12 Monkeys: Has Deacon Really Gone to the Dark Side?

12 Monkeys kicked off its final season with a bang last week, and one of the biggest shockers so far has been Deacon's (Todd Stashwick) shifting loyalties.

When Jones (Barbara Sukowa) splintered what she could of the compound to avoid being slaughtered by the Army of the 12 Monkeys, Cassie (Amanda Schull) and Cole (Aaron Stanford) were forced to leave Deacon behind, even though he begged them not to. That was a pretty gut-wrenching moment for everyone involved, but apparently none more so than Deacon himself. Soon after he was found alive, he switched teams and backed Olivia (Alisen Down), which was shocking but also somewhat understandable.

But is it a true shift of allegiance, or is he just playing the long con? TV Guide asked showrunner Terry Matalas what's what where Deacon is concerned. He had this to say:

"I think the audience needs to remember who this guy is. He was the head of the West Seven, which was a group of horrible scavengers that preyed upon the innocent. He was the king of those kinds of scavs, so he's not a good guy. He comes aboard Team Splinter here and gets shot at, Cole and Cassie keep a major secret from him in Season 3, and the only one who sees any kind of potential in him at all seems to be Olivia. So, I think that's got to be meaningful to Deacon."

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We started to see the seeds of doubt take root last season, when Olivia seemed to zero in on Deacon as the weak link of team spirit, but Matalas makes a good point about Deacon's true nature. He's never been a good guy; he was just doing bad things for a good cause when he was on Team Splinter.

Matalas also reminds us that Deacon's feelings for Cassie (and her lack of feelings for him) likely played a huge part in his decision to switch sides.

"They totally left him behind! We know how he feels about Cassie, and just watching Cole drag her away one last time -- you know, how much of that are you going to put up with?" Matalas says.

Do you think Deacon has truly joined the Army of the 12 Monkeys? Or are you crossing your fingers that he'll rejoin Cassie and Cole before the end of the end?

12 Monkeys airs Fridays at 8/7c on Syfy.