Moments Easily Missed: The Rewatch Edition – Jones’s Two Great Agonies

Today we’re taking a closer look at 3×08 “Masks”, and the moment Jones and Cole come face to face after his betrayal of not revealing to Jones that he and Cassie are Athan’s parents.

As viewers, in season three we’re so caught up in Cassie and Cole’s search for Athan, that it is easy for other characters to disappear a bit. This is particularly true of Jones. As someone who rarely time travels, she is in the background in many episodes, despite being the backbone of the operation.

In this scene, Jones and Cole come face to face after the revelation that he and Cassie have been keeping the secret that they are the parents of The Witness. While Jones had a brief moment to confront Cassie about her deception, she has yet to confront Cole. She finally gets her chance at the masquerade ball in 1891, where they have all arrived in the belief the Witness will reveal himself.

Despite her tough exterior and bravado as she pulls Cole onto the dance floor, Jones is genuinely hurting when she finally get the opportunity to speak with him. Not simply because he has gone rogue and been unmasked as the father of The Witness, not only because Jones herself has played a role in bringing these events to fruition, but because over their time working together, she has come to love him like a son.

The way her exasperation and hurt spills over when she manages to spit out the words, “Did it ever occur to you to tell me the truth!” exposes the multi-layered emotions which are wrapped up in this mission.

It’s one of the few times that Jones lets her steely post-apocalyptic resolve slip and she becomes the maternal figure which she had so longed to be. The fact that she reveals that she thinks of Cole like a son is a great moment, and he seems rattled by the revelation. Still, her admission is not enough to sway his course.