Upon first seeing The CW’s pilot for The Tomorrow People, I enjoyed it enough but I felt there was something missing — the show was great, but a series like this needs to be something extraordinary. Fortunately, upon seeing the show’s next two episodes, “Girl, Interrupted” and “Kill Or Be Killed,” that evolution into something special – or superior – is coming sooner than I think any audience member could have expected.
Be warned some minor spoilers are being discussed.
For starters, The Tomorrow People is separating itself from being an X-Men or Heroes clone by playing with concepts that we saw in the original British version of the series as created by Roger Price. One of those concepts is the Prime Barrier — that one thing that keeps the Tomorrow People from killing. Some see it as a gift; others see it as a flaw. Even others, like Jedikiah, want control over the Tomorrow People, especially in case they do get that ability to kill. It’s a really interesting dynamic and moral quandary — if you could kill, would you? If you can’t kill, how do you stop a foe? These questions are coming up, and early on.
I’m also happy to report that the show picks up a cue from that other really good Amell Wednesday CW show, Arrow, in that it is moving straight ahead with the story, giving us revelations quickly without holding back. Things happen here. I’ve watched series that sometimes would stretch certain storylines for entire seasons just to prolong the life of a show. Here, it seems the Tomorrow People team is just concerned with creating a good TV show NOW, and hoping that the good ideas will continue to come. That keeps the show from being stagnant or petering out.
So often when new series launch, the first half dozen or so episodes get repetitive, to build the concept. Even Episodes 2-4 of The Vampire Diaries weren’t that great, before the show started really cooking. Here, though? If you’re not sold by the end of Episode 3, you definitely will be by Episode 4. I assume it was by design from Executive Producers Greg Berlanti, Julie Plec, and Phil Klemmer to come in with such a big bang so fast.
Anyway, about the specific episodes:
“Girl, Interrupted” airs Wednesday, October 23, and a good portion of the story is devoted to the backstory of Cara, the character played by Peyton List. We haven’t learned a lot about her yet. Why is she hesitant when it comes to ordinary humans? What was she like before she broke out? These questions are answered within, and the answers to those questions may surprise you. I’m really glad to learn more about Cara so quickly so we’re not wondering so much of “how she came to be.”
Stephen (Robbie Amell)’s job at ULTRA also gives him another really tough choice to make this week, and I think that, too, will surprise. In addition to this, there’s a very human storyline involving one of Stephen’s classmates at the high school. This, too, is a nice thing, showing human stories to contrast with the “homo superior of the week” type thing that we’d expect to see from a show like this. “Girl, Interrupted” also features a twist that you wouldn’t expect to see as early as Episode 3.
“Kill Or Be Killed” puts the spotlight on John (Luke Mitchell), who is more or less the leader of the Tomorrow People. We get to learn more of what happened with him and ULTRA, and why he dislikes Jedikiah so much. Again, another show would take a while to tell us these things; not this one. This all happens when another former ULTRA recruit, Killian McCrane as played by Veronica Mars’ Jason Dohring, is on the loose and causing a lot of chaos. Dohring is intense, as you’d expect from his past work, and it really makes me want to see him playing a villain more often.
Episode 4 also gives us a look at John as a child, “15 years ago,” which makes John a bit older than I pegged him to be (I assumed he was around 25). It’s very cool to see the character John interacts with in his younger days.
Also in “Kill Or Be Killed,” we see more of Stephen’s home life as his mother confronts him about his working for Jedikiah, and to find out more, she decides to invite “Uncle Jed” over for dinner. It is here that we learn Stephen’s father’s name for sure, which in itself is a shoutout to classic Tomorrow People if the name-checking of “Prime Barrier” wasn’t enough for everybody. I really like Sarah Clarke as Stephen’s mother; she seems to know more than she is letting on. I also like that Stephen’s brother seems to be sticking around, as I’m curious about his future. Will he be powerless like Jedikiah? 
Will he break out too? If anything, I’m hoping that the plan doesn’t include something tragic as impetus for Stephen to push even harder.
As I said, by the end of these episodes, audiences should be sold. Even if you missed the first two – even though they are both surely available on CWTV.com – keep the TV on after Arrow these two weeks, and see if you agree with me. Chances are you’ll be as anxious to see more as I now am. Highly recommended.
Take a look at images from “Girl, Interrupted” here. Photos from “Kill Or Be Killed” can be found here.
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