My theory is that Coke is the skeletal remains that got sent back to the past, maybe by mistake. I noticed that Cole had a reaction when he got close to the remains in the night room. The same type of reaction that past present or future people had when encountering thier selves. Jennifer also made reference to the remains eyes. The same reference she made to cole's eyes the first time they met. What do you guys think?
The show (and the movie) plays fast and loose with time travel and ignores the meaning of paradox, turning it into some pretty SFX BS so it's possible; It wouldn't be the first or the last time they *beep* up their storyline by trying too hard to insert a twist.
Cole can't be the origin of a virus he was infected with after an outbreak of the virus.
Regardless, even doing the same as the show and ignoring any basic principle of time travel, it still makes no sense now that Cole has done a Quantum Leap thing and traveled to multiple time periods before the outbreak.
If he was the origin of the virus, then the outbreak would have started in the 50ies after he traveled there.
For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco
It was what they extracted from the corpse that was the origin of the virus. He can't spread it just by being in contact with someone. Why does he have a strange reaction when he gets close to it and why does Jennifer talk about the corpses eyes and coles eyes. Theres more reason that back up this theory but I don't want any spoilers for people who haven't got through the second season.