Syfy/UniversalRemaking the iconic Terry Gilliam time travel movie 12 Monkeys into a TV series for the SyFy Channel was always going to be a huge challenge. But, after Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett adapted their original concept, Splinter, into a 12 Monkeys reimagining in 2015, the paths between the movie’s canon and the TV show’s canon diverged pretty quickly. Today, among the faithful, the SyFy 12 Monkeys is regarded as not just a great sci-fi show, but also easily one of the best time travel shows of all time; if not the best. While the Gilliam film is an artistic masterpiece, its time paradoxes are fairly tame compared to the timey wimey antics of the broader sci-fi genre. And, with its second season, which debuted on April 18, 2016, the 12 Monkeys TV series proved that its scope was much bigger than the film. And, sneakily, the beginning of 12 Monkeys Season 2 also expanded the premise of the series in a way that wasn’t apparent at first.If you’re recommending someone binge 12 Monkeys, telling them to start with Season 2 would be a little sacrilegious, but it also wouldn’t be the absolute worst thing in the world either. The first episode of Season 2, “Year of the Monkey,” starts with a comprehensive recap of Season 1, which features a narration of those events from the actress Madeline Stowe, who played Dr. Kathryn Railly in the 1995 movie, a character who was reimagined as Cassandra Railly (Amanda Schull) for the TV series. This voiceover narration not only provided a nice cheat sheet for those behind on the series, but it also foreshadowed a cameo from Stowe herself at the end of Season 2, in a crucial performance that changed the entire direction of the show.But, the primary thing about Season 2 (pun intended, if you know you know) is that “Year of the Monkey” put the show on a new path, one that wasn’t just focused on the time travel goals of the original film. Season 1, like the movie, found James Cole (Aaron Stanford) traveling back in time to prevent a massive plague that had wiped out much of the Earth’s population in the year 2043. Everything in Season 1, including a jump to the 1980s and even to Cole’s childhood in the early 2000s, is connected with this specific goal. But, in Season 1, nearly everything we see is a closed-loop paradox; everything that Cole, Ramse, Railly, and Jennifer do has already happened, and their attempts to change the timeline just reinforce the timeline that already exists.However, in Season 2, that changes big time. And while it's not entirely evident in the first episode, the events that are set in motion by “Year of the Monkey” lead to a moment in the next episode, “Primary,” in which the gang does change the timeline, causing the virus to occur slightly later. In essence, the first 12 Monkeys timeline is replaced from this point on with the new one, which allows for certain mysteries from Season 1 (like when Railly seems to perish in Cole’s arms) to be slightly glossed over. That said, because time travel has changed our characters on a cellular level, all the main cast members (for the most part) are aware of the changes to the timeline after “Primary,” which sets up a bigger concept for Season 2, one that is arguably much more interesting than just preventing a plague.Basically, what Season 2 does is turn 12 Monkeys into a full-on battle across time between the Army of the 12 Monkeys and the heroes of Project Splinter. Predestination paradoxes still abound, but now, the new weapon is the idea that both sides can change time and even cause massive ruptures in time, resulting in temporal storms. The plague that wipes out humanity is just one piece of the puzzle, which pulled 12 Monkeys out of a pattern of having to emulate the movie.Cassie (Amanda Schull) isn’t messing around in 12 Monkeys Season 2. | SyFy/Universal On top of that, the larger scope and bigger stakes also allow for the show to have a slightly different aesthetic. While 12 Monkeys Season 1 could feel bleak, Season 2 feels brighter, simply because, often, the physical setting is changed. Even having the big showdown take place in New York City in Episode 1 is nice, giving us a break from laboratory warehouses or the stark utilitarianism of the Raritan facility in the future. By the third episode, 12 Monkeys also gives the team a new pseudo base of operations, the Emerson Hotel, a physical location which creates its own paradoxes, but also literally gives the show way more color.“Year of the Monkey” establishes the foundation for all of these changes, and does so without contradicting the canon of Season 1 at all. That said, for those who found Season 1 to be dark, or at times, too slow, Season 2 is certainly where things get kicked up a notch. And even in this episode, phrases and hints are dropped that will end up being paid off in the show’s fourth and final season. If you’re looking for the moment when 12 Monkeys went from being merely good to great, it's right here, and worth revisiting a decade later.12 Monkeys streams on Prime Video.