10 Years Later, the Smartest Time-Loop Episode in Sci-Fi History Is Still Untouchable

Although the current show is based on an older story, the original 12 Monkeys wasn’t entirely original either – it was adapted from source material by screenwriters David and Janet Peoples. All three versions – the film and both TV series – follow a time-loop narrative, but the show adds unexpected twists. It takes the circular nature of that loop and complicates it. In Season 2, Episode 8, “Lullaby,” the two central heroes are at their most vulnerable, having lost hope in both their mission and themselves. James Cole, the first time traveler, must find his colleague Cassandra Railly before she harms Dr. Katarina Jones, the inventor of time travel. However, things quickly go wrong, and the characters find themselves reliving the same day repeatedly, forced to find a solution by seemingly doing nothing at all.








