Neat reference. Didn’t catch that because I haven’t seen 12 Monkeys since the 90s lol.
Well, its not a reference to the movie, but rather the tv show from a few years back. The main writer on Picard (at least this season?) is Terry Matalas. He worked a lot on TNG and Voyager, I believe. But he also basically ran the 12 Monkeys (2015) show for the shows run. I honestly had never heard of the guy until his name started popping up on youtube videos about Picard's current season, but yeah. I liked the 12 Monkeys show. It was a (very) loose retelling of the Gilliam flick, which was in turn a loose retelling of La Jetee.
Its really its own thing, but the main premise is there. Big outbreak, lots dead, time travel, James Cole, etc. 4 seasons at about 12 eps each so it doesn't drag on for 20000 episodes. It also ended, it wasn't canceled.
edit: Oh, and the jackass with a heart of gold, Captain Shaw - that actor plays a significant part in the show as well, as a character (who is honestly very similar) named Deacon.