maybe the Rebels have collected and saved the bits of the two blown-up ones and assembled them into a working one. Hrm… Perhaps there are significant chunks dumped or hidden on Rey’s scavenging planet? Maybe just superlaser components?

Or the Empire had another one hidden away somewhere. Mothballed in orbit around a hidden planet? Why have just one when you can have two for twice the price? Would’ve been a good jobs-creating project, too.

If we allow for Force manipulation or hyperspace anomaly or superscience device or some combo that enables time travel, a Death Star could be yanked from the past, moments before its destruction, immediately “defused” in the future (TFA’s present) to prevent its explosion, and charged up for use vs. StarKiller. Then, post-victory, rigged to self-destruct and returned to its spacetime point of origin. This could nonsensically explain the ring added to the special edition DS explosions—it’s an artifact of time displacement!

Or something.

Of course, if you can’t get hold of a Death Star, I suppose you could get an astromech to hack its navicomputer so that during a hyperspace jump it flies thru a sun or bounces too close to a supernova. Where’s the fun in that, tho?

Luke Skywalker's Jedi Correspondence School?

Luke has been on space sabbatical, a self-imposed galactic exile-slash-walkabout, composing a new Jedi practice. A study and philosophy built on that of Yoda, but not as binary as the one we’re familiar with. He returns, perhaps with students, in the Resistance’s hour of greatest need.

Luke’s marriage of the Light and Dark is what restores balance to the Force, allowing the Force to “awaken.” It’s like Kirk’s transporter accident. He’s split into what others are quick to describe as “good” and “bad” versions of himself, but the qualities of both are what makes Kirk so Kirk, and thusly, awesome.

Always thought a Star Slammers’ Silvermind (Walt Simonson) would’ve been a great weapon/power for the Jedi in the Clone Wars, but maybe there was too much ego or a certain kind of ethics built into the practice to allow that. Would dig if that was an ultimate possibility, tho. But maybe there’s a will to survive associated with the Jedi version of the ability that’s stronger than winning? Or, it could be directed by one will (that sounds pretty Dark, tho, eh?). Or maybe it’s just true telepathy, like when Professor X or Jean or Emma Frost link up the X-Men for a battle.

Perhaps there is an ultimate expression of the Force, once Light and Dark are no longer branded as Good and Evil. Something evolutionary, like Asimov’s Galaxia (Foundation + Robots series)? Is that a desired endgame for a moisture farmboy, a plucky princess, and a scoundrel smuggler? A Childhood’s End? Maybe if the kids speak for it, describe the experience as positive.

Perhaps it’s the hot dog goal—”one with everything”—and it is still millennia away.

Heh, would be great if that flipped somehow and became the fascist force that had to be overcome/reset by another band of rebels. Circle of life, dude.

Where are the Clones? Send in the Clones…

So, what happened to cloning tech in a galaxy far, far away after the Clone Wars? In the post-ROTJ/pre-prequel era, “Clone Wars” was a vague historical reference, but it revealed that cloning was possible, altho it may have been outlawed or its tech/science somehow rendered inert in the aftermath.

However, it was just the kind of galaxy-building nugget that planted the idea in my head that the Emperor didn’t truly die at the end of ROTJ. I pictured his Dark Forcey essence escaping his battered body instantly jumping into a waiting “blank” clone of himself. We didn’t have any history of the Emperor back then, so I imagined he might’ve done this regularly, and the technique (along with his Dark Forcey manipulations) did a fine job of eating away at his physical being and health. He could keep living, but wouldn’t be forever young.

I wouldn’t mind seeing cloning tech bring back a baddie or an ex-baddie in the this trilogy. The Emperor, maybe in a still youthy body. Anakin, cloned by Luke. Trippy—Luke could raise his father. No issues there, right?

Perhaps it’s a youthy Anakin clone who will finish what Vader began—which would be what, exactly? Extermination of all the Jedi? All Tusken Raiders? The boxed set of THE WIRE?

And either of these guys could be behind one of the masked baddies, revealed to be even badder, or perhaps just chaotic neutral?

A dopey thought: Luke is Kylo and he’s Kylo to play a part. To draw out and test the mettle of potential Jedi. A little X-Men Apocalypse-y, but maybe in that role he’s also mitigating the damage a First Order might do without his guiding robotic hand.

Or something…

No doubt whatever I see tonight will be way better, smarter, cooler, and more sensible than my rambling. Consider the bar set to Unreasonably High! = )

I'll leave you with a flashback to the Life Day 2014 Holidaze thingamabob, inspired by and cobbled together atop a certain teaser trailer…

Keep on keepin' on~