This week’s cold open flashback sets the scene back during John’s time at Ultra, specifically the experiment that enabled him to kill. While the experience was doubtlessly traumatic for John, it turns out this is Jedikiah’s recurring nightmare — his relationship with John is one of several contradictions making him one of the more interesting characters on the show.
Kidnapping Gone Bad
The meat of the episode resumes with the drowning dream password that Stephen’s father gave him while he was going in and out of consciousness in the sewer. John is understandably skeptical that this is all that compelling a lead, but I guess that in a world of telepathy it’s worth a shot.
In order to parse the meaning of Stephen’s password, Russel and Cara decide to break in to Jed’s house and read his mind while he’s sleeping. The plan goes about as far south as it can, as Russel gets stuck in Jed’s room when he wakes up — Russel manages to escape with a bit of struggling, but he accidentally takes Jedikiah back with him to their secret base. While that’s a pretty big security breach, they decide to make the best of it and detain him until they can get the information they want.
Jedikiah demands to speak with John one on one, blackmailing him with information about their history together — apparently John’s ability to kill is just the tip of the iceberg. Stephen, meanwhile, is called in to Ultra to respond to Jedikiah’s kidnapping: this is big enough a deal that the sole remaining founder of Ultra (Simon Merrells) is called in, personally swearing justice and vengeance. Stephen is freaked out, but the investigation continues.
Thanatos Revealed
Ultra launches a raid to nab Jedikiah’s teleporting girlfriend Morgan, suspecting her of some involvement here — Stephen meets her, but lets her go. Armed with the knowledge of their relationship, the Tomorrow People are a little more successful with the interrogation this time: Thanatos is revealed to be a professor who had worked with Jedikiah and Stephen’s father.
Stephen and friends meet up with Thanatos, where he tells them about Ultra’s past; they had initially been an organization dedicated to protecting and slowly assimilating Tomorrow People. Stephen’s father had shared his ability to stop time, and Thanatos introduces the idea of “limbo,” an undefined space-time that Stephen’s father might still be occupying.
The founder, meanwhile, reveals himself to be a pretty capable telepath himself: by plugging into Ultra tech, he’s able to narrow Jedikiah’s location to a subway. With agents closing in, John moves Jed to a new location for a final showdown. As it happens, John’s shady history involved the killing of his trainer, who was none other than Stephen’s father — he’s apparently been leading them on a wild goose chase for years.
When the Ultra troops catch up to Jedikiah, John finds himself unable to teleport away — it’s an Ultra safe house, and they’ve activated their chips. Jed insists that they take John alive, but that’s the best he gets: he’s under Ultra’s control now.
This is, for my money, one of the weightier episode’s that this show has had to offer yet: the finding father and working for the enemy components of the series seemed a little half-baked before, but it seems like they’re finally coming together. Stephen’s selfishness and immaturity remain problematic, but it’s becoming clear that John is no angel, and Jedikiah may not be the devil he seems. Exploring their relationship seems like a great direction for The Tommorow People.
The Tomorrow People airs Wednesdays at 9pm on the CW.
(Image courtesy of the CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
